House of Commons Hansard #109 of the 36th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was taxes.
Paul Crête Bloc Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Mr. Speaker, in preparation for the elections, the Prime Minister seems to be checking out his style and trying to update his look a bit. However, he is becoming entangled in his old habits. We can see this in parental leave.
The Prime Minister is out of touch with the facts of today's labour markets. In fact, the federal parental leave proposal makes no provision for self-employed workers, who nevertheless represent 18% of the labour force.
How will he defend his refusal before these families?
Jean Chrétien LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, it is up to the Government of Quebec with the resources it has to look after those not covered by the federal government program. It is perfectly free to do so. We will not stop it.
The program we proposed was well received by everyone and is funded through employment insurance. As I have said many times, there is nothing to prevent the Government of Quebec from adapting its program to ours.
Paul Crête Bloc Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister claims to be the champion of liberal compassion. While the parental leave proposed by Quebec is based on human values of solidarity and openness, the Prime Minister is refusing to negotiate with Quebec.
Who does the Prime Minister think is going to believe his words of compassion are not empty?
Jean Chrétien LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the parental leave program is an excellent one. If there are other problems with social development policy in Quebec, the government can establish a program to cover those left out.
I think the program we have proposed addresses the problems we wanted to resolve, that is, to give more time to people to adjust to the birth of a child in their family.
Dale Johnston Reform Wetaskiwin, AB
Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary says that she believes in the collective bargaining process. So do we over here. We think that the best deal is a negotiated deal—
Dale Johnston Reform Wetaskiwin, AB
Mr. Speaker, we certainly do think that a negotiated deal is by far the best deal.
I want to ask the parliamentary secretary what will happen if the mediator does not negotiate a deal. Will she guarantee uninterrupted air flights?
Airline IndustryOral Question Period
The Speaker
Order, please. I will let the question proceed even though it is a hypothetical case. I see the parliamentary secretary is on her feet but we should not have hypothetical questions. Put them in another way.
Judi Longfield LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Labour
Mr. Speaker, first I want to congratulate the labour critic on the other side for publicly admitting that he supports the collective bargaining process.
We on this side of the House are not prepared to jeopardize the delicate negotiations that are going on now, with wild speculations and what ifs. We expect the collective bargaining process to work.
Dale Johnston Reform Wetaskiwin, AB
Mr. Speaker, it is hardly wild speculation, there is a deadline looming. I would like to know from the parliamentary secretary what sort of plans the government has in case the negotiations go badly. Does it have a plan to make sure that Canadians are not totally inconvenienced in their flight plans?
Judi Longfield LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Labour
Mr. Speaker, the member opposite points to the obvious difference between that side of the House and this side. On this side of the House we remain very positive. We support the collective bargaining process. We will not speculate, as you are doing. It will—
Airline IndustryOral Question Period
The Speaker
Order, please. I ask members to please address their comments always to the Chair.
Michel Gauthier Bloc Roberval, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Quebecois is continuing its research on the now infamous Canada Information Office, the CIO.
We have found a file in which the behaviour and writings of journalists are analyzed and the media for which they work as well.
How can the Minister of Public Works justify the fact that the Canada Information Office writes the following about CKAC's Paul Arcand: “Mr. Arcand interrupted the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs several times during the interview and seemed to willfully use a somewhat sardonic tone”.
Of what use is that kind of information to the CIO?
Alfonso Gagliano LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, I am sure that my colleague, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, has a great deal of admiration for Paul Arcand, and that he will continue to admire him.
I want to reassure the hon. member—I can see they are running out of material—that what the Canada Information Office does, as any information office does, is a media review, which is made available to the various departments and ministers and which involves analysing comments made by journalists on current political issues.
Michel Gauthier Bloc Roberval, QC
Mr. Speaker, the least that we can say is that their side of the House is not very demanding when it comes to information.
What does the Minister of Public Works have to say about this note on journalist Guy Gendron, which says that “Mr. Gendron has often pointed out the apparent differences of opinion between the minister and the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. He covered the NO campaign during the referendum and he often spoke about the problems encountered by that side”?
Does the Canada Information Office file on journalists include many behavioural assessments such as the ones I just mentioned, and what is the purpose of these notes?
Alfonso Gagliano LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, I am sure that the leader of the Bloc Quebecois in the House gets the same reports. He has a service. Funding is allocated to him by the House for media analysis. I am sure that the hon. member receives that kind of media analysis every morning.
We will continue to get that kind of media analysis to allow all parliamentarians and all departments to do their job.
Canada Information OfficeOral Question Period
An hon. member
This is a compliment to journalists.
Alfonso Gagliano Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
I see that the journalists are all smiles in the gallery, because I think—
Canada Information OfficeOral Question Period
The Speaker
The hon. member for Edmonton—Strathcona.
Rahim Jaffer Reform Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Mr. Speaker, this government is quick to point fingers at the provinces for their handling of the water supply but it neglects to mention that the federal government has water problems of its own.
For years the government has been warned about the dangerous state of water supplies on native reserves. For years the government has been warned about the raw sewage being dumped on Canada's coast lines. These are both federal responsibilities.
Why will this government not take responsibility for its own water problems before it starts blaming the provinces for theirs?
David Anderson LiberalMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, the logic of the hon. member's question is very faulty. First he said that the provinces have certain responsibilities and then he said that we have certain responsibilities. We take full responsibility for our area—
The EnvironmentOral Question Period
The Speaker
Order, please. We will hear the minister's response.
David Anderson Liberal Victoria, BC
Mr. Speaker, the question asked was essentially whether we accept responsibility for areas of water quality under federal jurisdiction. The answer is yes. That has nothing to do with our desire to give the provinces and leave the provinces the responsibility for their areas of jurisdiction.
That party, not that it understands the constitution, should understand that there are certain areas of provincial jurisdiction that we should respect. It does not, but we do.