Debates of Feb. 16th, 2001

Transportation Safety

[Cheryl Gallant, Canadian Alliance, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to draw attention to the continuing tragedies that are occurring on that portion of the Trans-Canada Highway No. 17 that runs through my riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke.

Since the House has been in session no fewer than three needless deaths have occurred. Highway 17's reputation as a killer highway has been established over the years. How many deaths need to occur before some action is taken to fix the problem?

The people of Renfrew county have been waiting for over 30 years for highway 17 to be upgraded from two to four lanes. The recent decision of the federal government to spend hundreds of millions of dollars during the last election on highways east of the Ottawa River has those of us living west of the Ottawa River wondering how many deaths must occur before the government takes notice.

It is time to end the reputation of highway 17 as a killer highway. I appeal to the government to show fairness when it comes to the safety of Canadians.

The Economy

[Monte Solberg, Canadian Alliance, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, there are growing concerns that Canada might be headed into some kind of economic downturn. Just a month after a predicted strong growth, Nortel has just announced 6,000 more layoffs. Meanwhile, the markets are adjusting to an economic slowdown, as is the U.S. government.

This government on the other hand refuses to re-examine its course. Why will the finance minister not table an updated budget?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, certainly experts say that the Canadian and U.S. economies are headed for a slowdown. However, there are no indications that there will be a recession. The experts all say that we are well positioned to offset the slowdown.

The budget update of the Minister of Finance last fall confirming $100 billion in tax cuts I think will be very useful in helping us offset any possible slowdown.

[Monte Solberg, Canadian Alliance, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the chairman of the U.S. federal reserve is not famous for being reactionary but he is arguing that government action is needed to stave off a downturn. He is arguing for deeper tax cuts.

This government's mini budget was based on a booming outlook but things are much different now than they were four and a half months ago.

Why will the finance minister not send a positive message to the markets, table a new budget and deliver deeper tax cuts to Canadians?

[Jim Peterson, Liberal, Secretary of State (International Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, I want to assure you and Canadians that we remain on track for our budget projections. Yes, there is turbulence out there and Canadians know very well that we face many international challenges right now.

We are being very vigilant. We are watching this very closely. I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, that should it be necessary we will come before the House and take whatever actions may be necessary.

[Monte Solberg, Canadian Alliance, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that is like closing the barn door after the horse is already out.

Canadians are very concerned when the minister announces to the House, like he just has, that the government is concerned about the future but will not act until we are actually in the trough of some kind of economic downturn. At that point it is too late.

My question again to the minister is, why is the government so stubborn on this issue? We are talking about the prospect of jobs and prosperity for Canadians. In the face of that, why will the government not be responsible and bring down a budget immediately?

[Jim Peterson, Liberal, Secretary of State (International Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, we are monitoring this issue very closely and we remain on target to meet our budget projections of last October.

I can assure the hon. member that we are looking at this very closely and we are being very vigilant. Should the necessity for changes occur we will certainly come before the House.

[Charlie Penson, Canadian Alliance, Peace River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the government cannot afford to pretend that our economy chugs along in isolation. When the giant next door moves, we will feel it.

The Americans are about to deliver a massive tax cut that will increase the gap between us and them. Canadians will become even more uncompetitive compared with our American counterparts.

Why will the Minister of Finance not bring in a new budget which reflects the changing economic conditions?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, from what I have read and seen in the news reports about the U.S. economy, the tax cut that it is talking about will not be legislated or come into effect for months or years from the time it will be first proposed.

On the other hand, the tax cuts announced by the Minister of Finance in his budget update are in play now and are already having a positive effect in offsetting a possible slowdown, in my view. This will continue to be the case. The Americans in my view are just catching up with what we are already doing.

[Charlie Penson, Canadian Alliance, Peace River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that does not explain why Canada's productivity is 20 points behind the United States and still losing ground.

The minister's pride should not get in the way of updating the budget just because we are suggesting it on this side of the House. That will happen sooner or later. Maybe it should be sooner.

The 10,000 jobs at Nortel are not theoretical, those jobs were lost. That is continuing to happen. It is very real to the families affected.

The Minister of Finance is not exercising his responsibility by pretending that everything is fine. It is not fine. Why is the Minister of Finance opposed to updating his plans in the face of the new economic circumstances?

[Jim Peterson, Liberal, Secretary of State (International Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, it is very simple. We are monitoring this very closely.

Let me just say what the Deputy Prime Minister just said. We got the jump on the Americans with the tax cuts in our October budget. We brought in $100 billion of tax cuts over five years, a stimulus from the federal sector alone this year of $17.3 billion. When we combine that with provincial tax cuts, it amounts to about 2.3% of gross domestic product.

That is the stimulus we have put in—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Longueuil.

Transfer Payments

[Caroline St-Hilaire, Bloc, Longueuil, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this week the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs affirmed that few countries in the world redistributed so much wealth regionally.

As he was saying that, a poll appearing today in L'Actualité revealed that 76% of Quebecers feel Ottawa does not assume its fair share of health spending in Quebec.

Since the surpluses predicted for this year are nearly double the amounts estimated by the Minister of Finance, is it not time the federal government carried out its responsibilities and increased transfers for health care and for education, where the need is vital?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her question.

The Prime Minister has a habit of saying that Canadians share two convictions: the first is that theirs is the best country in the world and the second is that their province does not receive its fair share.

The fact of the matter is that, year after year, Statistics Canada reveals that Quebecers contribute about 21% of federal revenues and receive some 24% or 25% of federal spending, which corresponds to the fact that Quebec is somewhat below the Canadian average in terms of its wealth. This is the redistribution I was referring to.

[Caroline St-Hilaire, Bloc, Longueuil, QC]

Mr. Speaker, every time the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs responds, it is clear he is out of synch and out of touch with what is actually going on.

Does the minister realize that, while the federal government contributed 50% of the funding of shared cost social programs when they were established, its contribution now represents only 15%, although people's needs have grown spectacularly? Does he realize this?

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

Mr. Speaker, it must be remembered that tax points were transferred to the provinces in 1977, so they are used by the provinces for basic programs such as health care.

Therefore, it would be an error to not take into account the increased value of these tax points in an attempt to evaluate the federal government's cost in helping the provinces with health care, for example.

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

Mr. Speaker, four years from now, in 2005, federal transfers for health, education and income security will be $500 million lower than what they were in 1993, before the drastic cuts made by the Liberal government.

Does the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs realize that, since federal surpluses are accumulating at an alarming rate while health care and education needs are rapidly growing, it is time the federal government transfer new tax points to the Quebec government, as unanimously requested by all the parties in the National Assembly?

[Jim Peterson, Liberal, Secretary of State (International Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, I assure the hon. member that Quebec has the same kind of fiscal resources as the federal government. As the minister just said, with the transfers, the provinces' revenues are now greater than those of the federal government.

What we did on September 11 was to increase health transfers. I must say that equalization payments received by Quebec remain the highest in Canada.

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

Mr. Speaker, the secretary of state is like his Prime Minister: he is always patronizing, he refuses to answer questions properly and he does not care about the public interest.

My question is for the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, a great academic. Instead of lecturing Albertans, will the minister recognize that, by trying to impose its views, its laws and its standards to provinces in their jurisdictions, it is the federal government that resorts to blackmail, not separatists?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that the Bloc Quebecois member is confirming the value of living in a federal system, and receiving, in Quebec as in all of Canada, cash transfers and tax points.

I thank the hon. member for praising our federal system.

Heating Fuel Rebate

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the overnight temperature in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut was minus 38, minus 68 with the wind chill. Yet the price of home heating oil is so high people are having their fuel delivery cut off because they cannot pay their bills. People are having to pay cash up front to get oil to heat their homes.

Short of throwing money away in a home heating rebate program that does not work, what is the government's plan to give some relief to all those Canadians going broke trying to heat their homes?

[Jim Peterson, Liberal, Secretary of State (International Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, the problem that the gentleman speaks of is one that we anticipated when we saw fuel prices going up last year. We knew we had to act but according to two principles. First, it had to be delivered quickly for the relief to come. Next summer would just not do.

Second, the relief should not go to all Canadians, just to those who needed it most. That is why we used the only mechanism available to us, the GST tax credit rebate. That is why the cheques went out on January 29 to 11 million Canadians.

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, there is a growing outrage out there that people who do not even pay heating bills are getting the rebate, and people who need help desperately are not getting anything at all.

The government has thrown $1.3 billion away in a rebate program that does not work, and winter is not over yet. What if anything can the government say now to all those people who did not qualify for any rebate. What is the national energy strategy of this government, wait for spring?

[Jim Peterson, Liberal, Secretary of State (International Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, our commitment remains the same: to help those who need it most. This is why cheques have gone out to 11 million Canadians, those of low and middle income. They were the ones who needed the help the most, and this is the way we have delivered it.

Trade

[John Herron, Progressive Conservative, Fundy Royal, NB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the minister of agriculture.

Health Canada officials have publicly stated that there is no scientific justification for the ban of Brazilian beef and, guess what, Canadian scientists are not alone. The minister's U.S. counterpart, the U.S. agriculture secretary, Ann Veneman, announced to CNN on February 8 that there is no need to pull Brazilian beef products.

The minister is not only jeopardizing $210 million of product exports from Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, he is also hanging the political minister for Saskatchewan, the minister of natural resources.

Will the minister stand before Canadians and say that he knows this ban is not about health but about trade and apologize to Brazil for damaging our relationship?