House of Commons Hansard #103 of the 36th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was transport.
Charlie Penson Reform Peace River, AB
Mr. Speaker, I guess the Liberals were not in power in 1998. The minister sounds like a bit of a duffer—
Atlantic Canada Opportunities AgencyOral Question Period
The Speaker
Order, please. The hon. member for Peace River may begin his question.
Charlie Penson Reform Peace River, AB
Someone asked me if it was doofus, but it was duffer that I said. Not only is the Atlantic Canada overblown agency a waste of taxpayer dollars, the program simply does not work.
For the $1.2 million that ACOA and HRDC spent on the golf course project, the long term benefit will be the equivalent of five full time jobs at the golf course. That works out to $240,000 per job.
When will the minister discontinue this kind of spending? How can he possibly justify spending of this kind on golf courses?
Atlantic Canada Opportunities AgencyOral Question Period
Gander—Grand Falls Newfoundland & Labrador
Liberal
George Baker LiberalMinister of Veterans Affairs and Secretary of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency)
Mr. Speaker, let me clarify for the hon. gentleman how golf courses have been funded in eastern Canada in the Atlantic provinces.
They have been funded by federal-provincial agreements for such things as the infrastructure program, being one-third municipal, one-third provincial and one-third federal. The point is that the money in Atlantic Canada came through ACOA. It was the agency that delivered on behalf of the three governments. That is where the confusion exists. ACOA does not fund golf courses.
Hélène Alarie Bloc Louis-Hébert, QC
Mr. Speaker, in his report tabled today, the commissioner of the environment deplores the federal government's approach to biosafety and more specifically to GMOs.
In black and white, the report states that the final bargaining position, in both Cartagena and Montreal, strongly reflected Canada's commercial concerns.
Does the Minister of the Environment intend to ratify the protocol on biosafety, which is currently being discussed, in order to put human health and the environment ahead of commercial concerns? Will he sign the protocol?
David Anderson LiberalMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her question.
It is true that there is a difficulty facing many countries in the world, in fact all trading nations, in making sure that environmental considerations are taken fully into account when economic decisions on trade are made.
Nevertheless, in Montreal in January we managed to agree to the Cartagena protocol on biodiversity. We think that provides a real opportunity for all the nations of the world under the United Nations to move successfully to reconcile these difficulties.
John Bryden Liberal Wentworth—Burlington, ON
Mr. Speaker, the access to information commissioner tabled a report today in which he expressed concern about the time it takes the Department of Citizenship and Immigration to process access to information requests.
Can the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration tell the House what she plans to do to address the commissioner's concerns?
Elinor Caplan LiberalMinister of Citizenship and Immigration
Mr. Speaker, the information commissioner actually acknowledged the excellent progress that citizenship and immigration has made in meeting the requirements.
Last year we were at 51% and this year we are at 75%. We are hoping to improve that record so that we can join the privy council office and Health Canada, which both received an A this year with 95%.
I want to point out one thing. When I went to high school 75% was an A . While we have to do better to achieve the 95% required by the information commissioner to get his A , we are making progress and we do want to do better.
John Reynolds Reform West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast, BC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the minister in charge of ACOA.
He said they did not fund one penny for a golf course in his first answer. In his second answer he said that golf course funding is one-third municipal, one-third provincial and one-third federal. If ACOA did not fund it, where did the one-third federal money come from?
George Baker LiberalMinister of Veterans Affairs and Secretary of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency)
Mr. Speaker, the infrastructure program was a national program. It gave funds right across the country on the same principle: one-third federal, one-third provincial and one-third municipal.
However, in the case of Atlantic Canada the funds were delivered through ACOA on behalf of the federal government. The funds did not come from the ACOA budget. ACOA does not fund golf courses.
John Reynolds Reform West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast, BC
Mr. Speaker, I hope the minister can play golf better than he can answer this question.
Could the minister explain? He talks about one-third, one-third, one-third. We understand that one-third came from the federal government. The federal government is the taxpayer.
Will the minister agree that one-third of the funding for a golf course in his riding came from the taxpayers of Canada?
George Baker LiberalMinister of Veterans Affairs and Secretary of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency)
Mr. Speaker, I would suggest that the research work from the official opposition be improved.
The last time the hon. member asked a question on ACOA it was alleged that ACOA gave grants to big corporations like Global and IBM. After we checked we found out that the so-called grant to Global was for studio time and the IBM grant was $29.40 for a floppy disk. Their research work is a flop.
Dennis Gruending NDP Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK
Mr. Speaker, today's report from the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development exposed the government's failure to deliver on a range of environmental promises.
For example, the commissioner says that the government and the provinces have been talking about smog reduction for 10 years, but that virtually nothing has been done. This deadly smog kills an estimated 5,000 Canadians every year.
Last week the minister did begin to play catch up, but the government has been in power for seven years. What has taken so long and how does the minister explain this lack of leadership?
David Anderson LiberalMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, once more one of these questions from the NDP, which is stuck in the past.
I outlined to the House very recently the steps that are being taken on smog. This requires international action with the Americans on the ozone annex. It requires co-operation with the provinces, including the three provinces which have NDP governments, on Canada-wide standards for things like benzene, mercury, ozone, as well as particulate matter and others.
We then have domestic Canadian actions, which the Minister of Health and I are undertaking under the new CEPA which came into effect April 1.
Dennis Gruending NDP Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK
Mr. Speaker, it was the environment commissioner himself who said this morning that we need leadership, not more talk.
The government has promised to lead by example, but today's report shows that government departments do not even know how much water they use, how much electricity they use or how much waste they produce.
How can the government set targets for the efficient use of water and electricity or greenhouse gas reductions if it does not even have this basic information about itself? How can Canadians trust the government to clean up their environment when it cannot even begin to manage its own?
David Anderson LiberalMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should know this is question period and when he asks a question and gets words he should not complain about hearing talk. That seems to be ridiculous.
With respect to the programs we are putting in place, I trust the NDP will support us and make sure the provincial governments which are controlled by the NDP similarly support us because, as the commissioner made clear, it is the failure of the provinces to proceed which is at the core of our problem.
Norman E. Doyle Progressive Conservative St. John's East, NL
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport.
A short while ago I asked the minister for an indefinite rate freeze on the ferry run from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland and the minister scoffed at the idea. Even though this ferry route is essentially part of the Trans-Canada Highway, the cost of travel on it is much higher than an equivalent trip by road.
Given the importance of the ferry link to the future development of Newfoundland, and given that P.E.I. now has a fixed link, why can we not have our fixed rate?
David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, I might remind the hon. member that there has been no increase for three years. Recently on a trip to St. John's I said that we had no intention of increasing the tariffs this year.
Norman E. Doyle Progressive Conservative St. John's East, NL
Mr. Speaker, I asked the minister about freezing the rate.
Given that he continues to evade that answer, let me try him on this one. Quite often the threat of a strike by workers disrupts tourists headed for Newfoundland. Given the importance of this ferry link to the economy of Newfoundland, would the minister consider having that service declared an essential service with no strikes facing the travelling public and some form of binding arbitration for the workers?
David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, these are questions that really should be addressed to my colleague, the Minister of Labour.
However, there are ongoing discussions and some disagreements among the workforce as the result of the temporary ferry, the Max Mols , coming into service this summer. I hope that the collective agreements will be used to settle those particular disputes.
I might say that this government delivered on extra ferry capacity for the gulf service this summer. We are going to give Newfoundlanders the best service they have ever had. There will be no more rotting vegetables, no more rotting meat, no more stranded passengers. There will be first class service for a first class travelling public.
Lou Sekora Liberal Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration inform the House as to the status of the criminal prosecution of the nine people accused of people smuggling with the boat arrivals off the coast of British Columbia last summer?
Elinor Caplan LiberalMinister of Citizenship and Immigration
Mr. Speaker, people smuggling is an international issue and every country of the world that cares as Canada does about both trafficking and smuggling is taking action to address this matter.
At the present time there are charges before Canadian courts and, while I cannot speak to the individual cases, what I can tell the member is that it is the intention of this government to prosecute to the full extent of the law so that we can send the strongest possible message to those who would traffic in human lives and smuggle people around this world. That is our policy.
Ted White Reform North Vancouver, BC
Mr. Speaker, on March 17 CSIS released a southeast Asian security report written by Professor Peter Chalk of Queensland University in Australia. That report identifies the Federation of Associations of Canadian Tamils as one of the most active and vital fundraising bodies for the Tamil Tigers.
When the finance minister said yesterday that he likes to celebrate the cultural heritage of such groups, what exactly does he mean; that Tamil Tigers supporters wearing combat fatigues and carrying replica assault rifles in a Toronto elementary school, as pictured in today's National Post , is the sort of thing Canadians should celebrate?
Cultural HeritageOral Question Period
The Speaker
Before the minister answers, I find that the question does not relate directly to the duties of the minister. However, I see that he is on his feet. If he wishes to answer he may, but the question is out of order.