Debates of May 16th, 2000

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, now for a question from a party that really does care about the environment.

Canadians are becoming increasingly aware of the health risks associated with exposure to toxic chemicals in the environment, especially when it comes to our children.

In the last throne speech, the government promised to take action on environmental health issues, and that included modernizing and protecting against health risks presented by pesticides.

When will the health minister keep his government's throne speech promise and introduce legislation to modernize and improve the Pest Control Products Act?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the member may have heard my response to the previous question. We are grateful for the report we have received today and grateful to the committee members for the hard work they have done in putting it together.

We will carefully examine the recommendations and the evidence that they have pulled together, and we will respond after we have had an opportunity to do that.

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

Mr. Speaker, that is one throne speech promise gone by the wayside. I will give the Liberals a chance to honour another one.

In the same throne speech, the government committed to making the clean up of toxic sites a priority. Last week the Minister of the Environment acknowledged that the Sydney tar ponds is, and I am using his words, “perhaps the single most polluted site in Canada and presents a serious health risk”. However, he refused to indicate whether the clean up was even a priority of the government, saying that it was in the hands of the joint action group.

The chair of JAG has publicly complained about the foot dragging by his government partners. Will the minister commit today to making the clean-up his number one environmental—

[The Speaker]

The hon. the Minister of the Environment.

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the Governments of both Nova Scotia and Canada have tried before to impose decisions with respect to the Sydney tar ponds on the residents of that area.

I find it astonishing that a representative of that area would want the government to overrule the system that we have set up which includes the local people participating in making decisions. It is certainly the type of socialistic directed government that we in British Columbia have learned to distrust so much.

I think he should think more about bringing these people in with the federal and provincial governments so we can get an acceptable solution and do not waste—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Brandon—Souris.

National Defence

[Rick Borotsik, Progressive Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, in the summer of 1996 the Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that CFB Shilo would have a long term commitment from the Government of Canada. The Minister of Foreign Affairs has recently waded into the debate on the future of CFB Shilo and may have well put CFB Shilo in jeopardy.

My question is for the Minister of National Defence. Does he guarantee to the people of Manitoba that the final decision on Shilo operations will not be based on political influence but on what is best for our military?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the short answer is yes. We are certainly looking at all the options at the moment. Nothing has been decided with respect to the facilities in Shilo.

I can assure the hon. member that we are looking at what is best in terms of our troops, in terms of their quality of life and in terms of the effectiveness of their operations.

[Rick Borotsik, Progressive Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, as a matter of fact, some decisions have been made. Military experts have stated quite emphatically that CFB Shilo has the necessary infrastructure already in place to accommodate the transfer of two PPCLI from Winnipeg to Shilo.

Does the minister recognize that CFB Shilo must have full utilization in order to survive and stay at CFB Shilo?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, yes, we would like to keep CFB Shilo open. We are looking at all the options and the costs with respect to that and with respect to the facilities that we have in Winnipeg. We have not closed any options. I know where the hon. member is coming from. He represents the area. I understand his interest. We are having a very fair and close examination of what is best.

Sierra Leone

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

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Defence.

As the crisis in Sierra Leone continues, can the minister advise the House if a further specific request for support has been made to Canada from the United Nations? If so, how has our government responded?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, we have received a further request from the United Nations with respect to air cargo handling at the airport near Freetown in Sierra Leone. As a result, we will be deploying approximately 30 troops to that airport to assist the British in terms of the the loading and unloading of equipment at that airport. We expect to have them sent within a few days.

This adds to the contributions that I previously noted in terms of the airbus transportation, in terms of the officers at the headquarters in New York and in terms of the protection equipment that we have provided. We are doing our share in terms of helping out in the situation in Sierra Leone.

Correctional Service Canada

[Myron Thompson, Reform, Wild Rose, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after question period yesterday, my office received a very surprising call from the commissioner of Correctional Service Canada requesting a copy of the Grierson Centre report that I questioned the solicitor general about.

Why does the solicitor general's commissioner of corrections have to request a copy of a report from my office that was bought and paid for by his department?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, there are many reports done by correctional institutions across this country. They are done to make sure that the relationship between the staff and the institution is as good a relationship as possible.

Health

[Claude Bachand, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

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

The maison du Cap du Nord in Quebec City provides accommodation for native people when they have to come for treatment in various forms at the hospital in Quebec City. Since 1990, this institution has been chronically underfunded by the department.

Should the Minister of Health, instead of going ahead with his plan to intrude into the field of jurisdiction of the provinces, not work to properly look after his own jurisdiction by providing sufficient funding for this institution? That is where his responsibility lies.

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health spends nearly $1 billion annually on health care for native peoples. If the hon. member has details on this situation, I would be very pleased to examine them and answer in detail.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

[Wendy Lill, NDP, Dartmouth, NS]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.

The president of CBC told the heritage committee today that due to chronic underfunding the CBC would be cutting local supper hour shows. After the president left, the committee passed a unanimous motion asking the federal government to provide adequate and stable funding to the CBC to provide enhanced regional television capacity.

Will the Prime Minister intervene and save local television?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the decision is one that has to be made by the president and the board of CBC. We provided in the budget almost $1 billion for CBC. It was voted as adequate by the House of Commons. At this moment, we are not reviewing the budget. It will not be reviewed until next February.

Fisheries And Oceans

[Gerald Keddy, Progressive Conservative, South Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the government is purchasing fishing licences in Atlantic Canada in order to integrate first nations into the Atlantic fishery.

Of the licences purchased so far, can the minister tell us whether any of them were already owned by the Mi'kmaq, the Maliseet or Passamaquoddy band members?

[Herb Dhaliwal, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to report to the House that we have signed 17 agreements as of today and 4 more agreements in principle.

We said right from the beginning that the way to resolve this was through dialogue, co-operation and by making sure we negotiate and not litigate. That is exactly what we are doing. The voluntary licence buyback was something the committee recommended. The hon. member is a member of that committee. It is something that the fishing community recommended and that was exactly what we followed.

Sierra Leone

[Sue Barnes, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the situation in Sierra Leone reminds us that thousands of children around the world are exploited in armed conflicts. The Minister of Foreign Affairs recently co-hosted a conference in Ghana on war affected children.

Could the Minister of Foreign Affairs tell the House today what follow-up will come from that conference?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member has pointed out, one of the most tragic stories in Sierra Leone is that 50% of the rebel soldiers are young children who have been abducted, drugged and turned into killing machines.

Canada has been actively working with the 15 states in West Africa to try to provide a response to that problem. At the ECOWAS conference that we co-hosted, leaders of the West African state agreed on a blueprint of action. We will have very specific measures for rehabilitation and response.

Canada will be supporting a special unit from ECOWAS to help in that measure. It is one way we can come to grips with the horrible violation of children that is taking place and the contribution we can make to the security of that region.

Correctional Service Canada

[Myron Thompson, Reform, Wild Rose, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the phone call that I referred to with the commissioner ended abruptly with him stating that any further information needed from his office would no longer be available. The report from Grierson Centre detailed intimidation and threats by management to staff. I personally know how they feel after the bulling my office staff got yesterday.

I understand the institution has now been threatened to be shut down because of this report.

When will the solicitor general tame this organization, which is obviously out of control, and fire—

[The Speaker]

The hon. solicitor general.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, if I was to fire everyone that my hon. colleague across the floor wanted me to fire, I would be busy doing a lot of firing.

The fact is we have an excellent correctional system in this country that is renowned. Many countries around the world come to Canada to learn how to run a proper correctional service. We do studies to make sure that there is a good relationship between staff and management in our institutions.