Debates of May 16th, 2000

Canadian Heritage

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please.

Banking System

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the banking legislation the Minister of Finance is thinking of introducing would have the effect of facilitating takeovers, even foreign ones, of small and medium cap banks, such as the National Bank and the Laurentian Bank.

Would the Minister of Finance explain to the House why he has decided to protect the large banks and not the small ones in Quebec?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the member must know that the legislation has not yet been introduced. I assure him that all banks will be treated equally.

That having been said, the government intends to give the smaller banks, some of which are concentrated in Quebec, a bit more flexibility.

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, what guarantees is the Minister of Finance offering that the only two Quebec-owned banks located in Quebec will not fall victim to takeovers by Canadian investors from outside Quebec or foreign investors, because of these new ownership rules?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member that the Government of Canada will act in the public interest, and in the case of a bank concentrated in Quebec, in the interests of the Canadians and Quebecers who have a stake in it.

Canadian Heritage

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the coincidences are just so happy for the Prime Minister.

His office wrote the heritage minister for money to do a feasibility study for that famous Shawinigan fountain. Certainly the minister quickly accommodated him. Then the company that did the study gave the Prime Minister's campaign a contribution of $1,000, and everyone except ripped-off taxpayers are real happy.

Is it just a wild coincidence that 33% of the donations to the Prime Minister's campaign come from grant recipients?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, it is rather ironic if we follow the logic of the hon. member, because my understanding is that the $5,000 which was approved by Canadian Heritage for this project was matched by the Government of Quebec, so I suspect that the Prime Minister should have a political alliance with Lucien Bouchard.

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that was an irrelevant answer, was it not? These sorts of flip answers—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please.

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the process I have just described happens over and over again, which is probably why we have, what is it, four police investigations now in the Prime Minister's riding. He seems to be pretty popular with the RCMP these days.

Is the Prime Minister not concerned about the optics of grant recipients who routinely grease the palms of Liberal candidates?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. I want the hon. member to withdraw the words “grease the palms”.

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I withdraw the words “grease the palms”.

[The Speaker]

The Right Hon. Prime Minister.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have done my job for 37 years helping my country, and I will continue to do that.

With this project, like the other projects, there is federal money, there is provincial money, there is municipal money and there is private sector money. These projects are to create jobs in the ridings.

The work of parliament, in collaboration with the other levels of government, has managed to reduce the level of unemployment in my riding and in the Saint-Maurice Valley from 19% to 11%. These people now are paying taxes, and they are happy to do so. They are grateful that governments look to people who need help.

National Defence

[René Laurin, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence is preparing to send a team of technicians to Sierra Leone.

The situation there is getting worse, as we know, and the Prime Minister has already expressed his intention to give serious consideration to a request from the UN for troops.

Would the minister promise to hold a debate in this House before sending any troops to Sierra Leone?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, we have responded to the request from the United Nations in a number of ways. We have provided officers at the peacekeeping headquarters in New York to assist in the planning for Sierra Leone. We have a military observer there. We have provided an Airbus and some 20 personnel.

If we are going to consider any major involvement in Sierra Leone, or anything for which we traditionally engage the opinion of members the House, then of course we would come to the House. But at this point in time we have been responding in these ways, with these small numbers, with significant effectiveness in helping the situation.

Foreign Affairs

[Roger Gallaway, Liberal, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The minister will know that in about 10 months time section 110 of the American immigration act will come into effect which will force each Canadian to fill in a type of visa application every time they enter the United States.

Can the minister give us his prognosis on this law of paper trails? Will it be implemented or will it be repealed?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for the question and for his efforts on behalf of stopping this legislation.

We have been working actively with the U.S. administration and members of congress to develop an alternate plan. Presently there is legislation being considered by members of congress that would basically remedy section 110. I think progress is being made but I cannot give a conclusion yet because it is up to the U.S. congress.

I can assure the hon. member and the House that we are actively working with a number of our allies in the United States to make sure the bill is brought forward.

The Environment

[Rahim Jaffer, Reform, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, today the environment committee released its report on pesticides that will take Canada back to the dirty thirties.

This report calls for, among other things, a full phase-out of pest control products in Canada. The fact is that the committee report is 40 years too late. Stakeholders have been taking proactive measures for years to make sound science, health and safety the first priorities in pest control product development and use.

Why is the government considering this recommendation when there is no scientific evidence to support it?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I want to first thank the distinguished chair and the hardworking members of the environment committee for their report which was received today and is a result of many weeks of hearings and research by the committee.

I want to assure the member and the committee that the government will carefully take into account the recommendations and the observations in the report.

[Rahim Jaffer, Reform, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, all Canadians want a healthy and sustainable environment but the outright banning of pesticides is outrageous. I wonder how the Prime Minister would feel if his handicap started going up because the quality of his golf courses started going down.

There have been scientists in both industry and the PMRA who have dedicated their lives to protecting human health and the environment.

Does the minister support the full phase-out of pesticides?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, we are grateful for the report we just received today. We will of course examine it in detail and the government will respond once it has had the opportunity to do that.