Debates of March 23rd, 2001

Multiculturalism

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Order, please. I would like to ask the hon. member for Burnaby—Douglas, who is a long serving member of the House, to withdraw the word lie.

[Svend Robinson, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I recognize the very serious allegation that has been made, but quite clearly, in light of the seriousness of the conduct of the minister and recognizing the traditions of the House, I said the minister had lied with impunity. I withdraw those words and say she fabricated.

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's assertion that the secretary of state fabricated something deliberately is false.

If the hon. member is the kind of person he claims to be with respect to integrity, he would admit that, accept that, and let us move on to fight together against racism, to fight together against discrimination and to fight for the issues I thought were important to him.

I guess that is not the case, from the unfounded nature of his allegations against an immigrant to this country, a person of colour who has devoted her life to fighting against discrimination and racism and will continue to do so.

Human Resources Development

[Dick Proctor, NDP, Palliser, SK]

Mr. Speaker, CPP disability benefits are now so stacked against disabled Canadians that advocates are stepping forward to help appellants and to restore some measure of balance, but HRDC officials stand accused of using extreme intimidation tactics against some of these advocates.

An Alberta advocate was denied access to accompany an appellant into a hearing, while in Saskatchewan an anonymous complaint to the law society that an advocate was impersonating a lawyer turned out to originate in HRDC itself.

Would the minister confirm that these incidents have occurred and tell the House what steps she has taken to ensure there will be no repetition?

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

Mr. Speaker, the CPP disability program is an extraordinarily important one for Canadians.

Ensuring there is a process where Canadians can come forward and their applications are reviewed fully and fairly is important. I am glad to say that we have added numbers to our boards across the country to ensure an increased expedition of these reviews.

If the hon. member has particular accusations that he would like me to review, I would be glad to do that.

Auberge Grand-Mère

[André Bachand, Progressive Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, regarding the Auberge Grand-Mère, the Prime Minister claims that he has not been a shareholder since 1993. We now know that he was.

He also says “I was never personally involved in the transaction”. We now know that this is not true.

Does this not justify a public inquiry to shed light on the whole issue? Since this is the week for apologies, could the Prime Minister not join the others and at least apologize to the House, until we get a public inquiry?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the premise of the hon. member's question is wrong. The Prime Minister was not a shareholder of the company after he became Prime Minister.

As I just said, the hon. member is making insinuations that he must retract.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister is deluding himself or he is being wilfully blind. We know the Prime Minister maintained ownership and active control of the golf shares between 1996 and 1999, while actively lobbying the BDC to give a loan to the adjoining hotel: help the hotel, help the golf course, help himself.

The Prime Minister has misled the House. He has sullied his reputation. He has breached the public trust. I call upon the Deputy Prime Minister to set up an independent inquiry under the Inquiries Act of Canada. Will he prepare to do that today?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is wrong. The Prime Minister did not maintain control of the shares in the relevant period. He sold them before he became Prime Minister. The ownership of the shares was replaced by a debt which his lawyer worked in consultation with the ethics counsellor to have paid.

My hon. friend is only sullying his own reputation by making these unfounded allegations in his question. He started out with a good reputation. After today it certainly is sullied.

Multiculturalism

[Jay Hill, Canadian Alliance, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Secretary of State for Multiculturalism sat silent while she let the Prime Minister defend her for maliciously slandering the good citizens of Prince George.

It is unfortunate in the extreme that she could not have shown such restraint the day before. On the contrary, she repeated her allegations to the media but has yet to provide any proof to back them up.

The truth is that the minister fabricated this slur. When will the Prime Minister begin to hold his ministers accountable for their repeated intolerance? Why has she not been stripped of her cabinet post?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member should be stripped of his critic's position after his unwarranted assertions in his questions. The hon. secretary of state has recognized in her place in the House that she made a mistake. She fulsomely apologized.

I notice that the acting mayor of Prince George said in a news interview:

Well I'm very disappointed with her performance yesterday, but frankly Miss Fry has done some very good work on multicultural issues and racism issues and I appreciate that work.

The acting mayor went on to say:

—I would hope that they would look at the history and if it was simply a mistake made yesterday, we should forgive her—

[Jay Hill, Canadian Alliance, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the acting mayor also said that her half-hearted apology did not go near far enough. No wonder the Prime Minister refuses to hold the minister for multiculturalism accountable for her repeated outrageous statements. He is embroiled in his own scandal. He continues to set a poor example for the entire government.

Since he will not impose any discipline on his caucus, will at least his cabinet colleagues call upon the minister to resign?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member should resign if he keeps making these unwarranted assertions and slurring a minister who has devoted her life to fighting racism and for multiculturalism. She spoke in a way that she agreed she should not have spoken. She said she made a mistake. She apologized.

I think we should all get together and join with her in the fight against discrimination and racism. This is what the country needs, not the unwarranted slurs and assertions of my hon. friend.

Canadian Job Creation Fund

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

Mr. Speaker, on February 28 of this year, the Secretary of State responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec said in the House that the Canada jobs fund would be transferred, in April, to Canada Economic Development.

But the Minister of Human Resources Development announced the transfer of the fund to Canada Economic Development in June 2000, almost one year ago. In addition, we still do not know how much was transferred.

Who is telling the truth? Where are the funds right now, and what sort of amount are we talking about?

[Martin Cauchon, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue and Secretary of State (Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec)]

Mr. Speaker, indeed, it was in June of last year that my colleague, the Minister of Human Resources Development announced that the Canada jobs fund was wrapping up and that the regional development agencies would essentially be taking over.

Since then, Human Resources Development Canada has finished analysing the final files remaining in the Canada jobs fund. We are in the process of identifying the areas to receive these additional funds, which will soon be given out.

What I can say is that this government has always tried very hard to contribute to the regional development of the regions, notwithstanding the position taken on several occasions by numerous opposition members. We will continue to develop—

[The Deputy Speaker]

The hon. member for Jonquière.

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

Mr. Speaker, one year has gone by and nothing has been done. The criteria and the funds were already clearly established at the time of the transfer to Canada Economic Development.

Why did the secretary of state not make the funds available to the regions immediately for the purpose of job creation?

[Martin Cauchon, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue and Secretary of State (Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec)]

Mr. Speaker, the funds will soon be transferred to the various agencies according to Treasury Board guidelines. Everything is proceeding normally.

But, right now, I am wondering about the position of the opposition member, who does not believe at all in regional development. Recently, I travelled throughout Quebec to announce funding of $103 million for the community futures development corporations.

The member said that, in her region, this funding was pointless, that it was too little, too late. Yet it is extremely beneficial for her entire region in terms of job creation and economic redeployment throughout her region. We on this side of the House believe in regional development.

Lumber Industry

[Andy Burton, Canadian Alliance, Skeena, BC]

Mr. Speaker, some large American forest companies own Canadian operations. The American lumber coalition is asking these American companies to petition the U.S. government to initiate countervail penalties against Canadian producers.

Would the minister responsible tell these American corporations through his U.S. counterparts that he will not stand for Canadian companies being held hostage by their corporate brothers?

[Pat O'Brien, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister for International Trade has been quite clear that the goal of the Canadian government, and indeed of everyone involved in the lumber industry in all regions of Canada, is free trade in softwood lumber.

Any action would have to be launched by the American government. It has done this three times in the past to no avail. The minister has been very clear on that. We will await the decision of the American government.

[Andy Burton, Canadian Alliance, Skeena, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister has been buffeted by requests from various interest groups for special treatment on the softwood lumber front. However there is broad consensus for a return to free trade in softwood lumber.

Would the minister accept this consensus and agree not to initiate any action which will short-circuit returning to free trade after March 31?

[Pat O'Brien, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to my colleague, he asked if the minister would accept the consensus.

The minister has led the effort to reach the consensus. The minister met this week with lumber interests from B.C., from the maritimes and from Quebec. He has met repeatedly with his counterparts at the provincial level. The Minister for International Trade has been the leader in building the consensus in Canada that we are insisting on free trade in softwood lumber.

Veterans Affairs

[David Pratt, Liberal, Nepean—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Veterans Affairs. The Halifax explosion remains one of the worst disasters in Canadian history There remains a small group of elderly survivors that receive pensions.

Could the minister advise the House what the government is doing to ensure that these pensioners receive increases in their pensions consistent with the cost of living?

[Ronald J. Duhamel, Liberal, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Secretary of State (Western Economic Diversification) (Francophonie)]

Mr. Speaker, the moment the issue was brought to my attention, I asked my department to address it.

There is clearly a problem: the Halifax survivors, those who receive pensions, are not keeping up with the cost of living. It is addressing that at this very moment. There will be an economic adjustment announced very shortly.