Debates of Sept. 18th, 2001

Terrorism

[Jay Hill, Canadian Alliance, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister stated yesterday that funds are available for the war on terrorism. Canadians are speculating, no, they are hoping, that the ministers responsible for their safety and security spent this morning in cabinet fighting for more cash. I am talking about additional new money, not the funds allocated in a budget of a year and a half ago.

My question is for the solicitor general. Was he successful in getting more money reallocated to his department to fight terrorism? Yes or no.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague refers to the words of the Minister of Finance and I can assure him that as the Prime Minister has said we will be walking with the United States every step of the way. We will also do whatever is needed in order to make sure this country remains the safest place in the world to live.

Foreign Affairs

[Lynne Yelich, Canadian Alliance, Blackstrap, SK]

Mr. Speaker, two weeks ago the Canadian government sent Canadian teacher Dr. Raymond Fast to Pakistan. With tensions escalating in the region, western governments are now pulling their people out of the country.

The Canadian government first hesitated then advised Dr. Fast to leave immediately. At 2 o'clock this morning Dr. Fast, without a visa, had to rent a car and now is trying to get out. Dr. Fast and his family are wondering why the government is abandoning them.

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure how the government is abandoning people when it has given them information that has recently come to light which they ought to respond to.

I can assure the hon. member that we are endeavouring to advise Canadians who are in danger zones of the fact that danger does exist. We will be working with other governments, including the British, to provide assistance as required. If necessary we will evacuate any Canadians from dangerous regions.

[Lynne Yelich, Canadian Alliance, Blackstrap, SK]

Mr. Speaker, Dr. Fast still has not been heard from. British, Japanese and American embassy officials are taking care of their nationals. Our government still has citizens unaccounted for.

Dr. Fast's family wants to know why the government has allowed this to happen to our citizens abroad.

[John Manley, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps there is more to this story than I have heard so far. It is not clear to me that the government has allowed something to happen to one of our citizens. We have endeavoured to contact Canadians who we are aware of in the region. We are certainly advising Canadians, through their families, to be in contact with Canadian officials in Islamabad so that we can advise them of the appropriate action to take. We will do everything at our disposal to be of assistance to them, as is usually the case.

The Economy

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Minister of Finance intimated that he might or might not pass certain measures to counter the economic slowdown that is unfortunately at Canada's door. I would ask him to be a little more specific.

Will the Minister of Finance include special budget measures with his next economic statement to stimulate the economy, measures that have become more pressing and necessary than ever with the tragic events of last Tuesday in the United States?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member that we will take the appropriate measures under the circumstances.

For example, I just announced today that, last year, Canada reduced its debt by over $17 billion. This is a new record. It allowed the Bank of Canada yesterday to lower interest rates by 50 basis points.

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, paying back part of the debt is all very well, but there are special measures to stimulate the economy. We are in an economic slowdown. All the analysts are tending to agree.

Could the Minister of Finance not be a little more original and have measures passed that would directly stimulate the economy, revive consumer confidence and provide a little boost under the circumstances to Canada's economy?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, this is exactly what we have done and will continue to do.

The reduction in interest rates of 50 basis points will have an effect next week and next month. Cuts to income tax, which are four times those in the U.S., have not been completed yet and will continue to stimulate the economy.

Airline Safety

[James Moore, Canadian Alliance, Port Moody—Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday in a response to my question about air marshals, the Minister of Transport told the House “We are committed to providing enhanced security on the ground so we will not need air marshals”.

Last night a news story on television informed Canadians that from May 2000 to May 2001 infiltration tests conducted by Transport Canada at major airports showed that one in five attempts to smuggle weapons past airport security were successful.

If Transport Canada's own tests confirm that there is a one in five chance of getting a weapon on a plane, why is the minister dismissing the idea of air marshals without even studying it?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, on the question of air marshals, I said that that was not the direction in which we were moving. What I did say was that we were looking at every aspect of airline security.

We conduct these infiltration tests on an ongoing basis. We make them tougher and tougher and we deal with the airport people who actually do the screening. When they fail, they are removed from the job.

As a result of these tests that were reported last May, we had measures in place before September 11 and we have redoubled our efforts since September 11.

[James Moore, Canadian Alliance, Port Moody—Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the transport minister might want to update the information he is giving to Canadians because his website says that the current measures are only temporary.

Last night in response to the uncovered Transport Canada information that 69 replica guns, knives and bombs got past airport security, the transport minister tried to spin the security failure by saying that this was good news and that it showed the testing was really tough and that it was really putting people on the spot.

Does the minister really believe that an airport security failure of 20% is good news?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we strive for 100%. What is good news is that Transport Canada has measures in place to try to deal with every security threat that comes through, and we have redoubled our efforts since last week.

Trade

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in light of the recent of attacks, can the Minister for International Trade tell us what measures are being taken to ensure that trade with Canada's largest trading partner is not being affected?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, indeed the situation at the border has been more complicated in view of the extra vigilance we had to institute. Canadian business people understand that very well. We are monitoring the situation very closely.

I have spoken with a number of business leaders and associations. I can tell members that we are identifying creative solutions to make sure that we can respect our security requirements under the circumstances. At the same time, we are making sure that trade functions and that the economy can continue to function well on the North American continent.

The Economy

[Jason Kenney, Canadian Alliance, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, since the House last met unemployment has gone up, the dollar has gone down, the economy has stopped growing, economists are predicting a recession and, according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Canada is now at war.

What, if anything, is the finance minister doing to react to the economic and fiscal consequences of these dramatic new realities?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, it is important to understand that we are in the middle of a global slowdown. When one is in the middle of a global slowdown, one should compare how Canada has reacted to the other countries.

Since we last met, in the middle of this global slowdown we have paid down more debt than any other OECD country. We have cut our taxes more than any other G-7 country. Our dollar has been one of the strongest currencies in the world, albeit weaker than the United States. The fact is we have done better than most other countries.

[Jason Kenney, Canadian Alliance, Calgary Southeast, AB]

That is what we get when we head into a recession. Mr. Speaker.

Given the urgent need for increased resources for areas of national security and for us to prosecute our part in the war on terrorism, does the finance minister have plans or is he making plans to transfer financial resources from low priority areas and departments to the urgent priorities of the RCMP, CSIS and national defence?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, one of the advantages of having proceeded prudently is that we have set up reserves, and they were set out very clearly in the October statement, that will allow us to do precisely what is now required, which is to plan for the unexpected. Therefore, we are in a position to act.

There is no doubt that there are priorities and hard choices will have to be made, and the government will make them. However, the Canadian public is now benefiting from the fact that its government did proceed prudently, a philosophy that the Alliance happened to criticize substantially every time we were in the House.

Terrorism

[Pierrette Venne, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the international community has adopted twelve anti-terrorism conventions.

Two of them, the international convention for the suppression of the financing of terrorism, and the international convention for the suppression of terrorist bombings have yet to be ratified by Canada.

Will the government reassure us that it considers it a priority to ratify these two conventions?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said previously, out of the 12 conventions referred to, Canada has signed, ratified and implemented 10 of them. There are only two remaining.

As I clearly stated in this House yesterday, we will be bringing forward criminal legislation in the very near future to ensure that we can implement both the convention on terrorist bombing and the convention on the suppression of terrorist financing.

Airline Industry

[John Harvard, Liberal, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Transport will know that with the disruptions of last week, Canada's airline industry faces financial and operational challenges.

Could the minister tell the House whether Canada will follow the approach taken in the United States to assist our airlines?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we are very concerned about the health of the airline industry. We are in discussions with the airlines. I have talked to the CEOs of the major airlines in the last few days.

We want to make sure that we have all the facts before us before we make any assessment of the situation. There is no question that this country depends on a healthy airline sector.

Trade

[Charlie Penson, Canadian Alliance, Peace River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, over the past few years, over $1.5 billion of goods has crossed the Canada-U.S. border every day on a just in time delivery system. Since the tragic events of last Tuesday, Canadian businesses have been co-operating with the new high security border regime. However, the current border slowdown is having a dramatic effect on our economy.

What specifically is the government doing to develop a new border protocol that will satisfy American security requirements while maintaining the free flow of goods across that border?