Debates of May 11th, 2000

Camille Montpetit

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today the House pays tribute to one of its dedicated and loyal servants, Camille Montpetit, senior adviser to the Clerk of the House of Commons, who has decided to take on the challenge of retirement. His new status will dovetail well with his new title of grandfather. This title was recently bestowed upon him by Chloe Montpetit who was born on April 8.

Chloe is very proud of her grandfather's parliamentary record. She cooed when she discovered that he joined the Committee Reporting Service in 1968, and she burbled to find out that he was head of the transcription section from 1971 to 1975. She almost spit up though when she learned he became a committee clerk and later was appointed deputy principal clerk in June 1983. When she heard that in 1986 he became a table officer and a principal clerk, only to move on in 1994 to clerk assistant and later deputy clerk of the House of Commons in 1998, she could not hold back her tears.

When her dear mother told Chloe of her grandfather's role as co-editor of the new procedural book House of Commons Procedure and Practice , well, it was more than just tears that Chloe failed to hold back.

Not to worry. Camille has guided many of us members of parliament through our parliamentary problems and that experience will help him assist little Chloe with her Pamper problems in the future.

All of us in the House wish Camille Montpetit the very best in his retirement. On behalf of all MPs, I thank him for his many years of service to the House and to Canada.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

Waterloo Regional Children's Museum

[Karen Redman, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to congratulate the Waterloo Regional Children's Museum.

Through the local labour market partnerships program of Human Resources Development, the museum will receive $36,000 to help establish a workshop which will be used for carpentry, metal working and graphics development.

The workshop will be occupied by artists and technologists. They will build the many diverse and educational exhibits on display at the museum. The government's funding will help create five permanent jobs for the workshop.

The museum will provide interactive, creative and technological activities and exhibits for children and their families. They will have the opportunity to explore and learn in a dynamic and safe environment.

This is an ambitious project. I would like to commend all of those individuals, and specifically Rosemary Aicher, for their dedication in providing this facility which encourages learning and invests in our children.

Trans-Canada Highway

[John Solomon, NDP, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the Trans-Canada Highway once proudly symbolized the national yearning to unite our country from coast to coast.

Sadly in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan it symbolizes injury, death and the indifference of the federal Liberal government. On this one stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway alone there have been 900 accidents in the last 12 years resulting in 26 deaths and 356 serious injuries. In fact some 40 people have died on this one stretch of highway since 1979.

On Thursday, April 13 Saskatchewan highways minister Maynard Sonntag demanded again that the Liberals participate in the twinning of the Trans-Canada Highway. Tragically the next day there was another accident killing three people and closing the highway for over 12 hours.

The province of Saskatchewan carries 96% of highway spending. Canada is the only industrialized country with no national highways program.

Saskatchewan can finish the twinning on its own by 2012 or it can finish it much sooner with federal money. We need the Liberals' urgent help to save lives now.

The Late André Fortin

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this morning, Quebec was plunged into a state of mourning. One of the greatest innovators on Quebec's musical scene in the past ten years has left us at the age of 38.

Singer and leader of the Colocs, affectionately known as Dédé by those close to him and by a Quebec that has included “La p'tite Julie” in all its celebrations since 1993, André Fortin passed away yesterday.

Born in Saint-Thomas-Didyme, in my riding, the tenth of a musical family of 11 children, Dédé literally burst onto the Quebec musical scene in the summer of 1993. The young and the not so young all over Quebec have shared with him since then the images in “Rue principale”, “Magasin général” and “Passe de puck”.

On behalf of the Bloc Quebecois, I would like to express our solidarity at this time of great sadness with his family and friends.

Dédé, you may have left us, but we will keep on saying “maudit que le monde est beau” in your honour.

Cystic Fibrosis

[Lynn Myers, Liberal, Waterloo—Wellington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform members of the House and all Canadians that May is Cystic Fibrosis Month.

Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease affecting primarily the respiratory and digestive systems. As yet there is no cure for it.

Approximately one in 25 Canadians carries the gene which causes this disease and approximately one in every 2,500 children born in Canada has the disease. Cystic fibrosis is one of the most deadly inherited diseases affecting Canadian children and young adults.

The Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation supports clinical services for persons with this disease and supports scientific research to find a cure or control for the condition. Volunteers and supporters in communities across the country conduct public awareness and fundraising activities.

I want to congratulate all those associated with the foundation for their many achievements. I wish them the very best not only during this month but throughout the year.

Teaching Excellence

[Bill Casey, Progressive Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased and proud to congratulate Mr. Paul Barrett, a teacher at the Cobequid Educational Centre in Truro, Nova Scotia, who last night was the recipient of the Prime Minister's Certificate for Teaching Excellence.

Mr. Barrett is a music teacher who is very active in his community and volunteers his time and services to help others. He is devoted to his students, his school and his music. I have had the very good fortune of being in the audience when his students play. I can attest to their professionalism, excellence and enthusiasm.

Another teacher from my riding received the Prime Minister's Certificate of Achievement. Louise Cloutier from Pugwash District High teaches French and Art. Through her enthusiastic efforts and encouragement, 60% of students participate in the arts program at Pugwash District High. The students learn more about themselves and their world and how to express themselves in a variety of ways because of the good efforts of Louise Cloutier.

Congratulations to Paul Barrett and Louise Cloutier, two of Canada's finest teachers. Congratulations also to the Prime Minister for his participation in this worthy program.

Student Exchange

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this summer once again a group of students from Peterborough will exchange homes and summer jobs with students from Quebec.

Last year in Peterborough, Quebec students worked for five different employers, gaining useful work experience while getting to know their host families and our community. I want to thank the Canadian Canoe Museum, the Otonabee Region Conservation Foundation, Lang Village, Trent University and Warsaw Caves as well as the host families and HRDC staff for their help with this program.

Programs like this and the regular high school SEVEC exchange enrich the lives of young people and their families and make Canada even stronger.

My best wishes to all participants in this program this summer.

Human Resources Development

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the junior HRDC minister raised the spectre of McCarthyism. A billion dollars was bungled and friends of the reds benefited. Questionable grants were handed out and friends of the reds lined their pockets. Questionable donations were encouraged and friends of the reds cashed in.

I would like to ask the red menace, is she now or has she ever been a member of that bungling—

[The Speaker]

I would remind members that we address each other by our proper titles rather than give each other nicknames.

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad that the hon. member is willing to admit by her question that she is a member of the bungling, boondoggling party originally known as C-C-R-A-P.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. I would ask my colleagues once again to please tone down the rhetoric. We are getting a bit off track.

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, Modes Conili got nearly three quarters of a million dollars in a job grant, even though no jobs were going to be created. Pierre Côté, the head of the commission governing working conditions in the ladies clothing industry, confirmed yesterday that the jobs were transferred, not created, and he had assured Quebec regulators that no jobs would be lost.

He told the Montreal Gazette :

We were advised that the employees were going to be transferred to Conili Star.

If Mr. Côté knew it and the Quebec regulators knew it, why did HRDC cut them a cheque?

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, I have said repeatedly that if new information were to come to this House we would investigate it. We received new information on Tuesday, we reviewed it yesterday and, therefore, we have passed this new information to the RCMP.

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it took three years. Let us look at the chronology.

The member for Ahuntsic lobbies the HRDC minister for a job grant for the newly incorporated Modes Conili. The department then cuts a cheque for three quarters of a million dollars. Modes Conili then finances 10% of the election campaign for the member for Ahuntsic. The HRDC minister gets 160 new jobs transferred to his riding just in time for the federal election.

Could it be that these are the facts that kept HRDC from blowing the whistle on this scam three years ago?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's question is based on faulty premises, the kinds of insinuations and innuendoes that led to the very valid point made yesterday by the parliamentary secretary.

[Diane Ablonczy, Reform, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, HRDC supposedly looked into the Modes Conili allegations back in 1997. A cross-check of social insurance numbers had shown that workers hired by this newly created Conili were simply transfers from a former company. A reporter made a few phone calls last week, three years later, and quickly uncovered even more evidence that the whole exercise was a scam designed to scoop up three quarters of a million taxpayer dollars.

Why is the minister hiding the report that she claims showed no wrongdoing?

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, we are not hiding anything. As I said yesterday, there was a review of this file. Our officials expressed some concern about it. A person from the fraud and investigation branch looked at it. At that time he could find no evidence of wrongdoing and the file was closed.

It was upon receipt of the new evidence provided by the Bloc that we were able to move and refer this to the police, which is the appropriate action.

[Diane Ablonczy, Reform, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, then it is very simple. If the department in fact found no evidence of wrongdoing, why will it not simply table the report that it claims shows it had no reason to interfere before? If nothing is wrong, let us see the evidence. Come clean, be transparent and show us the documents.

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, the same theme is re-stated over and over about transparency. This is the department that the Reform's own researcher said was the best for access to information requests.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in the Conili matter, there was no problem Monday, and today there is an investigation by the RCMP, the mounted police, as the Prime Minister calls them.

However, the government had all the documents. What we raised came from an investigation done by officials in their department. There was another report to contradict, to mask what was revealed.

I would like to propose a few questions to the parliamentary secretary to pass on to the RCMP. What happened, and, more importantly, what led to the jobs being taken from my riding—

[The Speaker]

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, the new information that came to light on Monday in the House, which we received on Tuesday, is the information that has been given to the RCMP.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is a good thing we introduced new information; now there is an RCMP investigation underway. I have more to introduce today.

Is there not some concern about the letter of agreement by the former Minister of Human Resources Development, who took jobs away from my riding and moved them to the riding of Ahuntsic and now to his own—all that in exchange for a $7,000 contribution to the Liberal Party coffers just before the election?

Could she ask the RCMP to investigate that gentlemen who is the minister there and who still holds sway in other files?

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, I am unaware of any such agreement. If they have any evidence of wrongdoing, I have told them time and time again to bring it forward.