House of Commons Hansard #131 of the 37th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was budget.
Leon Benoit Canadian Alliance Lakeland, AB
Mr. Speaker, in Monday's budget, the Minister of National Defence ignored the advice of the auditor general and her team of defence experts. The auditor general provides the highest independent oversight of government departments.
Does the Minister of National Defence agree with the auditor general and her statements on military spending? If not, what does he disagree with specifically?
Art Eggleton LiberalMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, the auditor general made a number of recommendations about performance measurement systems so that we could determine readiness levels and how to measure them. I have no quarrel with any of those recommendations.
I am glad the hon. member has raised that matter. It seems, through all of the rhetoric opposition members engage in, they have ignored the very useful recommendations that came from the auditor general's report, which we substantially agree with and are substantially trying to implement.
Leon Benoit Canadian Alliance Lakeland, AB
Mr. Speaker, the government committed only 5% of the amount of funding to our military that the auditor general said is a bare minimum needed for next year, to be started right now.
Is the minister saying that the auditor general's statement on the funding of the military is not to be trusted? If that is the case, what part of the $2.2 billion per year that the auditor general said is a bare minimum right now is the minister saying is wrong?
Art Eggleton LiberalMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, let us look at what came out of the budget. It was $1.2 billion. That helps to support our efforts in the Afghanistan campaign. It helps to support our efforts in terms of buying or upgrading capital equipment. It helps to strengthen our intelligence gathering systems. It helps to protect our critical infrastructure and emergency preparedness plan. Add this to what has already been allocated in previous budgets and we are looking at $5.1 billion over the next five years.
Mario Laframboise Bloc Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC
Mr. Speaker, last week, the Kanesatake Mohawk Grand Chief, James Gabriel, was removed in a dubious fashion, to say the least, he had been democratically elected in July 2001.
Does the Minister of Indian Affairs intend to follow up on the request of Grand Chief James Gabriel and order a general election for the Kanesatake band council?
Bob Nault LiberalMinister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, if the member were aware of the Indian Act, he would know that this is a custom band. The band, because it is custom, is allowed to run its elections in the way it feels appropriate under its own customs. It is not the intention of the minister to interfere with custom band elections.
Mario Laframboise Bloc Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC
Mr. Speaker, by refusing to get involved, the minister is endorsing the actions of those who are destabilizing the community. While he is watching the situation, violence is setting in. Shots were fired at police officers and the chief was removed.
Will it take another long investigation to convince the minister to get involved and use his fiduciary power to put the band council under trusteeship?
Bob Nault LiberalMinister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Mr. Speaker, let me clarify for the member how the process works.
If the chief or any other member of the band feels that there have been some irregularities in the election structure, they can seek legal remedy like any other Canadian would if an election did not go the way it was supposed to go or if it was done inappropriately.
Deepak Obhrai Canadian Alliance Calgary East, AB
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minster. How long will he hide the Minister for International Cooperation? She needs to clean up her improper working record. She admitted she voted last week. Now she says she cannot remember if she voted twice in last week's municipal election.
No one believes a professional politician cannot remember if she voted or not. Did the minister vote twice?
Minister for International CooperationOral Question Period
December 13th, 2001 / 2:50 p.m.
Windsor West Ontario
Liberal
Herb Gray LiberalDeputy Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, once again the hon. member is misusing the question period with inaccurate facts in his question.
The hon. minister was talking about her voting during the last federal election. She said with respect to the recent byelection, which I thought was the basis for the question from the hon. member, that she voted once and based on the information her staff received from the Toronto municipal government, she did so properly.
Deepak Obhrai Canadian Alliance Calgary East, AB
Mr. Speaker, editorials across Canada are calling for the minister to step down. They do not believe an ethics counsellor's review is adequate and neither do we. Even the Liberal daily newspaper the Toronto Star is calling for her to step aside.
As the evidence against her mounts, will the minister do the right thing and resign?
Herb Gray LiberalDeputy Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, there is no basis in what the hon. member said for any resignation by the hon. minister. Perhaps he should resign for wasting the time of the House with these senseless questions.
Bernard Patry Liberal Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC
Mr. Speaker, our government's objective has always been to create a framework of excellence to improve the Canadian context for research.
My question is for the Secretary of State for Science, Research and Development.
In order to preserve what has already been achieved and secure the future, what did the Canadian government provide in the 2001 budget for university research?
Gilbert Normand LiberalSecretary of State (Science
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question.
In the last budget, not only did we allocate new money to research councils to promote research and development in Canada, but we also earmarked $200 million to cover indirect costs in universities and hospitals.
These measures show first and foremost that the government realizes the importance of research for our economic development. These initiatives were welcomed by universities and the scientific world.
Cheryl Gallant Canadian Alliance Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Mr. Speaker, it is clear that the Minister for International Cooperation voted improperly. Even the person who oversees the elections in Toronto told the Toronto Star today “There is a difference between commercial tenants and residential tenants and that's key”.
Now that the city of Toronto's own election officials are saying that she was not entitled to vote, will she admit her error, step aside and resign?
Herb Gray LiberalDeputy Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I do not think the hon. member's question states a conclusion. That is a press report. It is not a court ruling. The hon. minister voted in good faith in a municipal ward byelection in a ward where she was a tenant. I submit that on the basis of that, she voted in good faith on the grounds of information obtained for her by her staff.
Cheryl Gallant Canadian Alliance Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister says that Mr. Saul's views are simply those of a private citizen, but Mr. Saul bears the title of his excellency, performs many of the official functions on behalf of the crown, and is prominently featured on the Governor General's website.
Will the government communicate to his excellency that he should either give up these roles and perks or keep his opinions to himself?
Herb Gray LiberalDeputy Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, what happened to the belief of the Alliance Party in the right of a citizen to have free speech? I guess that is out the window now. What happened to the fact that we are now in the 21st century and it is widely understood that a spouse is not simply an extension of another spouse?
Mr. Saul is a private citizen. He is entitled to express his opinions. He does not have an official position from the government or from the crown. The hon. member ought to recognize that and apologize to the House for wasting its time with a question like this instead of asking about something important like jobs, or health, or the budget, or the--
Michel Bellehumeur Bloc Berthier—Montcalm, QC
Mr. Speaker, the government has prepared a list of associations identified as terrorist groups. We have learned that members of the Jewish Defence League, a Jewish organization banned in Israel, plotted to blow up a mosque in Los Angeles and to attack a member of the U.S. congress; one of Arab origin. We have also learned that this same group was to meet in Montreal on the weekend.
Does the solicitor general intend to add the name of the Jewish Defence League to the list of terrorist groups banned in Canada?
Lawrence MacAulay LiberalSolicitor General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague is well aware, and I have said many times in the House, that for anyone involved in terrorism or who supports terrorism there is a mechanism in place in this country in order to make sure they are listed. That process will be followed.
Diane St-Jacques Liberal Shefford, QC
Mr. Speaker, the rough diamond trade fuels war in many parts of the world, including Sierra Leone, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
By providing funding for rebel movements and terrorist organizations, rough diamonds put the security of many regions at risk and threaten the legitimate diamond trade.
Could the Minister of Foreign Affairs explain to the House what Canada is doing to put a stop to this illegal trade?
John Manley LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, the government was ably represented by the member for Nepean--Carleton at the Kimberley process meeting in Botswana a few days ago.
Canada is an active participant in this process, because we believe that an international system is required for a diamond certification scheme. Diamonds are obviously a source of conflict, especially in Africa. We are trying, with other countries, to find a good way to certify them.
We will host the next meeting of the Kimberley process here in Canada.
Deborah Grey Canadian Alliance Edmonton North, AB
Mr. Speaker, there are three things in life that are certain. They would be death, taxes and knowing that the ethics counsellor will always vote in favour of the Liberals.
The CIDA minister is alleged to have voted illegally for her pal. I know it was “in good faith”, of course, but it is just ridiculous. She blames her staff for everything. She gets muzzled by her boss, although we did just see a brief cameo appearance, I will say. She will not produce the documents. She cannot remember when, where or how many times she voted in the last election.
Maybe I could just remind her of that thing called ministerial responsibility and ask her, because of it, why she will not resign right now.
Herb Gray LiberalDeputy Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, first the hon. member was slurring the minister in an unwarranted way. Then today she goes on to slur a respected senior public servant, the ethics counsellor. Is nothing beyond her in terms of the depths she is willing to fall to in order to hide and make people forget about the way she accepted her pension after all her conversations and commitments?
How about her apologizing? How about her resigning on the basis of the way she conducted herself over this pension issue?