Debates of March 16th, 2001

National Defence

[Art Hanger, Canadian Alliance, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, last week the Minister of Public Works and Government Services announced in the House that the maritime helicopter contract would not be signed until next year; that is 2002.

That puts the delivery of the Sea King replacement to 2007, maybe even 2008. That is another delay in a 30 year project. There is something wrong here.

The minister has told the House and the military repeatedly that we would be getting new choppers in 2005. Does the minister still actually have a plan—

[The Deputy Speaker]

The hon. Minister of National Defence.

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, we are proceeding with the procurement for maritime helicopters to replace the Sea King. It is our priority purchase.

I am still hopeful that we could have them by the end of 2005. I talked with the assistant deputy minister in charge of procurement and insisted that we do everything possible to speed up the procurement process so that we can get those helicopters just as quickly as we can to meet our needs, and to get them at the best possible price for Canadian taxpayers.

[Art Hanger, Canadian Alliance, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the minister should get together with the minister of public works. This is the only country in the NATO alliance that has divided up a major defence procurement into two projects: avionics and airframe. There is no prime contractor either. What happens when something goes wrong? Who is responsible?

My question is for the minister. Who dreamed up this scheme to divide the contracts? Which minister was it: the public works minister or the national defence minister? Is he prepared to stand in the House today and take the blame for this mess?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, there is no mess and there is no difference among the minister of public works, myself and the cabinet on this matter.

That shows that the member really does not know what he is talking about because there is a prime contractor. It will be the mission system integrator. There will be two competitions so we can get the best price and the best product to meet our needs.

Food Inspection

[Bernard Bigras, Bloc, Rosemont—Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday in the House, the Minister of Agriculture stated that he was confident that the Starlink contaminated feed corn would be found, and that he was also confident that it had not gone into the feeding system.

A few minutes later, outside the House, he stated that the shipment had been located.

Can the minister solemnly affirm in this House that the shipment has been located, and will he commit to providing a list of the locations to which the contaminated grain was delivered before the Food Inspection Agency issued a recall notice?

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

Mr. Speaker, I said outside the House yesterday that I was confident the product had not entered the food chain. I was informed that some of the product of the one shipment, which was totally detained, did get into the animal feeding system.

Health Canada says that there is an unlikely possibility of any damage or any effect as far as it going through an animal and then into the food chain. Some of it did get into the feeding system but not into the food chain.

[Bernard Bigras, Bloc, Rosemont—Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know if the minister realizes this, but his words are cause for considerable concern. We are dealing with pure improvisation on the part of the government here, and this is a concern for the health of the Canadian public.

Yesterday, a scientist from the Food Inspection Agency said “It is very possible that it has got in before and that it continues to do so”.

Is the minister of agriculture going to continue telling us that everything is fine, or is he going to take concrete measures to ensure that such a situation never repeats itself in Canada?

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

Mr. Speaker, the record of the Canadian food inspection system is one of which we can all be very proud.

Any food products that came in from the United States which contained the StarLink corn were taken off the market. Other tests have been conducted, and to date no positive tests have shown that the StarLink is there. If so, they will be dealt with accordingly and taken off the market.

Agriculture

[Leon Benoit, Canadian Alliance, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the agriculture minister has responded in a cold and callous way to farmer rallies by placing ads in big city newspapers saying that he is right and farmers are wrong.

All farmers are asking for is compensation for their prices being driven down by unfair trade in other countries. This minister responds by putting propaganda ads in the city sections of big city newspapers.

Why is this minister more concerned with protecting his own image than with protecting the family farm?

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

Mr. Speaker, I find the comment very interesting coming from a party that wants the government to tell Canadians where we spend money and how we spend money.

With that information we inform Canadians on how we spend money. Nobody said anything about who was right and who was wrong. We simply stated what the government was doing and continues to do and builds upon in order to assist agriculture producers.

[Leon Benoit, Canadian Alliance, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the answer quite frankly sounds quite a bit like a continuation of the propaganda ads. Farmers are not suffering from a lack of Liberal rhetoric; they are suffering from a lack of government action.

Could the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food explain why he thinks it is more important for him to spend money on his faltering image than it is to spend money on protecting farmers and saving the family farm?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting to hear members from that party talk about image. It is a party that not many months ago said it would remove subsidies to farmers. It is a party that has finally seen the light of the value of supply management in Canada. It is a party that said it would cut funding to agriculture and agri-food.

Contrary to that, the government has been there, will be there and will always be there for our farmers to give support and resources to grain farmers, supply management and other primary producers.

Taxation

[Shawn Murphy, Liberal, Hillsborough, PE]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue. Whether or not we like it, the time has now come for some 23 million Canadians to prepare and file their income tax returns for the 2000 taxation year.

What has the new Canada Customs and Revenue Agency done to make this annual obligation easier to fulfil?

[Sophia Leung, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question. This year as a new option the agency invites Canadians to file their income tax return by the Internet using certified commercial software. Internet filing is easy, is secure and is available seven days a week. Clients will receive their receipt very quickly.

There are two other filing options available. One is using—

[The Deputy Speaker]

The hon. member for Dartmouth.

Health

[Wendy Lill, NDP, Dartmouth, NS]

Mr. Speaker, two major studies released this week show the deplorable state of prescription drug coverage. There is a patchwork of coverage from province to province. People with chronic health problems who live in the maritimes are the most poorly served, as are those with certain illnesses, such as diabetes, MS and schizophrenia.

Four years ago the National Forum on Health called for a national plan to provide all citizens with access to medically necessary drugs. When will the government keep its 1997 election promise to bring in a national pharmacare program?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the representation of the hon. member. This is something we are looking into. Certainly as we develop the implementation of the national health accord, I am sure there will be further progress in this area.

Infrastructure

[Bev Desjarlais, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, in the last budget 13 months ago, the Liberal government gave a tiny fraction of what the nation needs for roads and infrastructure, but this will not touch the surface of the problem. Bad roads are still responsible for hundreds of deaths.

Provinces and municipalities across the country cannot keep up since the Liberal government abandoned infrastructure funding. Many are saying that without federal assistance they will have no choice but to resort to toll roads.

Will the Liberal government table a budget this year with a significant investment in public infrastructure, or does it think more toll roads are the answer?

[Alex Shepherd, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her question. I guess she has not been paying attention to the fact that our infrastructure spending program encompasses $600 million for new roads.

This has been implemented through negotiation with our provincial partners. We look favourably toward the input of the people of Manitoba from her riding as well as those from other ridings across the country. The program has been very successfully received by municipalities and we look forward to implementing it.

Coast Guard

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

Mr. Speaker, it has been reported that the Canadian coast guard maritime region has left up to $250,000 worth of seasonal buoys in the water this winter, potentially losing or ruining them for future use.

The coast guard cuts have resulted in a reduction of fixed and floating aids in the water, thus jeopardizing safety. The news of the negligence of seasonal buoys only exacerbates public frustration over the government's mismanagement of the fishery.

Will the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans confirm that this irresponsible act occurred, and will he investigate to ensure that it is remedied and discontinued?

[Herb Dhaliwal, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, I assure the hon. member that the coast guard's priority is the safety of Canadians. It will do everything possible to make sure that those buoys are properly maintained and protected.

We have a program to improve our coast guard response teams. I announced last year a major investment in the coast guard so we could ensure that we provided the service to protect Canadians. Safety is our number one priority.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Gerald Keddy, Progressive Conservative, South Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the government has granted hundreds of licences and bought boats and gear for natives in eastern Canada, yet only a handful of these licences are actually being fished by band members.

Will the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans commit to a moratorium on these royalty charters for the chiefs until the hundreds of licences already granted are being fished by aboriginals on the east coast?

[Herb Dhaliwal, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should know that we have purchased under the volunteer retirement program as his party and other parties recommended.

However, the vast majority of the licences are fished by aboriginal people. There may be exceptions where they may not have the equipment and may not have the training to do that, but our objective is to make sure that aboriginal people have the equipment, have the training and the skill to fully benefit from the licences they purchased and the right to go out and fish commercially.

Justice

[Darrel Stinson, Canadian Alliance, Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Mr. Speaker, a repeat sexual offender who showed no remorse and has a lengthy criminal record will serve no jail time, despite being found guilty last week of sexually assaulting a native woman in my riding of Okanagan—Shuswap.

The judge cited the government's change to the criminal code when he allowed the aboriginal offender to remain at large in their small aboriginal community. Is this what the government calls justice?