Debates of Feb. 7th, 2001

Auditor General

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite must know more than he is saying today. He must know that the appointment of people like Julie Payette, a well known astronaut, to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada is a good one, and that Phil Fontaine, who was appointed to the millennium committee, is a highly qualified individual. He must also know that Benoît Bouchard was certainly not a Liberal MP, but was well versed in the field of transportation. A number of his friends opposite must know that for sure.

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

Mr. Speaker, the government House leader should know that, for each of the names he has given us, we can name him at least 50 partisan appointments each.

According to the 1993 red book, a Liberal government would ensure that appointments reflected abilities when filling still vacant positions.

How does the Prime Minister explain this lack of ability in his appointments, he, who promised a return to healthier practices more in keeping with the principles of good management?

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, if the member opposite is accusing us of appointing more women to boards, it is true. We have appointed 30%, three times more than in the other sectors. It is true. He would be right in saying that women represent 18% of board members as compared with 6% in the public sector as well. If he said more native people are being appointed by this government than in other sectors, that too is true, and we are proud of it.

Grants And Contributions

[Diane Ablonczy, Canadian Alliance, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, evidence keeps mounting that raises questions about unusual amounts of money flowing into the Prime Minister's riding.

We have now obtained figures from the immigrant investor program in Quebec. On average four times as much money has gone into the Prime Minister's region as into any other in Quebec, including much larger regions based on population.

What influence has the Prime Minister exerted to obtain such skewed results?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to explain again that the management of this fund is done by the provincial government. I am very happy to learn today that Mr. Bouchard was very keen to make sure I was re-elected.

[Diane Ablonczy, Canadian Alliance, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, there are so many things that do not add up in the way money goes into the Prime Minister's riding.

For example, he says that he did not own the golf course because he had sold it before the election. On January 27 he phoned the ethics counsellor to say that the sale had fallen through and asked what he should do. The ethics counsellor said that he still owned the shares. He cannot have it both ways. Money keeps going in and the answers do not add up.

Will the Prime Minister give us some straight answers about why all of this money goes into his riding with his fingerprints all over it?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this was dealt with extensively by the ethics counsellor. I sold my shares and eventually I got paid many years later.

Softwood Lumber

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in endorsing the appointment of the new U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Robert Zoellick, U.S. senators have asked him to play hard ball with Canada, particularly in the softwood lumber issue.

Will the Minister for International Trade contact his American counterpart to find out if he shares the senators' view?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, I intend to phone Bob Zoellick—with whom I had dinner on Monday evening, along with the Prime Minister—this afternoon.

We congratulated Mr. Zoellick for getting the unanimous support of all 98 senators yesterday. This is quite an achievement. I will certainly have the opportunity to discuss this matter, but Mr. Zoellick has already expressed his opinion during the senate hearings last week.

I must say that I was very pleased to see that the new U.S. commerce secretary is determined to have with Canada a constructive dialogue, which will lead to trade. The U.S. economy has a need for Canadian softwood lumber.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the rigid position of the U.S. senate, which we have all read and heard about, is in stark contrast with the minister's optimism, and also with the Prime Minister's optimism following his meeting with President Bush.

How does the Prime Minister explain these warnings on the part of U.S. senators?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the minister just said it. We had a meeting. We explained to the U.S. president, the vice-president and the ambassador responsible for this issue in the United States that we have a free trade agreement with their country.

If we have a free trade agreement, it only makes sense that it would apply not only to energy, natural gas and oil, but also to lumber.

We made it clear to them that, in Canada, we are complying with the rules and that our lumber should be allowed to enter the United States without any restrictions.

Ethics Counsellor

[Jim Abbott, Canadian Alliance, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Justice Ted Hughes, the B.C. conflict of interest commissioner, has established this rule for the ministers of B.C.:

A minister must not make personal representations on behalf of a constituent to—a commission, board, agency, or other tribunal established by the government.

The Prime Minister obviously violated this principle in lobbying the president of the Business Development Bank on behalf of Yvon Duhaime. Why do the Prime Minister and the federal cabinet ministers practise a lower standard of ethical conduct than the ministers in B.C.?

[Brian Tobin, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the ethics counsellor has written recently to the Leader of the Opposition and has responded to the most recent correspondence from the Leader of the Opposition. He has made crystal clear that all these matters, all the allegations being raised today, have been addressed. There were no private benefit by the Prime Minister whatsoever and no conflict of interest.

If the member wants to talk about private benefits from public funds to leaders in the House, we could talk to the leader of the Alliance Party.

[Jim Abbott, Canadian Alliance, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Mr. Speaker, let us take a look at another province. Ontario's integrity commissioner has ruled that:

Parliamentary convention prohibits all ministers from personally appearing or advocating on behalf of a private party with any agency, board, or commission of the government.

The federal ethics counsellor has stated that the Prime Minister did not break any rule or parliamentary convention in lobbying the federal agency. Why has the Prime Minister set up the ethics counsellor at the federal level with lower ethics than the ethics counsellor in the province of Ontario?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we appointed the ethics counsellor. We never had one before this government came in.

Before we named this person, we consulted with the opposition. Both the leader of the opposition of the day, Mr. Bouchard, and the leader of the opposition of the other party were consulted.

Both parties made statements in the House of Commons approving the appointment. They told everyone that Mr. Wilson was a man of great integrity.

Health

[Stan Keyes, Liberal, Hamilton West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health. While we are waiting to receive results from labs in Winnipeg to determine if in fact a critically ill woman at Henderson General Hospital in Hamilton is infected with the ebola virus, the concerns of Canadians, in particular Hamiltonians, are rising.

What steps has the Minister of Health taken to protect the people of Hamilton and Canadians everywhere from such deadly infectious diseases?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I understand the hospital in Hamilton will be holding a news conference at 3 o'clock with the appropriate Health Canada, regional and provincial health authorities to discuss this case.

I take this opportunity to congratulate and thank the officials from the local and regional authorities for their collaboration on this difficult case.

In the world we now live travel is so frequent and so fast that we will be facing these challenges into the future. This case was a good example of the importance of having a national strategy in place. Authorities worked together in an effective partnership to make sure that the risk was contained.

Poverty

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, following on the heels of the Vanier Institute report, how much more evidence does the government need to understand what Canadians already know, that a decade of failed Liberal policies has resulted in Canadians working harder and longer with deepening poverty for millions?

How could the Prime Minister feel content, sitting on a massive surplus while millions of Canadian families lag behind and are living in poverty? How could he tolerate that?

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, as does the hon. member, we welcome the work of the Vanier Institute. Indeed we recognize that some work has been done toward the effort to reduce poverty in Canada.

The last thing we want is a society of haves and have nots. That is why it continues to be important for us to invest in the national child benefit. That is why it continues to be important for us to recognize in the employment insurance regime that low income families should receive an 80% benefit, not just the 55% benefit. That is why it is important for us to focus on our youngest citizens, our children.

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear. It is this government that has created a society of haves and have nots. If that is all the government can come up with then clearly it is socially bankrupt.

What is of even deeper concern is that in the throne speech we now hear reference to a national project on poverty, which is nothing more than a new guise for a workfare program to drive low income parents into low wage employment.

Is that her government's vision of the new economy? Is that what parents can look forward to?

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear that on this side of the House we are pleased to be working with provinces right across the country, including New Democratic governments in the hon. member's province of British Columbia and those in Saskatchewan and Manitoba that believe, as we do, that investing together in the national child benefit, increasing the number of services available to low income families in support of their children and investing $2.2 billion in the lives of our youngest citizens are precisely the things we need to do in a modern Canada to reduce poverty.

Foreign Affairs

[Bill Casey, Progressive Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs. This morning a Conservative caucus of MPs and senators had a unique joint meeting with Israeli and Palestinian diplomats. Several proposals were made by the Palestinians and the Israelis on how Canada could play a key role in facilitating a joint lasting peace.

One of the suggestions was for Canada to host a further joint meeting between parliamentarians from Israel, Palestine and Canada. Will the Minister of Foreign Affairs work with all of us to establish the process requested by the Palestinians and the Israelis?

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, of course Canada is anxious to be a positive force in encouraging the continuation of the Middle East peace process. I would certainly be prepared to look at any proposals that either side has for us and to consider them.

The Prime Minister spoke this afternoon with Mr. Sharon to assure him of our continuing interest in the peace process in that troubled region.

[Bill Casey, Progressive Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Mr. Speaker, both the Israelis and Palestinians acknowledge that Canada has a unique place, has tremendous respect in that region and can play a role. However, both Palestinians and Israelis have also projected that commercial trade could triple between Canada and their region.

Will the Minister for International Trade begin the process of expanding trade talks with this region as they both requested?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I had the privilege of talking with the new prime minister of Israel. I wished him good luck in the very difficult task of being the prime minister of Israel. I said that Canada wished that the peace process would continue. We have offered to do whatever we could to help in these very difficult circumstances.

The member talked about trade. We are trading with Israel and we are trading with all the nations of this area. They are all happy with the relationship they have with Canada.