House of Commons Hansard #20 of the 37th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was children.
Lynn Myers LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Solicitor General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, the government continues to work effectively, not only with Correctional Service Canada but with all law partners across the country to ensure that people who must be in jail are put in jail in a manner consistent with the values of Canadians.
That is precisely what happened here. We are ensuring that somebody who should not be on the street is not and somebody who should be put away is. That is what we on the government side do.
Keith Martin Canadian Alliance Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC
Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member is mistaking Liberal values for Canadian values.
Let us take another example. We have Ian Gordon. What does he do? He murders his girlfriend with an axe. He goes out, teaches a course, comes back and murders two little girls with an axe. What is happening? Liberal values say that this man has to serve only two years of a maximum security sentence in a maximum facility. Where is he now? He is in a medium facility.
Maybe the member across the way would like to explain to the Canadian public and the House why this murderer is spending time in a minimum security prison and not in maximum security.
Lynn Myers LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Solicitor General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, Liberal values always say that we will ensure that people who break the law will have the consequences they deserve. After that we will try to rehabilitate them in a manner consistent with the values of Canadians.
What I reject out of hand are the values of members of the Alliance: the Alliance values of scaring Canadians, the Alliance values of always fearmongering and the Alliance values of playing cheap politics with very serious cases. That is who they are. They are not the way we are. We defend Canadian values.
Michel Guimond Bloc Beauport—Montmorency—Côte-De- Beaupré—Île-D'Orléans, QC
Mr. Speaker, with the chief veterinary officer of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency just back from Brazil, where he led an investigation into food safety, we learn that the European Union feels that Canada is not complying with the essentials of community food safety requirements.
If the minister can invoke the principle of precaution to justify the embargo on Brazilian beef, can he explain why he is not applying this same principle of precaution here in Canada? The problem is here, not somewhere else. Here in Canada.
Larry McCormick LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, Canada is very fortunate to have one of the best tracking systems in the world. Our food is exported around the world. Our reputation is second to none around the world. The country has been BSE free for years and our tracking system will keep it that way.
Michel Guimond Bloc Beauport—Montmorency—Côte-De- Beaupré—Île-D'Orléans, QC
Mr. Speaker, I do not know whether the parliamentary secretary is going to—
HealthOral Question Period
The Speaker
Order, please. The House seems to be full of exuberance today, but it is difficult to hear the hon. member for Beauport—Montmorency—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île-d'Orléans.
Michel Guimond Bloc Beauport—Montmorency—Côte-De- Beaupré—Île-D'Orléans, QC
Mr. Speaker, this is not the first time that Health Canada has been on the hot seat. There was the tainted blood scandal, cancer causing breast implants, the whistleblowing by scientists on bovine growth hormones.
What the European Union objects to is Canada allowing the unrestricted sale of cancer causing hormones that might pose a threat to human health.
How can the minister justify allowing the use of these hormones in Canada when they are banned in Europe because they are a threat to health? Is this the best system in the world?
Larry McCormick LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, the Canadian government is strongly committed to providing the highest possible level of food safety to consumers of Canadian food products. The food safety system has served Canada well. In fact, as late as yesterday the EU, based on its own sampling, found that there was no evidence of drug residues in Canadian products. We have the safest food in the world.
Gurmant Grewal Canadian Alliance Surrey Central, BC
Mr. Speaker, in preparation for the upcoming United Nations world conference against racism, the multiculturalism minister is hosting a national consultation in Ottawa today. Canadians will remember that during the recent federal election the immigration minister's name calling fanned the fires of racism in Canada.
Did the multiculturalism minister insist that the immigration minister attend the consultation given her antisocial behaviour and misunderstanding of the fight against racism, or is the immigration minister refusing to attend?
Hedy Fry LiberalSecretary of State (Multiculturalism)(Status of Women)
Mr. Speaker, what I have heard from the consultations that I have done, regional as well as this national consultation, is that the slippery slope on the first step to hate and to any kind of racism is stereotyping.
We have heard day after day in the House stereotyping, which means taking one group and giving them all kinds of epithets. It is called McCarthyism. It is attributing to people in the country who belong to a racial minority that they are terrorists, et cetera. That is stereotyping and it leads to hate. That is what we have to deal with in the House.
Gurmant Grewal Canadian Alliance Surrey Central, BC
Mr. Speaker, the immigration minister offended millions of Canadians who supported and voted for the Canadian Alliance. While the multiculturalism minister spent her time and taxpayer money running a campaign to fight racism, the immigration minister ran around labelling Canadians.
Will the Prime Minister demand that the immigration minister apologize for her catcalling and order her to attend the conference so that she may begin her schooling to learn some respect for Canada's cultural diversity?
Herb Gray LiberalDeputy Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the immigration minister is doing an outstanding job as minister, as a member of parliament and as a representative herself of the diversity of our great Canadian family. When the hon. member asserts otherwise, it shows why he and his party are totally unworthy of the support of Canadians, especially those from groups other than the traditional majority groups.
David Pratt Liberal Nepean—Carleton, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.
Given the recent and very serious events in other countries regarding food safety, I would like to ask the parliamentary secretary a more pointed question with respect to what specifically the Government of Canada is doing to ensure that the food that we eat is safe.
Larry McCormick LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned previously, the government is strongly committed to the health of Canadians.
As proof of this commitment, I am pleased to announce in the House that our government has approved an investment of an additional $32 million to ensure that in the future Canada's food safety system could continue to provide Canadians with the highest level of protection.
This investment represents funding to improve the control and regulation of veterinary and drug residues in food producing animals and food products of animal origin. Canadians have a right to expect an effective and efficient food system, and that is what they get.
Svend Robinson NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development. The minister will recall that the House unanimously passed a motion in 1998 condemning the discriminatory treatment of British pensioners living in Canada and the failure of the British government to uprate their pensions.
I understand that yesterday Prime Minister Tony Blair, in a meeting with our Prime Minister, effectively said that his government was not prepared to take any action on behalf of these pensioners.
What action is our government now prepared to take on behalf of the 140,000 pensioners? Specifically will the government launch a challenge in the European Court of Human Rights to end this discriminatory treatment?
Herb Gray LiberalDeputy Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member unfortunately is wrong in his assertions. The Prime Minister raised this matter vigorously with Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain. Prime Minister Blair of Britain confirmed that in his press conference and Prime Minister Blair said, based on my recollection of the transcript of the press conference, that he would look into the matter further.
This was raised vigorously by the Prime Minister. Mr. Blair in his press conference responded to this by saying he would look into it further. I think that should be recognized by the hon. member.
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—St. Clair, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister may feel satisfied with the way he has dealt with the legitimate concerns of British pensioners living in Canada by saying the matter is being dealt with in the U.K.
However, perhaps he would explain why his government continues to ignore a problem clearly within the scope of his government: thousands of Canadian citizens facing crippling taxes on their U.S. social security benefits. They have been calling for relief from the government for over four and a half years without success.
Both the finance minister and the Deputy Prime Minister have acknowledged the problem yet have chosen to do nothing about it. When will the government take action to address the gross injustice faced by the Canadians asking for social security fairness?
Jim Peterson LiberalSecretary of State (International Financial Institutions)
Mr. Speaker, I assure members this is an issue we have under consideration and we are pressing for changes.
Bill Casey Progressive Conservative Cumberland—Colchester, NS
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. For 60 years the Cobequid Federal Fish Hatchery of Cumberland county served industry and government, but in 1997 the department of fisheries announced a great new policy of divestiture with a great deal of fanfare.
Now, only two and a half years later, the experiment has failed; the policy has failed; and the fish hatchery is closed for the first time in half a century. Will the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans restore the fish hatchery to its former level and not punish the area just because the policy failed?
Herb Dhaliwal LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, fish enhancement has been an extremely important part of DFO and we do that across the country.
I am not familiar with the particular hatchery the hon. member has referred to, but if he provides the details for me I will certainly want to get back to him and make sure I provide a full answer to his question.
Gerald Keddy Progressive Conservative South Shore, NS
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans should be familiar with the Cobequid hatchery. He should be familiar with Coldbrook hatchery and the Mersey hatchery because lots of questions have been asked on them before.
The issue is simple. His government and his department gave Salmon Care hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of supplies, juvenile fish and other things, and it was a colossal failure, a complete and utter failure. What was the total cost to Canadian taxpayers and where is the new plan?
Herb Dhaliwal LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, as I said in my earlier answer, I will take this question under advisement.
Fish enhancement is an important part of DFO. I am not familiar with all the details in this question, but I will get back to him with a full response.
Jim Pankiw Canadian Alliance Saskatoon—Humboldt, SK
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has posted a job advertisement for an administrative position with correctional services, but the criteria for determining who will get the job is not ability, education or experience but rather race.
Since 90% of all Canadians oppose racist employment equity and affirmative action programs, will the Liberal government abandon its prejudiced and discriminatory hiring policy?