Debates of Nov. 27th, 2001

Public Transportation

[Lorne Nystrom, NDP, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance.

Public transit in this country is facing a serious funding crisis. We are the only country in the G-8 where the national government does not help fund urban transit. Vancouver transit is now increasing its fares and Toronto transit will face a $22 million shortfall in the next year.

Investment in public transport will reduce smog, improve health and create jobs in this country. Will the Minister of Finance respond to this growing crisis and provide sufficient funding for public transport in his budget in order to meeting our commitments to the Kyoto agreement?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, through the infrastructure program there have been three of them in the mandate of this government. It has been quite possible for municipalities to apply those funds to municipal transit.

I might remind the hon. member that constitutionally the federal government has never had responsibility for municipal transit in this country but it was this government in the red book and in the throne speech that said it would work with provinces and municipalities to assist with public transit. That is something that is underway. The member for York West is chairing a task force for the Prime Minister on this. I think in the next year members will see the fruit of our labours.

Airline Industry

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, on November 9, 4,800 Canada 3000 employees came to work to find they had no jobs. As we speak hundreds of these employees are outside the House of Commons demanding positive, concrete steps to bring some sense of order to Canada's airline industry.

In the absence of any ideas coming from the government benches, will the Minister of Transport at least assure these workers that the government will implement the workforce stabilization proposal put forward by the airline unions and the Canadian Labour Congress?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, what happened to Canada 3000 it is indeed regrettable . The bankruptcy was something that no one wanted. In fact it was this government that offered $75 million by way of loan guarantees.

However, before we dispensed with the taxpayers' money, we wanted to make sure there was a viable business plan so that money would not just disappear and Canada 3000 would not come back six months into the future and ask for another $75 million.

All those things were analyzed and unfortunately Canada 3000 could not put forward a business plan to bring profitability to that particular airline.

Anti-Terrorism Legislation

[Chuck Strahl, Canadian Alliance, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, there are many legitimate concerns about the anti-terrorist legislation. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association warns that it puts too much power in the hands of the cabinet. The Canadian bar is concerned about compromising Canadian civil rights and numerous groups of Islamic faith share that concern.

Now the deputy information commissioner warns that the government's amendments threaten the rights of Canadians even more than the original flawed bill itself.

Why is it, when everyone agrees this is one of the most significant bills to hit parliament in years, the government has moved to shut down debate after only three hours of time here in the House of Commons?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, there have been many hours of debate on the bill in the House of Commons. There have been many hours of committee study. Many witnesses have been heard from outside the government. The government responded fully with far-reaching amendments which have been praised.

The House is not only for debate, it is also for decision. If we want to protect Canadians now and in the future it is time we took a decision and it is time the hon. member backed that decision.

Fisheries and Oceans

[Bill Casey, Progressive Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Mr. Speaker, only four days after the elected officials of the municipality of Cumberland accepted a clear, written offer by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to divest the Two Rivers port to the county, DFO broke the deal with the county and announced it was giving the port to the Millbrook band, 150 kilometres away. While the municipality was dealing in good faith, DFO and Millbrook were striking a secret deal to give the port to the natives.

Will the minister reverse this disgraceful and underhanded deal and start the process all over again in an honourable way?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am not aware of the details of that particular wharf. Of course I am always looking for new money for wharves. There is always a big demand. I am sure the finance minister will look into that in his budget because there is always a demand.

In regard to this particular situation, as the hon. member knows, there was a fire at that Two Rivers wharf and this obviously complicated the situation.

I want to assure the hon. member that no final decision has been made. His representation will be taken seriously and I will review the matter closely.

Justice

[Kevin Sorenson, Canadian Alliance, Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we have learned from sources that as a result of public outrage, pressure put on by the official opposition and a Sun media exposé of his extensive criminal record and violent behaviour, cop killer, Clinton Suzack, has now been moved from club med, the resort of all penitentiaries, to a medium security facility.

Could the solicitor general confirm whether this is true? Has Suzack been moved into a medium security penitentiary?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the individual has been transferred from one medium institution to another medium institution.

[Kevin Sorenson, Canadian Alliance, Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we have been standing in the House for three or four days begging the government to do it and it said there was no need to do it because he was in the proper place. I thank him for at least doing that.

His criminal record is long: six counts of assault causing bodily harm, one count of aggravated assault, eight convictions for assault, all committed prior to the brutal murder of Joe MacDonald, the on duty constable. He was on the run when he killed the cop. Obviously he is a dangerous offender.

Will he immediately put him in a max--

[The Speaker]

The hon. solicitor general.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as I said before, we have thousands of offenders across the country. We have one of the best if not the best correctional services in the world. When individuals commit a crime they are assessed and put in an institution. First, there is punishment and, second, there is rehabilitation.

What the government wants to make sure of is that we keep our communities and streets safe, and we will do that.

Public Safety Act

[Pierrette Venne, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-42 gives the Minister of National Defence, on the recommendation of his chief of staff, the sole right to order military security zones.

How can the Prime Minister justify having one individual, based solely on his own judgment, being able to decide on such important measures?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, these provisions already exist in law as was the case during the conference in Quebec City and on many other occasions where police needed to cordon off the areas for security reasons.

This just brings the military in when it involves military matters, such as equipment of our Canadian forces, or an allied country that may be on an airport tarmac in the country or on a ship that may be in harbour. It is to provide protection and security in the kind of environment that exists today.

[Pierrette Venne, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, how can this government justify ramming through legislation that grants to one single minister the power to designate an entire province as a military security zone for up to two years?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, this is really getting exaggerated and distorted.

Hon. members will have every opportunity in committee to discuss the detailed aspects of this. These are not new powers. These are reasonable security measures that are being proposed. It does not change the rights of anybody under the charter of rights and freedoms. They can be debated further at committee, and I invite the hon. members to do exactly that.

Terrorism

[Jason Kenney, Canadian Alliance, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, today I was joined by representatives of the Canadian Sri Lankan community who want to know why the government still has not listed FACT as a terrorist fundraising front for the Tamil tigers.

Thousands of Canadians have been victimized, both directly and indirectly, by tiger terrorism. According to CSIS, members of the Sri Lankan émigré community here are frequently bullied and threatened by tiger representatives.

When will the government stop giving the finance minister political cover on this issue at the expense of Canadian immigrants from Sri Lanka and when will it list FACT as a terrorist front for the tigers?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as appetizing as it might be, I will not comment on individual groups or individuals. My hon. colleague is well aware that there is a process in place to freeze assets. This is done after looking at all the facts, clearly and rationally, and we will continue to follow the process.

[Jason Kenney, Canadian Alliance, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, this is becoming a scandal. It is unbelievable when he says he cannot comment on individual groups.

The Canadian high commissioner to Sri Lanka commented on this individual group, warning these ministers that it was linked to the tigers. The Minister of Justice, on behalf of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, commented on this specific group saying that it was a front for the tigers. The U.S. state department has done the same thing and so has the government of Sri Lanka. They have all commented on this individual group.

Why has it been excluded from the list of terrorist front organizations? Does it have anything to do with the finance minister's political support for this group?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the puffed up indignation of my hon. friend must be designed to give “political cover”, to use his term, to Mike Harris who sent a letter of good wishes to the cultural event attended by the Minister of Finance, which was also attended by the then editor of the Toronto Sun which was raised as a source dignified and worthy of praise by another Reform member.

The hon. member ought to withdraw his innuendos and support our efforts, which are to fight terrorism in a meaningful way in this country.

The Environment

[Lawrence O'Brien, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Mr. Speaker, in November 1995 Canada joined 108 other countries in adopting the global program of action for protection of the marine environment from land based activities, which recognized the need for concerted actions by every coastal state to protect the marine environment from the negative impacts of land based pollution.

Could the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans report to the House on the progress of meetings of the United Nations environment program being held in Montreal this week?

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

Mr. Speaker, I had the honour of being in Montreal to open the conference on the global program of action on how we deal with land based activities that cause pollution in our waters. This is something that came out of Rio.

Canada is working very hard to make sure that we play our part. We have three oceans that touch our country. Protecting our oceans is a priority. We will be there fully supporting the conference. A hundred countries have come together to see how, as a global community, we can do a better job of protecting our oceans and marine environment.

Immigration

[Paul Forseth, Canadian Alliance, New Westminster—Coquitlam—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the immigration minister claims to have powers to detain people where there is a concern about status in Canada. The United States has detained about 1,000 people since September 11, but Washington routinely keeps the public in the loop about what it is doing. Getting the same information in Canada seems to happen only by accident.

How many people has the immigration minister detained? Give us a number. Canadians have a right to know.

[Elinor Caplan, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I can tell the member that last year there were 136,000 detention days; that is individuals in detention in Canada. I can also tell him that the number varies as far as the actual number in detention on any given day. The latest number that I can share with him is that as recently as yesterday, I believe, 467 people were in detention in Canada.