Debates of March 27th, 2001

World Theatre Day

[Sarmite Bulte, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today I invite Canadians to celebrate World Theatre Day. Inaugurated in 1962 by the International Theatre Institute and UNESCO, World Theatre Day is celebrated in more than 90 countries.

In Canada, celebrations are focused on recognizing all Canadians participating in theatre: actors, designers, directors, educators, playwrights, producers and the many theatre patrons and volunteers who support various theatre communities.

Theatre provides inspiration for all Canadians. It gives us an opportunity to marvel, to laugh, to cry and to think. This art form is well adapted to our society.

This is evidenced by the increasing popularity of our playhouses. This year, Montreal's Théâtre du Nouveau Monde is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Throughout the years, this theatre has presented quality plays that are appreciated by both the entertainment world and the public.

By its various programs, the federal government is proud to participate in the promotion of the Canadian theatre.

Mining

[Ben Serré, Liberal, Timiskaming—Cochrane, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian mining industry is a global leader and one of the few industrial sectors where Canadian knowledge, technology, expertise and leadership dominate internationally.

It is certainly no holdover from the past. Investing $350 million a year in research and development, Canadian mining is one of the most productive and innovative sectors of the Canadian economy. It is inextricably linked to the knowledge based, technology driven global economy.

The mining industry plays a significant role in Canada's economy and is a major ally in the development of the new economy. Mining accounts for close to 400,000 jobs in Canada, or one worker out of 40, and pays the highest salaries for industry in the country.

On this mining day in Canada, let us continue to work together to ensure Canadian mining reaches new levels of achievement, leadership and opportunity, because mining works for Canada.

Softwood Lumber

[Reed Elley, Canadian Alliance, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on behalf of my riding of Nanaimo—Cowichan, which is very dependent upon the government to act in regard to the expiration of the softwood lumber agreement. My riding is covered with rain forest timber. Over the past number of years the market has been hard hit by many negative effects, particularly this agreement. Few people will be sorry to see it expire on Saturday.

Literally thousands of British Columbians are dependent upon the softwood lumber market. They have concerns over the solidarity of the national softwood lumber coalition and fear that we will look weak if the united front breaks down as we enter into some form of negotiations with the United States.

The federal government needs to remain strong and firm with the Americans. It needs to remind them of concerns which we all face, including the erosion of foreign markets for North American softwood lumber if we are not able to produce an economically and competitively priced product.

The government needs to make the Americans aware of the changing products that are now entering the marketplace as alternatives to traditional building materials. Countervailing duties and other discriminatory measures will only add to the cost of our products and lead consumers to consider the alternatives.

There is too much at stake here. I ask the government to strongly intervene on behalf of B.C. softwood lumber producers to reach a North American agreement which will truly work for all concerned.

Summit Of The Americas

[Jean Guy Carignan, Liberal, Québec East, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the present government was elected on a platform based primarily on the promotion of Canadian values. For our government, the promotion of democracy, the rule of law and economic and political liberalism must not stop at our borders.

With this in mind, the Liberal Party of Canada last March passed a resolution to tie our globalization efforts to the promotion of certain key values of our society.

Our party promised to maintain the fundamental right of citizens to take part in the building and development of our society. We could take a moment here to mention the contribution our government is making to the holding of the peoples' summit, in which the key players in civil society will be able to meet to discuss the impact of globalization.

Through its international commitment, Canada has become one of the principal promoters of an approach which balances social and economic needs in the context of the new, increasingly interdependent economy.

Too often, it is forgotten that the summit of the Americas will not be just a forum for the promotion of free trade, but a place where heads of state will get together to try to give—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Lévis-et-Chutes-de-la-Chaudière.

Volunteerism

[Antoine Dubé, Bloc, Lévis-Et-Chutes-De-La-Chaudière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is with pride that I announce that a travelling exhibit on the history of volunteerism is going to be in my riding from today until April 3.

This exhibit will be stopping in only three cities in Quebec, and Lévis has the honour to be one of them. I wish to congratulate Lévis's Service d'entraide, regroupement et solidarité for obtaining permission to co-ordinate the holding of this exhibit.

I also wish to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the invaluable contribution volunteers make to our society. In this International Year of Volunteers, we must recognize the value and the vigour of social and community life in all our regions, and thank these volunteers, who give so generously in such a wide variety of areas.

Let the spotlight shine on all those who work behind the scenes for the well-being of our community. I thank them all. Quebec is deeply indebted to them.

Tourism

[Sue Barnes, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, tourism is an industry on the move, with more people than ever before travelling both domestically and internationally. In Canada, tourism spending contributed over $50 billion to our economy in 1999 and 70% of that figure was spent by Canadians. Our international travel deficit fell to $1.9 billion, which is the lowest since 1987.

Tourism is important to Canadians because of the jobs. Tourism has a high level of employment. Five hundred thousand people are employed annually in 80 tourism related industries throughout the country. Moreover, tourism related jobs are a major source of economic activity not only in urban areas, but increasingly in rural areas and with our first nations people.

The federal government, in association with the Canadian Tourism Commission and the industry itself, will maintain and improve Canada's place in the world tourism market.

Mining

[Lynne Yelich, Canadian Alliance, Blackstrap, SK]

Mr. Speaker, mining in Saskatchewan has grown to represent a very big component of the economy.

We have four potash mines in the Saskatoon area, which hosts the head office of the world's largest potash company, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan.

This morning I met with representatives from Cameco Corporation and Cogema Resources. Cameco is the world's largest uranium producer. Its operations include the world's largest high grade uranium mines, located in Saskatchewan. Cogema Resources is part of a larger corporation with the world's largest uranium reserves. Both have head offices in Saskatoon.

We are at a nuclear advantage. Uranium is a clean energy fuel, seen by many as the only possible long term energy source. It evokes fear in some and a determination to protest against it for others. Yet many of these same people would be surprised to learn that nuclear power is now a proven middle aged technology that accounts for 17% of the world's electricity production—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Nepean—Carleton.

Infrastructure

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

Mr. Speaker, today Mike Harris visited Ottawa and spoke to the board of trade. While everyone expected a big announcement, what we got was a profound disappointment. The premier promised to study a ring road, with absolutely no money announced. He might just as well have stayed at home.

The city of Ottawa has the second fastest growing economy in Canada and leads Ontario in economic growth. We need new convention space, better transit facilities, fairer amalgamation funding and more health care equipment. The premier's “don't worry, be happy” speech was particularly disappointing from the standpoint of health care. We still have an MRI crisis in Ottawa with 7,000 people on the waiting list and only 2 MRIs for adults, compared to 17 in Toronto, this after the federal government transferred $189 million to the province for new medical equipment.

When, oh, when will our local Tory MPPs stand up for the needs of the nation's capital?

Fisheries

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Musquodoboit Valley—Eastern Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, today Greenpeace is bringing the attention of the House to the rapid rise of genetically engineered or transgenic fish. The New Democratic Party agrees with Greenpeace that the government should respond to the Royal Society of Canada's report by bringing in a moratorium on the rearing of GM fish in aquatic facilities.

GM fish represent a huge potential danger to our oceans, plus an added unknown risk to human health. The fisheries minister must stop this dangerous new technology. The threat to our wild stocks and our oceans is too great to ignore.

At this time, on behalf of the federal NDP and our counterparts across the country, we would like to extend condolences to the family and friends of Mr. David McTaggart, the founder of Greenpeace and a great Canadian.

Young Offenders

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Micheline Germain-Saucier, the president of the teachers' union in my region, the Syndicat des enseignants et enseignantes de la région du comté de Drummond, centre du Québec, has asked me to support the Quebec consensus in favour of the rehabilitative approach to youth crime, and to oppose Bill C-7.

Mrs. Saucier wishes to remind us that youth crime is constantly decreasing, and this year has hit a 20-year low, which confirms that Bill C-7 is based on a myth. She also points out that Canada is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which requires two distinct systems to be maintained, one for minors and one for adults.

The members of the Bloc Quebecois will support the position of Quebec stakeholders, while the Liberals will support their Minister of Justice. The reason is a simple one: we in the Bloc Quebecois are in Ottawa to defend the interests of Quebec, while the Liberals defend the interests of Ottawa in Quebec.

Oak Ridges

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Oak Ridges, ON]

Mr. Speaker, how can we measure the importance of the Oak Ridges moraine to the Greater Toronto area? By counting the acres that the federal government has protected on the moraine as green space, all 5,562 acres.

We will work with the community, environmental groups, other federal and provincial agencies and the local governments to ensure that this acreage is protected forever.

The Oak Ridges moraine contains the headwaters of 35 Greater Toronto area river systems. It is one of the last remaining continuous green corridors in southern Ontario and has streams, woodlands, wetlands, kettle lakes, kettle bogs and significant flora and fauna. It is still 30% forested and is one of the last refuges for forest birds in all of southern Ontario.

The members of parliament for the Greater Toronto area listened to what their constituents were telling them and took up the fight. We drove this issue, made it happen and got the government on board, way on board, thanks to the transport minister. Why? Because it was the right thing to do.

Multiculturalism

[John Herron, Progressive Conservative, Fundy Royal, NB]

Mr. Speaker, imaginary multiculturalism issues must be replaced by a government program on the real issues of Canadian socio-cultural diversity.

The time is now for a fresh start on the government's multiculturalism program. There are numerous real issues to be dealt with, so many in fact that the minister responsible does not have to combat imaginary problems.

In the past, Canada has had a solid record of concrete achievements from Trudeau's achievements through to the enactment of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

Recently, Canada's multicultural policy has been unfocused and often wishy-washy when approaching the promotion and protection of multiculturalism. This lack of leadership in the program development of real contemporary issues has resulted in a focus on either the imaginary or motherhood statements and soft issues.

The explosion of hate sites on the Internet is an objective measure of the failure of the present multiculturalism programs.

The failure of the government to fully implement the cross government commitment to diversify as mandated by the Multiculturalism Act is further objective evidence.

Prime Minister

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

Mr. Speaker, for 134 years Canadians have looked to the Prime Minister's office to be an example of integrity and uprightness. Now we have the appearance of a Prime Minister's office being used to expedite a private business deal.

First, the Prime Minister denied lobbying for money for the hotel next to the golf course. Then he admitted it. He then tried to cover it up and that was wrong. Tabling a few selective documents like he did today just is not good enough for Canadians.

The Prime Minister has still not come clean. Would he immediately table all the documents that cover the transactions between 1993 and 1999, between that timeframe?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I was expecting the Leader of the Opposition to be a gentleman today and get up and apologize.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Saint-Maurice, QC]

On March 15, 2001, in the House, the member for Edmonton North—

[The Speaker]

I am sorry, the time has expired.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Well, I have made the point before. If you pause for the applause, you lose the time. Unfortunately it is not fair but it happens on both sides.

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

Mr. Speaker, I asked the ethics counsellor to check the corporate registry to see whose names were listed as shareholders. The ethics counsellor said today that he did not even look, that he had asked somebody else to take a look. Someone else took a peak and said “Oops, we have a problem here. We have to make a few changes”. However we still do not know whose names were on that document.

Yesterday, three of the his MPs would not stand up for him, five did not today and none of us will stand up and take this cover up that is going on. We will not stand for it. Where are those documents? Where are they?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I understand the Leader of the Opposition being so preoccupied. He will not be there very long because he is afraid of the leader of the fifth party. I would just want him to be a little consistent. On March 15 the member for Edmonton North said:

The Prime Minister could get over this in a heartbeat by just tabling his bill of sale for those shares in 1993.

It was done.

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

Mr. Speaker, nothing was tabled. For two years the Prime Minister's office has been getting people to change their stories about the ownership of the shares. Last week, his office had Melissa Marcotte change her story about who owned the shares. In 1999 his lawyers got Jonas Prince to change his story. First he owned them, then he did not. Now officials at Industry Canada have had someone change the records. They will not even tell us what was on there. They said that they had to make some changes.

Will the Minister of Industry tell the House whether the golf club was in compliance with the law or not, and, if not, why did his department ask people to retroactively change those records?

[Brian Tobin, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, I have never seen a more vacuous, empty drum in all my life. Everyone knows that an empty drum makes the most noise and there is no one emptier of substance than the Leader of the Opposition.

The Leader of the Opposition is not interested in information. He is interested in trying to save his skin from the leader of the Conservative Party. That is the reality of these questions. Industry Canada has given no direction to anyone to change anything.