Debates of May 18th, 2000

Sandrine's Gift Of Life

[Aileen Carroll, Liberal, Barrie—Simcoe—Bradford, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate you in your role as honorary co-chair for the national Sandrine's Gift of Life organ donation awareness campaign. Among the groups represented at the meeting you held today, were police services, funeral services, media, health services and fire chiefs.

Sandrine's Gift of Life is an awareness campaign launched by a family who donated a young girl's organs a year ago after a tragic school bus accident.

Canada has one of the lowest donor rates in the industrialized world. More than 3,500 Canadians are waiting for transplants and 150 people will die on that waiting list. These facts tell why co-operation in these organizations is so critical.

The campaign message “Talk to your family about organ donation. Someone's life depends on it” emphasizes the key role of communication, as almost half of families refuse consent for donation, often not aware of their loved one's wishes.

I also want to thank those MPs who have helped to spread awareness of this campaign to their constituents.

Esther Bryan

[Bob Kilger, Liberal, Stormont—Dundas, ON]

Mr. Speaker, artist Esther Bryan, a resident of my riding of Stormont—Dundas—Charlottenburgh, with the help of hundreds of volunteers and participants from across Canada, is bringing to life an immense textile artwork entitled, “Invitation”, a reflection of Canada's cultural fabric and history.

All ethnocultural groups, Inuit and first nations communities within Canada are each contributing a handmade textile block of traditional materials and designs symbolizing their unique contributions to our Canadian identity. This quilt of belonging is a work in progress. Many completed blocks will be on display at five o'clock this afternoon in the Centre Block Hall of Honour.

I invite all members of parliament to join the Canadian Ethnocultural Council and the Board of the Invitation Quilt to participate in the national launch of this project.

A special congratulations to artist Esther Bryan for her vision and commitment to this very special millennium project.

Vimy Ridge

[Peter Goldring, Reform, Edmonton East, AB]

Mr. Speaker, today its majestic white spires are basking in the sun and gentle breezes. The tranquillity of Vimy Ridge supremely contrasts the terror of old when 100,000 Canadians moved forth in a hell of inhumanity testing their mettle and mortality of soul.

They advanced on unconquerable Vimy. Canada's finest young men won the contest that day. A victory for all the world to see.

Today the monument that honours Canada's great war soldiers decays. Vimy shamefully succumbs to the ravages of neglect. This superb memorial to our veterans and war dead must not crumble and slip to the plains below. Vimy must not be allowed to fade to dust. We must keep the will to preserve this majestic torch and to keep it lit for all time as a reminder of Canada's true price of peace this century past, 100,000 war dead.

Prime Minister

[Mark Assad, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to quote a letter from Senator De Bané on the article he co-authored with the John Sigler, a professor from Carlton University, on the Prime Minister's trip to the Middle East.

The Ambassador of Lebanon, the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps writes:

Your article gave a considered and balanced view of this successful trip which was contrary to how it was portrayed by the Canadian media and some members of the Canadian Parliament.

In a recent de-briefing regarding the trip, the heads of missions to those Arab countries visited by the Prime Minister expressed their deep satisfaction at the success of the trip.

The warmth displayed by the various heads of state and governments toward the Prime Minister, which I witnessed during his visit to Lebanon, demonstrated their deep respect for the Prime Minister, as well as the great admiration and sincere friendship that the people of the region hold for Canada and Canadians.

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Vancouver East.

Co-Operative Housing Federation Of Canada

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today 800 delegates from the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada are meeting in Ottawa. They are discussing urgent issues, including the unthinkable but very real possibility of the economic eviction of low income co-op owners, because of CMHC's failure to provide fair and reasonable help to co-ops that are facing complete building failure due to poor construction and leaky co-op syndrome.

About 30 co-ops in B.C. alone are facing their demise because of this serious situation. While the B.C. government's home protection office has helped, so far the response from CMHC has been appalling.

Is the minister responsible for CMHC aware that officials have not even responded to urgent calls to meet with representatives from CHF to discuss this disastrous situation?

I implore the minister to urge his officials to come to the table immediately to help these co-op owners who are facing economic eviction and building failure.

International Museums' Day

[Pierre De Savoye, Bloc, Portneuf, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on this International Museums' Day, I wish to draw attention to the unique role our museums play in the cultural landscape of Quebec and of Canada.

Museums put the public in contact with fine arts, with technical and technological development, with folk tradition and with history. The museums of Quebec and of Canada are without rival as windows opening onto cultures and civilizations.

Museums play a key cultural role. They also play a social role, one that has been aptly described by Roland Arpin of the Musée de la civilisation du Québec. According to him, museums are mediators between art, history and science, and their visitors, and as such they contribute to the development of critical abilities, thus making their own contribution to building a democracy.

In each museum, countless people, some of them working behind the scenes, are contributing their multiple talents to the spread of knowledge, to sharing the experience—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Haliburton—Victoria—Brock.

Tom Long

[John O'Reilly, Liberal, Victoria—Haliburton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to inform the House of a telephone call some members are receiving. It goes something like this, “Hello, you all. I am calling you on behalf of my good buddy, Tom Long. Will you all help my good old buddy Tom to get them Canadian taxes down?”

I asked “Are you calling long distance?” He said “You all, it's a Tom Long call. Tom is one of the good guys and he will save you Canadians from your further misery. He is a really good organizer and he wants to move from the back room to the front room so he can see the porch. He wants you all to support him up there and down here. Charlton will thank you”.

Human Resources Development

[Maud Debien, Bloc, Laval East, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday Quebecers learned to their astonishment that the federal government had created, without their knowledge, files which contain a unique, complete, permanent and virtually invisible record on each individual.

If more than four million deceased persons' records are still on file, it is very possible there are major errors in the information held on an individual by this department, which has demonstrated such total inefficiency in managing the grants it gives out.

The Bloc Quebecois is therefore inviting everyone to check the contents of his or her personal file, by filing a written application under the Access to Information Act with to Human Resources Development Canada, Attention Jean Dupont, Place du Portage, Hull.

Consecutive Sentencing

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

Mr. Speaker, it has been almost one year since the House passed the bill empowering judges to impose consecutive parole ineligibility periods on multiple and serial killers. Bill C-247 was introduced by the member for Mississauga East and was supported by members of all parties, including her own.

The PC Party unequivocally reaffirmed support for the principles of consecutive sentencing and its opposition to section 745, the faint hope clause, last weekend at our policy convention. Joining us in Quebec City were Gary and Sharon Rosenfeldt, whose son Daryn was Clifford Olson's third murder victim. This reminded us of the importance of this bill; when remembering Daryn as the third victim, the current system did not count him in the sentencing calculation.

During last year's debate, Carolyn Solomon, whose son Kevin was the second of three victims murdered by a federal parolee, also told me she felt her son did not matter to the justice system.

The PC Party calls on the government to stop stalling the progress of this bill, respect the will of the House and let it proceed to the Senate justice committee to give victims further say in the debate.

Book Drive For Iqaluit School

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in early February the principal of a school in Iqaluit, Nunavut, sent a letter to the editor of an Ottawa daily newspaper describing the urgent need of books for his school.

After speaking to him, and to my colleague from Nunavut, we launched a book drive with hopes of collecting 100 or 200 boxes. To our surprise, we ended up with more than 1,000 boxes, in excess of 25,000 books.

I would like to thank everyone in the region who contributed, particularly one young lady, Catherine French, who collected over 2,000 all by herself.

I would like to thank the people of Mattawa, the village where I was born, the people at F.J. McGellight Secondary School, St. Victor's and St. Anne's schools and the municipal library, for contributing more than 200 boxes of books.

I also wish to thank Susan Scullion of my colleague from Nunavut's office, and Suzanne Demers of my own, without whom this project could not have been the success that it was.

Export Development Corporation

[Deepak Obhrai, Reform, Calgary East, AB]

Mr. Speaker, today's response by the trade minister to the review of the Export Development Act represents nothing less than a lost opportunity for the government to tackle issues of transparency, accountability, competition with the private sector and the politicization of EDC's lending practices.

As a federal crown corporation, the EDC must be prepared for a certain level of transparency and accountability to the Canadian taxpayer. The EDC must not compete directly with the private sector and must operate within the tested and recognized international environmental framework of the World Bank.

Finally, the EDC must not be used as a political tool for this government to provide jobs and financial rewards to its friends. This response reveals who is really pulling the strings of this minister and the department.

What the EDC wants the EDC gets.

This minister chose to take his marching orders from the EDC rather than the elected representatives or the Canadian taxpayer.

Human Resources Development

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the privacy commissioner has warned us that the HRD minister is collecting detailed private information on each and every Canadian.

The minister's own security audit warns that “a formal national information technology security awareness program has not been established at HRD”.

It is bad enough that such a database exists in the first place, but why is the minister not concerned that it might fall into the wrong hands?

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, as she was doing yesterday, the hon. member is mixing apples and oranges. She speaks about an audit in my department and that had to do with general information technology systems in the Department of Human Resources Development.

In the context of what the privacy commissioner is looking at, it is a stand alone system that is highly controlled. There is limited access and the information is secure.

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I thought HRD grants were highly secure too. Not even dead Canadians can be out of the clutches of this minister's database. Mr. Speaker, once you are on that list you cannot get off.

The privacy commissioner is worried about it and he still is, even though that came out in September. He said, “So much personal data on almost every person in Canada poses significant risks to our privacy”. The fact that so much sensitive information is in the hands of a minister who cannot even seem to balance a chequebook is downright scary.

At which point did the government decide to ignore the rights of Canadians' privacy?

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is wrong again. In fact as one of the things that we did in response to the request of the privacy commissioner, we have curtailed the amount of time for which the data is managed.

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the privacy commissioner has been on TV the last day or two with serious concerns about this. Here is something out of the audit: “One administrator told the internal audit branch that the main method of finding out about changes to an employee's status or access rights is at the employee's going away party”.

Canadians want to know why a minister who bungled a billion of their dollars is now gathering the most private intimate details about their lives. Will we have to wait until the minister's going away party to find out?

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, I want to be very clear that the hon. member is mixing apples and oranges.

In the audit that she is making reference to it was actually identified that our security measures are satisfactory, in fact probably better than we would find in the private sector.

With regard to the issues that are the focus of the privacy commissioner's review, it is a completely separate system. It is stand alone. The access is very limited. All the information is encrypted. It is secure.

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

So, Mr. Speaker, the minister is telling us that security is great in system A but terrible in system B . I do not think so.

Canada's privacy commissioner is warning of HRDC's “extraordinarily detailed database” on everyone in Canada. The privacy commissioner states bluntly, “Canadians should be concerned”. The minister has been shown to be spectacularly unfit to safeguard our money. Why should Canadians want to trust her with the personal details of their private lives?

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, today in committee I addressed this very issue that the hon. member raises. She time and again talks about a billion dollars being missing out of my department for grants and contributions. That is absolutely false.

The audit that we were talking about today at committee on grants and contributions deals with the very important issue of paperwork and administration. I wish the hon. member would actually stand up and for once tell Canadians that she has been wrong all along.

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

Mr. Speaker, it would be easier to do that if the evidence did not keep accumulating that I am right.

The privacy commissioner says his report shows “how far we have to go in the ongoing—

[The Speaker]

Order. I wonder if I could appeal to the hon. member from Hastings—Frontenac to please lower his voice.

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

Mr. Speaker, the privacy commissioner says his report shows “how far we have to go in the ongoing battle to protect the right to a life free of surveillance and intrusion”.

He disclosed that the minister has been quietly accumulating a dossier on everyone and then sharing this private information with groups outside government, all without the permission of citizens.

Why does the minister violate Canadians' privacy without their consent?

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, protection of the privacy and the information of Canadians is fundamental and I will not tolerate any breach of that in my department.

Let us look at where we are at. I quote the privacy commissioner who wrote:

Certainly we are not aware, nor has it been brought to our attention, that the database has ever been compromised or access inappropriately obtained by virtue of deficiencies in security safeguards. For that your department should be commended.