Debates of April 30th, 2001

Prime Minister

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, in 1991' and I do not think we were the government at that time, it was the Conservative government that cut the budget of the auditor general at that time. In the last four or five years we have increased the budget of the auditor general.

Immigration

[Monte Solberg, Canadian Alliance, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, according to Canada's intelligence watchdog the immigration department forged a key document related to a refugee claim by a Kurdish man whom Ottawa suspects of having terrorist links.

Instead of assuring Canadian people that the allegation was being taken seriously, the minister's official just tried to joke about it and hoped it would go away. Has the minister called in the RCMP to investigate this very serious allegation?

[Elinor Caplan, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to clarify for the member opposite and the House that the document in question was an invitation to attend a meeting.

Second, I would like to say to the member that I have met several times with the individual, Mr. Rae, who is alleged to have made these comments. He has never expressed a concern to me personally. Those in the House and other places who know Mr. Rae know that if he had a concern he would have mentioned it to me.

[Monte Solberg, Canadian Alliance, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I think Canadian people still need an answer. I think the minister should take her job a little more seriously. Instead of waiting for people to come and find out if they have complaints, she should take the time to investigate these things.

Even the immigration spokesman admits the document in question is a computer generated copy. In the interest of clearing the air will the minister call in the RCMP to investigate this serious matter?

[Elinor Caplan, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform the member opposite that the department in this age of computers stores documents in computers. The document in question is a computer stored document and Mr. Rae has not made a complaint. Nor has anyone else, I would mention. No complaint has been received.

If he or anyone else had a complaint or a concern they would have picked up the phone and called and I would have looked into it, but no complaint was received. I would say again to the member that documents are stored in computers all the time.

Auberge Grand-Mère

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government has given us three different answers up to now in response to questions on the lease between the Auberge Grand-Mère and the golf club.

The Prime Minister first told us that the lease had been terminated. The Deputy Prime Minister then told us that the purchaser of the auberge had assumed the lease. Then he told us there never had been a lease.

My question is very simple. Was the lease terminated, was it taken over or did it never exist? When is the government telling the truth in this matter?

[John Cannis, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, it is quite simple. They were not paying attention last week when the Deputy Prime Minister stood and explained very slowly, and I will do that now, that there were no legal or economic ties between the auberge and the golf course following the sale to Mr. Duhaime in the spring of 1993. It is very simple. There were no ties.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps the hon. secretary of state should have listened to the question in order to answer it properly.

That said, on Friday the Deputy Prime Minister invited us to table the evidence we had on the lease whose existence he had just denied. A few minutes later he denied consent to table the lease.

What game is the government playing with its contradictory and unacceptable behaviour in this matter?

[John Cannis, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the games that are being played are by the opposition. It is quite simple. Let me quote what the ethics counsellor said about the numbered company:

—sold its interest in the Auberge Grand-Mère to Mr. Yvon Duhaime. This company...was paid in full by the summer of 1993.

Therefore...there were no continuing financial links between Mr. Duhaime and the Prime Minister since mid-1993.

I ask the member to listen carefully. He continued:

Furthermore, there were no continuing financial links between the auberge and the golf course.

I ask the member to listen.

Taxation

[Joe Peschisolido, Canadian Alliance, Richmond, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are facing ever increasing gas prices. Today it was reported that we could see gas prices as high as $1 per litre.

Ten cents on every litre goes to federal excise tax. Will the federal Minister of Finance cut this tax and help Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that the increase in the pump price of gasoline is attributable to the substantial rise in the world price of crude oil. The price of crude has more than doubled since 1998.

In fact if we look at the GST, the GST in terms of the increased price at the pumps comprises only 1.5 cents per litre.

Canadians asked us to cut taxes. Last October we introduced the largest tax cut in Canadian history with $100 billion in income tax cuts that is going through the economy now. It is about 2% of GDP. Let us give it a chance to work.

[Joe Peschisolido, Canadian Alliance, Richmond, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government raised taxes without consulting the provinces but last week the federal Minister of Finance said he could not decrease taxes without the provinces.

The Liberal government continues to pass the buck, and we have heard it today, in order to avoid cutting taxes. Is the Minister of Finance prepared to do the right thing and cut federal gas taxes?

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

Mr. Speaker, last fall the government introduced the home energy rebate to help Canadians with the costs of energy that were increasing.

The opposition party asked us to cut the excise tax. We want to do anything we can for Canadians, but we want to make sure it benefits Canadians and not oil producers.

A cent and a half in the excise tax at the pump could change in an afternoon by a similar amount. We have no assurance that decrease would go to Canadians, which is where we want the benefit to go.

Cigarette Smuggling

[Pierrette Venne, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we have learned that smuggling has apparently resumed on aboriginal reserves following the recent hikes in tobacco taxes. This is a repeat of the 1994 situation.

My question is for the solicitor general. Will the government guarantee us that it will show leadership this time so that we do not have to go through the hell we went through in 1994 with cigarette smuggling?

[Lynn Myers, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, we know there is a direct correlation between smuggling and the kind of activity being talked about. We also know we have to put in place and are putting in place the kind of monitoring that is necessary.

The Minister of Finance met with his counterparts and is doing precisely that. We will be monitoring it very closely in the best interests of all Canadians.

[Pierrette Venne, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, during the summit of the Americas co-operation between the RCMP, the SQ, and municipal and aboriginal police forces resulted in full monitoring of reserve territory and prevented the entry into the country of undesirable elements.

Will the solicitor general guarantee us the same co-operation between the RCMP and police forces in Quebec as well as the same effectiveness in the fight against cigarette smuggling?

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

Mr. Speaker, first, I am pleased to see that opposition members recognize the excellent work done by all police forces as well as by customs officers during the summit of the Americas. I wish to congratulate all these professionals.

Obviously the Minister of Finance has taken recent action in connection with tobacco smuggling. There will be a careful follow-up by all police forces, as well as by customs, in order to ensure that we can eliminate smuggling.

I wish to point out that the spirit of co-operation that characterized the summit of the Americas still reigns with respect to the fight against smuggling.

Lumber Industry

[John Duncan, Canadian Alliance, Vancouver Island North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on Thursday the Prime Minister said in Atlantic Canada that we would negotiate on softwood lumber exports. This was news to everyone except the Prime Minister. Then on Friday the minister took credit for educating U.S. lumber consumer groups. This was also news.

Two long years before the minister adopted free trade in lumber, U.S. lumber consumer groups were lobbying for free trade. Why does the government not have a consistent Canadian position?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, we have a very consistent Canadian position. We will fight the allegations that the U.S. producers have put to the commerce department.

We will demonstrate that we might do things differently in Canada but that our different way of doing things does not equate to subsidies. It does not equate in Atlantic Canada, British Columbia, Quebec, Alberta or Ontario. We will fight and demonstrate that very clearly in Washington.

[John Duncan, Canadian Alliance, Vancouver Island North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, one month ago the federal government implemented the monitoring of U.S. bound lumber when the five year softwood lumber agreement expired. The U.S. lumber lobby threatened that a wall of wood from Canada would happen in April.

Market watchers now say that April shipments are depressed. It is too important for the national interest to keep these export figures in the dark. When will the minister make these numbers public?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, we have monitored these numbers very closely through the month of April. They do not seem to register important changes, but at this stage they are preliminary numbers and we will not at this moment discuss them in public.

As the House knows, it is very important that our industry keeps its usual trade with the United States. We have been very clear that it would be detrimental to our industry's position if we had gone very high in importation.

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, in December of last year the Minister of the Environment announced the ozone annex to the Canada-United States air quality agreement. As well in February he announced $120 million in new funding to help meet the commitments in the annex.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment update the House today on the status of this initiative?

[Karen Redman, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, last week the Minister of the Environment released the Government of Canada's interim plan for action on particulate matter and ozone, two key elements in smog. The plan includes the next steps for cleaner vehicles, engines and fuels, as well as improvement and expansion in both the monitoring and reporting systems.

The interim plan meets the commitment our government made to Canadians to share our plans with them. The minister will continue to explore new solutions to secure a clean and healthy environment for Canadians.

National Defence

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

Mr. Speaker, since the government took power back in 1993 the morale of the men and women associated with the military has sunk to an all time low. With rusting equipment, minimal pay increases and now increased housing allowances which are taking away those pay increases, no wonder morale is so low in our military.

With regard to the Sea King helicopters, it now appears that there will be further delays in their replacement. My question for the Minister of National Defence is quite simple. When will those Sea Kings be replaced? What date?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, it is amazing that NDP members are now advocating increased spending for the military, but I welcome their conversion.

In terms of the maritime helicopter project, it is our priority procurement project. We set the statement of requirement, which is to get the best helicopter that meets the needs of our Canadian forces and at the best possible price for Canadians.

We are into the procurement process now. Meanwhile, while that is ongoing, we are upgrading our existing Sea Kings. We are putting some $50 million into them because we want to make absolutely sure that they are safe for our personnel to fly.