Debates of June 8th, 2000

Parental Leave

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the program has been in existence a long time. At the end of the year, on December 31, we will extend the period from six months to a year. The program was announced in the February budget. It is an extension of the program we had before, which had served the citizens of Canada well.

If the Government of Quebec has other social problems to resolve and has the money to do so, so much the better. Our program has been around for a long time, and, obviously, if it is a program the Bloc Quebecois wants to advance—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Laurier—Sainte-Marie.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the problem is that 58% of women and young people are excluded from his plan. Self-employed workers are not covered by it either.

Instead of starting another fight, this time on the backs of families, why does he always dig in his heels with the Government of Quebec, which is trying many different ways to create an environment favourable to young families? Why not negotiate in good faith rather than insist on hogging the spotlight to the detriment of young people and young families, in particular?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, for a number of years, we offered to discuss this with them. Funny that they discover this problem after our program was announced. During the two years before, their concerns were different.

If they are concerned about the people the Bloc Quebecois leader mentions, they should look after them, and we will continue with the better program we have been developing for many years.

[Caroline St-Hilaire, Bloc, Longueuil, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the first chance he gets, the self-proclaimed champion of compassion finds nothing more to say to Quebec families than that there is no question of engaging in discussions with Quebec to facilitate implementation of the Quebec parental leave program.

Can the Prime Minister not understand that, unless he takes a significant step in favour of parental leave, all his fine words about compassion are nothing more than empty electioneering?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, they are more than just fine words to those who will be getting the parental leave.

Starting December 31, 2000, parents will be getting 12 months instead of 6. I believe this is a program which demonstrates very clearly this party's compassion for people who want to add to their family.

[Caroline St-Hilaire, Bloc, Longueuil, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I invite the Prime Minister to set aside his usual knee-jerk responses and to look at what the two governments can do to reach agreement.

Is the Prime Minister prepared to open up his mind a little to these new realities, which are intended to provide young families with complete access to parental leave, and will he commit to working with Quebec in order to finally settle this matter?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, if the Government of Quebec claims that there are problems that need addressing, let it address them. We have put a considerable amount of money into parental leave for people. Everyone felt this was a good thing.

Quebec only saw that there was a problem after our program was announced, and now they are suddenly trying to improve what they did not want to see improved before budget 2000.

The Environment

[Dennis Gruending, NDP, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of the Environment was asked why his government failed to table an annual report on Canada's water supply, as required by law since 1996.

Lo and behold, this morning he did table reports for 1997 and 1998, but we are still waiting for reports for the last two years.

Will the minister tell us why the first two reports were kept from this House and the public until today? Will he tell us when his government will provide the reports that are overdue for the last two years?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for drawing attention to the fact that 20 hours after the request from his party leader I did table the two documents in the House for 1996-97 and 1997-98. I hope he has had an opportunity to look at them.

The other reports will be tabled in the House when the material is ready, when they have been checked and when they have been translated. I should add for his information that this does involve a lot of consultation with the provinces.

[Dennis Gruending, NDP, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Mr. Speaker, it is three years too late on the tabling, but it is not just about delayed water reports, it is also about delayed action.

The Prime Minister wants action to protect Canadians' drinking water, but the Minister of the Environment says it is not his job. He is wrong.

The Canadian Environmental Protection Act gives him explicit powers to ensure that toxics like the E. coli at Walkerton are not released into the water supply. This can be found at page 39, section 64, and at page 68, section 94, if he would like to look.

He can issue an order today to protect the health of Canadians. When will he sign the order?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, part II of the act to which the hon. member refers is an area on which we are working with the provinces. The large part of the actual subject area falls under provincial jurisdiction.

We have to recognize that there are provinces that have jurisdiction established by the constitution and we respect that constitution.

I would ask him why it is that in an area on which we are working with the provinces, that is, on the accord and on the transfer of water from one water basin to another, all three NDP provinces have failed to come on board with the other nine jurisdictions.

Firearms Act

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

Mr. Speaker, given that to date over $350 million has been pumped into the government's ineffective and expensive bureaucratic gun registry scheme, with estimates reaching $1 billion by completion, it is disheartening to hear that the government has now spent additional resources on a nationwide campaign in the hopes of getting up the dismal registration numbers.

Could the minister please inform the House just how much money has been spent on this desperate ad campaign to cajole compliance, and is this new money that is being put into this scheme?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, yet again the hon. member just does not get it. Gun control is about public safety. In fact, when we look at gun control, at what our licensing and registration program is doing, we are keeping guns out of the hands of those who should not have them. We are saving lives in this country.

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

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to resources, it is our policing agencies that just do not get it.

No one in this House is opposed to gun control. It is the registry scheme. It is an important nuance.

There is an openly expensive and discriminatory practice involving this registration scheme. It is a cash grab. It is meant to prevent criminals from attempting crime, but they are not going to participate in this registry.

This system has already failed in the United Kingdom. The overall violent crime rates have increased 2.2% since putting it in place. Muggings have increased 19%.

Will the minister listen to Canadians and listen to the provinces that oppose this registry scheme? Will she stop wasting money on an ineffective gun registry?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, we are in fact listening to Canadians. In poll after poll support for gun control, licensing and registration continues to grow. Canadians want their families and communities to be safe. That is what this side of the House is committed to.

Human Resources Development

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

Mr. Speaker, today we learned that over 40,000 Canadians have asked to see their own personal files from the big brother database. Canada's information commissioner charges that HRDC has started to delay access requests.

Over 40,000 Canadians have played by the rules and have put in their access requests. They expect the minister to play by the rules, too. Will she come clean with the information within 30 days, as required by law?

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, as we know, the database is being dismantled. In the meantime, we have received many requests for people's personal information. Indeed, the privacy commissioner said that the measures outlined by the minister balanced Canadians' right to privacy and the government's need to information on which to base policy decisions.

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

Mr. Speaker, a lot of these 40,000 citizens will want to know for one thing about whether their government file includes their bank account number. Just this week HRDC sneaked into someone's bank account and ripped off thousands of dollars. People are getting nervous about how much Liberal big brother can really control their lives.

Will the government be honest and forthcoming in response to the 40,000 access requests? I ask again—

[The Speaker]

Order, please. Colleagues, on both sides, it is not a question of honesty. I think that word should be used sparingly.

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite refers to an unfortunate circumstance that happened around a bank account.

I want to assure the member and the House that the situation has been corrected. Both verbal and written apologies have been given to this family and the family has accepted our apologies.

Nonetheless, the minister takes the situation very seriously and has asked our officials to ensure that such a situation never arises again.

Parental Leave

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, if the Government of Quebec clearly identified the whole problem of parental leave, and if the negotiations broke down, it was because the federal government refuses to look at the full scope of the existing problem.

Will the Prime Minister not admit that assistance to young parents has much more to do with family policy and that he would therefore be much better advised to go along with Quebec's program than work from the EI program?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have been using the EI program for years.

A few years ago, we agreed to hold talks with the Government of Quebec, which wanted to change things at the time, and we were unable to reach an agreement with it.

We therefore had to make some decisions; the time had come for us to do so. In the last throne speech, we addressed this issue and we followed through in the budget. The program, which extends the period from six months to twelve, will take effect on December 31 of this year. If the Government of Quebec—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Roberval.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, however interesting any program the Prime Minister might offer young parents might be, he must understand that he is about to treat them as though they were workers who had lost their job, by requiring a waiting period and excluding at least 50% of young families because they are not eligible for EI.

I appeal to his common sense and ask him to be a bit more open-minded. Could he not temporarily set aside his unending wish to pick a fight, take a more open-minded approach, give families a break and go along with Quebec's program? That is what we are asking him to do.