Debates of June 2nd, 2000

Fisheries

[Lawrence O'Brien, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, the answer is quite simple. The paramount issue with DFO is conservation. We look at it from a scientific point of view and make changes accordingly. We made a positive change this time. If the stocks show a significant difference in biomass another year, it will be reflected under the conservation rules, as it applies to all fisheries.

Homelessness

[Mac Harb, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, some time ago the Minister of Labour responsible for homelessness delivered a statement on behalf of the government committing $753 million to fight homelessness. Can she give us an update today in terms of what has happened on that file?

[Judi Longfield, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Labour]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform the House that earlier today the Minister of Labour, the federal co-ordinator on homelessness, announced specific allocations for the supporting communities partnerships initiatives fund. Almost $305 million has been allocated to communities across the country so that our community partners can develop their own specific plans to make certain that everybody has a bed to sleep in.

I know the member for Ottawa Centre would be particularly pleased to know that $17 million has been allocated to the Ottawa-Carleton area.

The Debt

[Ken Epp, Reform, Elk Island, AB]

Mr. Speaker, since this government took office in 1993 it has added about $80 billion to our federal debt. To pay off that $580 billion mortgage would require payments of about $50 billion a year for 25 years. That is $3,300 from every taxpayer in the country every year and until the Minister of Finance is 85 years old.

When will the government finally give Canadians a tangible and workable debt reduction plan?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we are one of the very few government's that is reducing its debt. The debt to GDP ratio was 71% when we took office. It is now 61%. That is the strongest drop in the debt to GDP ratio of any industrial country. In four years it will be down to below 58% and it will keep going down. We are the only G-7 country that can say that.

Democratic Republic Of The Congo

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in January, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said, in his speech to the security council on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, that the time had come for the international community to assume its responsibility through a UN operation.

Will the minister act on his words and say yes to Étienne Tshisekedi, the prominent leader of the Congolese opposition, who came to Ottawa this week to plead for rapid intervention by the UN in the Congo?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

More specifically, Mr. Speaker, I met with the secretary general of the United Nations yesterday where we talked about the various options for Canadian peacekeeping. In this case he explained that in the Congo right now they do have offers for a full complement of peacekeeping troops at this particular time.

Therefore, rather than listening to the leader of the opposition, I am going directly to the source, to the person who makes the decision, the secretary general of the United Nations.

Gasoline Pricing

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, as we all know, the price of gas is going up every week. Every morning, the big oil companies phone each other and talk to each other, as evidenced by the prices on the market.

As oil and gas come under provincial jurisdiction, could the Minister of Industry contact his provincial counterparts and come to an agreement to put a stop to these ridiculous prices?

Canadians are fed up with this situation. Will the Minister of Industry show leadership for the benefit of Canadians regarding this issue?

[John Cannis, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad the member clearly pointed out whose responsibility it is in terms of pricing, that being provincial. He can speak to his premier.

This minister and this government has taken on that responsibility. The Conference Board of Canada is undertaking a very extensive study as a result of the 47 Liberal members who spearheaded this effort to bring this file where it is today.

Chst

[Loyola Hearn, Progressive Conservative, St. John's West, NL]

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

Since the government came into power in 1993 the CHST funding formula has been based on per capita rather than need.

When will the minister readjust the formula to take into account those provinces with a declining population? This applies especially to Newfoundland and Labrador where we have a rapidly declining yet aging population. We have lost $750 million over the last five years in transfer payments. Where is the just society?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I know that I speak for all of us on this side of the House when I congratulate the member on his first question here in the House of Commons.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

[Paul Martin, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, may I say that it is a good question and I hope he will continue in that vein.

On health care and education, a per capita basis is the historic way in which those transfers have always been made to the provinces. The compensation, as the hon. member will know, is made through the equalization program, a program that when this government was forced to make cuts did not cut in any way, shape or form. In fact next year it will be at an all time high.

Canadian Culture

[John Harvard, Liberal, Charleswood—Assiniboine, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

Yesterday a former premier of the province of Quebec said that Canadian culture is “an invention but not a credible invention”.

I am wondering whether the minister would care to comment on a cultural that allegedly does not exist.

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to receive the question from the hon. member for Charleswood St. James—Assiniboia. We can take one example, the centre of Canada, Winnipeg.

In Winnipeg alone we have heard of Carol Shields, Henri Bergeron, l'hôte des Beaux Dimanches , the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Winnipeg Ballet, the French festival.

There is also the Festival des Voyageurs, not to mention the Cercle Molière.

What I think is important to Mr. Parizeau is that he should either take his blinkers off or he should stick to boiling lobsters.

Acoa

[Charlie Penson, Reform, Peace River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it seems that the Conservative provincial government in New Brunswick is dragging its feet over approving projects under the federal provincial agreement managed by ACOA. It seems that government actually wants to do an assessment of those programs before it writes the cheque. This has upset the federal Liberal MPs in the area because they know an election could be called shortly, before they can hand over the cheque and have their photo-op.

Will the minister responsible for ACOA call upon his Atlantic caucus to stop this blatant political interference into provincial-federal projects approved by ACOA?

[George Baker, Liberal, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Secretary of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency)]

Mr. Speaker, I now think he is stuck on the 19th hole. The information is not correct. It is like the last allegation made by the hon. member's party claiming that Salter Street Films, which produces This Hour Has 22 Minutes , received a grant.

On behalf of Marg Delahunty, I want to point out that was not a grant. It was a loan and it is being repaid in full. Without This Hour Has 22 Minutes we would lose the opportunity of seeing the leader of the hon. member's party and the leader of the NDP in bed together.

Regional Development

[Ghislain Fournier, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there has been so much scandal linked to people in the Prime Minister's riding who are close to him—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker]

Order, please. The hon. member may begin his question again.

[Ghislain Fournier, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there has been so much scandal linked to people in the Prime Minister's riding who are close to him that the government is penalizing the public by no longer daring to fund projects which do comply with the rules. For instance, this is the case with a project in the riding of Saint-Maurice the Cité de l'énergie.

My question is for the minister responsible for regional development. Can he tell us whether he intends to confirm the promises he has made to the directors of Cité de l'énergie for $800,000 in assistance?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, yes the Canadian government is certainly interested in any project which might benefit Quebec. I can say that discussions are under way and that this matter is under consideration.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

[Wendy Lill, NDP, Dartmouth, NS]

Mr. Speaker, we now know what the Liberal CBC plan really means to local communities.

The new 30 minutes of national news will be slick, well resourced and commercial free, but local news has until next week to cut millions of dollars and hundreds of staff so that they can fit into a 24 minute format with many commercials. Toronto wins again.

Will the government admit that the local news shows are only being kept on life support until after the election, at which time they will be shut down entirely?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary. I think that what came about as a result of the president of the CBC listening to the entreaties of a number of members of parliament, including members of the opposition and the government, was that we have made a decision by way of the board of directors and the president to reinvest and to strengthen regional programming across the country.

Regional programming should include not only the news but also arts, culture and sport. One of the mandates of the CBC, which I am very happy that Mr. Rabinovitch said he was going to explore, was the operation of regional cultural production centres across the country. Not all productions should be done in Toronto, and I think that was the gist of his message.

Fisheries

[Loyola Hearn, Progressive Conservative, St. John's West, NL]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.

In 1992 we saw the complete collapse of groundfish stocks in Atlantic Canada, in particular in Newfoundland. The main cause of this was a lack of scientific knowledge about stocks.

We now see the same signs occurring in the shellfish stocks. When will the government take this problem seriously and put adequate funding into the scientific research branch of DFO so that decisions can be made on scientific knowledge, not guesswork?