Debates of Feb. 8th, 2001

Grants And Contributions

[Deborah Grey, Canadian Alliance, Edmonton North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I know they changed the ground rules on the pension, but we should not be surprised they change it on just about everything.

In fact, the Prime Minister just reiterated what he said:

I receive members of parliament from both sides every day at 3 o'clock (now it is for photos) and visitors also come to see me...We shake hands, discuss things for two or three minutes and then they leave. This visit was of the same nature.

Now it is for photos. I could only imagine how many the millions could have been raised if they had stayed for six minutes in his office.

The Prime Minister needs to clarify this point. Did he have more than one meeting with the immigrant investors?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I met them. I never had any other meeting. I do not remember the names of these people. I saw their picture later on.

I meet hundreds of people and I try to be nice with everybody, even if the hon. member comes to my office with some of her own electors.

[Deborah Grey, Canadian Alliance, Edmonton North, AB]

So, Mr. Speaker, here he is. He did not have relations with those people.

There is an unbelievable connection here with a meeting that he had with a representative of the immigrant investor fund and money flowing to the Auberge Grand-Mère. He could try and trivialize it away, but during the election campaign he said “He has not invested a damn cent in that”. Surely he must know who he is talking about.

The fact is we now know that $2.35 million was invested and funnelled into his own riding. I am sure the Prime Minister would never try to mislead Canadians during an election campaign, so why did he deny that that money was ever invested?

[Brian Tobin, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister would have no reason to know what the immigrant investor fund is investing or not investing. It is administered by the government of Quebec, and the member ought to know that.

Today is February 8. As recently as January 29, the ethics counsellor wrote to the Leader of the Opposition in a two page missive in answer to the latest allegations: “Therefore it has been my position that the Prime Minister had no financial links with either the golf course or the auberge”. It is time to stop these scandalous attacks on the Prime Minister.

[Grant McNally, Canadian Alliance, Dewdney—Alouette, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the new member for Vancouver Quadra says it is dangerous when a politician bends the rules to benefit a constituent.

When asked specifically about the Prime Minister lobbying the president of the BDC, the member for Vancouver Quadra said “I do not think any of us should be comfortable with the confusion and the public unease that it caused”.

I have a question for the Prime Minister. Who is right on this? Is it his new member, the former ombudsman for British Columbia, or him?

[Brian Tobin, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, I will tell the member who is right. Who is right is the gentleman, and the only gentleman, who has done an objective analysis of this issue.

He is not part of a partisan campaign. He was not part of the same nonsense that was raised during the election and failed to persuade the people of Canada. That is the ethics counsellor who has answered every question with a clear statement that the Prime Minister has acted with integrity. That is who is right.

[Grant McNally, Canadian Alliance, Dewdney—Alouette, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I wonder what the minister thinks of his colleague. The member for Vancouver Quadra went on to say that a case like this should be put into the hands of an independent conflict commissioner and a special prosecutor.

Why will the Prime Minister not allow for a truly independent investigation into his dealings in Shawinigan?

[Brian Tobin, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, this matter has been looked into by an independent ethics counsellor.

What has not been looked into by an independent counsellor is the fact that the leader of the Alliance has personally benefited from public funds to the tune of $800,000. That has never been looked into but may in a court of law in the province of Alberta.

Food Inspection

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food said in the House, and I quote “We have one of the best food safety systems in the world—”

This morning, we learned that not only does the auditor general have doubts about this, but the agency's even said they are unable to say when food inspection problems will be corrected.

Does the minister still stand by his statement about the superiority of our inspection system, or does he intend to take the necessary corrective action?

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

Mr. Speaker, as we have always said, we appreciate the comments and the review by the auditor general.

I believe the hon. member was referring to a specific area. The auditor general was concerned with structural things. I think he referred to such things as paint chips and rooms in facilities that needed to be painted.

I assure the hon. member and all Canadians again that food provided to Canadians through our food processing and manufacturing facilities is safe.

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

Mr. Speaker, the system is so good that the agency spokesperson tells us he does not even know when it will be possible to correct the problems and that they will not be corrected at all unless 500 inspectors are hired to do the work properly.

Does the minister in fact intend to hire the 500 inspectors that would make the system the best in the world, as he describes it, when this is not at all the case right now, and agency officials are themselves questioning the quality of the job they are doing?

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

Mr. Speaker, I do not think it is raising the level of confidence or assuring the level of confidence in our food system, which is there as our track record has shown very clearly, when the hon. member makes those type of statements.

As a government we have put many more millions of dollars in the last year into the food safety system through the Department of health and through the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. We are constantly adding resources and personnel to continue to assure Canadians that our food system is one of the safest systems in the world.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the auditor general has pointed out that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has not been doing its job properly. Regardless of what the minister has to say over and over again about our system being one of the best in the world, this is of great concern to all Canadians.

My question for the Minister of Agriculture is this: Does the minister seriously believe his words are reassuring to consumers when 75% of problem cases relating to cross contamination are still not being settled within 12 to 28 months, and the agency spokesperson cannot give any guarantee that this will change in the coming year? How can he continue saying the same thing when the experts are saying something that is virtually the opposite?

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to clarify by suggesting to the hon. member again that he not make statements which lower the confidence of Canadians in our food system.

When the production or safety of food in a plant in Canada is found to be in danger, the production of that product is stopped immediately. If he would read the whole section of the report, the auditor general refers to such things as chipping paint or something like that in a room. The operation is given a period of time to correct that. If it is not done over a period of time—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Roberval.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, how can the minister be so confident? How can he keep on saying there are no problems in the system, that it is one of the best in the world? Our auditor general is also one of the best in the world.

He says that the government and the agency are not doing their job. Why should we believe the minister under these circumstances, when even the experts at the agency are saying that the problem would not be settled with 500 more inspectors, even in a year. He should open his eyes before something happens.

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

Mr. Speaker, I will repeat. When the auditor general points out situations like this one, which is his job, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and every other ministry move to correct them and to find the resources as quickly as possible.

However, I repeat. The best statement about the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the work it does is the track record of the safety of food in Canada, and it is second to none.

Tobacco Products

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, we know that tobacco kills. That is why the government spends taxpayer money on anti-smoking campaigns.

Tomorrow the Prime Minister goes to China. He will bring with him his toothbrush, his pyjamas, and a couple of tobacco companies.

Why does the government think that selling toxic products to Canadian children is bad but selling the same lethal product to Chinese children is perfectly all right? Is that not the height of hypocrisy?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, selling tobacco is not illegal in Canada; nothing is illegal. We have some farmers in Canada who produce that product and would like to sell their product.

They asked the government of Ontario to be members of the delegation and the government accepted putting them on the delegation to go with team Canada.

I think when we can help farmers in Canada it is our duty to do so.

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, why does the Prime Minister want Canada to be a merchant of death? Listen to this quote: “The fight against tobacco use is global. It is hoped that other countries will benefit from Canada's approach”.

Who said that? The Minister of Health said it last summer. By promoting tobacco in China the government is doing exactly the opposite of what the health minister advocates. Every year 800,000 Chinese die from tobacco related illnesses. How many more is the Prime Minister willing to see die?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, they are saying that we should let farmers produce tobacco for Canadians, but we should not let farmers produce tobacco for the Chinese. I understand now why the Canadian people think that party is completely irrelevant.

Ethics Counsellor

[Joe Clark, Progressive Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister consulted the ethics counsellor in January 1996 to advise that no payment had been received for the Prime Minister's shares in the Grand-Mère golf club. Less than 90 days later the Prime Minister intervened with the Business Development Bank, lobbying for a loan for the Auberge Grand-Mère which adjoins and enhances that golf course. With his ownership of the golf club shares still in question, how can the Prime Minister possibly claim that there was no conflict of interest?

[Brian Tobin, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, in response to the question raised by the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, let me read from the letter dated January 29, 2000. It states:

My conclusion, on November 21, 2000, was that “the Prime Minister, in calling the President of the BDC, did not violate any rule which has been established by the Canadian Government in terms of Ministers dealing on behalf of constituents with government agencies”.

The ethics counsellor went on to say that the ownership of those properties were transferred in 1993 before the now member for Shawinigan became Prime Minister of Canada.

[Joe Clark, Progressive Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is familiar with Mr. Justice Ted Hughes who headed the Vander Zalm inquiry in British Columbia. The Prime Minister himself named him to head the APEC inquiry. He is a man of unquestioned integrity and independence.

The Prime Minister wants this auberge issue settled. Would he agree to name Mr. Justice Ted Hughes to examine all the evidence, determine if there has been a conflict of interest in this case and report to the House of Commons? This deserves an answer from the Prime Minister of Canada.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.