House of Commons Hansard #95 of the 37th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was terrorism.
Elsie Wayne Progressive Conservative Saint John, NB
Mr. Speaker, over three years ago the auditor general of the day stated that our Canadian forces needed a $1 billion increase annually to retain its effectiveness and avoid further rust out of its resources. This was agreed to by the Conference of Defence Association and by the minister of defence's senior staff.
I do not want the Minister of Finance to joke or laugh. I want him to tell us when he is going to bring in a budget and put the money back into the military so it can do its job.
Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, on an urgent demand of the minister of defence, I am taking the question.
Let me say that in addition to my other colleagues, I congratulate the minister of defence who in last October's statement received a substantial increase in his funding. In fact the Department of National Defence has been one of the departments receiving the most new spending.
I understand the hon. member getting exercised but what she ought to get exercised about is terrorism because we are going to fight it and defeat it.
Diane Ablonczy Canadian Alliance Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, it was rather interesting to hear yesterday that the health minister had no specifics about his preparedness for an anthrax attack. This morning after the cabinet meeting he had no specifics but all of a sudden he has coughed up some specifics. That is very interesting.
The minister has yet to officially approve any drugs at all for the treatment of anthrax. Why would the minister be stockpiling medicine that he has not even approved?
Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, I answered a question today about specifics. It was a good question that I thought deserved a very good answer and I provided one.
On the subject of the pharmaceuticals, Health Canada is stockpiling antibiotics that are appropriate and effective for use against anthrax. These antibiotics are recognized around the world by countries that are aware of such things. We are putting in place stockpiles of drugs that will effectively respond to the health needs of Canadians.
Diane Ablonczy Canadian Alliance Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, if the drugs are so effective and appropriate, why has the minister not approved them yet?
Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, I am afraid I do not understand the question. A whole variety of wide spectrum antibiotics are approved by Health Canada, are in use in the country and are available to Canadians.
Claude Bachand Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Speaker, in the anti-terrorism bill, the government gives the Communications Security Establishment means to engage in electronic surveillance.
How can the government justify that the Minister of National Defence will be the only one to authorize electronic surveillance, instead of calling on a judge to obtain such authorization?
Art Eggleton LiberalMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, with respect to domestic operations of that kind, there in fact is a judicial oversight, but with respect to foreign entities that is something that does come under CSE and that is something that is completely in accordance with all Canadian law.
Claude Bachand Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Speaker, how would national security be better served by giving a minister the responsibility to decide whether or not electronic surveillance is required rather than asking a judge, as is currently the case?
Why change that?
Art Eggleton LiberalMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, again this is outside the limits of judicial overview within Canada because this is in foreign countries. We are targeting foreign entities. We do have substantial safeguards and regulations for how this is done. We do have a judicial person who is a commissioner who oversees CSE and ensures that in fact it stays within the laws of Canada, stays within the regulations and continues to operate in a lawful fashion. This is to try to stop terrorism, to make sure we get the information we need to stop that kind of problem from coming to Canada.
James Rajotte Canadian Alliance Edmonton Southwest, AB
Mr. Speaker, an expert on money laundering has been quoted in news reports today as calling Canada the Maytag of the north, well known to terrorists and other criminals as a good place to launder money.
The justice minister and the finance minister both assured us that the government had the legal power to seize and freeze the financial assets of bin Laden and other terrorists. If that was the case, will the Prime Minister explain why this new bill changes the very law that his government said had the powers already?
Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, as I have indicated before in the House, under section 3(2) of the United Nations Act we do have the power to commence civil forfeiture proceedings, but what we are doing in the anti-terrorism legislation is putting in place a strengthened and more formal process by which we have the power to seize, to restrain and to seek civil forfeiture. Let me make it absolutely plain that under section 3(2) of the United Nations Act that presently exists we do have the power to seek civil forfeiture of frozen assets.
James Rajotte Canadian Alliance Edmonton Southwest, AB
Mr. Speaker, section 3(2) of the United Nations Act is the act that the government is changing under this law. Two senior ministers weeks ago asserted that the government had the legal power to seize and freeze bank accounts, and yet at the first opportunity they have changed the law.
Why did two senior ministers state in the House that the government had these powers?
Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, we do have that power and in the legislation what we are doing is streamlining and formalizing that process.
Janko Peric Liberal Cambridge, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Defence. Given our current military commitment to the coalition against terrorism, could the minister advise the House what measures are being undertaken to recruit and retain personnel within the Canadian armed forces?
Art Eggleton LiberalMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, recruitment and retention is a problem not only for us in the Canadian forces but for all of our allies as well. We have entered into an aggressive program of recruitment and also into changing some of the terms of service to try to keep a higher level of retention.
I am pleased to report that in terms of recruitment we are far surpassing the numbers we expected at this point in time. For example, on regular forces, after just six months over 85% of our annual quota has been reached. In terms of reserves, we are already 50% over what we wanted for the entire year.
Brian Fitzpatrick Canadian Alliance Prince Albert, SK
Mr. Speaker, the British anti-terrorism law provides for compensation to citizens who are victims of terrorism. The government's proposed bill omits these important provisions.
Why does the justice minister want the innocent to suffer in our war against terrorism?
Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, we do not want the innocent to suffer in our war against terrorism. What we want to do is protect the innocent from the acts of terrorist organizations and individuals.
However the hon. member raises a very interesting point and I think it is one that would be well worth some discussion and review in committee. That is why we are looking forward to having the opportunity to engage parliamentarians and others before committee.
Brian Fitzpatrick Canadian Alliance Prince Albert, SK
Mr. Speaker, the U.S. anti-terrorism legislation provides compensation and safeguards for the victims of terrorism. The government's bill appears to totally omit those provisions.
Why have the government and the Minister of Justice chosen to ignore this very important issue?
Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, as I have just said I think the hon. member raises a very interesting point and it is one that we should discuss at committee. I would be very happy to engage him or others from his party on this point in committee.
Stéphan Tremblay Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean—Saguenay, QC
Mr. Speaker, more and more observers are sounding the alarm in connection with the millions of human beings, many of them children, who might die of starvation in the near future in the context of the bombardments taking place in Afghanistan.
Can a responsible government remain unmoved by such a terrible reality and, consequently, does the Canadian government intend to step up its direct humanitarian assistance in order to avoid a human tragedy of such scope that millions of people might starve to death?
Maria Minna LiberalMinister for International Cooperation
Mr. Speaker, the government has in fact been very active. We have specialists on the ground at the border working to assist in getting food into Afghanistan.
The major crisis is in the country. There is a great deal of work being done with refugees in Pakistan, in Iran and around the area but getting through to the inside is where the major problem is. There is some food getting in now with private trucks and so on but it is still a major problem and that is where we are working.
Mark Eyking Liberal Sydney—Victoria, NS
Mr. Speaker, around the world today there are millions of people living without adequate food.
In the past few weeks our eyes have turned to the plight of the people in Afghanistan. However, around the world there continue to be many who share this daily challenge and plight.
My question is for the Minister for International Cooperation. Today is World Food Day. What will the minister do to address world hunger?
Maria Minna LiberalMinister for International Cooperation
Mr. Speaker, the theme for World Food Day is “Fight Hunger to Reduce Poverty”. This is very important.
The problem is not only with food production. It is also a problem of insufficient income to buy food, of poor health in regard to producing and consuming food and not having an appropriate balance of vitamins, minerals and available food.
In fact UNICEF has recently recognized and congratulated the Prime Minister for Canada's example of global leadership in saving millions of lives of children around the world by providing vitamin A.
André Bachand Progressive Conservative Richmond—Arthabaska, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.
The events of recent days have brought focus to bear on the importance of the relative dimension of public health in the battle against terrorism, along with the need for reliable information on the real or perceived threat of bioterrorism.
In light of these events, will the Prime Minister be appointing the Minister of Health to this famous cabinet committee on national security?