Debates of June 8th, 2000

Parental Leave

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I wonder who is picking a fight.

We clearly stated what the government's position was in the throne speech and in the budget. And when we are about to implement the program, suddenly the Government of Quebec wakes up.

If it has money, it can use it to provide assistance to those whom the member for Roberval tells us need it. The provincial government can very legitimately do that.

Terrorism

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday Canadians were horrified to see that a suicide bomber suspected by police of being a member of the Tamil Tigers killed a cabinet minister and 20 bystanders in Sri Lanka.

Ruth Archibald, Canada's senior diplomat in Sri Lanka, confirmed yesterday that the Liberation Tigers are active fundraisers in Canada. The Sri Lankan government also claims that there is ample evidence the Tigers are using Canada as a fundraising base. CSIS and the RCMP have warned that the Tigers have established extensive fundraising bases to finance weapons purchases here in Canada.

What is Canada doing to stop terrorist organizations like the Tamil Tigers from using Canada as a base to raise funds for international terrorism operations?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada and the people of Canada deplore the act of terrorism that claimed 21 lives in Sri Lanka. The government strongly condemns terrorism and any group that uses violence to forward its goals.

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, condemning a terrorist is a good first step but it does not stop the fundraising activities from happening here in Canada.

CSIS, the RCMP, the U.S. state department, the Sri Lankan government and our own diplomats all say that fundraising continues every year and raises a huge amount of dollars that are sent from here to help fund terrorist organizations there.

What is the government doing to stop this fundraising activity so that terrorist activities are not financed with Canadian funds?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out to the hon. member that Canada has been the chair of a successful negotiation to establish an international convention on the suppression of financing terrorist organizations and we have signed that convention. We have taken leadership internationally to ensure that people do not abuse that right.

As a result, we have within the criminal code provisions that enable us, with proper proof, to make those kinds of prosecutions. That is part of what we are doing.

We do not condone in any way those terrorist activities. That is why we took the lead in signing and getting that international convention—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. It is a lot easier to hear the responses if we are not heckling all the time.

Canadian Heritage

[Pierre De Savoye, Bloc, Portneuf, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the CR Bronfman Foundation produced the Heritage Minutes , but the necessary money was provided by the federal government.

My question is for the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Do the role played by the CR Bronfman Foundation and the source of funding not demonstrate that, in fact, the CR Bronfman Foundation is nothing but a frontman for the federal government?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I said yesterday that we should appreciate the fact that, thanks to the Bronfman Foundation, 43 videos were produced celebrating Canadian heroes such as Maurice Richard, La Bolduc and many others. The Government of Canada is very proud to have a partnership with the Bronfman Foundation.

[Pierre De Savoye, Bloc, Portneuf, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in this whole issue, will the Minister of Canadian Heritage come to realize that what is disturbing in the Scully RDI and Heritage Minutes affairs is the hidden role played by the government?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, as I said a few days ago, the member recommended that the Government of Canada logo appear in the Bronfman Minutes, and I welcomed his suggestion.

I will follow up on this to make sure that all Canadians—I believe 23 millions of them have seen the Bronfman Minutes in all Canadian theatres—know that it is the Government of Canada that works in partnership with a great organization. I thank the hon. member for his recommendation.

Terrorism

[Jim Abbott, Reform, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in June 1998, CSIS director Ward Elcock said “there are more international terrorist groups active here than any other country in the world.”

In spite of the piece of paper that the foreign affairs minister was just talking about, these organizations continue to collect money and it is not chicken feed. They tell us it is over $20 million a year.

Rather than just talk, we want to know specifically what the government is doing to shut down the collection of terrorist money in Canada.

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, we are not engaged in talk. We are engaged in a major effort internationally to get an international convention that will require all countries to criminalize the raising of funds for terrorist purposes. That is what Canada is doing.

If we want to talk about rhetoric and—

[The Speaker]

Order, please. I appeal to members. We deserve to hear the answers.

[Jim Abbott, Reform, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Mr. Speaker, let us take a look at some of this.

The Canadian high commissioner in Sri Lanka admitted that the terrorist Tamil Tigers are using front organizations to raise funds in Canada today. The solicitor general, in 1998, however, went to the cabinet to get the laws changed but the person who is currently the fisheries minister said “Oh, I do not think we have a problem with this”.

I want to know specifically what the government is doing. Funds are being raised in Canada for guns, bombs and weapons. What is the government doing?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, first let me clarify that the high commissioner in Sri Lanka said that it was also part of the Canadian law that we would have to have adequate proof in order to lay charges. We do not go around making allegations without making sure that there is proper proof for those allegations.

What we do recognize is that under the convention that we helped negotiate, there may have to be amendments in order to provide for the requirements of that legislation. That is what the government is working on right now.

Let me make it very clear that we have no tolerance for groups that raise money for terrorism. We also have no tolerance for groups that make false allegations.

Cinar

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Verchères, QC]

Mr. Speaker, by the end of the 1997 investigation into CINAR, the RCMP had accumulated enough evidence to support the laying of charges against this production company.

Yesterday we learned that the crown brought in an independent expert to validate this evidence. The person used was none other than the sister-in-law of one of the CINAR vice-presidents. Imagine, Mr. Speaker. If one had wanted to bury the whole case, one would not have acted any differently.

My question is for the Minister of Justice. How can the government explain such indefensible behaviour?

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

Mr. Speaker, obviously this is a matter under current police investigation and therefore I can say very little about it.

I will simply say that in fact additional information came into the possession of the crown prosecutor on June 6 of this year. That information was immediately turned over to the RCMP.

Fisheries And Oceans

[Susan Whelan, Liberal, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on May 4, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans announced $15 million in funding for much needed dredging assistance to dredge marinas and marine access areas devastated by low water levels in the Great Lakes basin.

Can the hon. minister tell the House what has been done since that time to assist Ontario's marinas that have been left high and dry by low water levels?

[Herb Dhaliwal, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the member for Essex for the excellent work that she has done, along with the Ontario caucus.

The government recognizes the difficult problem that marina operators are having in Ontario. That is why the marine operators put their $15 million on the table. The federal government put its $15 million on the table.

We are waiting for the Government of Ontario to come forward and put its $15 million on the table so we can deal with this issue. I wrote to Minister Snobelen to respond urgently because this is a very important issue for the marine operators and for the Ontario economy.

National Defence

[John Reynolds, Reform, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian navy divers are in place to survey, secure, inspect and protect military and other national underwater sites. Navy divers make up a very small component of our armed forces. They are overworked and face demanding and dangerous work hazards.

Can the Minister of National Defence tell the House if cleaning the hull of the commanding officer's private yacht at HMCS Discovery in Vancouver is now part of their regular duties?

[Robert Bertrand, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the commander of the Canadian forces would never put divers' lives in danger. I have taken note of the hon. member's words and will look into the matter.

[John Reynolds, Reform, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the commanding officer at HMCS Discovery not only abused his position, his deck officer also used the same two navy divers to clean the bottom of his 22 foot tub.

Can the minister tell the House what he has in mind for these two abusers who have abused the system and taxpayers' dollars in cleaning a commander and a deck officer's private ship and yacht at the HMCS Discovery ?

[Robert Bertrand, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said, I thank the hon. member for bringing this matter to my attention and I can assure him that we are going to look into it.

Westray Mine

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, today many members of parliament are wearing a lapel pin of a canary in a cage given to them by the United Steelworkers of America for their support over the Westray bill, a bill that the Pollara poll says has the support of 82% of Canadians.

Yesterday, the justice committee tabled its unanimous report calling on government to amend the criminal code so that when corporate greed leads to corporate murder there will be corporate accountability.

In memory of the Westray miners and on behalf of the three Canadians a day who are killed at work, will the minister heed the justice committee and present Bill C-259, the Westray bill, as legislation in this session of parliament?