Debates of Oct. 3rd, 2001

Terrorism

[Kevin Sorenson, Canadian Alliance, Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, there are a few other facts. We have seen people arrested or detained in Germany. We have seen people arrested in Spain and in the United Kingdom. We have seen 400 arrested in the United States. We know that many of the same terrorist organizations are active here in Canada. With the exception of only one man on a flight bound for Chicago, no one has been arrested in this country.

Why is it that suspected terrorists known to have been in this country have been arrested only abroad and not here at home?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, is my hon. colleague disappointed that there have been no arrests in this country?

The fact is that the RCMP and CSIS work with the FBI. I discussed the issue yesterday with the attorney general of the United States. He thanked the government, CSIS and the RCMP for their support in making sure that North America remains free and democratic, and we will do that.

The Economy

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

Mr. Speaker, since the September 11 attacks, the Bloc Quebecois has repeatedly called on the government to come up with an emergency plan to bolster the economy, to no avail.

Since the government was doing nothing, the Bloc Quebecois therefore proposed a $5 billion plan to stimulate the economy, without any deficit.

Since the government will have over $13 billion to play with by the end of the year, does the Prime Minister intend to consider the Bloc Quebecois's proposals and quickly adopt a plan to cope with the downturn in the economy?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the government is certainly prepared to consider anything that will help Canadians.

For example, the President of the Treasury Board said she was open to the idea of accelerating the infrastructure program, if a suitable arrangement could be worked out with the provinces.

As well, the Minister of Transport said he would help the airlines.

I can well understand the Bloc Quebecois leader's desire to help Canadians, but I can assure him that the Canadian government is taking action.

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

Mr. Speaker, I see that the Minister of Finance is on the right track. He himself can apparently see that last year's measures were not enough.

One need only look at the infusion that is needed for defence, security and assistance to the airlines.

Last year, the Minister of Finance could not foresee this year's events, and that is only natural.

Here is what I am asking him to do. Since he has clearly stepped in with respect to security, defence and assistance for the airlines, will he consider extending assistance to businesses, helping workers directly affected by the economic downturn, and sectors other than the airline industry?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Human Resources Development announced improvements to the employment insurance program. This is direct assistance to employees.

The member mentioned the $13 billion surplus. He will have to consider the impact in the third and fourth quarters of this year. I would love to say that there will be no impact on the surplus, but unfortunately, such is not the case.

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

Mr. Speaker, unlike the Minister of Finance, we took our responsibilities and we did take into account the economic slowdown to arrive at the result mentioned by our leader.

Does the Minister of Finance realize that 97% of the companies in Canada are small and medium size businesses and that they create 80% of all the jobs in the country?

Also, will the minister agree that during an economic slowdown like the one we are currently experiencing, he could take low cost but effective measures to support small and medium size businesses, which create 80% of all the jobs in Canada, while ruling out the prospect of any deficit for the current year?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we are certainly aware of the contribution made by small and medium size businesses. This is why the taxation level for these businesses is much lower than for other companies.

This is also why, in the last budget, we improved the tax system for small and medium size businesses. This being said, I have already had meetings on this issue, and small and medium size businesses are the first ones to say that they do not want us to generate another deficit through spending.

Looking at our figures, one can see that this is precisely what we want to avoid.

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

Mr. Speaker, in a difficult time like now, workers and small and medium size businesses expect the Minister of Finance to be a little more serious.

Taking into account the budget constraints that he is facing and without generating a deficit, would the Minister of Finance be prepared to give a little more oxygen to small and medium size businesses, which greatly need it right now, by exempting them from making employment insurance contributions and by following Quebec's example—this is not costly—and allowing these businesses to postpone until March 31 of next year the payment of their instalments?

The minister's responsibility is to put some oxygen into the economy, to support small and medium size businesses and to help the workers who have lost their jobs or who could lose them.

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is suggesting that we do what we have already done. We lowered taxes for small and medium size businesses. We helped them but, as I said, they are the first ones to tell us that they do not want us to go back to a deficit situation generated through spending.

We are taking action to avoid precisely what the hon. member is recommending, that is, to go back to a deficit situation. We will not do that.

Airline Industry

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister. In times of crisis coalitions should be crucial. The government was quick to join the international coalition to defeat terrorism, but it has ignored the coalition of airline workers to deal with the crisis here at home. Early retirement packages are key to minimizing job losses and worker displacement.

Will the government work with the coalition of airline workers and support early retirement measures to stabilize the industry today and avert trained labour shortages tomorrow?

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

Mr. Speaker, I had the pleasure of meeting with union representatives yesterday. We discussed the issues facing their workers in a number of different occupations.

We have agreed that the right first step is to ensure that the employer, the unions and the government are there to talk about the programs and services that do exist and to make sure they are readily available to any employees who need them, and we will do just that.

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, we desperately need a comprehensive, co-ordinated approach here. It is not good enough for the government to pass the buck from department to department or onto the next generation to solve this problem. We need a co-ordinated response today, if we are going to create a stable industry tomorrow.

Why are workers being shunted from one minister to another? If the government can respond to airline executives, it can surely respond to airline workers.

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

Mr. Speaker, I disagree with the hon. member. Workers are not being shunted from one minister to the other.

We met yesterday. The union officials put their case to me. We will be discussing it, but most important is to ensure that the programs that do exist are there and readily available to Canadians who need them. We will ensure that that is the case.

The Economy

[Joe Clark, Progressive Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, another 20,000 layoffs were announced today. U.S. officials say their country is in recession, yet the Minister of Finance in Canada refuses to bring in a budget.

Canada is the only country in the G-8 with no budget. The minister says the situation is too uncertain. The answer to uncertainty is leadership and the active leadership needed now is the budget this minister has promised.

Will the Minister of Finance either give us a date today for a full budget or will he give us a commitment that such a budget will be introduced before the end of October?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform the leader of the fifth party that the budget in the United States will be delivered in January 2002.

Here the minister has said he is looking at all the options and there will be a statement by him, as he does every October, on the state of the economy. If there is a need to change some of our programs and a budget is needed, there will be one. At this time of uncertainty, it is better to know all the facts before moving.

[Joe Clark, Progressive Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister gets more incredible every day.

We know that the Americans--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. The right hon. member for Calgary Centre has the floor.

[Joe Clark, Progressive Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, he gets more incredible every day.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Perhaps the right hon. member could assist the Chair by only repeating his question once. I am able to hear when the noise dies down, but saying it twice perhaps only provokes a reaction that is unnecessary.

Terrorism

[Joe Clark, Progressive Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, let me put a question to the Prime Minister about perimeter policy. We know the Americans are prepared to bargain seriously to assure security. To get agreements that they need, they have already dropped sanctions against Sudan, India and Pakistan. Therefore, there has never been a better time to have Canadian solutions accepted by the Bush administration, including on how we establish a secure perimeter.

In the three weeks since the terrorist attacks, will the Prime Minister tell the House what specific proposals Canada has made to the United States that would secure the perimeter, that would encourage--

[The Speaker]

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I want to repeat again that it is better to know all the facts before moving. I remember in 1979, when the hon. member was the prime minister, he did not know how many members of parliament were in the House of Commons when we had a vote that caused the defeat of his government.

I just want to tell the House of Commons that we have already worked very hard with the Americans on making sure we have security in North America. Yesterday the solicitor general was in Washington and he was praised by the attorney general for the work that the RCMP and CSIS are doing.