Debates of April 5th, 2001

The Environment

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear on this. The Government of Canada will oppose the bulk removal of water from any of our major drainage systems, period, point final, c'est clair.

Control over boundary waters is covered in Bill C-6, which is currently before parliament. As for control over waters that are entirely within the jurisdiction of the provinces, each province has taken action with respect to that.

Our position is clear: There will be no removal of bulk water from drainage systems in Canada.

Prime Minister

[Joe Clark, Progressive Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's personal company must pay the cost of Michaud's witnesses at any inquiry.

Yesterday was the first time in Canadian history where a Prime Minister was forced to miss a vote because of conflict of interest under parliamentary rules.

My question is for the Prime Minister. When he signed the so-called bill of sale was Jonas Prince present at the time of the Prime Minister's signature? Will the Prime Minister table his schedule for that day?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot understand it. This man has been in the House of Commons for far too long to be asking questions just to destroy reputations. He is just fishing. I thought he had a little decency but of course in growing older he is getting worse.

Agriculture

[Joe Clark, Progressive Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the minister of agriculture told the Senate that his answer to an illegal American ban on P.E.I. potatoes was to have islanders consider getting out of the potato industry. That is like telling Ontario to get out of the auto industry.

The Prime Minister is meeting President Bush in Quebec. Will he tell the president to lift the illegal U.S. ban on P.E.I. potatoes? Will the Prime Minister bring back to the House concrete assurances that P.E.I. farmers will be able to export their potatoes this year?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, at long last. I would like to inform the leader of the fifth party, who is paying himself $300,000 per year, which is twice as much as the Prime Minister, that the first item I discussed with the president when I was in Washington was agriculture and specifically, among the two problems, one being wheat, the first one was potatoes from P.E.I.

Trade

[Grant McNally, Canadian Alliance, Dewdney—Alouette, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and his international trade minister are fundamentally at odds regarding the linkage of energy with softwood lumber.

The Prime Minister is now musing that he wants to put a tax on oil and gas sold to the United States. The international trade minister says that the two issues should be treated separately.

Who is speaking for the government on this issue?

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

Mr. Speaker, traditionally Canada does not make linkages from one sector to another.

As the Minister for International Trade has repeatedly said, we have an excellent case in softwood lumber on its own merits but the reality is, we would like to see a far better climate on trade with the United States which claims to be free traders.

[Grant McNally, Canadian Alliance, Dewdney—Alouette, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is the Prime Minister himself who has raised the spectre of linkage on this issue.

Yesterday the Prime Minister referred to President Bush as “a naive cowboy”. Insulting the president of the United States is not the best strategy for ensuring future co-operation between our two countries. By musing about linking softwood lumber with energy exports he raises many questions.

Here is a question for him. Will he now impose a national energy style program export tax on energy?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, that is inaccurate information. I never said that about the president. I have a lot of respect for him.

Canada has signed a free trade agreement with the Americans. We want free trade not only in resources but in agriculture and in softwood lumber.

Free Trade Area Of The Americas

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as part of FTAA negotiations, the Canadian government is consulting various business groups on Canada's position and on the state of negotiations through the sectoral advisory groups on international trade, or SAGITs.

Can the Minister of Foreign Affairs confirm that representatives of the business community have had access to FTAA negotiating texts, the same ones which were denied to the public and parliamentarians?

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

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member well knows, the Minister for International Trade has consulted very widely on this file. He has met repeatedly with provincial ministers. He has met with lumber people from every region of Canada. There has been a special parliamentary series of hearings on this issue.

Canada has been a leader in transparency on this issue. The minister is today pressing for more transparency in Buenos Aires.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I think the parliamentary secretary misunderstood the question.

The question is whether members of the business community had access, in the advisory groups, to the texts he is refusing to let us see.

How can he explain that these members of the business community were allowed to see the texts, while parliamentarians and ordinary Canadians and Quebecers were not?

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

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member has some specific evidence that he would like to show me after question period, I would be very interested in seeing it and take up the matter with trade officials.

Most of the research I am hearing today from the opposition has come from the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star .

The Economy

[Ken Epp, Canadian Alliance, Elk Island, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the government's fiscal policies are not working for Canadians. In 1997 our productivity growth was at 2.3%. Now it is barely half of that. This means that our standard of living is falling, along with our dollar.

What steps will the finance minister take to reverse these worrisome trends?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the first step would probably be to simply illuminate the hon. member as to the real facts.

The fact is that our productivity began to increase in 1997, not decrease. If the member wants further indicators, our national net worth is now at an all time high. Our personal disposable income is on the increase.

The fact is that Canadians are doing better. The hon. member is wrong.

[Ken Epp, Canadian Alliance, Elk Island, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am talking about the rate of growth. The minister is talking about productivity. Our rate of growth is now fantastically short of the rate of growth of the Americans. Statistics Canada gave us that information just this week.

The American growth rate is almost four times what ours is. That means that in the economic race it is moving ahead on eight cylinders and we are sputtering along on two. Our economy lacks acceleration.

What will the minister do to keep us from falling way behind the Americans—

[The Speaker]

The hon. Minister of Finance.

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is wrong. If he is talking about productivity, our productivity growth is increasing. It began to increase in 1996 and 1997 after about a decade of falling, and it has turned around under this government.

If the hon. member is talking about economic growth, well, my God, we are projected to have much stronger growth this year than the United States. Over the course of the last four years we have created virtually twice the number of jobs as the United States.

The only rate of growth that is steadily declining is the popularity of the Alliance Party.

Tax Agreements

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, at the beginning of the government's mandate when its moral code was less elastic, the Minister of Finance had to withdraw from cabinet whenever the issue of shipbuilding was on the agenda.

Now the Minister of Finance is allowed to fully get involved in the issue of tax havens.

How can the minister justify such involvement considering that he owns 11 companies in tax havens, including eight in Barbados? Is this not as obvious a conflict of interest as one can find?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, again, the Minister of Finance complied with all the rules that existed when he assumed his duties.

He is a very honourable person and, again, the Bloc Quebecois, whose popularity is also declining, is only trying to smear people.

I have total confidence in my Minister of Finance and so does the whole Liberal Party caucus.

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is a well known fact that the Minister of Finance is benefiting, through eight of his companies, from the tax treaty between Canada and Barbados.

What credibility can the minister have, since he is directly involved in an issue in which he has a personal interest through eight of his companies?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, first, the treaty with Barbados was ratified in 1980, long before I came into the picture.

That being said, Canada has been a leader in the movement to eliminate harmful tax practices. In this regard, Canada has been a leader among OECD countries. We are also taking the lead among the finance ministers of the western hemisphere and we will succeed in eliminating these practices.

Shipbuilding Industry

[James Rajotte, Canadian Alliance, Edmonton Southwest, AB]

Mr. Speaker, today the Minister of Industry responded to a report on the future of the shipbuilding industry in Canada and ruled out future subsidization of this industry.

Since the minister has firmly committed to not subsidizing the shipbuilding industry, would he explain why the federal government has not fought the American, NAFTA-exempt, Jones act to allow Canadian shipbuilding companies to expand into the United States?

[Brian Tobin, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the Alliance Party may be over there talking about providing huge subsidies for the shipbuilding industry, but we think the shipbuilding industry is capable of being innovative, using new technologies, using training and using access to the marketplace to carve out a niche that will be successful for Canadian workers.

We do not have the defeatist attitude of members of the Alliance Party who think we can only do business with subsidies. We are not of that view.

[James Rajotte, Canadian Alliance, Edmonton Southwest, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that is quite a role reversal.

During his last provincial election campaign in Newfoundland, the industry minister told shipyard workers that if his government did not make the shipbuilding industry self-sustaining, then they could tie metal plates to his ankles and throw him over the wharf. That was five years ago. Now he is the federal industry minister and he still has no plan.

When will the minister either produce a plan or return to the wharf?