Debates of March 16th, 2001

Oxford Agriculture Awards

[John Finlay, Liberal, Oxford, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on March 8 the agricultural community in my riding came together to honour innovation and achievement at the first Oxford county Agricultural Awards of Excellence.

Oxford county producers are known far and wide for their efficient, innovative and environmentally responsible farming practices. This year several were rewarded by their peers for these efforts.

I was honoured to be present at this gala event and would like to recognize the following winners: in large agribusiness, Cold Springs Farm; in small agribusiness, Vincent Farm Equipment Ltd.; in farm innovation, Blythe Brae Farms; for the family farm, Munro's Ornum Farms; for food processing, Otter Valley Foods Inc.; for conservation, Oxford Soil and Crop Improvement Association; and the president's technology award went to Canada's Outdoor Farm Show.

I congratulate all this year's finalists as well as the Oxford County Federation of Agriculture and President Nancy Walther for their foresight and hard work in organizing this premiere event.

Agriculture

[Murray Calder, Liberal, Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, two days ago I and some of my colleagues attended a farm rally at Lansdowne Park to try to get the extra $400 million in support that farmers need this year.

I want to congratulate the leaders of the NDP and the Conservatives for making agriculture their lead questions that day. At the farm rally the Leader of the Opposition told farmers that agriculture was his number one priority, but was agriculture his lead question in the House that day? No. Was it his second question that day? No.

If agriculture is a priority for the Canadian Alliance, why was it question number eight? The leader of the Canadian Alliance is crying crocodile tears for farmers. This is the party that said no subsidies. He should be ashamed.

Let all of us make agriculture our number one priority.

St. Patrick's Day

[James Rajotte, Canadian Alliance, Edmonton Southwest, AB]

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day and I rise today to pay tribute to St. Patrick, to honour all sons and daughters of Ireland and to extend greetings to all on this blessed day.

St. Paddy's Day conjures up images of shamrocks, leprechauns and green beverages. I encourage everyone to partake in these festivities, but I also want people to reflect on the character of the person for whom this day is named.

Patricius was born in Roman Britain sometime in the 5th century. When he was 16 he was carried off into captivity by marauders and sold as a slave to a local warlord in Ireland. For six years Patrick tended his master's sheep, during which time he developed a deep and abiding faith in God and a virulent hatred of slavery.

These passions inspired him to dedicate his life to serving God and ministering to the people of Ireland. He also became a strong voice against slavery and for the equal dignity of human beings.

He did not chase the snakes out of Ireland, and he may never have plucked a shamrock to teach the mystery of the Trinity, yet St. Patrick deserves to be remembered and honoured for the example of his life—

[The Deputy Speaker]

The hon. member for London—Fanshawe.

[Pat O'Brien, Liberal, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as we have noted, tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day. As early as the 17th century, the Irish were in Canada, in Newfoundland and in New France.

By 1867 and Confederation, fully one-third of the population of the country was Irish, including the visionary father of Confederation, Thomas D'Arcy McGee, who, if he were alive today, would be speaking for the continuation of Canadian unity and the continuation of the federation as we know it today, including the province of Quebec as part of the Canadian family.

This Chamber has the symbols of the Irish everywhere. The very ceiling above us is fine Irish linen, for those who are not aware of that fact. Above your chair, Mr. Speaker, is the Canadian coat of arms, including the Royal Harp of Tara and the Irish shamrock.

To the four million Irish Canadians who have made a great contribution to this country and to all Canadians, I want to wish them a happy St. Patrick's Day tomorrow: Beannachtai na Feile Padraig oraibh go leir .

Social Programs

[Wendy Lill, NDP, Dartmouth, NS]

Mr. Speaker, a Statistics Canada study released this week shows the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer in this country.

The richest families saw their net worth grow by 39%, while the poorest saw little change in their wealth. Half of all families hold 94% of all of the wealth, leaving the other half with only 6%.

We are a very divided and polarized society.

The government has made things worse by slashing our social infrastructure to pieces, thus undermining social housing, unemployment insurance, health and education.

Thanks to this government, families are falling further behind in their efforts to save and to access education, decent housing and security for their future.

It is time that the government woke up and recognized the role that it has played in making the wealth gap worse. It is time to reinvest in the programs that are essential to bringing about social justice and greater equality in the country.

Regional Development

[Jocelyne Girard-Bujold, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, where regional development is concerned, it is clear that Ottawa is more concerned about its image than about developing the regions of Quebec.

In 1996, Quebecers paid close to $14.6 billion in personal income tax to Ottawa, which in turn, in 1999, made capital investments of a mere $652 million, a reinvestment in the order of 4.5%.

In addition, the federal government has had a negative impact on the regions of Quebec. As far as transportation is concerned, it has failed to provide the regions with affordable and accessible air service, and the employment insurance program contains inequities, particularly for seasonal workers, and this is in large part responsible for our young people moving elsewhere. For example, in my region of Saguenay—Lac-Saint Jean, they are leaving at the equivalent of one bus-load every week.

The crumbs distributed by the secretary of state to the 56 CFDCs of Quebec will do absolutely nothing to change the situation. Quite simply, the regions of Quebec do not derive sufficient benefit from Canadian federalism.

Student Jobs

[Jeannot Castonguay, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Speaker, now is the time for Canadian students to explore the avenues open to them in the labour market for the coming summer and for businesses to analyze their staffing needs.

In order to give both students and businesses support, Minister of Human Resources Development and the Secretary of State for Children and Youth have launched the student summer job action 2001 program.

Under this program, the federal government provides salary support to businesses hiring students during the summer. It grants loans to students establishing businesses and it gives a number of young people the opportunity to work in the federal public service.

The summer career placements program is also very popular with business and students. It gives students an opportunity to work in their field of study.

I invite students and businesses to take part in these programs. They will find them very useful.

James Granville Johnson

[Peter MacKay, Progressive Conservative, Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS]

Mr. Speaker, on February 28, 2001, at Loch Katrine United Church in Guysborough county, a community turned out to mourn a native son, James Granville Johnson. His wife Carole and children Dana, Diane and Debbie were joined by family and friends to mourn and pay tribute to this remarkable man and his life well lived.

The former warden of St. Mary's district had a heart as big as Guysborough and an intellect as deep as the waters off Sable. Jim found great joy in befriending and helping others. He loved his family, the land and its politics and of course the sea and its creatures such as wayward whales. His big callused hands were always busy, reaching out, fixing, holding, creating for the good of all. Unselfish random acts of kindness were his trademark.

He was a robust man of action who loved and lived life to the fullest. Nautical adventurer, crewman on the Bounty , photographer, storyteller, artisan and scuba diver are but some of the hats he wore on his imposing brow.

The words of Rudyard Kipling's If describe him well:

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings—nor lose the common touch;

It was my good fortune to know Jim. He will be missed by all who knew him and even by those who did not, because for Jim there were never strangers, just friends he had never met.

Bill C-286

[Mac Harb, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all members of the House to strongly condemn the private member's bill, Bill C-286, an act to amend the Official Languages Act, introduced by an hon. member of the House.

The bill would take away the right of every Canadian to receive service from the federal government in either official language and eliminate the use of French in the public service.

It is yet another thinly veiled attempt by some members of the Alliance to break up our country through institutional intolerance.

This bill will put discrimination in legislation and deliberately destroy Canada's linguistic heritage.

I therefore call on all members of the House to stand firm for Canada and vote down this misguided and divisive bill.

Ethics Counsellor

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

Mr. Speaker, the matter of the mystery shareholder of the Grand-Mère golf course could all be so simple. Yesterday I again asked the Prime Minister to say a few words about his potential ownership of the Grand-Mère golf course but he kept dodging the question. He has refused to answer the very simple question about who the mystery fourth shareholder of the golf course was between 1996 and 1999.

If he was not a shareholder, and I am not saying he was or he was not, he raises the curiosity by not answering it directly.

I am simply asking him today, if he was not a shareholder between 1996 and 1999, who was the fourth mystery shareholder?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said yesterday that he had divested himself of those shares before he became Prime Minister in 1993. It follows that he was not the so-called mystery shareholder and therefore it also follows that he would not have the information sought by my hon. friend.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister is avoiding something here. The Prime Minister phoned the ethics counsellor in 1996 because he got the shares back. I hope he remembers that when I ask my question. He got the shares back, by his own admission, after about a year and a half of us asking him that question.

I want to know something. We know the names of three of the shareholders. We know the fourth name could be that of the Prime Minister. Now there is only one blank left to fill in.

Since privacy is not the concern in this case, will the Prime Minister commit to releasing the identity of the fourth shareholder after the officials examine the records? They are looking at those records. Will—

[The Speaker]

The hon. Deputy Prime Minister.

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is simply wrong. The Prime Minister did not take back the shares. As recently as yesterday the ethics counsellor said:

I am satisfied, and have been for an awfully long time, that the Prime Minister sold his shares in 1993. I am absolutely certain that (the Prime Minister) did not own those shares between 1993 and 1999...I've gone through this very, very carefully, seen the original sale documents from 1993, seen the documents from 1999.

If there is a blank anywhere, it is in the mind of the Leader of the Opposition.

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

Mr. Speaker, I wish he would read all the correspondence. The ethics counsellor has said that, because there may be more information, he has now asked the director general of the corporations branch of Industry Canada to examine the books, a little fact that the Deputy Prime Minister left out.

When the minister's officials examine the books, they will know whether in fact the Prime Minister was in conflict of interest or not.

Will the Deputy Prime Minister or the Minister of Industry share the results of the examination of the books and will they show us the name of this fourth mystery person? The Prime Minister—

[The Speaker]

The hon. Deputy Prime Minister.

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is repeating something that is not accurate. The Prime Minister did not own the shares in 1996. If he did not own the shares in 1996, he does not have jurisdiction over the documents. The jurisdiction over the documents depends on the requirements and wording of the Canada Corporations Act and that act I am certain will be lived up to in its entirety.

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

Mr. Speaker, the blank that the Deputy Prime Minister talks about is 1996 when the Prime Minister talked to the ethics counsellor and told him that he had a problem because he still owned the shares.

The Prime Minister talks about the shares as being in a blind trust. If those shares were in a blind trust, he would have no idea whether he got those shares back or not. That is the issue. There is an ethical obligation here to find out if the Prime Minister actually owned those shares in 1996 and was in a conflict of interest when he was lobbying for grants and loans.

The Minister of Industry, hopefully, although he is trying to protect his boss, will get to the bottom of that. The question is, who is that fourth secret shareholder and will he name that person?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I repeat what the ethics counsellor said yesterday, I think to Canadian Press:

I am absolutely certain that (the Prime Minister) did not own those shares between 1993 and 1999...I've gone through this very, very carefully, seen the original sale documents from 1993, seen the documents from 1999.

With respect to the documents filed with the industry department, the ethics counsellor when on to say that he was certain that the minister and his officials would comply with the relevant law and that certainly, to the extent the law permits, information would be made available.

However, I repeat, the Prime Minister insists he—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Edmonton North.

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

Mr. Speaker, how do we even know that? As for the ethics counsellor, what do we expect him to say except that his boss is the best?

We are not getting straight answers here. The government obviously has something to hide. Again, we know that there were three shareholders. The Prime Minister claims that he was not a shareholder and the ethics counsellor says “yeah, you bet”, although why in the world would they have this conversation in 1996 then? That is a moot point. There would have been no need to even have that discussion if it was in fact in a blind trust.

The industry minister, through this investigation, will soon know who that is and the Canadian public demands to know—

[The Deputy Speaker]

The hon. Deputy Prime Minister.

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I said that the relevant law would be complied with. I assure the House and the Canadian public that I and the government are providing straight answers even though we are obviously not getting straight questions.

National Defence

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

Mr. Speaker, this morning, Le Devoir contained a damning report on the integration of women into the Canadian armed forces.

It reveals that, despite promises and all of the propaganda that has gone into recruiting women, they represent a meagre 11.1% of the force.

How does the Minister of National Defence explain this miserable failure of his policy on integration?