Debates of Nov. 26th, 2002

Ethics Counsellor

[Ken Epp, Canadian Alliance, Elk Island, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we wonder if the Prime Minister, who was to receive this report on September 30, sent it back for reworking. It is unbelievable that this bland report was submitted to the Prime Minister late. It says nothing that we did not already know.

What was taken out of the report before we were given the sanitized version?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the document was tabled as soon as I received it. It is very surprising that the hon. member now says that there was no need for a report when he was asking for one.

Ferries

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

Mr. Speaker, after its incompetence resulted in the cancellation of the 2002 season of the Trois-Pistoles—Les Escoumins ferry service, Transport Canada has been dragging its feet for six months now and has yet to announce that the Escoumins wharf will be repaired, thereby threatening the very survival of the ferry service.

Does the Minister of Transport realize that if he does not confirm his funding commitment before December 15, the 2003 season will be jeopardized? The time for studies is over; now we need to get the ferry service back up and running.

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I have already answered this question. There will be improvements made to the Trois-Pistoles harbour and the service will resume next summer.

Softwood Lumber

[Mac Harb, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today the executive director of the Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports, the lobby organization that has sued the Government of Canada and industries, alleging that we are subsidizing softwood, is now alleging that the Government of Canada is in fact dragging its feet and it is not interested in a negotiated settlement despite the fact, they are claiming, that our American counterpart wants to have a negotiated settlement.

I want to ask the Minister for International Trade if he could respond to these allegations and tell the House whether or not the government is prepared to go through a fair process.

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for this very pertinent question and a very important one. Canada has always been open to negotiations with the United States over softwood lumber, but we want to do this only on a fair and reasonable basis and I believe that no deal is better than a bad deal.

Right now we are waiting for the Department of Commerce to bring forward its own proposed resolution to this issue. Mr. Aldonas is working on it, but the United States coalition for lumber has only itself to blame at this moment. Its own strategy is turning and back--

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

[Jim Pankiw, Canadian Alliance, Saskatoon—Humboldt, SK]

Mr. Speaker, despite public demands that equality of opportunity and merit replace race based hiring, Saskatoon Police Services is imposing a racist recruiting system. This mimics the RCMP.

Access to information reveals that in order to meet racial quotas, the RCMP pass mark for target group recruits is 21 points lower than the non-target group's.

How does the Solicitor General justify a racist hiring scheme to non-target group recruits, who are denied an RCMP career simply because they are the wrong skin colour?

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I reject the allegation in the member's question. That kind of attitude of that member is not the attitude that should be shown in the House. I am pleased with the way the RCMP does its hiring.

Human Resources Development

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

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Human Resources Development has outreach offices scattered around the country providing a great service.

Right now in the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland, the minister's staff is cutting back services in three of the offices to save a measly $30,000.

How can the minister justify this when her department is spending $16 million to replace computers that are perfectly good?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is making reference to our employee base and I have said earlier in the House that we use term employees from time to time to deal with the peaks and valleys of the cycle.

We do have obligations and responsibilities to our budgetary numbers as well. As such, we have to make decisions that will allow us to continue to provide good service with the staff that we can afford to employ.

Veterans Affairs

[Betty Hinton, Canadian Alliance, Kamloops, Thompson And Highland Valleys, BC]

Mr. Speaker, since the government is prepared to finance prisoners' legal action, I have a question I would like to ask.

It has been three weeks since the Minister of Veterans Affairs gave me his standard response to Lieutenant-Colonel Al Trotter's dilemma. It is always the same. He cannot talk about it because he cannot discuss specific cases, it is being reviewed, et cetera.

I have good news for the minister. Mr. Trotter has given the minister his permission to talk about it in public. It is already a very public issue. Is Mr. Trotter going to get the right response from the government, yes or no?

[Rey D. Pagtakhan, Liberal, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Secretary of State (Science]

Mr. Speaker, to the identical question asked by the same member, my answer remains the same. It is a very heart-rending issue for all of us. That is why I have asked the department to look for a fair and just answer to this very heart-rending issue. When the answer is ready, we will inform the House.

Child Poverty

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, twelve years after a unanimous vote in the House to eliminate child poverty, there are still a million poor children in Canada today. We know that if there are poor children, it is because there are poor parents.

If the government wants to really do something to help poor children, what is it waiting for to increase funding for social housing and to make the rules for employment insurance more flexible?

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

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, the government has taken action on the issue of child poverty and there is more that we will do.

I am pleased to refer the hon. member to a recent report by Campaign 2000, a group that integrates stakeholders focused on children and their circumstances. They have identified that for the fourth consecutive year the level of child poverty in Canada has reduced. This is as a result of programs like the national child benefit and our contributions to the provinces and territories for early childhood development.

We will do more, and the hon. member need only read our Speech from the Throne to see our commitment there.

Persons with Disabilities

[Wendy Lill, NDP, Dartmouth, NS]

Mr. Speaker, last Thursday the entire House voted in favour of the NDP motion calling for the Department of Finance to withdraw proposed amendments to the Income Tax Act respecting the disability tax credit.

The minister avoided the vote then and now tells the House, when asked if he has withdrawn the amendment, that he is going to consult.

That is not good enough and I can tell by the faces of the members on his side of the House that it is not good enough.

Will the minister respect the unanimous decision and democratic will of the House of Commons and withdraw the amendment, yes or no? Is he willing to make a stand on the total democratic--

[The Speaker]

The hon. Minister of Finance.

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

Mr. Speaker, this was asked earlier today.

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

Mr. Speaker, how can the Minister of Finance justify this contemptuous treatment of a unanimous vote of the House of Commons? How can he justify turning his back on the vote of his members and of all of the members? Why is he bigger than the House of Commons?

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

Mr. Speaker, size is always a matter of perspective, I remind the hon. member.

I would say to him that I am not rejecting it. I have said that we will take the resolution based upon what it said. We will review the change. I remind the members of what was at stake here, which was a question of whether certain dietary restrictions gave rise to the disability tax credit. We think, and we think most members agree, that the credit should go to the people who most need it and not to those who do not.

Presence in Gallery

[The Speaker]

I would like to draw to the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of the Hon. Gordon Hogg, Minister of Children and Family Development, from the British Columbia Legislature.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

The House resumed from November 22 consideration of the motion that Bill S-2, An Act to implement an agreement, conventions and protocols concluded between Canada and Kuwait, Mongolia, the United Arab Emirates, Moldova, Norway, Belgium and Italy for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion and to amend the enacted text of three tax treaties, be concurred in at report stage.

Tax Conventions Implementation Act, 2002

[The Speaker]

It being 3:00 p.m., the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion to concur in Bill S-2.

Call in the members.

[Dale Johnston, Canadian Alliance, Wetaskiwin, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. There have been discussions amongst the parties. I think if you seek it you will find unanimous consent to dispose of this motion on division.

[The Speaker]

Is it agreed?