Debates of Sept. 24th, 2001

Immigration

[Paul Forseth, Canadian Alliance, New Westminster—Coquitlam—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I think the immigration minister is overselling the merits of Bill C-11.

The American ambassador told us all this week that no nation can be sovereign without being secure. The minister knows that her own department has really failed on that score.

Why is the government not taking a leadership role in either meeting or exceeding American or other countries' refugee screening standards?

[Elinor Caplan, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I reject completely the assumption in the member's question. I would also suggest that he look at the facts.

The facts are that Bill C-11 streamlines our ability to process applications. What we want to do is make sure that anyone who is in genuine need of protection is offered assistance in Canada as soon as possible, but for those who are not genuine refugees, for those who pose a risk to Canada, they will not be given access. Canada's refugee determination system is considered a model for the world.

The Acadians

[Benoît Sauvageau, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs said, on the weekend, in Bathurst, that the government would probably not support Motion M-241, which calls for an apology from the British crown for its treatment of the Acadians.

How can the minister subordinate the importance of such a motion for the Acadians to the affiliation of its mover, my colleague from Verchères-les-Patriotes?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I can do no better than to quote the member for Madawaska—Restigouche:

The introduction of M-241 is further testimony to the paternalistic, offensive, insulting and hurtful attitude of the separatists in the Bloc. Acadians form a dynamic community, proud of its roots and open to the future. We need no self-proclaimed guardian.

[Benoît Sauvageau, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this motion received the support of, among others, the member for Acadie--Bathurst, the Société des Acadiens and the Association francophone des municipalités du Nouveau-Brunswick.

How does the minister explain his lack of openness to the consensus of the Acadians.

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, to that I think the Minister of Labour has provided a fine answer “I never want to see Acadians used as political pawns. No one, least of all the separatists, is going to play games with the Acadian culture”.

Terrorism

[Diane Ablonczy, Canadian Alliance, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the U.S. has launched a resolute offensive against the terrorist threat. Because of this Canadians face a new security problem. Criminal elements now illegally in the U.S. will be looking for a new base of operations. Canada is widely seen as weak and vulnerable to manipulation by lawless individuals. The government and its ministers have a very poor track record in this vital area.

I invite the government to tell Canadians what specific measures it is now initiating to deal effectively with this new, serious situation.

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice]

Mr. Speaker, it is virtually impossible to respond to such an outrageous allegation. As the hon. member should know, we in fact have some of the toughest and most modern extradition laws in the world. We have mutual legal assistance agreements with the United States and many other countries.

I have indicated in the House that we are one of the few nations of the world that has signed all 12 UN conventions against terrorism. We are going to ratify and implement the remaining two, including the convention on the suppression of terrorist financing.

[Diane Ablonczy, Canadian Alliance, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, if the best Canadians can get from the Minister of Justice is a lot of huffing and puffing, then we are in serious trouble.

It is true that the U.S. is actively seeking individuals who may have terrorist training and intent. These people are going to flee. We know they are looking at Canada. The minister must know this. What is the government doing to make sure that our country is not the recipient of these undesirable elements? What is it doing specifically?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice]

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, first of all we have some of the most modern and toughest extradition laws in the world. Therefore if people come to Canada and a request is made to extradite them, we will extradite them.

As I have indicated before we have mutual legal assistance agreements with dozens of countries, including the United States of America. We work closely with our allies in the United States to ensure that we share information between our intelligence organizations, that we share information between our police, and the Department of Justice in this country acts closely with the department of justice in the United States.

Federal-Provincial Relations

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance.

Given the global economic slowdown and the financial uncertainty stemming from the attack on the United States, Canadians need to know whether the federal government will maintain its commitment to the fundamentals of health care and education. Could the minister tell the House whether transfers of payments to the provinces for education and health will be protected?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, one of the many benefits of the prudence with which the government has proceeded is that Canadians in fact can rest assured that the basic social programs, the foundation of the country, are fully protected.

It was a year ago September that the government signed an historic accord for $23.5 billion in transfers to provinces for health care and education. I can tell the House that $2.8 billion will be transferred this year, $1 billion to the member's province alone.

As a result of the courage with which the government has operated, Canadians can rest assured that their basic programs are fully protected.

Social Insurance Numbers

[Carol Skelton, Canadian Alliance, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian public is becoming increasingly concerned over safety and security issues. Photo ID is lacking on essential documents in Canada, for instance, our social insurance cards. When will the HRDC minister implement security measures to protect Canadians?

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, the government has acted in a number of significant ways to protect the integrity of the social insurance number. This has been recognized in the auditor general's report of December 2000. In the last two years we have conducted approximately 7,000 investigations per year, up from earlier levels of 2,500 investigations per year.

We have resources within the government and within the department that are specifically dedicated to protecting the SIN from abuse and we have specialized equipment to detect false identification documents.

[Carol Skelton, Canadian Alliance, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Mr. Speaker, that just shows how bad the situation is getting.

Canadian citizens are vulnerable when it comes to forged documents. Last November HRDC had access to software that would have provided security to social insurance cards. This software would have been less intrusive and cheaper than other technologies but the department did not use it.

When will HRDC decide to improve the security of Canadians?

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, we have implemented many measures to protect the social insurance number, as the auditor general has recognized.

The member is referring to a business that provides a certain type of technology. But I believe that the use of such a system raises concerns about the protection of personal information.

We want to be sure we continue to detect fraud and abuse and to protect personal information.

Airline Industry

[Mario Laframboise, Bloc, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in response to a request by Air Canada, the Minister of Transport has indicated that the government would be assisting the airlines by assuming a portion of their increased insurance premiums, a direct result of the crisis caused by the attacks in New York.

Are we to understand that any assistance the government intends to extend to Air Canada will be extended to the other carriers, Air Transat in particular?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, no decision has been reached on financial assistance to the airline industry, outside of Saturday's announcement by me related to insurance.

[Tony Tirabassi, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as a result of the tragic events of September 11, Canadians have expressed concerns about air travel.

Could the Minister of Transport please tell the House what steps the government has taken to ensure that aviation services will be maintained uninterrupted.

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, this does follow from the last question. The fact is that we did respond to the decision by the international insurers that they would no longer provide levels of war risk liability currently in place. If we had not done anything about it, it would have meant that all airports and all airlines in this country would have been shut down as of midnight tonight. A similar occurrence would have occurred right around the world.

That is why on Saturday I announced, on behalf of the government, indemnity for third party war and terrorism liabilities for essential aviation service operators in Canada for a period of 90 days while everyone negotiates with the lenders.

Fisheries

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

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.

The inshore shrimp fishery in Newfoundland is in a state of crisis. Fishers cannot afford to fish and processors cannot afford to operate their plants. One of the main reasons is the 20% tariff charged for Canadian shrimp going into European markets.

What steps has the minister taken to make sure that this inequity is corrected?

[Herb Dhaliwal, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, we are concerned with the European tariff of 20% which makes shrimp products less competitive. I know the Minister for International Trade has been working very hard on this as well.

We have allocated a quota on shrimp so we can continue to be competitive in the European Union. The government is doing everything it possibly can to have the European's look at that again so they can get rid of the 20% tariff that our producers have to face.

Airline Safety

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Musquodoboit Valley—Eastern Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, while Canadians line up for what seems to be an awfully long time at security points to have their nail clippers removed from their baggage, on board the aircraft all too willing flight attendants are giving us metal serrated knives and forks. The United States has decided through the FTA to remove all metal cutlery on board aircraft due to the concerns of September 11.

Would the Minister of Transport not think it prudent for Canada do the same and remove all metal cutlery from aircraft for the safety and protection of all travellers?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, that is fully the intent and where it has not been done it will be done forthwith.

Employment Insurance

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

Mr. Speaker, since the events in the United States of last September 11, the economic downturn has been heavily felt in the shape of significant job losses.

What is keeping the Minister of Human Resources Development from providing the unemployed with some sort of security by acting on the unanimous report on employment insurance tabled by parliamentarians last May 31?