Debates of June 5th, 2001

Government Of Canada

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the government is speaking with one voice on this issue. The requirements have been designed by those who know about what is needed.

We have received the advice of the Department of National Defence. Now, with the system we have selected, we will have more bidders than ever. In that way we will make sure that we have the helicopter we need at the lowest cost possible.

[Stockwell Day, Canadian Alliance, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we have a problem.

The Department of National Defence informed the minister and the cabinet that Canada needs helicopters with anti-submarine capability. In spite of that recommendation, the government is about to decide not to order helicopters with such capability.

Why is the government ignoring the recommendation, even though the Deputy Prime Minister agrees with the department?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the call for tenders is based on the recommendation of the Department of National Defence. There are always discussions among those who draft these calls for tenders.

We clearly said that we wanted to buy new helicopters, but we wanted a true competition and this is why we opted for that process. The reality is that, now, there are many more people who can provide what the government needs. We know that the more bids we get, the better the price will be for Canada's taxpayers.

[Stockwell Day, Canadian Alliance, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it is not a question of the more people we have tendering. We have too many people offering too many tenders within the government. We have some sovereignty questions that are at risk here. All we want to know is who is making the decisions.

Here we have an internal defence department memo on the issue of the split contract which says that in a two way competition the risk to the crown increases dramatically and that this risk could take the form of contract omissions or errors. This is very serious.

Why was the contract split when the DND officials were warning of the consequences, and who made the decision?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, very clearly, we want a helicopter that can do the job at the lowest price possible. I am surprised that the opposition is not interested in the cost of it. Of course it wants to have the most expensive one. That is not what I want. I want the one that can do the job at the lowest cost possible.

[Stockwell Day, Canadian Alliance, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we just want the one who can give a straight answer. Let us shift to legislation making ability.

Regardless of how individual MPs will vote on the pay raise legislation, the Prime Minister has shown his skill in developing legislation in a short period of time, and I commend him for that. If he does not use the skill to protect children from predators on the Internet, what other areas can we expect of him?

We have put forward the proposal to carve out standalone legislation to protect children from predators on the Internet. He has shown he can move legislation quickly. Why will he not do so on this standalone legislation?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday in the House, the opposition knows full well that we are ready to move on Bill C-15.

In fact it is the opposition that is stonewalling. It is the opposition that is playing petty politics with Bill C-15. Everyone on this side of the House is ready to move.

[Stockwell Day, Canadian Alliance, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the opposition is very clear: we want that standalone legislation and he will not bring it through.

As I have just said, regardless of how MPs may vote on the pay raise legislation, the Prime Minister has shown his skill in developing legislation very quickly.

Will he use that same skill and agree with the Canadian Alliance that we need to lower the GST on gasoline to protect consumers at the pumps this summer? Will he use that same skill? Let us protect the consumers. Let us do it.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of Opposition is all over the place today. He is going from helicopters to gas, to legislation and so on.

We have a system in Canada that is well known. Neither the provincial governments nor the federal government has decided at this time that it is appropriate for either level of government to reduce the tax on fuel at this moment.

Employment Insurance

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, for years now the Bloc Quebecois has been calling for improvements to the employment insurance program in order to help workers in seasonal industries.

For years, the government has been leaving the unemployed out in the cold, so much so that the Prime Minister was forced to apologize to them during the last election campaign.

After making them wait so long, after the apologies and the campaign promises, is the government going to immediately follow up on the unanimous recommendations of the standing committee on human resources and at last come to the rescue of those who find themselves without work because their jobs are seasonal?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, they are the ones who blocked the bill, while we were trying to have it passed in the House. It was only after they lost the election that they decided to vote with the government.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government had all the time in the world to get its bill through last fall. It preferred to call an election, to make promises to the workers, promises it does not want to keep today.

It preferred to continue to dip into the employment insurance fund in order to put money elsewhere, at the expense of those least well off in society.

I am asking him, and there is still time before the end of the session, whether he will stand up and keep his promises, ensuring that these new measures are passed before the end of the session. Is he going to keep his promises? Yes or no. Or is he going to forget them once again?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what we have done. After the election, we introduced the measure we had promised in the House of Commons and it was passed. This was the same measure that the Bloc Quebecois had blocked before the election.

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, during the election campaign, Liberal ministers held numerous meetings with groups of unemployed workers in order to promise substantial improvements to the EI system.

Now, the standing committee on human resources development has identified the improvements needed. The government has the money needed, the opposition is prepared to work toward speedy passage and we have the time before the end of the session to make the bill law.

What is the Prime Minister waiting for to deliver on his own promises?

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, I think Bloc members need to go home and explain to their constituents why they were against repealing the intensity rule. I think they need to go home and explain to their constituents why, on the very day that their amendments to Bill C-2 were being presented, they voted to suspend the House. I think they need to explain to their constituents back home why so many witnesses supported us with Bill C-2.

Today they are playing politics. Last fall they were playing politics. On this side of the House we have made changes, and very good ones.

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, no one is satisfied with the minister's answer.

Does she not understand that failing to take action now, when all the conditions are in place, is disrespectful of unemployed workers, to whom even the Prime Minister apologized during the election campaign?

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, we have received the report. If the hon. member would reread the report, he would see that it asks the government to consider a number of recommendations. That is exactly what we will do.

Again, they talk about the importance of employment insurance to workers. On this side we know how important it is. That is why, quickly after being elected, we introduced the amendments we would have passed last fall if that party had supported us.

The Environment

[Bill Blaikie, NDP, Winnipeg—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, today is World Environment Day and a lot of the things that we talk about in the Chamber will not matter in 50 years if we cannot drink the water, breathe the air or go out in the sun.

The Minister of the Environment will be aware of the studies that were released showing that the basis of the Canadian position with respect to carbon sinks is not as sound as the minister has often made out.

Is the minister considering changing the position of the Government of Canada with respect to carbon sinks so that our position on greenhouse gas emissions can be one that makes some material contribution to reducing those emissions rather than a theoretical one based on a false theory to begin with?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for allowing us to recognize environment day. He correctly points out that it is today. It was an initiative, I might add, of a Liberal backbench MP back in 1971.

I point out that we are making absolutely no changes to our Kyoto target. We fully expect to meet our Kyoto target. We have a number of programs that will achieve that end. I would point out to him specifically with respect to the two articles in Nature that neither refers to the Canadian position nor in any way supports the contention that our position is not the sound approach on sinks.

[Bill Blaikie, NDP, Winnipeg—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I obviously do not agree with the Minister of the Environment on that, but I will go to the Minister of Transport.

One of the other ways we are endangering our commitment to the Kyoto accord is by having the kind of trucking regulations we have: long hours for drivers, increased weight capacities, et cetera, all of which permit the trucking industry to compete with rail in a way it should not be allowed to, rail being the superior environmental alternative.

Is Minister of Transport considering changes to regulations to give the benefit of the doubt to rail so as to encourage more rail transportation and less trucks on the highways?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I have announced a blueprint exercise to develop a new transportation policy for the next 10 years. One of the key components of that policy will be to address the question the hon. member has raised: Which is the appropriate mode and in which case should it be supported by government?

The point that he raised with respect to the polluting tendencies of one mode versus another is quite germane and is something that we have to look at and address in our policy.

Justice

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

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice knows that parliament is ready right now to protect children from stalking and pornography on the Internet. She also knows—

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. The hon. member for Calgary Centre is trying to ask a question.

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

Mr. Speaker, may the applause continue.