Debates of Sept. 28th, 2000

Auditor General's Report

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I think that the hon. member has an overactive imagination. I certainly have not seen any drafts of the auditor general's report. I am not able to say that he is right in saying that ministers have drafts.

I repeat that the obligation of the auditor general is to report to the House with his formal report. I am surprised that the hon. leader of the Conservative Party with his years of experience here is not willing to respect the role of the auditor general as stipulated in legislation passed by the House and as set out in the rules of the House.

Employment Insurance

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

Mr. Speaker, if the Deputy Prime Minister has such respect for the role of the auditor general, it is surprising that the Liberals are making all haste to call an election before the auditor general can report to the Canadian public.

In addition to that, after ignoring concerns about EI for years, the Prime Minister suddenly decided to make changes right before an election call. To make sure he can use it to gain election support, he plans to rush it through all stages in just one day.

Is this whole thing not just a cynical vote buying exercise by the Liberals over there?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, speaking of cynicism, why did the member ask the question she just did, contradicting her leader who called for an immediate election just the other day? Is this cynicism or what?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Official Opposition called for lower gas taxes for Canadians too. I did not see the Liberals rushing out to do that. They are very selective on what advice they take from the opposition.

Here we have changes to the EI system. The Liberals knew they needed to be made years ago. Now they are rushing them through just before an election so that they can have bragging rights in Atlantic Canada and try to gain some seats they deservedly lost in the last election.

Why should Canadians be manipulated like that by the government?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, why should the hon. member want us to ignore the concerns of the seasonal workers and the construction workers all across the country? What does she have against the seasonal workers and the construction workers? What is wrong with their concerns being taken into account? Why does she oppose working people?

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, women are the big losers in the cuts this government has made to employment insurance.

How can the Minister of Human Resources Development explain that pregnant women need 600 hours to qualify for benefits, while many workers can collect benefits with only 420 hours?

What does this government have against expectant mothers?

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

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, the government has shown its understanding of the workplace family dynamics facing Canadian women.

I point to the doubling of parental benefits that will be in place by the end of this year. I point to the reduction in hours required to collect special benefits. I point to the proposals that are before the House today that will ensure that women are not part of the clawback if they are home caring for their children and out of the workforce.

I point to the other proposal that says we recognize that women may leave the workforce for a longer period of time. These proposals will make it easier for them, should they need to collect regular benefits on their return to the workforce. Canadian women are at the heart of these proposals.

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister has had a solution proposed to her by the Government of Quebec, which has a parental leave program that is far more fair, accessible and generous.

What is the minister waiting for before giving a favourable answer to the 17 organizations which called on September 26 for the return to Quebec of the funds allotted to family benefits under the employment insurance program? What is she waiting for before she gives the green light on this?

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

Mr. Speaker, if I am not mistaken, those organizations recognize that the government is prepared to and will, by the end of this year, have a plan in place that will double parental benefits for all Canadian women, including those living in Quebec. If I am not mistaken, what was said was that the Government of Quebec could nicely complement the undertakings of the Government of Canada.

I remind the hon. member that our undertakings will be done in the context of the employment insurance program. They will be done without raising premiums but, as we proposed today, by continuing to lower employment insurance premiums.

Foreign Affairs

[Gurmant Grewal, Reform, Surrey Central, BC]

Mr. Speaker, ministers attending a FACT fundraiser is not an issue of culture or ethnicity. It is about terrorism. It is about the government's priorities and mismanagement of security intelligence information.

On the one hand, Canada signed a United Nations declaration calling for a global ban on terrorist fundraising. On the other hand, ministers are attending a fundraiser for a front for terrorists. Does the solicitor general have confidence in his department's reporting service or not?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the premise of the hon. member's question is wrong, wrong, wrong. The minister did not attend a fundraiser for this group. He attended a cultural event involving the celebration of the Tamil new year.

I do not know why the member of the Alliance Party, on behalf of his party, is attempting to wrongly stereotype and stigmatize hundreds of thousands of people because of their Tamil origin.

[Gurmant Grewal, Reform, Surrey Central, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister did not answer my question. The question is why was the security intelligence information ignored. The government is failing to fulfil its responsibility for the safety and security of all Canadians.

Therefore I ask the question again. Does the solicitor general have any confidence in his department's reporting service or not? Yes or no.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I remind my hon. colleague that CSIS does not recommend who should or should not go to any gathering.

The government strongly condemns terrorists and any group that uses violence to forward their goals and will continue to do so.

Employment Insurance

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it seems increasingly certain that the Minister of Finance will respond favourably to the repeated request of the Bloc Quebecois and table a mini budget before the next election in order to give some of the billions of dollars of hidden surplus back to the taxpayers.

Can the Deputy Prime Minister guarantee that his government will add in the mini budget all the money needed to employment insurance to end to discrimination against women, young people and seasonal workers?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for the confidence he is expressing in this government. We will consider his comments as representing interesting advice.

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are calling for a mini budget because we want to make the commitments official, since, otherwise, they evaporate like a puff of smoke for lack of expression.

Are we to understand from the answers of the Deputy Prime Minister that, in the face of the bill tabled by his colleague, the government is giving up and will not put one cent more in the employment insurance system than the few hundred million dollars announced this morning?

Are we to understand from the response by the Deputy Prime Minister that the government is abandoning many of the unemployed and will continue to dip into the employment insurance fund surplus?

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

Mr. Speaker, in case the hon. member missed it, the proposals before the House speak directly to the issues facing seasonal workers and women. I am confused as to what more he is asking.

Foreign Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, it is fairly obvious from the documents that have been brought into the House that the solicitor general has a complete lack of confidence in the reports to him from CSIS or from any of the other organizations, when the government permits ministers to go to events such as have been described in the House.

He does not understand that when terrorists slip into Canada, it is the people from their former countries who are the most put upon. Why is the minister not taking their well-being seriously?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member that the government and I take their well-being very seriously. As I previously indicated, CSIS does not recommend to government who should or should not go to dinners, official dinners, fundraising dinners, heritage dinners or whatever.

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

Mr. Speaker, these terrorists raise funds through welfare scams, drugs, credit cards, passport frauds and human smuggling. These are all international security issues which put all Canadians at risk.

We are asking legitimate questions in the House. We are answered by blusters from the frontbench and caterwauling from the backbench. It does not change the issue. This issue is not about culture or ethnicity; it is about public safety. Why does the minister not understand that?

[Lloyd Axworthy, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as I have explained to the House, Canada has taken a very active role in developing an international convention against fundraising for terrorism. We chaired the committee that put the convention together. We have tabled the convention at the United Nations and we were one of the signatories.

The next step is to develop legislation in consultation with the provinces, because it is a criminal matter, to set up a process of due law so that people who are considered to be under suspicion can have a full protection of the law and we can also use the instruments of the law.

There is no point in trying people in the court of public opinion, by allegation or by guilt by association, which is what the Alliance Party—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Berthier—Montcalm.

Young Offenders

[Michel Bellehumeur, Bloc, Berthier—Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in a 1990 supreme court ruling, chief justice Dickson recognized the notion of diversity in the application of the criminal law for the provinces.

He even said the following regarding young offenders, and I quote: “It is legitimate for Parliament to allow for province-based distinctions as a reflection of distinct and rationally based political values and sensitivities”.

My question is for the Minister of Justice. If the minister will not agree that we are right regarding young offenders, will she at least comply with the supreme court opinion? What Quebec is asking about Bill C-3 is legitimate and legal under a ruling made by the Supreme Court of Canada.

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

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member should know, that is exactly what Bill C-3 does.

Crimes Against Humanity

[Sarkis Assadourian, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Following a review of the subject matter of my private member's Bill C-224, the recognition of crimes against humanity act, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage recommended that Heritage Canada consider entrusting one or more academic centres with the task of researching all genocides and crimes against humanity in the 20th century.

Will the minister explain to the House what efforts are being made to ensure that this important issue is addressed by the Government of Canada very soon?