Debates of Sept. 26th, 2001

Terrorism

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I made it very clear that we were talking about freezing assets, as the Minister of Justice has just said.

If he would like me to substitute for the research department of the Alliance, Mr. Speaker, I make reference to the Canada Gazette , part II, volume 135, No. 6. They should go read it.

The Economy

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

Mr. Speaker, the economic impact of the attacks is that the talk is now not of a slowdown but of a recession. Air Transat is going to cut 1,300 jobs, Pratt & Whitney, 600, GM, 1,400 in Boisbriand, Air Canada, 9,000, and Bombardier, 3,900. Yet the Prime Minister says the economy is healthy.

In the light of the loss of these thousands of jobs, which will affect Quebec especially, will the Prime Minister take the state of the economy into account and develop an emergency action plan?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we are very concerned by the loss of jobs, following the events of September 11.

Now, we are dealing with a period of terrorism. It is clear that it will take some time before the economy recovers. In the meantime, the government will do everything to help those who have lost their jobs.

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

Mr. Speaker, compassion is all very well, but in the meantime, in the United States, Congress has made $40 billion available not only for defence and security, but to help businesses and workers affected by these attacks. The U.S. secretary of the treasury even added that a new set of measures would be announced shortly.

Why is the Minister of Finance not levelling with us? What about the surpluses? What are they worth? What will he do? How will he do it? When will he do it? Will measures be announced soon?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, during discussions with the G-7 ministers of finance, the U.S. secretary of the treasury spoke of measures the American government had in mind, and I can say that they are the very measures we have already put in place.

They involve lowering interest rates and personal income tax to stimulate the economy. This is just what we have already done.

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

Mr. Speaker, a few days after the events of September 11, American authorities laid out a plan to curb the economic slowdown: $40 billion to be used for industry, including air transport, and for social transfers, defence and security.

Will the Minister of Finance, who as of now has access to a surplus topping $10 billion, stop watching the train go by while layoffs are announced right and left and the economy takes a tragic turn for thousands of workers?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the government has already said that, in the case of transportation, the Minister of Transport is reviewing the situation.

As soon as that review is complete, the government will take action, if necessary. In the case of insurance, we have already done so. We have seen the Bank of Canada lower interest rates.

When we look at U.S. spending on the military or national security, the government will eventually implement its plans. The bulk of the $40 billion is actually to rebuild the Pentagon and New York City, which were hard hit.

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

Mr. Speaker, instead of letting matters drift dangerously close to what looks more and more like an economic crisis, could the Minister of Finance not just this once show some leadership and tell us immediately what measures he intends to take to curb the economic slowdown, and help the thousands of workers who will be laid off in the weeks to come?

In short, he should drop his laissez-faire attitude, take action, and bring in a budget this fall. One is needed.

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we have already said that spending or deep tax cuts, which could lead to a deficit, would never work as a means of curbing a global slowdown. Furthermore, this is precisely the position taken by the other G-7 finance ministers.

We know what our responsibilities are. We lowered the unemployment rate from 11.5% to 7% and we will continue to assume our responsibilities.

Terrorism

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, evidence against alleged perpetrators of the criminal terrorist attacks in the U.S. has been presented to NATO members in Brussels. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said that only the United Nations could give legitimacy to global action.

In light of that, will the Prime Minister show some international leadership here? Will he use Canada's voice in NATO to urge that this evidence be placed now before the United Nations. If not, why not?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Foreign Affairs mentioned this and I mention it too. The security council faced a problem on September 12 and it voted on a resolution at that time authorizing actions against those who perpetrated the crime in New York City and Washington.

Already the United Nations has been very much involved. I was discussing what can be done with the secretary general of the United Nations yesterday. So far the actions of the United Nations are adequate.

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, we are talking about leadership here. The Liberals did not deal with this properly in the international arena where it should be held. We also have concerns about leadership domestically.

The Museum of Civilization has postponed an Arab Canadian art exhibition at a time when this country is crying out for greater understanding among different cultures. On Friday the House passed a motion calling for tolerance.

Will the Prime Minister show some leadership here? Will he speak out forcefully against this decision by the Museum of Civilization?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I entirely agree with the leader of the NDP Party. I think the wrong decision was made. I have been informed that it wants to put on the exhibition in the month of March. If it is good for March 2002, it should be good for October 2001.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister will find that kind of unanimity generally on issues relating to this question. Rarely in parliament have I seen such a willingness across party lines to build a common front against terrorism, yet the government is not capitalizing on that goodwill in this parliament or in this country.

How can Canada have any credibility in helping build a coalition in the world if we will not even build one at home?

Will the Prime Minister agree to put members of parliament to work against terrorism today in the committees of parliament?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, when we had a motion on Monday the first person who started to criticize was the leader of the fifth party. When the leader of the conservative party in England saw the situation, he told Prime Minister Blair, “I am with you”. He and his members are not spending their time, like the opposition here, attacking their government. They are supporting their government.

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

Mr. Speaker, let us not play political games here.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. The right hon. gentleman has the floor and I know he will want to go to his question rather than make statements that might provoke more noise.

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

Mr. Speaker, let the Prime Minister come, as he should, and give a full report on his meetings in Washington to this House, not to a Liberal Party fundraising dinner. Let him understand that committees of this House are meeting right now on finance, on health, on the environment and on official languages. Let those committees deal with issues which deal with terrorism. That is what the Americans are doing and what the British are doing.

If the Prime Minister needs our help, he has that help. Will he act today to let parliament help Canada fight against terrorism?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member wanted to know how to behave in the House of Commons in circumstances like that, he should look to the Bloc Quebecois and the NDP who have acted very responsibly over the last 10 days.

The problem with the leader of the opposition is that he is just trying to be more offensive than the leader of the Alliance Party. He should do his homework. Yesterday he had not yet given the list of his members who would sit on the committees dealing with these matters.

[Keith Martin, Canadian Alliance, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice has just said that we have the power to freeze the assets of terrorist organizations. Given that the United States has frozen the assets of 27 terrorist organizations, and yet our government chooses to give charitable status to same organizations, will the government tell the Canadian public which terrorist organizations' assets has it frozen?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, again my hon. colleague is asking us to release details of an ongoing worldwide investigation. I am sorry but we will not as a government compromise investigations.

[Keith Martin, Canadian Alliance, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, that is a complete cop-out and the minister knows it. If the United States can do it so can we. In fact one of the groups on President Bush's list is Algeria's armed Islamic group which has used Canada as a base for theft and fundraising. The GIA ringleader is from Montreal and is currently on trial in Paris.

What efforts has the government taken to freeze and seize any assets that the GIA currently has in Canada?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice]

Mr. Speaker, as I have already indicated, it is my understanding that if those organizations identified by President Bush on Monday have assets in this country, they have been or will be frozen.

The Automotive Industry

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC]

Mr. Speaker, for 40 years the federal government has promoted the birth and growth of the automotive industry in Ontario, where 90% of Canada's automobile industry is located. GM announced yesterday that the sole plant in Quebec, the one in Boisbriand, would close in a year.

The government of Quebec announced that it will do everything it can to try to find some other solution to prevent Quebec from being left out of the automobile manufacturing sector entirely.

Could the Prime Minister assure us that his government will wholeheartedly support the efforts of the government of Quebec in this regard?