Debates of April 6th, 2000

Canada Development Corporation

[The Speaker]

Order, please. I did not hear the last part of the question because of the noise. I believe the Deputy Prime Minister was on his feet. To the extent that it deals with the administrative responsibility of the government, I will permit the Deputy Prime Minister to answer if he so wishes.

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member made reference to a document signed by the ethics counsellor which she alleges says that the investigation by the ethics counsellor had been completed five months ago. I have what I believe is that document in my hand. It does not say that at all. All it says is that after looking at certain minutes, the ethics counsellor was in a position to conclude his report. It did not say he had concluded his report.

The hon. member that is the finance critic and his colleague ought to stand and apologize for what they have done, contrary to the spirit and rules of the House.

Human Resources Development

[Michel Bellehumeur, Bloc, Berthier—Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Solicitor General of Canada was informed that an investigation into the Placeteco affair had been called for. His response was that he would read the letter and then respond to it.

I have an extremely simple question for him today, one that requires an extremely simple answer. Has he read the letter, and has he asked the RCMP to investigate?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, yes, I read the letter when I received it yesterday afternoon, like any other letter I receive. I took the appropriate action that I would take with any letter I receive of that nature and referred it to the RCMP to evaluate.

Cfb Petawawa

[Hec Clouthier, Liberal, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in the great riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke we are very fortunate to have one of Canada's super bases, CFB Petawawa. There is an absolutely scandalous rumour going around that CFB Petawawa could close. I would like to ask the Minister of National Defence to please comment on the future of CFB Petawawa.

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is absolutely right. It is a scandalous rumour. We have no intention of closing it. I have been there a couple of times in the last couple of years opening new buildings and facilities which we put millions of dollars into. It indicates the importance of that base.

Furthermore, many of the personnel, the troops from that base, are presently serving this country well in Kosovo. We should be congratulating them for their great work.

CFB Petawawa will continue to be a major base in the operations of our military.

Canada Development Corporation

[John Williams, Reform, St. Albert, AB]

Mr. Speaker, stonewall seems to be the government's watchword these days. Every time a Liberal minister gets in trouble it is stonewall. That is the cornerstone of HRDC policy and now the disease seems to have spread to the Department of Finance.

We are talking about the CDC minutes. The Minister of Finance knows he has the minutes. We know that he has the minutes. He has the legal obligation to produce the minutes. When will he produce the minutes?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, let me repeat what I have said.

The fact is that not only did I ask the ethics counsellor to carry out a full investigation of this matter, and I believe the report will be out in the very near future, but in terms of the question of access to information, yesterday, as a result of the discussions, I asked my department to carry out a thorough examination of the matter. At the same time, in order to ensure that this will be done in a way that is as open and transparent as possible, I have asked my department to invite the information commissioner to participate fully in the examination.

[John Williams, Reform, St. Albert, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that is all very good, but the Minister of Finance has 30 days to deliver these documents, and they are long overdue. He could produce them now while we are waiting for the report and the investigation is ongoing.

Will the minister produce them now and have the investigation later?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, all documents pertinent to this matter will be made available when the ethics counsellor submits his report, which will happen in the very near future I am led to understand.

Environment

[Dennis Gruending, NDP, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Mr. Speaker, that shipload of waste PCBs from an American military base in Japan may not be unloaded in Seattle after all. Dock workers there will not touch it and, in any event, the American government has a law against accepting toxic waste from abroad if it contains PCBs.

Now there is an allegation that Canada may in the past have accepted waste PCBs from the American military without telling anyone about it. Can the government tell us if in fact we have ever accepted shipments of waste PCBs in Canada?

[Paddy Torsney, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to tell the House that the Minister of the Environment and the officials in both the Pacific and Ontario regions have done a fine job in managing this recent proposed shipment to Canada.

The shipment will not, in fact, come to Canada, and we have instituted a new policy with the department of defence that for shipments below the legal limits of 50 parts per million, or any shipment, we must receive prior notification.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. If members would like to have conversations, I would ask them to go into the lobbies. We would like to hear the questions and the answers.

[Dennis Gruending, NDP, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the member is clearly unwilling or unable to answer my question.

It was mentioned at a news conference about a week ago that Canada had accepted waste PCBs from the American military. That same allegation was made yesterday on national television. I repeat my question and would appreciate an answer. Can the government tell us if we have ever accepted shipments of waste PCBs in Canada?

[Paddy Torsney, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I can tell the hon. member opposite and all members of the House that the CEPA legislation passed by the government instituted a whole new policy for dealing with any waste, and it complies with the Basel Convention. It is a strong piece of legislation. We will use the tools in that legislation to make sure we have a strong environmental policy for this country, and we will do the right thing.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

[Norman E. Doyle, Progressive Conservative, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Canadian Heritage. We have been told that CBC management is again looking at making major cuts in the regions. In Newfoundland we have already lost most of our regional CBC programming, with the exception of the supper hour news program called Here and Now . The downgrading or elimination of that program and 500 jobs are being looked at to be replaced with centralized news out of Toronto.

Is Here and Now about to become “there and gone”?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I want to tell the hon. member that I read those same rumours in the newspaper this morning. I can tell him that the last thing we want is centralized news out of Toronto.

[Norman E. Doyle, Progressive Conservative, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, let me say to the minister that Canada is more than the view from Toronto. Canada is a community of communities, each of which has its own legitimate point of view.

Will the minister commit to maintaining local CBC programming right across this nation? Will she commit to it here and now?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I certainly agree that the role of the CBC is to link people across this great country. I can tell him that I have no intention of micro-managing the CBC, but I can underscore the fact that we do not want a centralized news system out of one city, however big and fantastic it may be.

Occupational Health And Safety

[David Pratt, Liberal, Nepean—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today marks the first anniversary of the tragic shootings at OC Transpo in Ottawa which resulted in the deaths of five workers. The OC Transpo inquest produced a series of recommendations concerning violence, harassment and workplace problems.

Has the Minister of Labour had the opportunity to review these recommendations with her cabinet colleagues, and are there any changes contemplated to federal workplace policies?

[Claudette Bradshaw, Liberal, Minister of Labour]

Mr. Speaker, on the anniversary of this tragic event I would like to offer my sincere condolences to the families and friends of the workers whose lives were lost that day. I would like to convey to those families that I will continue to push forward with legislative changes that will provide workers with protection against workplace violence.

In that spirit, I strongly urge all members of the House to support the passage of Bill C-12. Bill C-12 would provide the authority we need to develop regulations to prevent violence in the workplace and to better protect employees.

Canada Development Corporation

[Grant McNally, Reform, Dewdney—Alouette, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister gave the same promise that he is giving today to provide documents about his involvement with CDC last May in the House. He tells us today to wait when we know that his department has these documents.

Why will he not simply clear the air on his involvement with CDC by providing these documents today?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, in terms of the access to information request, I have already stated that I have asked the department to conduct a thorough examination to see exactly what the situation is, and I have asked the information commissioner to fully participate.

What is by far the most important aspect of all of this is that the ethics counsellor will very soon be releasing his report and all of the documents will be revealed therein.

Violence On Television

[Bernard Bigras, Bloc, Rosemont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, a few years ago, Canada's TV broadcasters developed a code of ethics on violence on television, which they apply on a voluntary basis.

Violence on the small screen is of concern to parents, and the time has come to take steps to make this code of ethics mandatory.

Can the minister tell us whether she plans any concrete action on this by taking on the bill I introduced yesterday in this House?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I have great respect for private members' bills. For this reason, I am going to let the private members' bill process run its course. I do not wish to take over the hon. member's bill, although it is very worthwhile and merits discussion here by all hon. members.