House of Commons Hansard #76 of the 37th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was organized.
Christiane Gagnon Bloc Québec, QC
Mr. Speaker, 75% of the budget being spent in Quebec can be called propaganda.
Does the minister think it is right that the opposition is unable to obtain these figures in the House and that it must rely on others and on the newspapers to obtain the answer to legitimate questions? What was the minister afraid of that she would not answer our questions?
Sarmite Bulte LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, I am happy to have the opportunity to answer the supplementary question.
The Celebrate Canada Committee in Quebec gets funding to allow 20 regional centres to actually have Celebrate Canada activities and in addition provide money for celebrations in more than 200 communities.
Vic Toews Canadian Alliance Provencher, MB
Mr. Speaker, after a dangerous sexual offender has served his court imposed sentence there is no—
JusticeOral Question Period
The Deputy Speaker
Order, please. It is only Monday. The hon. member for Provencher.
Vic Toews Canadian Alliance Provencher, MB
Mr. Speaker, it is an energetic Monday afternoon. After a dangerous sexual offender has served his court imposed sentence there is no nationwide ability to track his whereabouts.
Despite the significant danger these individuals continue to present, members of the police do not have an effective national sex offender registry. Why will the Liberal government not take the necessary steps now to create an offender registry so that all Canadian children are protected?
Lawrence MacAulay LiberalSolicitor General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, when individuals are released from serving their full term the police forces have the jurisdiction to apply for a peace bond. In many cases they have done that.
If they have served in a Canadian institution for a criminal offence they are registered on CPIC.
Vic Toews Canadian Alliance Provencher, MB
Mr. Speaker, the minister was sitting beside the RCMP commissioner when the commissioner admitted that the ineffective CPIC registry requires legislation, money and technology. Yet the Minister of Justice and the Solicitor General continue to stonewall these requests to protect children from sexual predators.
How many more children must fall victim to sexual predators before these two ministers will act?
Lawrence MacAulay LiberalSolicitor General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, I know my hon. colleague would never wish to mislead the House. The fact of the matter is that he was sitting there as I was sitting there. He understood that provincial legislation needed to be changed in order to have addresses implemented in the CPIC system. He is well aware of that.
We have also indicated that we will receive the addresses if the provinces wish to input the addresses on CPIC, and there are addresses on CPIC.
Bryon Wilfert Liberal Oak Ridges, ON
Mr. Speaker, our urban centres face a range of urban transportation challenges including greenhouse gas emissions, air quality, congestion, safety, and an increase in operational costs.
What initiatives is the Minister of Transport taking to encourage communities across the country to adopt effective urban transportation strategies?
Brent St. Denis LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question. I appreciate his concern for urban issues.
In addition to the Prime Minister having already announced a caucus task force on urban issues, today the Minister of Transport announced a $69 million initiative to promote sustainable transportation, namely the urban transportation showcase.
The plan calls for the creation of community showcases to demonstrate and evaluate ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector. Initiatives such as these show Canada's commitment to developing better planning and practices for transportation and land use, recognizing that different solutions are required for different regions of Canada.
Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, today a United Nations conference opens in Paris to examine the growing worldwide concern about BSE or mad cow disease.
As other countries review the precautionary measures they have taken to protect their citizens, what will Canada say: that unlike Europe we continue to feed cattle parts and cow blood to other livestock or that we have not stopped deer or elk that could carry chronic wasting disease from being used in commercial food production?
Could the health minister explain to Canadians and to the world why the government is so reluctant to take strong steps against this horrific threat to our health?
Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, when we go to that meeting we will tell the simple truth. The simple truth is that Canada is recognized by the World Health Organization as BSE free.
This is a global issue. We cannot be complacent. We have to continue our efforts. It is for that reason we banned the giving of blood by people who have spent certain times in Europe. It is for that reason we are careful about feed for cattle.
The hon. member has her facts wrong. Canada should be proud of our record but concerned about the future. We will take the steps to make sure Canadians are safe.
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—St. Clair, ON
Mr. Speaker, when this session of parliament began I called upon the Deputy Prime Minister to explain his government's inaction in addressing the concerns of thousands of Canadians faced with crippling taxes on their U.S. social security benefits.
The Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance, and the Secretary of State for International Financial Institutions have all promised that they would take some action. Yet five months later nothing has been done. When will they move on this issue? When can we expect a response from them?
Herb Gray LiberalDeputy Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, as I pointed out in a letter to my hon. friend, I believe in February, I have raised this matter with the Minister of Finance. He assures me that he and his officials are looking into it.
Bill Casey Progressive Conservative Cumberland—Colchester, NS
Mr. Speaker, I was just sent a copy of a letter from the premier of Nova Scotia to the Prime Minister and to the President of the Treasury Board. In that letter Premier John Hamm has added his voice to the growing opposition to the discriminatory employment practices used by the federal government to only hire people from the Ottawa area for Ottawa jobs in the federal government.
Premier Hamm says this policy contravenes the agreement on internal trade and section 6 of the Constitution Act. Has the government changed this offensive and discriminatory policy? If it has not, when will it?
Lucienne Robillard LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure
Mr. Speaker, the President of the Public Service Commission met with various parliamentarians and even testified before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, and has promised to review this whole issue in the Public Service Employment Act.
Loyola Hearn Progressive Conservative St. John's West, NL
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the same minister. Apparently all the premiers who were asked about this problem agreed with Premier Hamm, with the exception of the premier of Newfoundland who basically said that it was okay to hire strictly from the local region.
What does this do to foster a great nation like Canada? If that is the case, could a Newfoundlander apply for the Prime Minister's job in Ottawa?
Lucienne Robillard LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure
Mr. Speaker, we are discussing a very important principle right now. The provisions of the Public Service Employment Act allow the commission to place area restrictions. It is not obliged to do so.
Further to the various representations made by parliamentarians, the commission is in the process of reviewing the rules in question.
Bob Mills Canadian Alliance Red Deer, AB
Mr. Speaker, Bjorn Lomborg, a former Greenpeace member and noted scientist, says in a soon to be released book that the cost of limiting carbon dioxide emissions far outweighs the benefits and only postpones the problem by six years.
Developing nations will be the most affected by climate change. Canada must help them leapfrog massive industrial pollution by providing them with new technologies and training.
Will the minister stop posturing about Kyoto and help develop a more realistic approach to climate change?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, obviously climate change is a very serious global issue and for there to be a solution it must be global in scope.
I am very pleased to note that in the various announcements we have made on behalf of the Government of Canada, including our action plan on climate change last year and the budget of February last year, we included very specific provisions to assist countries in the developing part of the world to catch up with new technologies and to apply those technologies so that they too may enjoy the benefits of clean air.
Bob Mills Canadian Alliance Red Deer, AB
Mr. Speaker, these agreements are only good if action follows them. Canada is wasting over $1 billion on this protocol that will not work. The signing of this protocol was done without proper consultation, without proper study and will not achieve the results without the participation of developing countries.
Will the minister agree to scrap his ill conceived dedication to Kyoto and move on to a new and realistic commitment to dealing with climate change?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the fact that the member for the Alliance Party is articulating the position of the United States.
On our part, for the people of Canada, we stand by the Kyoto targets. We have announced $1.1 billion worth of initiatives that will get us at least one-third of the way toward those targets.
We are working constructively on energy efficiency, ethanol production, wind power, solar power, energy conservation, new petroleum technology, carbon dioxide capture and sequestration, and new generation vehicles. It is only the Alliance Party that is trapped in the 19th century.
Claude Bachand Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Speaker, the government is settling for prefabricated replies to people suffering trauma and permanent effects from their participation in missions to the Persian Gulf and the Balkans.
What is stopping this government from showing some compassion by recognizing the traumas experienced by military personnel and providing them with the support they now need?
Art Eggleton LiberalMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, we do. We are going to great lengths, putting in a lot of money and investing a lot of time and effort to help people who go into a deployment situation, one of our operations, and come back ill.
In fact for post-traumatic stress disorder alone we have set up some five clinics across the country. We have medical staff on site in the various camps and in these various missions to help anybody who suffers in such a way.
We want to make sure that we do everything we can to look after the health needs of the Canadian forces personnel. They deserve no less.