Debates of Oct. 1st, 2002

National Revenue

[Lorne Nystrom, NDP, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

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

We have just heard from my colleague about how some of the poorest of the poor are being shafted by the government in terms of the disability tax credit. While this is happening, the finance department is now proposing, get this, a tax change that would give a wealthy family in Montreal, the founding family of the Vidéotron company, a $180 million tax gift. They are among the wealthiest of the wealthy in this country.

I want the Minister of Finance to explain this. Why would the government consider giving a $180 million tax gift to a very wealthy family at the same time it is cutting back on a tax credit to the disabled people in this country? That is absolutely scandalous. The minister--

[The Speaker]

The hon. Minister of National Revenue.

[Elinor Caplan, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite should know that privacy provisions do not permit us to discuss individual tax cases on the floor of the House of Commons, but I can assure him that CCRA takes pride in the fact that it administers the tax laws in a way which is consistent and fair to all Canadians.

Finance

[Scott Brison, Progressive Conservative, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, throne speeches are about talk. Budgets are all about action.

Since the last election the Prime Minister has introduced two throne speeches and only one budget. This is the first government in Canadian history to introduce twice as many throne speeches as budgets.

With a health care system in chaos, a military in crisis and financial markets in a tailspin, we need a fall budget to address these issues and to provide a detailed costing of yesterday's throne speech promises.

What is the real reason the government is delaying a budget until sometime next year?

[John Manley, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I think the opposition member is all about talk. We generally have a budget for each fiscal year. The fiscal year, as he knows, starts on the first of April. We will have a budget in advance of the first of April, as we did in advance of the last first of April. Whether it falls within a particular calendar year is really of no consequence.

National Defence

[Elsie Wayne, Progressive Conservative, Saint John, NB]

Mr. Speaker, some of the people who were most disappointed by yesterday's throne speech are the brave men and women of our military. Only a passing reference was made to our most courageous citizens, without any commitment to increase defence spending, and now we know we will not see a replacement for the Sea Kings until the Prime Minister retires so he does not have to debate the EH-101.

Will the Prime Minister give our armed forces a firm financial commitment today for new equipment and more personnel so they can do the job they need to do at home and abroad?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I think there might have been more than one question in that question.

I would point out simply that in terms of pride in our military I share the hon. member's view. The fact of the massive response in Edmonton twice, once to the four deaths and secondly the largest response to homecoming soldiers since at least the second world war, indicates that the hon. member is not alone in being extremely proud of what our military has done.

As was cited in the throne speech, the government is committed to equip the army, the navy and the air force with the resources they need to carry on their duties.

Health

[Rob Merrifield, Canadian Alliance, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, up to 10,000 Canadians die each year because of prescription drug reactions. Every year just under half of our seniors receive at least one inappropriate prescription. Prescribing errors account for over one-third of drug-related hospital admissions.

The throne speech announced faster drug approvals. Why did it say nothing about drug safety?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member probably is aware, some months ago we created the new marketed health products directorate at Health Canada. We have put additional resources into post-market surveillance to deal with the very issue that the hon. member has raised.

We are very concerned about adverse reactions in relation to drugs or other therapies and products. That is why we have enhanced our ability to do better and more timely surveillance to ensure the safety of the public.

[Rob Merrifield, Canadian Alliance, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the throne speech did not address problems of addiction, over-prescription or medical errors in primary care.

Faster drug approval is a notable goal and in fact there are some health benefits for that, but the government is putting the cart before the horse when announcing faster drug approvals before dealing with drug safety.

How many deaths are acceptable to the minister? Is it 10,000, 15,000, 20,000? What is the number?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should know that this government and this department are very much concerned with drug safety. That is why, as I have indicated, we have put additional resources toward post-marketing surveillance so that in fact we can deal with incidents of adverse reaction.

I think the hon. member is probably also aware that last week a very important report was released in relation to patient safety. Only one part of patient safety is, of course, adverse reactions to drugs. My provincial-territorial colleagues and I are very committed to taking up the recommendations in and around patient safety and obviously adverse reactions to drugs will be part of that.

Iraq

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Speech from the Throne states that Canada will continue to work through international organizations such as the United Nations.

However, this broad commitment gives no specifics regarding the government's intentions and attitude in the event of possible action against Iraq.

Will the government make a commitment that Canada will under no circumstances participate in any strikes against Iraq without the UN's go-ahead?

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, tonight we will all have the opportunity to debate this very serious situation in the world.

I can assure the member—though I am sure she is fully aware of this—, that the policy of the government has always been to act through the United Nations. We support the United Nations; we supported President Bush when he was before the United Nations and will continue to support a solution to this serious crisis through multilateral action. This is the policy of our government.

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, will the government make a commitment to the effect that any decision to take action against Iraq, including in the context of the United Nations, will first be debated and voted on in the House before Canada takes part, and that there will not be a debate without any vote, after the troops have left, as was the case with Afghanistan?

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I am looking forward to tonight's debate on this issue.

I am sure that the member and all members of the House will have the opportunity to express their concerns, their fears and their solutions with respect to this situation.

It has always been the policy of this government to consult the House. We will do so, as in the past, and we will listen to what the members have to say tonight with a great deal of attention and interest.

Softwood Lumber

[John Duncan, Canadian Alliance, Vancouver Island North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the government's handling of softwood is off the rails. When the 1996 softwood deal went sour, the Minister for International Trade said that it was a good deal and that even if it was a bad deal how dare we criticize it when the forest industry made him do it.

Predictably, the U.S. Department of Commerce is once again proceeding with its divide and conquer tactics. This time it is targeting the provinces rather than industry. When is the trade minister going to do his job and use his federal mandate to stop these U.S. divide and conquer tactics?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, the strategy of our government has been very clear from day one on this. It is to find a long-term, policy-based strategy.

Now clearly we are doing our job when we resume discussions with the Americans to identify such a long-term, policy-based solution. We are going to the courts to get support from the WTO and NAFTA that the Canadian case is right. We are discussing with the Americans to identify an earlier resolution to this conflict. This is what the government is doing now.

[John Duncan, Canadian Alliance, Vancouver Island North, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this minister is using a wink and a nod to allow the Canadian position to erode. Yesterday's throne speech failed to offer any direction on trade disputes. The Liberals continue to avoid any commitment to forest workers and companies about federal financial assistance.

The minister is allowing the pursuit of free trade in lumber to be compromised by the lack of a federal financial package. Why was the long-awaited package not in yesterday's throne speech?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, we rarely announce budgetary measures through throne speeches. Indeed, if the member wants to be a little more patient he will realize that my colleagues, the Minister of Natural Resources, the Minister of Industry and the Minister of Human Resources Development, have been working very hard looking at all options to make sure that we will support our workers and communities and we will support our industry.

A package will be announced in the next few days. In the meantime we will continue to work with the provinces in a team Canada approach for a pan-Canadian solution.

Employment Insurance

[Claude Duplain, Liberal, Portneuf, QC]

Mr. Speaker, could the Minister for Human Resources Development tell the House about any new developments with respect to the problem experienced by certain pregnant women and nursing mothers on preventative withdrawal whose maternity leave was cut short because they had exhausted their EI benefits?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada wants to ensure that all Canadian mothers are able to benefit fully from maternity and parental benefits. We are therefore providing over $1.3 million in funding for a pilot project to help mothers who do not have full access to benefits. The pilot project will help some 400 women over the next three years.

I thank the member for Portneuf and the other members for their assistance on this important issue.

Agriculture

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday's throne speech talked about putting Canadian families and children first. I have news for the Liberals: Farm families include children. Yet the throne speech, in its 15 seconds about agriculture, failed to address the agriculture crisis.

Why are the Liberals ignoring the needs of farm families at a time when severe drought and massive agriculture subsidies in the U.S. farm bill threaten the very existence of the Canadian family farm?

[Lyle Vanclief, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, on June 20 of this year the Prime Minister and I announced the biggest farm support package in many years for Canadian farmers, with a number of elements, including risk management.

Since that time, we also have put in place, and the cheques will start going out later this week, $600 million to assist Canadian farm families for the various types of threats that they have been undergoing in the last year.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said that our productive Canadian farmers cannot compete against massive agriculture subsidies provided to farmers in the United States and Europe.

Now that the Prime Minister recognizes that fact, why does the government refuse to implement a trade injury compensation program for struggling farm families?

[Lyle Vanclief, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member would look at the programs that are there to assist Canadian farmers and have been put in place in the last number of years, she will quickly see that there are hundreds and hundreds of millions, actually billions, of dollars that have been put in place to help our Canadian farmers mitigate all of the challenges they have had come to them, whether they be weather related, whether they be trade related, whether they be market related, or whatever they have been.

No government has come forward in recent years with as much support to Canadian farm families and Canadian farmers as this government.