Debates of April 3rd, 2001

Prime Minister

[Brian Tobin, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, these allegations and the allegations by the Leader of the Opposition are being made by two parliamentarians, and indeed the motion being debated today by the House. They are being made by two parliamentarians both of whom, one in another house, the Alberta legislature, and the other in this place, have been found to be guilty of slandering the good reputations of private individuals.

Their practice before is being replicated today. It is not flying with the people of Canada. The people of Canada are saying that it is time to go back to the nation's business.

Taxation

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, for some years now, the OECD, the auditor general and the Bloc Quebecois have been speaking out against such harmful and negative taxation practices as tax havens and tax treaties signed with these countries.

Canada has one such treaty with Barbados, which benefits the rich but costs Revenue Canada hundreds of millions of dollars yearly in unpaid income tax and other taxes.

While the finance ministers of the 34 countries in the future free trade area of the Americas are in Toronto discussing harmful taxation practices, might it not be a good idea for the government to speak out against this tax treaty between Canada and Barbados as a sign of its willingness to combat these harmful practices?

[Roy Cullen, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I believe the member opposite is confusing a number of issues.

Canada is a strong participant in an OECD initiative that is dealing with anti-tax competition. In fact last year we brought in very stringent anti-money laundering legislation. We are part of the OECD tax competition exercise. We do have tax treaties with certain countries, and that works for all citizens in a very positive way.

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, does it seem normal to the Prime Minister that the third-ranking country in terms of Canadian investments, after the United States and the United Kingdom, is Barbados, a tax haven per excellence with a population of 269,000?

Does the Prime Minister not feel that enough is enough? Is it because the Minister of Finance has eight subsidiary shipping companies in Barbados that there has been no change in this situation since 1994?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Once again, Mr. Speaker, when people have nothing better to offer to the public, they try to smear the reputation of others.

When he took office, the Minister of Finance made it clear that he had put all of his assets in trust. He has complied with all the rules since becoming Minister of Finance, and yet his reputation is being attacked.

I have to say that the Minister of Finance is a man with a reputation for integrity, and a man who is respected by all Canadians.

Prime Minister

[Charlie Penson, Canadian Alliance, Peace River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, in September 1996 the Prime Minister's friend, Claude Gauthier, purchased land worth more than half a million dollars from the Prime Minister's numbered company.

This was just three days after Gauthier's company received a $6.3 million CIDA contract, a contract for which he should not even have been allowed to bid. Is it not obvious that this was just a trade-off, a CIDA contract for taking the land next to the golf course off the Prime Minister's hands?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the member will withdraw what he said. He said he bought land from a numbered company owned by me. It is not true at all. I was not a member of the golf company since November 1, 1993. What he has just said is completely false.

[Charlie Penson, Canadian Alliance, Peace River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, if the Prime Minister does not know the answer maybe he can ask his caddy over there for the answer.

After getting the CIDA contract and buying the land from the Prime Minister, Transelec donated $10,000 to the Prime Minister's election campaign. To everyone's surprise, a year later Transelec's owner received a $1.2 million HRDC grant, a grant from an illegal trust fund to buy Placeteco, a company in receivership.

If the Prime Minister will not call a judicial inquiry into the mess at Grand-Mère, will he be calling one for this mess with Gauthier?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, again another allegation based on nothing. In fact the police looked into Placeteco and said that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the transaction. It was looked into by the police.

They never accept any report. They just want to slander people and try to destroy personalities, but they will not succeed because this party stands for good governance and giving good governance to the people of Canada.

Fisheries

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. New Brunswick and P.E.I. fishermen appearing before the fisheries committee gave shocking testimony that they, the fishermen, at times have had to supply fuel and pay overtime for fisheries officers to do their job.

They expressed concern that a lack of officers and a shortage of equipment could lead to increased lobster poaching. What, if anything, is the minister doing to correct and strengthen fisheries enforcement capacity on the east coast in the immediate term?

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

Mr. Speaker, this is a very important issue. Protecting our marine resources and fish is extremely important.

I thank the Liberal members who have been working on this issue since the time I was appointed fisheries minister. As a result of their input, $41 million was announced last year for the next three years and $13 million was spent last year so we could increase the number of officers, improve our equipment and technologies to make sure we protect the resources for all Canadians and continue the excellent work that has been done in the fisheries.

National Defence

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

Mr. Speaker, I have another example of the callous disregard the government shows toward our military men and women.

Just recently men and women, the most lowest paid in our military, received a 2.5% increase. The Lord giveth. Now the Lord taketh away. Now their housing rents have been increased by $50, $75 and $100, which nullifies the raise they just got.

Our military is plagued with bad morale. It is tough to recruit new people into our military. With an attitude like the minister displays for those men and women it is no wonder it is difficult.

Will the minister at least roll back the increases on the housing costs to our military men and women?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is taking the matter out of context. Yes, a pay increase was given on April 1, but there was also a retroactive pay increase that went back to last year. Those pay increases far exceed anything in terms of rent increases.

The truth of the matter is that all our people live under conditions involving market rental rates. Seventy per cent of them pay to private sector firms on the market. For the other 30%, in order to treat them equitably, we have a CMHC formula on market rentals. Also, any rent increases are limited to 25% of their income.

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

Mr. Speaker, we will try his boss for the next question. My supplementary question is for the Prime Minister.

The government is not even supposed to be in a perception of a conflict of interest, but just recently David Miller, a lobbyist for Eurocopter, was assigned to the Prime Minister as a special adviser.

The entire maritime helicopter project is riddled with political interference by the Liberal government. Will the Prime Minister not agree that having David Miller from Eurocopter on his staff constitutes the perception of a conflict of interest?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are in the process of asking for bids. There will be bids. It will take months. We checked and were informed that Mr. Miller could change from his job to this job. He was a worker on the Hill for a long time. When the bids are ready, I will demand of Mr. Miller that he not participate in any discussions.

He has the right to work for the government. He worked for the government before and he wants to be back. We think he is a good man from western Canada, and we would like to have him on our staff.

Lumber Industry

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister of ACOA was wrong when he stated the Maritime Lumber Bureau's monitoring system did not apply to all lumber exports from Atlantic Canada. He was wrong when he stated that the new export compliance measures would benefit maritime mills.

How could the minister think that needless duplication of paperwork and an increase in a fee schedule from $2 per load to $25 per load would benefit maritime mills?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, we have closely discussed this with the Maritime Lumber Bureau. We are working with the Atlantic provinces as well as with provinces from all over the country.

The reason we put softwood lumber on the export control list was that we needed consistent national data. Just last night, Don Evans, the secretary of commerce of the United States, called me precisely to compare notes on its system of monitoring lumber with our system. I think it is important for the two to be compatible so we can compare notes and know what we are talking about.

[Bill Casey, Progressive Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Mr. Speaker, in a petition to start the countervail duties, the U.S. softwood lumber industry said:

Petitioners do not allege the softwood lumber production in the Atlantic provinces benefits from countervailable subsidies. This portion of Canadian production should be treated the same as it was in 1991-92.

The U.S. government agrees that Atlantic Canada should not be subject to countervail. The Atlantic Canadian industry wants it and the four Atlantic premiers have asked for a renewal of the maritime accord. Will the minister get in step now and start the process to renew the maritime accord?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear. Since yesterday we were looking at the petition U.S. producers tabled and we found that the numbers they tabled were absolutely wild and irresponsible.

I was very pleased to see that the American producers, however wild they can get, did not target any program in Atlantic Canada which respects a 20 year tradition of exempting Atlantic provinces from accusation of countervailing duties. This is the first step in the right direction.

The Economy

[Jason Kenney, Canadian Alliance, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is a dark day for the Canadian dollar which today has just traded at its lowest level ever at $0.6320.

For 25 years the Prime Minister has deliberately pursued a weak dollar policy through a tax, borrow and spend Liberal policy that led to a 30 year decline in our productivity and our currency and a 25% reduction in the value of the loonie under his government's watch.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have a floating currency and we are not commenting on the level of the decision of the market.

The reality is that all currencies around the globe are going down in relation to the American dollar. In the last two years, the best currency to maintain its position in relation to the American dollar has been the Canadian dollar. We have done better than the Euro, the yen and the pound. However it is for the market to decide, not me.

[Jason Kenney, Canadian Alliance, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that is nonsense. We have lost ground against the Mexican peso.

This seems to be the party of economic nationalism, but under its watch Canada has become the bargain basement of the North American economy. I remember John Turner saying “Canada is not for sale” Under this government Canada has gone up for sale at fire sale prices, at a 40% discount for any American investor who wants to buy Canadian assets.

What will the Prime Minister do to stop allowing American investors to buy Canadian assets at a 40% discount and restore value to the Canadian currency?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, never has Canada invested so much in the United States. We have a free flow of money between the two countries.

Even the Leader of the Opposition said something about a low dollar not long ago. I can quote what he said in the Edmonton Sun in 1998. He said:

The main thing about the dollar being low is that it really helps our manufacturing and our export sector. Any increase on the debt side is more than outweighed by what we take in on revenues in the increase of manufacturing and exports.

It is very good for oil. It is very good for gas. It is very good—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Mercier.

Free Trade Area Of The Americas

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, a world renowned economist, Ricardo Petrella, expressed serious concerns about the danger of water possibly being an item of discussion in the negotiations on the free trade area of the Americas, since only services 100% under government control would be protected. Accordingly, Quebec could lose its authority over this strategic resource.

In the light of these concerns, why is the minister waiting to make the government's position on these services public?