Debates of May 15th, 2000

Health

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, that is not what the Minister of Health said back on April 7 when he wrote to the health minister in Alberta. At that time he said that the bill presented circumstances where in fact there were serious concerns in relation to the principle of accessibility.

What has happened since April 7? Who got to this minister? If he is not prepared to apply the current Canada Health Act, will he at least bring in changes to the act to make it clear that this country will not stand for private hospitals or two tier health care?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I will tell the member what has happened since that letter was sent. We asked the Alberta government to amend bill 11. Indeed, allowing charges for enhanced services in private for profit facilities in combination does create a circumstance that we feel imperils the principle of accessibility.

Alberta did not amend the act. That danger is still there. For that very reason I said in the House last week that we will be watching on the ground, monitoring to ensure that the danger we are concerned about does not occur. If it does, we will step in and use our powers under the act to protect the principles of the Canada Health Act.

Cbc Regional News

[Mark Muise, Progressive Conservative, West Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, will the Minister of Canadian Heritage tell us whether she has indeed held discussions with the president of the CBC with respect to the elimination of regional news?

If so, can she reassure the House that she will never accept such a proposal?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank the member for West Nova for his support for compliance with the Broadcasting Act.

If the Broadcasting Act is to be complied with, the regions must indeed be represented on television. I hope that this is one of the questions he will ask tomorrow morning when the CBC's president appears before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.

[Mark Muise, Progressive Conservative, West Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, Compass in P.E.I. and Here and Now in Newfoundland are the most watched CBC programs in their respective provinces. With an audience share of 68% and 59% respectively, these two programs seem to contradict the CBC president's assertion that nobody watches regional CBC news.

Will the Minister of Canadian Heritage intervene on behalf of all Canadians to protect these and other popular TV programs?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his support. These two programs in their own areas are actually the most popular programs in the country, not just in the region.

I am sure he would not want me personally to start picking and choosing the shows on CBC. I do believe that he and I together and this House of Commons are going to work to make sure that Canada's law on broadcasting is respected and that the regions are reflected in the way that will do dignity to the CBC and to the country.

The Environment

[Sophia Leung, Liberal, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of the Environment.

Canadians want clean air to breathe, but some Canadian oil companies are complaining about new regulations limiting sulphur in gasoline even though similar regulations have been in place in the U.S. for 10 years. Will the minister please explain to Canadians just how important those regulations are?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Certainly, Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is correct. The regulations for sulphur in gasoline have been in effect in California for some four or five years. Costs have been minimal. They have been in effect since the beginning of the year in New England. Again, in an area with a gasoline market larger than Canada as a whole, costs have been about half a cent per litre.

The fact is we are talking about approximately 30 lives lost prematurely as a result of the level of sulphur in gasoline and the resulting emissions and air quality that comes from it. We wish to reverse that. We wish to cut down on those deaths. We will continue to put in place the regulations that industry has known were coming for the last six years.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Derrek Konrad, Reform, Prince Albert, SK]

Mr. Speaker, we know that 84% of aboriginal households live below the poverty line and that the unemployment rate on Indian reserves is in the range of 80% to 90%. We also know that in the 1998-99 fiscal year the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development made a $10,000 grant to the national tulip festival.

What we want to know from the minister is how was section 66 of the Indian Act fulfilled? How was the general progress and welfare of those poverty stricken people promoted by this grant?

[Bob Nault, Liberal, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, every single department, including ours, has an education component to make Canadians aware of what aboriginal culture is all about. That is what we were doing under this particular grant. Some 600,000 people go to that festival and we can then show the importance of aboriginal culture and aboriginal peoples to our Canadian family.

I hope those members have an opportunity to go because they could use some education.

Rcmp Investigations

[Pierrette Venne, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, two of my colleagues have asked the solicitor gneral to investigate the files of Placeteco and Option Canada.

Could the solicitor general report to this House on the status of the files, tell us what point the investigations have reached and confirm that he intends to get results before the next general election?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as solicitor general I am responsible for the RCMP. I am not involved in the daily activities of the RCMP. I am not involved, nor do any of my colleagues in the House wish me to be involved, in investigations involving the RCMP.

Devco

[Peter Mancini, NDP, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

Mr. Speaker, last week the government invoked closure to stifle debate on Bill C-11, the government's bill which dismantles Devco. This week it plans to ram the bill through committee.

The company and the unions right now are in arbitration which may compromise the evidence which comes before the committee. Will the minister show good faith and write to the committee asking that it postpone hearings until the arbitration is complete? If not, will he at least ask the committee to travel to Cape Breton to hear from the citizens in that community?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. gentleman in effect is asking for the legislative process with respect to Bill C-11 to be put off until sometime in the fall. Quite frankly that is not in the public interest and particularly is not in the interest of Devco in Cape Breton. That would mean that the ability to find private sector owners to secure the business and to secure the jobs for the long term would go off into never never land, leaving a huge cloud of uncertainty over at least 500 jobs in Cape Breton.

Transportation

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

Mr. Speaker, in the very first meeting of the council of Atlantic premiers held today, the premiers called for a federal highway funding program.

Last week the minister announced a $175 million program for rural roads in western Canada completely separate from any infrastructure program. Will the minister announce an equal program for Atlantic Canada of $175 million for highways in Atlantic Canada, completely separate from any infrastructure program, as he did for the western provinces?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the $175 million for grain roads was specifically tied to grain transportation reforms and will help producers in western Canada overcome some of the problems which arise as we go to a more competitive system.

In the budget the Minister of Finance announced over $2 billion for infrastructure and $600 million for highways. Some people say that is not enough. In a perfect world we would have much more money, but this is a start. It means we can now start reinvesting in national highways. I think that is a very good start and who knows, more money may come in the future.

Infrastructure Program

[Marcel Proulx, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, municipalities are keen to hear the good news about the great infrastructure program.

My question is for the President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure. Could she inform the House of the progress in the negotiations between the Government of Canada and the provincial and territorial governments on infrastructure?

[Lucienne Robillard, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, in fact, the preliminary consultations with the provinces have begun in connection with the municipal infrastructure program.

I can say to the members in this House that all of the provinces and territories are interested in taking part in the program. They agree that priority should go to green infrastructures, that impact on the environment of our fellow citizens. They agree that the program should be based on the needs of the individual communities.

I have every reason to believe that we will keep to our schedule. Official negotiations will be underway shortly. We think we will be able to sign formal agreements by the end of the year, and sooner if possible.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Derrek Konrad, Reform, Prince Albert, SK]

Mr. Speaker, it is time for the minister to wake up and smell the tulips.

The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development has failed to meet even the most basic needs of the people for whom it has primary responsibility. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reports that 65% of on reserve housing fall below standard codes and 23% lack water. Yet the department can find $10,000 for the national tulip festival.

Does the minister think that those people who have to carry water to their rundown houses would approve of this grant?

[Bob Nault, Liberal, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, yes, because they are the ones who applied for the grant.

Genetically Modified Organisms

[Hélène Alarie, Bloc, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, at its conference in Quebec City this past weekend, the Ordre des diététistes du Québec examined the issue of GMOs. It is calling for mandatory food labelling and more thorough studies into the potential impacts of transgenic foods on health.

What is the Minister of Health waiting for? Do all the professional corporations have to demand the same thing of him?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, all genetically modified foods have to be submitted to Health Canada for evaluation and determination of whether they are as safe as other foods already on the Canadian market.

Recently we set up a committee of experts to examine Health Canada regulations and ensure that we are acting appropriately. For us, the most important objective is the health of Canadians.

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, when the free trade agreement was being negotiated with the United States and Mexico, Canadians worried that we were on the way to weaker environmental laws and lax enforcement. Senior American officials now confirm that the Canadian government is trying to undermine guidelines that allow whistleblowing citizens to take complaints to the centre for environmental co-operation.

The minister's officials will meet with the other two countries this week and he will meet with his counterparts in June. Will the minister promise that he does not support and will not allow changes to guidelines governing citizen's submissions to the centre for environmental co-operation?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately the hon. member's preamble to his question is sheer rubbish. The fact is we have a good system in place. There will be opportunities of course to improve it. It is a new system, virtually unique in the world, where there is such a commission in effect between three countries above what they can do domestically in terms of appeal. Undoubtedly there will be improvements and changes in the approaches that are taken and the mechanisms in the future, but to suggest that any change must be a negative is sheer unadulterated rubbish.

Correctional Service Canada

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

Mr. Speaker, the solicitor general's answers to questions today have been somewhat curious. In an answer to the Bloc Quebecois he said that he could not get involved in that department. In an answer to my colleague from Surrey he said that he got involved in that department. My colleague from Wild Rose stood in the House and asked a question about a report. The solicitor general should know that in the last five minutes Correctional Service Canada has asked my colleague for a copy of that report.

Who is in charge? When does the minister actually take charge in his department? What is going on?