Debates of Feb. 20th, 2001

Heating Cost Rebates

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

Mr. Speaker, many of my constituents have expressed their disapproval of the federal heating cost rebate program.

I would like to read part of a letter from Lise Arsenault of Beauport, who summarizes very well the dissatisfaction this program causes:

When this promise was fulfilled, I obviously thought that the government had finally begun to understand us middle income earners and taxpayers.

I own an oil heated home. I am married and the mother of two. My husband and I have worked from the age of 17 for an average income. So we pay, as our kids put it “full taxes” and have never benefited from an assistance program.

I would like it if one day you could help the right people. This year, the price of heating oil was double that of last year, and you provided help, to a large extent, to those who do not even use this type of heating.

The government explains its failure by its haste in acting. The Bloc Quebecois considers it vital to quickly implement specific measures to help those affected by the rise in the cost of heating oil.

Masterworks

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to draw attention to the wonderful MasterWorks program and its founding organization, the AV Preservation Trust.

The MasterWorks program recognizes 12 culturally significant classics each year, drawn from the archives of Canadian film, radio, television, video and sound recording industries, and provides the necessary funding to underwrite the preservation and restoration costs of each master work.

This year's selections in radio are: The 1927 Jubilee Broadcast , L'heure provinciale, and Glenn Gould's Solitude Trilogy .

This year's film winners are: La vraie nature de Bernadette by Gilles Carle; The Loon's Necklace by Crawley Films; and The Grey Fox by the late Philip Borsos, with the wonderful Jackie Burroughs and produced by my husband, Peter O'Brien.

Sound recording selections were awarded to Robert Charlebois, Raoul Jobin and Gordon Lightfoot, and in television and video Cré-Basile! Télé-Métropole and Femme d'aujourd'hui were recognized.

I congratulate everyone who received an award. I encourage my colleagues to support the endeavours of the MasterWorks preservation program for the benefit and enjoyment of future generations.

National Defence

[Elsie Wayne, Progressive Conservative, Saint John, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I now have in my possession a document that details in unprecedented terms the horrible conditions to which our soldiers are being subjected in Bosnia. It is a letter to the Minister of National Defence, dated February 8, from the Dominion President of the Royal Canadian Legion, Mr. Barclay.

Mr. Barclay writes of the conditions witnessed by a concerned legion funded group that travelled to Bosnia. The shocking details of that report compelled Mr. Barclay to contact the minister directly.

The report details in critical terms the “poor state of morale, tattered and unsightly clothing and equipment deficiencies that were experienced”. On the issue of clothing alone, the observer reported “worn, threadbare, stained and patched combat clothing, and a lack of uniformity among Canadian soldiers”.

The Geneva convention requires us to treat enemy forces better than we appear to be treating our own soldiers. This is totally unacceptable. How can the minister possibly account for these disgraceful standards?

The Economy

[Stockwell Day, Canadian Alliance, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, on Friday the Deputy Prime Minister admitted after weeks of denial that we are into an economic downturn. Yesterday the finance minister admitted after some denial that we need a financial update and that he will be bringing one in. I am encouraged by that because overcoming denial is the first step on the road to recovery.

Because the Minister of Finance asked for our suggestions, in his mini budget he said that he would lower some marginal rates but would not increase either personal exemptions or spousal exemptions. Will he do that to take thousands of low income workers off from paying any federal income tax at all?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows full well that we are raising the threshold. It was this government that brought in indexation which makes sure that it happens automatically each and every year.

I would simply ask a question of the hon. member. If the hon. member wants to cut taxes, which I understand is his point of view, will he also at the same time have to cut spending in order to pay for those tax cuts? If he is to cut spending, does he think that cutting government spending will add stimulus to the economy?

[Stockwell Day, Canadian Alliance, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we are asking the questions here. That is why we need to see that financial update. Since he will not do anything—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. We will hear the question. The hon. Leader of the Opposition is asking a question.

[Stockwell Day, Canadian Alliance, Okanagan—Coquihalla, BC]

Mr. Speaker, since he will not indicate that he will help low income workers, will the minister take a look at the corporate tax rates because our corporate taxes, our business taxes, are higher than the average of countries with which we trade at the OECD?

Will he accelerate his indicated reduction of those taxes, the 28% to 21% reduction, to reflect his confidence in the economy?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I might as well ask the questions as well as answer them. Somebody had better ask decent questions in the House.

The hon. member ought to know that as a result of our tax cuts our corporate taxes will be five percentage points lower than those in the United States. Our capital gains taxes are now lower than those in the United States. Our treatment of stock options is now lower and more generous than that in the United States. As a result we have the largest fiscal stimulus ever brought in by a Canadian government.

[Stockwell Day, Canadian Alliance, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the minister well knows that the ratio of taxes vis-à-vis the GDP is 43% in Canada and 31% in the United States. He should keep that in mind.

I thought the Minister of Finance was being sincere yesterday in asking for our suggestions. Today, I do not know. Can he at least assure workers that his economic statement will announce a cut in EI contributions from $2.25 to $2?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, since we became the government, we have reduced contributions to employment insurance by over $6 million. Again in November, we made another 15 cent cut.

We have already indicated our intention to lower taxes and contributions and to encourage the Canadian economy. That is why we are going to get by despite the downturn in the United States. That is why Canada is going to have the best growth rate of all G7 countries this year.

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

Mr. Speaker, one little fact the finance minister forgets to mention is that with his CPP tax hikes there will actually be an increase in payroll taxes this year.

In his political statement in the fall the finance minister projected growth at 3.5%. Then the Governor of the Bank of Canada said 3% in January. His parliamentary secretary speculated about growth as low as 2% last week. I was on a show yesterday with the member for Markham who speculated about a 1.5% growth.

Among all these incredible shrinking growth projections where does the finance minister stand? What does he believe growth will be in Canada this year? How will he incorporate that into his fiscal plan?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows we operate on the basis of the consensus of private sector economists and that consensus will be out somewhere near the end of March. The hon. member also knows that in October we set in place a substantial contingency reserve and prudence to cover exactly the kind of slowdown we are now seeing.

I have another question, if I might. When the hon. member refers to the Canada pension plan premiums, is he referring to the Canada pension plan premiums which we and the provinces, me and the then treasurer of Alberta, the current Leader of the Opposition, increased? Are those the ones that he is referring to?

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. I know there is a lot of exuberance in the House today but we are losing time on the 45 minutes for question period.

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

Mr. Speaker, I can understand the exuberance when this tax on the CPP represents one of the largest tax increases in Canadian history. It was opposed by this opposition. The Alberta government sought a way to treat Albertans through a separate system.

What I can tell the finance minister is that we continue to have a tax burden which is 12% higher as a percentage of our GDP than that of the United States. How can he stand in this place and tell Canadians who are leaving this country in the brain drain that our taxes are lower when every available statistic demonstrates that our tax burden is substantially higher than that of our major trading partner?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, and our health care system is a lot better. I want to go back to the Canada pension plan. To the best of my knowledge, at all of the federal provincial meetings that I was at, including that with the then treasurer of Alberta, there was support for the Canada pension plan.

Is it now the position of the Alliance that it is against the Canada pension plan? Is it the position of the Alliance that it would renege on the unfunded liability?

What is the Alliance saying about the Canada pension plan, which is one of the pillars of our retirement system? It is one that all Canadians believe in. The hon. member ought to stand now and tell us if he supports it or if he does not.

Free Trade Area Of The Americas

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

Mr. Speaker, on February 8, the Prime Minister said that he could not make the negotiating documents for the Summit of the Americas available because certain countries were opposed.

But three weeks prior to his statement, the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the 100 U.S. senators already had access to these very documents.

How can the Prime Minister explain the response he gave in the House, when he knew that U.S. parliamentarians had access to these documents?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, instead of talking about the American system, let us talk about our own Canadian one.

Here, we include parliamentarians in the development of policies and priorities having to do with trade negotiations. Here, we listen to Canadians, and we will continue to listen to them and to communicate with them by various means.

Our government defends its position on trade negotiations before the House committee. This government is more inclusive than any that has gone before it.

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

Mr. Speaker, this is amazing. We are told that there is transparency and that we have access to these debates, but we are not even permitted to have the agenda for these meetings.

We do not know what will be discussed there, and we are told that we are involved in the development of a position.

I once again ask the Prime Minister, who was so quick to tell us on February 8 that he could not show us the documents because certain countries were opposed, how is it that we may not see them here but they are available in the United States?

The Prime Minister is aware of this. If he is not, there is a problem. How can he tell us such a thing when he knows it is not the case? Did he not tell members the exact opposite—

[The Speaker]

The hon. Minister for International Trade.

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, it is our strong belief that all Canadians—not just parliamentarians, but all Canadians—should have access to the drafts of negotiating texts, and we are bringing pressure to bear on our 33 partners in the Americas for the very purpose of having these texts made public. We cannot take unilateral action. Our partners must be in agreement.

Once again, I can assure you of one thing: Canada leads the hemisphere with respect to open and transparent initiatives.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, with such a protector, Canada is not out of the woods.

On the same issue, yesterday, during Oral Question Period, the Minister for International Trade said, and I quote: “If it is available to congress, it will not be long before it becomes public”. A few minutes later, during a media scrum, he said that members of congress are bound by a confidentiality rule.

My question to the Minister for International Trade is: Does he not have a serious credibility problem in the area of international trade, as he did with human resources, when he says one thing and then the exact opposite a few minutes later?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, I clearly said that the United States and Canada have different ways of doing things.

In this case, the parliamentary committee was consulted, and our negotiating positions in Buenos Aires reflected what the parliamentary committee had heard.

We have our own way of doing things. We will continue to closely consult with the provinces, and also with parliamentarians.