Debates of June 4th, 2001

Le Courrier-Laval

[Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral, Bloc, Laval Centre, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the weekly Le Courrier-Laval was just awarded first prize by Quebec's weeklies association. Considering that there are over 140 weeklies in Quebec, this is quite the achievement. Le Courrier-Laval was published for the first time on January 19, 1945 and is in its 56th year. With a circulation of close to 105,000 copies, this newspaper is read by practically every household in Laval.

This recognition of the journalistic value of Le Courrier-Laval is definitely not a coincidence. For the past three years, a new team has been working extremely hard to meet the challenge of excellence by diversifying the newspaper's content and by using more appealing graphics. Le Courrier-Laval achieved its objective with the support of 86 people. Without their involvement, the Laval weekly would never have won this prestigious award.

It is with pride that, on my behalf and on behalf of the residents of Laval, I congratulate Le Courrier-Laval . To publisher Serge Lemieux and news editor Jocelyn Bourassa, I say “Mission accomplished”. Now, they have no choice but to surpass themselves; because Laval believes in excellence.

Cancer

[Hélène Scherrer, Liberal, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last Sunday was National Cancer Survivors Day. This, the fourteenth annual edition, offered hope to a number of people affected by cancer.

Cancer is a terrible disease affecting far too many of us. Yet many Canadians who have a brush with cancer have strong chances of recovery. The latest figures show a drop in cancer death rates.

People who learn that they have cancer are no longer facing an automatic death sentence. Thanks to new screening techniques, the greater availability of information and state of the art treatments, they have hope of a full recovery and a return to a normal life.

Sunday's celebration provided all those who have recovered from cancer and those close to them with the opportunity to demonstrate that life after a cancer diagnosis can be a reality, thus sending a message of hope to all those who have this disease.

Roger Cyr

[Roy H. Bailey, Canadian Alliance, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Mr. Speaker, today I am honoured to pay tribute to Roger Cyr, long time president of the Hong Kong Veterans' Association and a tireless and successful advocate for veterans' rights, who passed away on May 26.

Out of one of the most tragic events during World War II comes a story of heroism and determination. After Hong Kong fell to the Japanese, roughly 1,200 Canadian soldiers were forced into slave labour for almost four years. Roger Cyr made it his personal goal to see that every one of these soldiers was compensated for his unjust treatment and eventually the Canadian government did just that. It paid them an average of $22,000 for their forced labour.

During Remembrance Day ceremonies in 1998, Mr. Cyr had the unprecedented honour of standing beside Governor General Roméo LeBlanc during the march past of veterans and took the salute. He deserved a salute from his comrades then, just as he deserves to be recognized and remembered by all Canadians today.

General Maurice Baril

[Robert Bertrand, Liberal, Pontiac—Gatineau—Labelle, QC]

Mr. Speaker, June 28 will be a big day for the Canadian Armed Forces. General Maurice Baril, Chief of Defence Staff, is retiring after a 40 year military career which has brought him to the uppermost echelons of the Canadian military hierarchy.

There are so many highlights to his career that I could never list them all in my brief statement. I will limit myself to the pinnacle of his career, promotion to the position of Chief of Defence Staff, on September 17, 1997. That promotion was ample evidence of the value of Maurice Baril.

During my two years as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence, I had the immense privilege of contact with this exceptional man, who became a friend. I was struck right from the start by his sense of organization and leadership, and particularly by his great human qualities. A humble and modest man, he inspired confidence in his troops.

General Baril, all members of this House join with me in extending our best wishes on your well-deserved retirement. We will miss you.

Health

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, Health Canada continues to play catch up on critical safety issues associated with BSE or mad cow disease.

It took more than 10 years after Britain began measures to deal with the crisis for Health Canada to complete its first major assessment of the problem. It is now one year after that report was received and we still do not see wide scale livestock testing or an outright ban on animal protein in the feed of animals destined for human consumption. We still do not have a ban on food and confectionery products containing beef byproducts from countries where BSE has been detected. There is still no ban on the use of potentially infected deer and elk in rendering plants.

The government seems to be trying to do the absolute minimum needed to comply with the World Health Organization. The minimum will not do. Britain is dramatic proof of that. We urge the health minister to stop lagging behind and to make BSE prevention an urgent priority.

La Fédération Des Femmes Du Québec

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last weekend, members of the Fédération des femmes du Québec elected Vivian Barbot their new president.

Born in Haiti and a teacher at the Cegep in Victoriaville, Ms Barbot was head of the Fédération des enseignantes et enseignants de cégeps of the Centrale des syndicats du Québec, and has been a member of the intercultural relations committee of the Ligue des droits et libertés. She is also known for her public stands on the rights of immigrants and the defence of the French language.

She succeeds Françoise David, to whom we are indebted for the bread and roses march in 1995 and the World March of Women in October 2000.

The Bloc Quebecois thanks Ms. David for her energetic defence of the interests of women in Quebec, and congratulates the new president, Ms. Barbot. We offer Ms. Barbot our co-operation and wish her a most productive mandate serving the interests of the women of Quebec.

Software Theft

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour—Petitcodiac, NB]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Alliance against Software Theft has announced a 3% drop in software theft in Canada, but the figures show that software theft has cost Canada $457 million in sales of business applications and software in 2000.

The cost of software theft is high: losses of jobs, wages and tax revenue in Canada.

We will inevitably have to become aware of the importance of adopting copyright protection policies.

We must encourage businesses to continue, through educational programs, legislative measures and enforcement, to raise the awareness of members of the public who use unauthorized copies of software.

Grants And Contributions

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister of heritage and culture, in an attempt to enhance her leadership bid, has been making funding announcements all across the country.

The minister of industry and trade, not to be outdone, is giving away public money like it is going out of style in order to enhance his chances at the leadership.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs uses CIDA and other corporations to deliver some of his goodies for appropriate credit, attention and hopefully support. Benefits from a lot of these expenditures are questionable. A large percentage of that money should go to the Department of Health where it is needed to help the underdog minister in his bid.

The final player in the leadership race, the Minister of Finance, is so busy solidifying his lead that he does not know where the money is going. He did not bring in a budget. This is blatant pork barrelling. It is not good government

What price are we paying for power? Is the golf course not good enough any more?

Education

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to congratulate two constituents of York West, Albert Cheng of Weston Collegiate Institute and Sai Krishna Satyanarayana of le Collège français, on receiving a local excellence award from the millennium scholarship foundation.

Both students have demonstrated outstanding achievements in academic life, significant contributions to the community and leadership in innovation, all qualities that have helped to enrich the quality and community of life in York West.

The millennium scholarships foundation originates from a Government of Canada initiative that represents a significant investment in the future of young Canadians and an original way of celebrating the new millennium.

Justice

[Grant Hill, Canadian Alliance, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is this government's lack of pragmatism that explains why our children will not be effectively protected against sexual predators using the Internet to find their victims.

Will the minister acknowledge publicly that she has learned from her mistakes and will, finally, introduce new legislation to protect our children?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member should be well aware, we have legislation before the House that deals with the protection of children in relation to Internet luring and other aspects of child pornography as they relate to technology.

Unfortunately the hon. member's party and others play politics in this regard. It is part and parcel of legislation, all of which deals with amendments to the criminal code. If people were interested in protecting our children instead of playing politics, I expect they would work with us to practise legislation in—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Macleod.

[Grant Hill, Canadian Alliance, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the minister put the portion of legislation that would have protected children from Internet criminals into a big bill that has other controversial issues in it. She knows that. That is the reason we are not supporting it.

Will the minister bring in standalone legislation that will protect our children from Internet sexual predators? Yes or no.

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the provisions to which the hon. member refers are amendments to the criminal code.

Bill C-15 which is before the House is legislation, all of which deals with amendments to the criminal code, many of which were before the House before the last election. There is absolutely no excuse for any hon. member of the House not to have informed himself or herself in relation to the legislation and be prepared to move forward.

[Grant Hill, Canadian Alliance, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, let us give another example. Western premiers decided that they could not wait for the minister. They are to set up a sex offender registry on their own. Ontario has also decided that CPIC is not suitable for this issue.

When will the minister set up a national sex offender registry to protect our children from sexual predators?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague is well aware that we have one of the best registries in the world, CPIC, which is the envy of all police forces around the world. We have indicated to the provinces and the people that any corrections which need to be made with CPIC will be made.

[Vic Toews, Canadian Alliance, Provencher, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the RCMP disagrees with the minister. Canadians are very disappointed with the justice minister's refusal to co-operate with the opposition to pass long needed laws dealing with child predators on the Internet.

The minister is now prepared to delay the legislation. This is unacceptable to Canadians. Why will the Minister of Justice not put politics aside and ensure that the provisions in Bill C-15 dealing with child predators are passed as quickly as possible?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I challenge Alliance members to put politics aside and let the legislation come to a vote now. If they will not do that they are the ones playing politics with the safety of our children.

[Vic Toews, Canadian Alliance, Provencher, MB]

Mr. Speaker, that answer is unacceptable to Canadians. Protecting our children from sexual predators is a priority of Canadians. Everyone knows that the government is playing political games by lumping animals and children together in the same bill.

Given the unanimous consent of past child protection provisions, will the Deputy Prime Minister stop playing games with Canadian children, stop playing American style politics and pass—

[The Speaker]

The hon. Deputy Prime Minister.

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the polls out today show that the Alliance is unacceptable to Canadians.

The message to the Alliance is not to stand in the way of Bill C-15 and good legislation like it if it wants to protect children. It should join with us in protecting our children and let the legislation come to a vote, or it will go even further down in the polls. That is the message of Canadians to the Alliance.

Federal-Provincial Relations

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, under the Access to Information Act, the Bloc Quebecois has obtained a copy of a communication strategy, which serves as a sort of guide for the federal government in its dealings with the government of Quebec. This document tells ministers and members how to behave toward the government of Quebec.

My question is for the minister of public works. How can the federal government justify adopting a belligerent marketing approach and identifying the enemy as the Government of Quebec? Does this not confirm what we had always known, that the federal government had decided to make war?

[Alfonso Gagliano, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, I have never seen this document.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the fact that the minister who pays hundreds of thousands of dollars to have studies done has not seen the document indicates a problem somewhere.

On page 13 of the document—I will refresh the minister's memory—we see, and I quote “The first concern of perceptual positioning here is not service as such, but moulding the mind of the consumer”.

Is not the role of a modern democratic government to serve its citizens, rather than try to brainwash them?

[Alfonso Gagliano, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member, who previously sat in the national assembly, should perhaps look at his own documents.

I can assure the House that yes, there are a number of people working for the government across the country and a number could write documents and could express thoughts. However, the government has never commented.