Debates of April 30th, 2001

National Defence

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

Mr. Speaker, therein lies the question. The government cancelled the project in 1993. Now the procurement process is so politically interfered with by the government that nobody knows. The minister cannot even answer when those Sea Kings will be replaced.

The minister stood in the House time and time again and said that the new helicopters would be replaced and flying in the year 2005. Public works has said one thing and now the minister is saying something completely different.

For the men and women who fly the Sea Kings, who maintain the Sea Kings and who do a great job for Canada, I ask him once again: When will those helicopters be replaced?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, this is another departure for NDP members. They are now supporting the Mulroney government, saying we should not have cancelled the helicopter deal.

Cancelling that helicopter deal is in fact saving taxpayers over $1 billion because we will now get a helicopter that will better meet our needs.

We have not changed any of the timeframes. I do not know why he raises that matter. We are working as quickly as we possibly can to make sure the forces get the helicopter they need to do their job.

Canada Mortgage And Housing Corporation

[Loyola Hearn, Progressive Conservative, St. John's West, NL]

Mr. Speaker, homelessness is a growing problem in Canada. The mission statement of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is committed to housing quality, affordability and choice for Canadians. It has helped finance One Post Road, Toronto's most exclusive condominium residence, where individual units range from $1.3 million to $2.6 million.

My question is for the minister of public works. Why is Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation ensuring financing to build Canada's equivalent to Buckingham Palace when so many Canadians are still in need of affordable housing?

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, let me assure the member that the government is committed to investing in housing and to addressing the important problems that the member has raised.

We indicated in the Speech from the Throne that we were moving forward with plans to stimulate the creation of more affordable rental housing. A plan will be announced shortly.

[Loyola Hearn, Progressive Conservative, St. John's West, NL]

Mr. Speaker, whatever the government promises its actions take care of the rich.

How many homeless could be looked after with $2.5 million, the price of one of those government subsidized units? When will the government seriously address the housing requirements of Canadians who are in need of it?

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, as the member knows, the Minister of Public Works and Government Services met with his provincial counterparts last fall. They agreed on this priority for all Canadians.

In the meantime, officials of public works and government services and Canada mortgage and housing continue to work with provincial counterparts to ensure that we have a deliverable solution.

National Defence

[James Lunney, Canadian Alliance, Nanaimo—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, how could our Canadian forces be considered combat ready when they are not even peacetime ready?

Some 12 of 41 Sea Kings have crashed. Seven crew members have been killed. There have been equipment failures. There are 30 hours of maintenance for every hour of air time. Downed crew were forced to use a personal cellphone to call for help. This is not only demoralizing our forces but it is an international embarrassment.

Will it take a further loss of life to move the government to finally deliver the equipment that our forces desperately need?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the preamble to the question is not entirely right. The member is exaggerating substantially many of the situations.

I clearly indicated we intend to provide the kind of equipment our Canadian forces need and to do it as quickly as we can. We will make sure that we keep our Sea Kings safe to fly.

I note that what is considered to be the most up to date armed forces in the world, those in the United States, also fly Sea Kings of the same vintage as we do.

[James Lunney, Canadian Alliance, Nanaimo—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, during the election campaign of 1993 the Prime Minister stated zero helicopters for the Canadian Armed Forces. That was eight years ago. The need to replace the helicopters was obvious then.

Now they are known as the ancient Sea Kings, the geriatric Sea Kings, the venerable Sea Kings, but they have also been called flying coffins. When could the Canadian Armed Forces expect to receive delivery of its first helicopters? I ask the minister to give us a date.

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I think United States forces would be interested to know that it is flying these kinds of bad machines too. I am sure it would say the same thing as we do.

We will not allow them to fly unless they are safe to fly. We are providing for the upgrades that they need so that they are safe to fly. There is a very rigorous inspection done. Safety standards are maintained to the ultimate level to make sure that our people are safe to fly in them.

Genetically Modified Organisms

[Suzanne Tremblay, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette-Et-La Mitis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, a UN group responsible for adopting world standards on food items is meeting this week in Ottawa to discuss the labelling of food that contains GMOs.

Since the Rio meeting in February, the United States has reconsidered their position which was pro-labelling at the time, and delegates in Ottawa are concerned that Canada will follow suit.

Could the minister inform the House of his government's intentions?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I have said to the House a number of times, the Canadian General Standards Board, the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors, the provinces and Canadian consumers, over 60 groups, have been meeting and will be coming forward in the not too distant future with a recommendation to the Canadian government as far as the labelling of foods affected by genetic modification.

[Suzanne Tremblay, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette-Et-La Mitis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we want the minister to provide guarantees to this House that food containing GMOs will really be labelled accordingly because it would not be the first time that the government would make a flip-flop to follow the lead of the United States.

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

Mr. Speaker, as the government does all the time, we are consulting with everyone in the industry, all levels of government and consumers in order to have a system of labelling that is meaningful, credible and enforceable.

In order to be effective we must be able to ensure all those things. We look forward to the recommendations of that group as we have to the recommendations and comments of the royal society that has already reported and the work being done by the Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee.

Elections

[James Moore, Canadian Alliance, Port Moody—Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today's Ottawa Citizen informs us that the Prime Minister's decision to call an early election last year right in the middle of a scheduled team Canada trip to China cost Canadian taxpayers $4.1 million in cancellation fees.

In addition to needlessly wasting taxpayer money, a clear message was sent both to China and to Canada's business community that a campaign to keep the Liberals in power on a campaign about nothing was more important than exports to China.

Both of Canada's NAFTA partners have fixed election dates and avoid these types of problems. Why will the Liberals not implement the same policy here?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I was challenged. The Leader of the Opposition dared me to call an election. I listened to him but it was a disaster for them. They cannot complain. If he had shut up, he might be in a better position today.

[James Moore, Canadian Alliance, Port Moody—Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, B.C. Liberal leader Gordon Campbell promised that if he were elected premier in B.C.'s election, the next election in B.C. would be on May 17, 2005. Knowing when the election will be allows enhanced accountability and avoids wasting millions of dollars like the government chose to do.

Why is the idea of fixed election dates so difficult for the Prime Minister to understand when his B.C. Liberal colleagues get it perfectly well?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are operating under British tradition. British tradition calls for an election within five years. It is the call of the prime minister.

The Prime Minister was in his seat and was challenged by the Leader of the Opposition. I love a fight and could not resist.

Persons With Disabilities

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, one of the real challenges of people with disabilities is that the programs affecting them cross all departments and virtually all three levels of government.

Could the Minister of Human Resources Development tell us what the Government of Canada is doing to help the four million Canadians with disabilities access the support and services they need?

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to tell the hon. member that the Minister of Human Resources Development launched a new national website initiative last week.

Disability WebLinks marks the first time that persons with disabilities across Canada have a dedicated Internet site that will provide quick access to information on government related disability programs and services.

This successful federal-provincial-territorial initiative is important for ensuring that government and other information providers meet the needs of people with disabilities.

Natural Resources

[Cheryl Gallant, Canadian Alliance, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Natural Resources. Recently Atomic Energy of Canada was forced to lay off workers at its Chalk River site. These are people with young families. Prospects for local employment are not great.

When could we expect to hear the announcement that the Canadian neutron facility will be funded at Chalk River?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, I point out that while members of the opposition in the last parliament were critical of all sorts of government spending, it was a member of the government, Mr. Hec Clouthier, who fought day in and day out to advance the cause of the CNF in Chalk River. He continues to do so today.

This is a big science decision. It involves many hundreds of millions of dollars. The government is giving it very careful consideration and will announce its decision at the earliest possible moment.

[Cheryl Gallant, Canadian Alliance, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, since 1993 the Liberal government has cut hundreds of millions of dollars from Canada's centre of scientific excellence, the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratory. The CAT scan and the MRI technologies were developed at this world class facility.

When will the government make good on its election promise and cut a cheque for the Canadian neutron facility to be built at Chalk River?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, I invite the hon. member to read the budget proposals of the Alliance Party or the Reform Party before she arrived here.

She will discover that those proposals would have gutted the Department of Natural Resources, gutted AECL and destroyed any possibility of that kind of research for the future.

Food Inspection

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

Mr. Speaker, last week we learned that starlink corn had been found in pasta distributed on the Canadian food market. In addition, last Friday Dow AgroSciences Canada Inc. issued a recall notice on a batch of starlink-contaminated seed corn sold on the Quebec and Ontario markets.

Contrary to what he said on March 16 about the reliability of his inspection system, will the minister finally admit once and for all that his food inspection system is not perfect? Could he also tell us what he intends to do to improve the situation?