Debates of Sept. 27th, 2000

Foreign Affairs

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Edmonton North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we do value the high commissioner and the advice that she had. We value the foreign affairs staff who had very serious concerns about this. We value the CSIS experts who certainly know what is going on here.

Why did the finance minister and his friends who went to that supper ignore the value of those warnings?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out what they are doing that is terrible. The member got up and said that there were some innocent people there. She implied that there were some criminals there or people who were not innocent. That is the way to destroy people, when statements of that nature are made. She said some were innocent but perhaps some were not innocent. This is unacceptable. If the member has proof, she has a duty to tell it to the House of Commons.

Employment Insurance

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, women are being doubly penalized by the employment insurance program put in place by this government.

First of all, it is harder for them to qualify and second, the government has decided to tie the parental insurance program to eligibility for employment insurance.

With a view to the coming election, will the Minister of Human Resources Development announce that she is going to correct this injustice toward women?

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

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member pointed out, as a result of our expansion of parental benefits we also looked at the circumstances facing women returning to the workplace having had children. We made changes there. We continue to look at the impact of the amendments made back in 1996. Where there is evidence that we can have an improved system we will make changes.

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, under the positive influence of the pre-election climate, could the minister now announce that her government is going to listen to reason and finally agree to transfer to Quebec the funds earmarked for parental leave, as a broad consensus in Quebec desires?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are extraordinarily proud on this side of the House of the direction of the government and the doubling of parental benefits that will come into effect at the end of this year. We are going to do it within the context of the employment insurance system without raising premiums and in fact, by continuing as referenced in the budget to reduce premiums.

I would point out that the Institute for Research on Public Policy has indicated that the government of Quebec ought to consider the possibility of setting up a program in Quebec that would be independent of and complementary to the Canadian program.

Foreign Affairs

[Gurmant Grewal, Reform, Surrey Central, BC]

Mr. Speaker, various reports indicate that FACT is a front for the Tamil tigers. Would the minister agree, yes or no?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member of all of the members in the opposition ought to understand that this was a celebration. It was a celebration by Canadians who had come together to celebrate their new year. That is the kind of people who were there. The Prime Minister has asked if there are specific allegations against people who were at that meeting then why does the member not say who they are.

Let me simply say that the Leader of the Opposition says that he is the new sheriff in town. It sounds to me like he is trying to organize a lynch mob.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. My colleagues, perhaps you could tone it down a bit. Today is Wednesday. Could you tone it down just a bit now. It is going a bit far.

[Gurmant Grewal, Reform, Surrey Central, BC]

Mr. Speaker, earlier the CSIS director indicated that organizations linked to terrorist activities were given tax free status in Canada. The government, instead of stamping out terrorists, has put terrorists on Canadian stamps.

When so many reports indicate that FACT is a front for the terrorist Tamil tigers, will the minister explain and say straightforward whether theirs are terrorist activities? Yes or no?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I want to point out to the hon. member that Canada took the lead in negotiating an international convention on the financing of terrorism and has signed that convention.

What it will do is set up proper legal procedures to determine how we assess responsibility or blame. We do not use innuendo. We do not use guilt by association. We do not use allegation. We will set up proper legislation that will determine the procedures for making that determination and not this kind of nonsense.

Human Resources Development

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, do members recall Placeteco, that corporation in which a friend of the Prime Minister received $1.2 million from the Minister of Human Resources Development, who swore up and down that she had given out this subsidy on the basis of invoices presented?

We got the invoices in the end and we had a look at them. Today I ask the minister how she can justify paying out $1.2 million to a friend of the Prime Minister on the basis of invoices that were dated between 12 and 15 months previously, that is even before he decided to buy Placeteco?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member will know from reading the same media reports that I read that this file is under investigation. As such it is inappropriate for me to make further comment.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, she has just admitted that it is under investigation and that is excellent.

I would ask her, as the minister who paid out $420,000 in subsidies on the strength of an invoice marked “replacement invoice for missing invoices”—a subsidy in the amount of $420,000 paid out on the basis of such an invoice—if she can justify her remarks here in the House to the effect that she properly administered people's money by giving out a subsidy on the strength of real invoices.

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

Mr. Speaker, media reports have indicated that this file is under investigation. As I said, I will not comment further at this time.

Dangerous Offenders

[Randy White, Reform, Langley—Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Christopher Dawson was convicted of 15 counts of sexual assault against minor boys. Christopher Dawson has been one of the few designated in Canada as a dangerous sex offender.

I ask the solicitor general why did Christopher Dawson, a dangerous sex offender, receive a passport while in the care and custody of Correctional Service Canada?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, if my hon. colleague had any desire to have an answer to a question like that, he would have given me prior notice.

[Randy White, Reform, Langley—Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, as if that would make a difference. As it happens, I wrote the solicitor general and I have his response dated May 3 in my hand.

The solicitor general said in his letter that it was not against the law to give a dangerous sex offender a passport and that it was not his problem because it came from the foreign affairs minister.

I would like to ask the foreign affairs minister why is it that we gave a Canadian passport to a designated dangerous sex offender while he was incarcerated in a federal penitentiary?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, there are proper international procedures. When we have treaties and agreements with other countries in terms of extradition matters, we have to carry them out according to the rules that are set and the proper relations between countries.

That is simply the way that good relations are maintained with other countries, something the opposition would not understand.

Human Resources Development Canada

[Jean-Paul Marchand, Bloc, Québec East, QC]

Mr. Speaker, a few months ago, Human Resources Development Canada officials encouraged the establishment of a co-operative in my riding.

A few weeks later they withdrew their support by mistake and in so doing risked forcing the 21 workers of the Confection haut de gamme industrielle de Québec co-operative into unemployment, indeed into drawing social assistance.

Since I asked the minister about this last week and she assured me that she would look into the file of these 21 workers, who are watching and who risk losing their jobs, and given the urgency of the situation, could the minister tell them what she has decided?

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

Yes, I can, Mr. Speaker. Officials have carefully reviewed this file and the record shows that the sponsor did not wait for approval before proceeding with this project. In fact, equipment and space were rented, employees were chosen and were being trained as early as January 2000.

This would suggest that the Canada jobs fund is not applicable. However, I would say, as we have said to the employer, that there may be other programs that can support this undertaking in recognition of the growing concern. They have yet to come forward and ask to sit down and talk about these opportunities. I suggest the hon. member encourage them to do so.

Employment Insurance

[Charles Hubbard, Liberal, Miramichi, NB]

Mr. Speaker, this week the hon. member for Calgary—Nose Hill made some remarks in the House about seasonal workers, about 600,000 Canadians who are affected by EI and seasonal employment, such as people in the forestry, fisheries, agriculture and tourism sectors.

I know the hon. member may be able to live on about 50% of the minimum wage or about $3 an hour in her good place in Calgary, but I would ask the minister of HRDC to give her comments in terms of seasonal workers and how our government hopes to help them out in this very difficult situation.

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

Mr. Speaker, there are two things I know for sure. First, the member of parliament from the Miramichi understands the realities facing seasonal workers and has made representations on their behalf in a very effective way.

Second, the member for Calgary—Nose Hill is completely out of touch with working Canadians, as evidenced by the question she posed in the House two days ago.

I would say to the hon. member that his representations, along with others made by groups representing seasonal workers across the country and the employment insurance commission, are guiding and directing our decisions that will be made public.

Health

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

Mr. Speaker, Richard Rushworth of White Rock knows that the portability principle of the Canada Health Act is a myth.

Currently in Ottawa to visit his son, Mr. Rushworth requires dialysis three times a week but has been told that no public facilities in Ottawa could accommodate him and that he would have to use a private clinic. This would cost him almost $1,400 out of his own pocket.

Why is the Minister of Health not defending the portability principles of the Canada Health Act?