Debates of June 5th, 2000

Canada Information Office

[Ghislain Lebel, Bloc, Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when the Minister of Public Works and Government Services wanders around Quebec, it costs the taxpayers big bucks. For instance, Michèle Tremblay has been receiving $53,500 annually from the department for the past three years to provide communication services.

In addition, Ms. Tremblay's firm receives contracts from the Canada Information Office, the CIO, to organize tours, including drafting speeches.

Will the Minister of Public Works and Government Services explain why he is paying Michèle Tremblay twice for the same services?

[Alfonso Gagliano, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, first, I wish to point out to the member that I have a number of responsibilities: Canada Post Corporation, CMHC, the CIO and the Department of Public Works and Government Services.

Second, all contracts complied with treasury board regulations and were put out to tender.

[Ghislain Lebel, Bloc, Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, will the minister, who is also the chief organizer for the Liberal Party of Canada in Quebec, tell us whether the reasons he paid Michèle Tremblay twice for the same work had to do with his officials' inability to prepare his tours, or was it because the CIO is supposed to pay for strictly partisan communications?

[Alfonso Gagliano, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

No, Mr. Speaker.

I have already explained that the ministerial tour of Quebec is strictly governmental. We meet with municipal representatives, chambers of commerce and community groups for the purpose of discussing Government of Canada programs. While there, we listen to them, so that our programs will reflect public needs.

Human Resources Development

[Jay Hill, Reform, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on November 3, the member for Calgary—Nose Hill asked the HRDC minister about mismanagement of the transitional jobs fund. The minister said:

In terms of the projects...they were managed appropriately. They went through the acceptable review process.

Yet today the minister admitted that she knew about the problems when she was briefed on August 9. Perhaps she did not know about the specific audit, but she clearly knew about the so-called hot issues and yet she kept that information from the House.

In light of the breach of trust with Canadians, will the minister do the honourable thing and resign?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. I ask the hon. member to please withdraw the words breach of trust.

[Jay Hill, Reform, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

I will, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, let us remember what the internal audit was all about. It was not about money. We have shown that the money is clearly invested in programs right across the country, even in the hon. member's riding. What it was about was missing paperwork, important paperwork.

We made it clear to the Canadian public that we had an issue there. We have made it clear to the Canadian public that we have a strategy to fix the problem. If the hon. member would spend more time talking about the results of the work to date, he would be able to say to the Canadian public we believe the government has this thing in hand, because indeed we do.

[Jay Hill, Reform, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the audit was about the government's mishandling and mismanagement of tax dollars. Not only was the minister aware of the hot issues in August. She disregarded it and continued to write cheques for a further $425 million without changing a single procedure.

A responsible minister would have suspended the program until it was accountable, not this minister. She just kept right on trying to buy the votes of Canadians. In light of the fact that the HRDC minister continued to write cheques, will she now do the honourable thing and resign?

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

Mr. Speaker, now we get to the heart of the problem, the problem we have always known to be the truth, that that party does not believe the government has any business working with Canadians from coast to coast to coast to help them with their problems.

Again we see that party wants nothing but tax cuts, but on this side of the House we are prepared to defend, to support and to ensure that we have the administrative structure in place to be sure that we can help Canadians with disabilities, help young people who are having difficulty finding work and Canadians who want to improve their literacy skills. That is what we believe in.

Canada Information Office

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Verchères, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Works and chief organizer of the Liberal Party of Canada in Quebec not only awarded two parallel contracts to Michèle Tremblay to organize his tours to Quebec, but he also awarded a third contract for the same visits, this time to the firm Communications et Stratégie, whose boss, Serge Paquette, is a former candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada.

Could the minister explain to taxpayers how he can pay friends of the Liberal Party three times to organize his visits to Quebec?

[Alfonso Gagliano, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, it is clear that Bloc Quebecois members are getting nervous about our ministerial tours.

I want to share with the House what I read in L'information du Nord of November 20, 1999:

Municipal authorities, officials from the chamber of commerce and the economic development centre, representatives of the senior citizens group, all enjoyed this meeting of about one hour with Mrs. Robillard, who is on a provincial tour. Several future projects for Sainte-Agathe were discussed. The minister was informed about our situation, while we learned more about available programs.

The comments of the mayor of Sainte-Agathe—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Ottawa Centre.

Infrastructure

[Mac Harb, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the President of the Treasury Board.

In the Speech from the Throne, the government indicated its intention to invest in infrastructure. Would the minister consider supporting local initiatives, such as convention centres or local bridges, as part of this infrastructure initiative?

[Lucienne Robillard, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, in the near future we will negotiate formally with the provinces on the new infrastructure program for municipalities. It is with the clear support of the Canadian Federation of Municipalities that priority will be given to green infrastructure, but other kinds of projects will be accepted too.

The program will be designed with a bottom up approach so that the needs of the local communities will be answered.

Human Resources Development

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister maintains that she knew nothing about the internal audit until November 17. We now know that her own ministerial staff knew four weeks earlier. That means one of two things: Either the minister has no idea what is happening in her office, or her staff is keeping her out of the loop. Either way, there is only one thing that the minister can admit to and that is that it is time for her to resign.

There is only one thing that Canadians want: A minister who not only knows what is going on in her department but who is in control of what is going on in her department.

How is it possible that a minister with a multibillion dollar budget can be so unconcerned about what happens in her department? Will the minister do the right thing and resign today?

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

Mr. Speaker, did I show I was unconcerned by making the internal audit public? Did I show I was unconcerned by bringing 10,000 pages of documentation to the House to demonstrate where the grants and contributions went and where that money that is so important to us is invested?

Did I show I was unconcerned by asking my department to review 17,000 files to prove that a billion dollars was not missing but that it was a question of paperwork and to show that we can indeed create a new system of administration to support these grants and contributions? I think not.

Devco

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

Mr. Speaker, on Friday, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources said that the government would review the Devco arbitrator's decision carefully so that the government understood its implications.

Will the minister indicate today that the government accepts the binding nature of the decision, that the government will not be appealing the decision and that the government will implement the decision as quickly as possible?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, I said all that on Friday.

[Michelle Dockrill, NDP, Bras D'Or, NS]

Mr. Speaker, after 18 months of uncertainty and suffering, Cape Breton miners have finally had this minister and the government acknowledge that their human resource package was inadequate.

Will the minister tell the House today whether or not the money related to the arbitrator's decision is new money or will it come from money already allocated for Cape Breton?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, we are in the process of precisely determining the financial implications of the arbitrator's decision. I am pleased that process has come to a successful conclusion. To the extent that arbitration award requires incremental funding from the Government of Canada, the Government of Canada will provide it.

Human Resources Development

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister is obviously trying very hard to distract and deflect. We are not talking about simple briefings. We are not talking about the mismanagement of millions of dollars. We are not talking about the entire audit.

I want to ask the minister a very straightforward question, a question that has been asked before. Is she telling Canadians that she had no knowledge, none, of the problems in her department prior to the date of November 17 which she stated in the House?

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

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the question of the internal audit, that comprehensive review of all the programs in my department, I was briefed on November 17.

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

Mr. Speaker, I hope Canadians are watching this spectacle because she has refused to answer a straightforward question. She professes to have respect for the Canadian people, but it is only after an access to information request and she is dragged kicking and screaming to the altar of truth that she comes up with an answer.