Debates of May 16th, 2000

Government Of Canada

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. I know it must be a noise from another place, because I keep hearing one sound down at the far end. I would ask hon. member to keep their voices down.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am quite pleased to respond to the question of the Leader of the Opposition and her colleagues who moved 450 amendments to one bill, the purpose of which was to change commas to semicolons.

Hon. members across wasted as much as $2 million of taxpayer money to have the House sit 24 hours a day. That is the real abuse of parliament. I will not apologize for making this parliament function. That is why we were elected.

Airline Industry

[Val Meredith, Reform, South Surrey—White Rock—Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Department of Transport stated that the transfer of WestJet's inspection to Ottawa was just a paper exercise. When WestJet was only serving western Canadians, the government felt that it was sufficient to inspect it in Edmonton. Now that it flies in eastern Canada, it has to be inspected in Ottawa.

Will the minister explain why inspections in Edmonton were good enough when it was western Canadians flying but not good enough now?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, there is a silver lining in this, that these changes have been made because WestJet has become truly a national airline, something the government thinks is a very good thing.

Going back to the 1970s, the regulatory oversight process was established which said that certain airlines operating coast to coast over a certain weight limit, 100,000 pounds, would have its inspection co-ordinated in Ottawa.

There will be no additional cost to WestJet. There is no inconvenience. What it means is a western Canadian airline has become national and is subject to national standards. I think that is good.

[Val Meredith, Reform, South Surrey—White Rock—Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for assuring WestJet that it will not have to move its planes and its pilots to Ottawa for inspection purposes and that there will not be any cost.

Maybe the minister could explain why when WestJet complained about Air Canada's anti-competitive practices of slashing fares and increasing capacity on the Toronto-Moncton route nothing was done. However, when Air Canada called transport to say that WestJet should be inspected in Ottawa, the department immediately complied.

Who is calling the shots in Transport Canada? Is it the minister or Robert Milton?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is entirely wrong. The decision with respect to WestJet was made long before any inquiry was made on behalf of Air Canada. I will say quite frankly in this Chamber that the safety regulatory oversight process is none of Air Canada's business. That is something that is done by the inspectors of the department without interference from any airline.

The hon. member gives the impression that somehow all of WestJet's equipment has to come to Ottawa to be inspected. That is not the case. The inspections occur right through the country, including Calgary and Edmonton. All it means is that the paperwork now is co-ordinated centrally as with all other airlines.

Young Offenders Act

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

Mr. Speaker, the premier of Quebec, Lucien Bouchard, sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Canada asking him to withdraw Bill C-3 on young offenders or, at least, to exempt Quebec from its application in order to protect Quebec's approach, which everyone recognizes is the best.

I therefore ask the Prime Minister if he will look favourably on this request by the premier of Quebec, a request that has Quebec's unanimous approval?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as I have before, let me reassure the hon. leader of the third party that there is absolutely nothing in Bill C-3 that interferes with the way Quebec deals with young offenders.

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

Mr. Speaker, I will point out to the minister, one of the few members from Alberta, that Quebec's approach is clearly better than everything else going on in the country, and that this is acknowledged across the country. All the stakeholders in Quebec oppose this bill. She alone sees the light, it seems.

I would ask her to give us one good reason why this bill will improve the situation in Quebec. I would like her to give us one reason showing the usefulness of this bill in Quebec.

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, let me again reassure the hon. leader of the third party that there is absolutely nothing in the legislation that interferes with policies and programs presently in place in the province of Quebec dealing with young offenders.

In fact, there is much in the legislation that will enhance the existing programs. With additional financial resources from the federal government, the province of Quebec will be able to do more to assist young offenders.

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

Mr. Speaker, just yesterday, the National Council of Welfare tabled a report in which it praised Quebec's approach to young offenders.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

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

The minister does not want to understand.

[An hon. member]

She is not capable of understanding.

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

Now that a federal agency is telling her what we have been saying for months, will the minister understand that the problem is not the Young Offenders Act but the manner in which it is enforced?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, let me clarify what the National Council of Welfare said yesterday. It said that incarceration is used too much in this country when one is dealing with first time and non-violent young offenders. In fact, we on this side of the House agree with that.

One of the main purposes of Bill C-3 is to divert first time and non-violent young offenders out of the formal justice system and hopefully to avoid incarceration.

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

Mr. Speaker, how does the minister explain that all those who represent Quebec's criminal justice system, all those who have, for years now, been working with the Young Offenders Act, who are familiar with the young offender problem, describe the minister's Bill C-3 as backward and repressive? She must withdraw Bill C-3, as all Quebecers are asking her to do.

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, let me reassure the hon. member, as I have before, that there is absolutely nothing in Bill C-3 which would require the province of Quebec or any agency or program in Quebec to change what it is presently doing.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister. Despite the Liberal spin doctors, based on his discussions with the Prime Minister the president of the CBC today confirmed that “the CBC is not a financial priority of this government”.

Will the Prime Minister admit what has become painfully obvious to people across the country, that it is this government, not CBC management, that is behind the cuts to regional programming?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the House of Commons had in front of it the CBC budget. The budget is well known. The budget has been stable for some time. We have assured the CBC that there will be a level of financing for the years to come.

The managing of the CBC on a daily basis is up to the directors and the president. There are some consultations going on at this time to try to make CBC more efficient so that it will play the role it is supposed to play in Canadian society.

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, we are talking about the mandate of the CBC. The spin continues but the truth is out. Again let me quote what the president of the CBC confirmed this morning. “The CBC is not a financial priority of this government”, according to the Prime Minister.

Will the Prime Minister stand in his place and acknowledge what was made crystal clear this morning, namely that the death of regional CBC is his responsibility?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the CBC budget, the money voted by parliament, is almost $1 billion. It is strange for people to say that it is not a priority. To me $1 billion is a lot of money.

Justice

[Peter MacKay, Progressive Conservative, Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted held a press conference today concerning the tragically flawed conviction of Stephen Truscott. The association will undertake an exhaustive review of this case and plans to file an application under section 690 of the criminal code.

The suspect investigation which led to Truscott's 1959 death sentence conjures up nightmarish memories of past injustices suffered by Marshall, Milgaard and Morin.

In the interest of justice, will the minister act quickly to establish an independent inquiry to review and finally provide some closure and fairness in the Truscott case?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I understand that Mr. Truscott and his counsel are holding a press conference probably at this very moment. At this point I have not heard and I have not received anything, either official or unofficial, from Mr. Truscott's counsel, but as soon as I do I will act upon it in a timely fashion.