Debates of April 6th, 2000

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

[Wendy Lill, NDP, Dartmouth, NS]

Mr. Speaker, in the past the heritage minister has personally intervened to save CBC radio and Radio Canada International. Will she commit today to intervene with cash and save regional TV news programs if the corporation decides to kill supper hour shows? That is what the CRTC wants and that is what Canadians want.

She has said that she does not want to see one big program coming out of Toronto, but my question is, will she guarantee that it will not happen while she is the minister, and will she provide the money, where necessary, to make that guarantee?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I think the member opposite was at the standing committee when the president of the CBC attended and said he was not looking for more money at this time.

Merchant Navy Veterans

[Elsie Wayne, Progressive Conservative, Saint John, NB]

Mr. Speaker, some time ago the Minister of Veterans Affairs announced a compensation package for the merchant mariners.

According to whatever length of service they had, they would receive $5,000, $10,000 or $20,000, and if they were a prisoner of war they would receive $24,000. Of the cheques that have been going out, they have received 60%.

Will the minister rise in the House today and guarantee that these brave veterans will receive their full 100% compensation package, even if that means going back to your cabinet if you do not have enough money right now?

[The Speaker]

I would ask the hon. member to please address her questions through the Chair.

[George Baker, Liberal, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Secretary of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency)]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to report to the House that so far we have sent out 1,000 cheques to our merchant navy veterans.

I have no reason to believe that all of the merchant navy veterans who have been identified will not get their full 100%, and that is because of the excellent work done by the veterans' organizations and the all-party standing committee of the House, which brought this issue to a successful conclusion.

French Language Broadcasting

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, could the Minister of Canadian Heritage explain what her request to the CRTC, which was announced today, means for Canada's French language minority communities?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, today, the federal government asked the CRTC to determine the number of hours of French language broadcasting for francophone minorities and its impact on these communities across Canada.

I invite francophone communities from all over the country to take part in this dialogue and to voice their opinions. I also want to thank the senators and members of parliament who worked to promote French in Canada, particularly through broadcasting.

Canada Development Corporation

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, on May 25, 1999 the finance minister promised that he would instruct his department to do a thorough search of documents related to this tainted blood issue and he would then release them to the public.

On July 8 we know that the ethics counsellor faxed those documents to the finance department. That was a long time ago. Why did the finance minister break his promise to reveal those documents to the public? Why has he done that?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is obviously running out of questions. I have already answered that question three times.

There is a thorough examination being carried out on how the access to information requests were handled, and the information commissioner will be part of that investigation.

What is really important is that the documents the hon. member seeks, and all other pertinent documents, will be made available to the hon. member when the ethics counsellor makes his report public.

Genetically Modified Organisms

[Serge Cardin, Bloc, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, more and more countries are opting for the compulsory labelling of GMOs. In Canada, every poll conducted in the past five years shows that consumers want GMOs to be labeled, but the federal government is going in circles.

What is the Minister of Agriculture waiting for to take action in response to the unanimous request of consumers to immediately implement compulsory labelling of genetically modified organisms?

[Lyle Vanclief, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, I will repeat for the benefit of the hon. member and all Canadians that before a system of labelling can be put in place it must be meaningful, credible and enforceable.

The process that is in place at the present time is being led by the Canadian Standards Council, with the participation of many organizations and consumer associations to develop the criteria that could be used for the labelling of foods in Canada.

Health

[Nelson Riis, NDP, Kamloops, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health who will know that not a single cent has been paid to the victims of hepatitis C.

A constituent of mine brought in a letter she received from her doctor last week calling for her to use the drug Rebetron. The cost will be approximately $1,700 a month for the next year. She says she does not have $1,700 extra a month and she has asked me to ask the Minister of Health what she should do.

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I share the member's frustration. I am told the court has now approved the agreement to which we contributed $800 million. I am told the court has now approved the administrator. I am told the administrator is working to get the cheques out to the people who are in the class.

I also want to point out to the member that for those who are not included in the settlement the government put $300 million in the hands of the provinces, if they will accept it, to pay for exactly this kind of expense, in other words drugs or other health expenses that are not already covered by public insurance.

If the member would share the details of the case with me, I will make sure that whatever can be done within what is in place is done for this person.

Merchant Navy Veterans

[Elsie Wayne, Progressive Conservative, Saint John, NB]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to the merchant navy veterans, what has been sent out to them is a cheque worth 60% of what was promised to them. Now the Department of Veterans of Affairs is saying that the other 40% may go out by the end of July, if there is enough money in the bank.

I want an assurance that there will be enough money to give merchant navy veterans the 100% they have been promised.

[George Baker, Liberal, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Secretary of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency)]

Mr. Speaker, the guidelines, the method of payment, the amount of the payment and the review period were all determined by veterans organizations representing the merchant navy, the legion and the Council of Veterans Organizations for all of Canada.

They sat down and decided the rules. I am their servant. They are my boss.

Business Of The House

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I think Canadians and parliament are interested in what might be the business for the rest of this week and for the following week, the last week before the Easter break.

In particular, they would be interested to know whether the government House leader plans to bring in time allocation on Bill C-23, which has been somewhat controversial. We would like assurances from the House leader that it will not happen.

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member asked me to assure him that the opposition would not cause obstruction. I would like to do my best to assure the House of that but it does occur seldom. It does occur every now and then.

[Jim Abbott, Reform, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Seldom.

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Someone is trying to correct me. Perhaps the opposition is being obstructionist more than seldom. This afternoon we will have the following business. Perhaps it will require a special order of the House on which there has been consultation among House leaders in an effort to reconcile various agendas.

In any case, the business for this afternoon, following the adoption of the motion which I hope to offer to the House, would be as follows. After the member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, a representative from the New Democratic Party and a representative from the Conservative Party complete their remarks on Bill C-25, we would then commence the second reading of Bill C-19.

Obviously to switch orders in the middle of the afternoon requires a motion, which I will put to the House in a minute. Bill C-19 is the bill regarding war crimes. Tomorrow we shall return to Bill C-25 which we will be debating, all things be equal, in a minute.

On Monday as well as Tuesday it is our intention to complete report stage and third reading of Bill C-23. On Wednesday we would hope to begin with the budget implementation bill to be introduced in the House tomorrow morning on the basis of the ways and means motion adopted this morning.

If necessary, we will continue with this bill on Thursday, followed by the following bills. I do not know how many of them we will complete but I will list them nonetheless: Bill C-24, the GST technical legislation amendments dating from last year's budget; Bill C-11, the Devco bill; Bill C-5, the tourism bill; Bill C-18, the criminal code amendments; and Bill C-15 regarding water exports.

Having now read the business of the House, I believe the chief government whip has an amendment to what I have offered.

[Bob Kilger, Liberal, Stormont—Dundas, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in the same spirit of co-operation, discussions have taken place between all the parties and I believe you would find consent for the following:

That the present debate on second reading of Bill C-25 be adjourned after one intervention from a representative of the Bloc Quebecois and one from the Conservatives in order to allow the House to begin consideration of second reading of Bill C-19.

That, once we begin debate at second reading of Bill C-19, the first speaker for the government will be the Minister of Foreign Affairs, followed by a member of Her Majesty's official opposition, the Canadian Alliance. The third intervention will be from a member of the New Democratic Party who would speak for 20 minutes.

Under that same agreement, the next speaker for the Bloc Quebecois will have the floor for 40 minutes, as provided by the rules of the House.

[The Speaker]

Does the hon. government whip have unanimous consent to put the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker]

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

(Motion agreed to)

The House resumed consideration of the motion that Bill C-25, an act to amend the Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Act and the Budget Implementation Act, 1999, be read the second time and referred to a committee.