Debates of Feb. 16th, 2001

Trade

[Lyle Vanclief, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, I will stand before Canadians and say that this is about health.

We have come to the knowledge that over 5,000 head of cattle were imported into Brazil in the 1990s from countries in the European Union where there is known BSE. Until we are comfortable with the tracing of that and that the end product from those animals has not, will not and is not in the food chain, the ban will remain. It is about food safety.

I am really disappointed that the hon. member is not concerned about the food and the safety of Canadians.

[Gerald Keddy, Progressive Conservative, South Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food is worried about importations to Brazil from Europe, yet the Minister of Industry continues to ban Brazilian beef.

Could the minister of agriculture tell Canadians how many products are coming into Canada that utilize European beef, beef extract or beef byproducts from Europe? How many of those products are coming into Canada today?

[Lyle Vanclief, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should get his facts straight. It is the Canadian Food Inspection Agency that banned the imports. It is the Department of Health that had the recall on products. Canada does not import meat or meat products from any country that is known to have BE.

Water Contamination

[Scott Reid, Canadian Alliance, Lanark—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, for some time now, families in Shannon, near Quebec City, have been having serious water contamination problems.

This morning, on the front page of the daily Le Soleil , these families could read that the Department of National Defence has had a report since 1998 detailing water problems in this area. And since 1998, nothing was done by the department.

Why has the department kept this report secret?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, when we received the report in 1998 we immediately passed it on to the minister of the environment of the province of Quebec. We knew there could be some problems on the base at that time. We have since taken action to study that further and are now taking corrective action.

We appropriately advised the minister of the environment whose ministry was responsible for this matter and for the municipalities that might have be involved, or might be involved, in April 1998.

[Scott Reid, Canadian Alliance, Lanark—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this answer will bring little comfort to families in Shannon.

The Liberal government is quick to criticize others, but slow to recognize its own mistakes.

Could the minister at least tell us what are the possible dangers for the population of Shannon and what measures the minister intends to put in place proactively in order to ensure the health and security of the people of that town?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, it is not yet known what is the source of the problem in the town. There is also an adjacent property that could be the source of that contamination. We certainly brought that to the attention of the ministry of the environment of Quebec.

We will be doing everything we can to alleviate this problem. We have spent substantial sums of money to deal with this matter in terms of study and in terms of clean up. We will continue to take our responsibilities quite seriously. The ministry of the environment for the province of Quebec also has to do so in relation to the municipality.

Government Spending

[Pierre Brien, Bloc, Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, while the government is busy implementing its tax strangulation policy toward Quebec, it is at the same time continuing its costly and pointless duplication.

Since 1997, the Liberal government has spent $15 billion in areas that fall under Quebec jurisdiction.

Can the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs explain to Quebecers why he would rather spend $15 billion on duplication than merely transfer that money to Quebec, particularly in the areas of health and education?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, there is no pointless duplication. What there is, is a collaborative effort with the governments of the provinces.

We have greatly enhanced our capacity to work with them, while respecting the respective areas of jurisdiction of each level of government.

[Pierre Brien, Bloc, Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is so obsessed by visibility that it has spent $500 million—half a billion dollars—in Quebec alone on propaganda since 1995.

Three-quarters of Quebecers would prefer it to do its part in funding health services.

Can the minister explain to Quebecers why his government has placed priority on propagandizing instead of transferring this money which could meet Quebecers' true priorities: health and education?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, we worked very hard with the provinces to reach an agreement last September 11. That agreement was signed by all provincial premiers, and representatives of the three territories, as well as the Prime Minister of Canada.

In this agreement, the provinces said “No money, no plan”. We said “No plan, no money”. Now we have money and a plan, and we are going to work together.

Government Of Canada

[James Rajotte, Canadian Alliance, Edmonton Southwest, AB]

Mr. Speaker, many Canadians from different regions across the country feel disconnected from their federal government. There are two ways to deal with this regional discontent. One way is to address their genuine grievances and build bridges across the country. A second way is to ignore their legitimate concerns and attack them personally.

Will the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs please explain how ignoring the legitimate concerns of Canadians from various regions and attacking people personally will help resolve our regional problems and build a better nation?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, it would be much more helpful if the hon. member were able to quote from my speech or tell me what he likes or dislikes about it, instead of invent things that I never said. It is not helpful in the House.

[James Rajotte, Canadian Alliance, Edmonton Southwest, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I will tell the minister exactly what I do not like in his speech. The minister used his speech at the University of Toronto to attack two prominent western Canadians. This is a simply a continuation of the Liberal Party's practice of demonizing those who disagree with its uncooperative, unimaginative, centralist approach to governing Canada.

Will the minister please explain how attacking a former prime minister and the present leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition helps the cause of Canadian unity?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know what the hon. member is speaking about, but if he is referring to what I asked his leader, I have an obligation to quote what I said:

Canadians are entitled to hear Mr. Day (the Leader of the Opposition) make his simple statement: “Nothing in Canada today justifies secession: not in Quebec, not in the West, not anywhere else in Canada.

I also said:

He needs always to make a crystal clear distinction between his ideas for improving the country, including the West's place in Canada, and separatist blackmail.

Water Contamination

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Beauport—Montmorency—Côte-De- Beaupré—Île-D'Orléans, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after the water problem in the Sept-Îles beaches area, a second case of contaminated drinking water has come to light. In the first case raised by the member for Manicouagan, the federal Department of Transport was involved. This time, responsibility lies with the Department of National Defence, in Shannon, a community in the Quebec City area.

We now know that authorities on the Valcartier military base kept news of the water's contamination from the residents of Shannon. How can the Minister of National Defence justify his refusal to share the information he had with the municipalities concerned, as recommended by a report submitted to his own department? The blame should not be shifted to others.

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated in response to the earlier question, we did take the responsible position, finding contamination on our property. We found it in the well. We do not know that the source is on our property. It could be on another property. We have in fact been spending a fair bit of money to try to determine the source.

Meanwhile, we provided information to the ministry of the environment of Quebec. It is its responsibility to then deal with the municipalities as indeed the minister has most recent announcement in which he offered filtration systems to the people who live in the community of Shannon. We will continue to co-operate with all parties involved in this matter.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Beauport—Montmorency—Côte-De- Beaupré—Île-D'Orléans, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this new cover-up puts us in mind of certain military investigations in the past, where the truth was buried. In this case the residents of Shannon could see their health endangered, to the complete lack of concern of the Liberal member for Portneuf.

What about the fine promises of the election campaign, the idea that the mere election of a Liberal member was supposed to be the solution to all the ills of the planet?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member should well ask his question of the government of Quebec.

They seem to have an embarrassment about asking their own provincial government about these matters. They were advised in April 1998. Why did they not engage the municipalities more in that period of time to get this problem cleaned up?

Foreign Affairs

[James Moore, Canadian Alliance, Port Moody—Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister will spend 62 hours in Hong Kong, the only part of the People's Republic of China with any real experience in democracy. The Prime Minister will not be meeting with Martin Lee, the leader of Hong Kong's largest party and one of Asia's leading Democrats. The Prime Minister said that he could not find a way to fit him into his schedule.

If the Prime Minister wants Canadians to believe that he is promoting democracy and justice in China, how could he explain snubbing Martin Lee?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure the hon. member shares with all members of the House the pride that we feel in the Prime Minister's clear statements on human rights in China. As one example I give this quotation from his speech in Shanghai where he said:

True friends are never shy about exchanging views on important issues. And so, as a friend, I must tell you that Canadians are concerned when they hear reports from China of interference in the right of free expression.

That is the kind of message that Canadians expected the Prime Minister to deliver in China, and he has done so.

[James Moore, Canadian Alliance, Port Moody—Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, economics is one thing and human rights is another.

Mr. Lee is the leader of the democratic party, one of the most important in Hong Kong. He is internationally known as a staunch defender and advocate of democratic rights and is a past winner of the democracy award of the U.S. national endowment for democracy.

How could the Prime Minister overlook such an important democratic ally? What message does this snub send to friends of democracy and human rights in China?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I am surprised that in the preamble to the member's question he does not recognize that human rights and economic rights are very closely linked.

It is the mentality that is necessary to overcome in order to encourage investment, the mentality that expropriates without compensation, the mentality that does not respect the rule of law and the transparent regulatory system, which is the same mentality that leads to abuses of human rights.

That is why economic interests and human rights interests are so closely aligned. That is why the human security agenda is so closely linked to the economic interests of Canada.

[Mac Harb, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I ask this question on behalf of the member for Ottawa—Vanier and my colleagues in the Ottawa-Carleton region.

On January 27 Madam Catherine MacLean was killed and another woman, Madame Catherine Doré, was severely injured in a tragic car accident involving a Russian diplomat. At the time the Minister of Foreign Affairs assured the House that the Russian government indicated that it would take appropriate measures against the individual.

Could the minister give us an update today in terms of what has taken place with this issue so far?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, we received notice today that the general procurator of the Russian Federation has examined the materials that were delivered to him concerning the accident on January 27 and, having done so, has taken the decision to open a criminal case under article 264, part II of the criminal code of the Russian Federation.

We welcome this decision. It is an important step which demonstrates the commitment that was given to us previously by the foreign affairs minister and by the Russian ambassador to Canada to proceed with this matter. However, we will not be satisfied until we see justice finally done in this case.