House of Commons Hansard #71 of the 37th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was refugees.
Rick Borotsik Progressive Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Mr. Speaker, we know that the infrastructure focus should be on water. We also know that the regional minister from Manitoba is seriously supporting a $12 million gift from the infrastructure program to a proposed privately owned arena in the city of Winnipeg.
Would the minister responsible for infrastructure please tell the House if she would prefer to have the dollars for infrastructure go to water projects or to arenas?
Ronald J. Duhamel LiberalMinister of Veterans Affairs and Secretary of State (Western Economic Diversification) (Francophonie)
Mr. Speaker, I have never heard so much nonsense from a member in the House of Commons.
We made announcements with respect to flood litigation. We made announcements with respect to Haywood, Cormorant and a number of other communities for safe water. We have a number of others being requested. In the whole of western Canada there are roughly 2,000 applications, of which roughly 50% are water related.
We are spending and spending wisely. The member does not get it.
Monte Solberg Canadian Alliance Medicine Hat, AB
Mr. Speaker, the level of violence in the Middle East seems to be about to escalate. Canada has a very good reputation in the world in general, specifically with both parties in the Middle East.
What specific steps has the government taken toward the Palestinian authority to secure a ceasefire before the violence escalates?
Denis Paradis LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, first I would like to offer our condolences to the families of the victims this weekend.
On Saturday the Minister of Foreign Affairs spoke with the foreign minister, Shimon Peres, to convey Canada's condolences. We also spoke with the Palestinian minister, Dr. Nabil Shaath, to express the concerns of the Canadian people that terrorism and violence must end.
We urge everyone to go back to the table and implement the Mitchell report.
Monte Solberg Canadian Alliance Medicine Hat, AB
Mr. Speaker, that is laudable. It is good to urge them to go back to the table, but Canada recently handed over $5 billion through CIDA to the Palestinian authority. The foreign affairs minister met with Yasser Arafat.
Has the government considered and will it start putting restrictions on aid that goes to the Palestinian authority, contingent upon the authority controlling violence in the Middle East?
Denis Paradis LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, that endless war has been dragging on for too long.
As indicated in the Mitchell report, it is important that the two sides go back to the negotiating table as soon as possible. It is important to end this endless war and to have everyone back at the negotiating table.
Canada will make every effort to help the two sides sit down and negotiate.
Stéphane Bergeron Bloc Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC
Mr. Speaker, in its attempt to hastily rectify the employment insurance system, just before the election call, the federal government failed to meet the needs of the unemployed.
Today, the government has an opportunity to do a lot more for them. We concur in the unanimous report by the standing committee on human resources development, and if it wants to pass legislation in this regard before the recess, it will have the support of the Bloc.
This is a basic issue for the unemployed. Can the Minister of Human Resources Development tell us when the government will reveal its political will and act?
Jane Stewart LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member rightly states that the government recently passed Bill C-2, where we repealed the intensity rule, where we made changes to the clawback initiative, and where we made it easier for parents to get benefits upon re-entry into the workplace.
Where were they? They were blocking that act. From my point of view I think members of the Bloc have a lot to respond to in their own constituencies.
Stéphane Bergeron Bloc Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC
Mr. Speaker, the committee recognized unanimously that this was not enough and hence the Bloc Quebecois' opposition.
The federal government has everything it needs to act. It has the support of the opposition and, if it so wishes, we will approve its bill by Friday. In fact, it has a unanimous report by the standing committee on human resources development in which all of the parties call on it to act. The needs are there, they are desperate.
On what pretexts can the government still justify its inaction?
Jane Stewart LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development
Mr. Speaker, the track record on this side of the House is very clear. We made significant changes to the Employment Insurance Act, not the least of which was the doubling of parental benefits and, as I pointed out, the changes under Bill C-2.
As we were trying to pass Bill C-2, it was the Bloc that actually voted for the House to close down. Where is its interest when it comes to employment insurance?
Werner Schmidt Canadian Alliance Kelowna, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance refuses to acknowledge that a lower Canadian dollar means a higher cost of living for many Canadians, particularly those on fixed incomes, many of whom are seniors.
Will the Minister of Finance admit that his government's policy is directly responsible for a higher cost of living, particularly as it affects seniors?
Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, what I will certainly admit is that according to the most recent numbers real personal disposable incomes grew by 5.4% and are now at a record high.
At the same time I will admit that the real gross domestic product in Canada grew at an annualized rate of 2.5%. That is twice the rate of growth in the United States, and that benefits all Canadians including our seniors.
Werner Schmidt Canadian Alliance Kelowna, BC
Mr. Speaker, there is at least one Canadian senior who is expecting a 42% increase in the next little while. What about the rest?
The average increase in the cost of living of Canadian seniors has skyrocketed. Fuel costs to heat their homes have gone up. Weekly grocery costs have gone up. Gas prices have gone up. Medication costs have gone up.
When will the minister stop forcing Canadian seniors and those on fixed incomes to bear the major burden for the lower Canadian dollar?
Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, if we look at what was done in budget 2000, after a long delay brought in by the previous government we reindexed all the benefits in the Canadian benefit system. The prime beneficiaries of that are Canadian seniors and those who are on fixed incomes. The question is: Why did the Alliance vote against that?
Claude Duplain Liberal Portneuf, QC
Mr. Speaker, I was pleased to learn that the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council has awarded $53 million in funding for basic research. Such research is essential to develop the knowledge base on which to build the knowledge based economy.
Can the Secretary of State explain how the SSHRC awards its funding and what proportion goes to Quebec?
Social Sciences And Humanities Research CouncilOral Question Period
Bellechasse—Etchemins—Montmagny—L'Islet Québec
Liberal
Gilbert Normand LiberalSecretary of State (Science
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.
I recently had the pleasure of announcing that the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council is going to provide $56.5 million in funding over three years for 737 research projects in such areas as economics, culture, business and the environment, as well as $3.5 million for 100 post-doctoral scholars. I want to congratulate the recipients.
Quebec's share of this is 31% as far as the number of researchers is concerned, and 27% of the total funds.
Betty Hinton Canadian Alliance Kamloops, Thompson And Highland Valleys, BC
Mr. Speaker, the United States returns over 90% of its federal fuel tax revenues back to each state for highway improvement. The Canadian federal government returns only 4% to the provinces.
Maybe the Minister of Transport does not realize that Canada's highways are in deplorable condition and as a result we are losing more and more transportation business to the U.S.
If the minister is only returning 4% of the fuel tax revenues to the provinces, what is he doing with the other 96%?
Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned before, we receive funding from a number of sources and we invest it. More than likely the answer to the hon. member's question is that we put it into health care.
Betty Hinton Canadian Alliance Kamloops, Thompson And Highland Valleys, BC
Mr. Speaker, I will let that one go. It will cost an estimated $17 billion to upgrade Canada's highways. My province of British Columbia alone needs almost $3 billion. That is five times more than the $600 million Ottawa has offered to fix the entire Canadian highway system.
Western premiers want Ottawa to set up a national highway program that will return the fuel tax money it takes from the provinces. When will the Minister of Transport return a significant share of fuel taxes back to the provinces?
Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member will know that under the government we have now embarked upon our third infrastructure program. Under the leadership of the President of the Treasury Board and the Minister of Transport we are investing very heavily, and will continue to do so, in our highway transportation system.
Bernard Bigras Bloc Rosemont—Petite-Patrie, QC
Mr. Speaker, recently, Unibroue thought it had federal government certification that its products were GMO free.
Now we learn that the government is refusing to give Unibroue this certification, which it needs to export to Europe, because no GMO labelling policy exists in Canada.
Will the government not admit, in the light of this example, that businesses need a labelling policy, because Europeans, just like Quebecers, want to know what they are eating and drinking?
Genetically Modified OrganismsOral Question Period
Hastings—Frontenac—Lennox And Addington Ontario
Liberal
Larry McCormick LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency does not certify food products as GM free. Companies can label their products, but they do not get this support from the CFIA. Unibroue has misinterpreted this and we have asked it to take the decertification off its website.
In Canada companies are free to do this but, as the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food has often said, labelling must be meaningful to consumers, enforceable and credible under all circumstances.
Shawn Murphy Liberal Hillsborough, PE
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of the Environment. Recently we have been reading more and more articles in the media concerning high levels of sulphur in fuels, air pollution and health problems that result from these high levels.
On this issue could the minister tell the House what actions are being taken to deal with the issue of high sulphur levels in fuels in Canada?
David Anderson LiberalMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, the announcement I made earlier this year covers gasoline, diesel and fuel oils outside road fuels. It will reduce the amount of sulphur in gasoline from its average now of 360 parts per million to 30 parts per million. In on road diesel, the figure will go from 500 parts per million to 15. The dates for this are the end of 2004 for gasoline and June 1, 2006, for diesel.
Garry Breitkreuz Canadian Alliance Yorkton—Melville, SK
Mr. Speaker, the justice minister has not been able to convince her cabinet colleagues that Bill C-15 needs to be passed before the summer recess. Consequently she will now be forced to proclaim yet another amnesty for the owners of more than half a million legally owned and registered handguns that the government banned six years ago with Bill C-68. This is the fourth amnesty since December 1998.
Her own actions and the Bill C-15 amendments prove that these firearms are not dangerous at all when in the hands of law abiding, responsible owners. Instead of proclaiming amnesty after amnesty why does she not admit they were wrong to ban these registered firearms in the first place?