Debates of Nov. 26th, 2002

Canada Elections Act

[Vic Toews, Canadian Alliance, Provencher, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the Supreme Court decision to allow imprisoned murderers the right to vote undermines Canadian democracy. Even more disturbing is the active involvement of the Liberal government in funding those groups who asked the court to grant that right to prisoners.

Why did the Liberal government use taxpayers' money to give murderers the vote?

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Minister of State and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the government argued against this position in court. The government lost the position in the Supreme Court of Canada. The hon. member is a former minister in a province. He should be aware of how those rules work. The government is now reviewing the decision with a view to legislating wherever we have the constitutional authority to do so.

[Vic Toews, Canadian Alliance, Provencher, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has refused to distance itself from the recent Supreme Court decision on prisoner voting. Now we know, through the court challenges program, it financially supported the right of prisoners to vote.

Why has the government chosen to secretly encourage a perverse policy initiative by the Supreme Court while it refuses to publicly state where it stands on this important issue?

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Minister of State and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member wants me to table the factum that was presented to the court, I am quite willing to do so. We have argued against this case in court. Unlike the hon. member we did not stand in the House and denounce the justices of the Supreme Court, their lordships, as he has done in a totally disrespectful way.

Government Contracts

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, over eight years, the Minister of Canadian Heritage has awarded $3.8 million in funding to Éditions Brimar, primarily to publish cookbooks that are curiously similar from one year to the next.

How can the Minister of Canadian Heritage justify such generosity for the reprinting of cookbooks that are, for all intents and purposes, the same year after year? This smacks of the Groupaction report affair. This smells like reheated leftovers, no pun intended.

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I really wondered when I heard the representative of the Government of Quebec say that Canadian cuisine was not part of our culture.

If we want to ensure the survival of publishing companies, much of whose money goes into direct employment in the Province of Quebec, it is obvious that the companies must also be able to make these very interesting books available to anyone interested in the culinary arts.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to re-releasing the same cookbook year after year, receiving a grant to do so, and having that book printed in China or the United States, I would ask the minister if she considers this a worthwhile investment in job development, when everything is being done out of the country.

Has Éditions Brimar not found a winning recipe for making money with Canadian Heritage?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

I would be surprised at that, Mr. Speaker. If the hon. member wants to discuss this, I am prepared to call a round table discussion with all the publishing houses in order to find out whether or not they believe in the policy we have established.

It is a well-known fact that we are currently making cultural investments in excess of $1 billion in Quebec. I know that this is about 25% more than what the Government of Quebec is doing. I believe that artists, writers and publishing houses support Canada's policy on cultural investment in Quebec, including your—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for St. Albert.

Canada Elections Act

[John Williams, Canadian Alliance, St. Albert, AB]

Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago Canadians were outraged to find out that Clifford Olson, Paul Bernardo and other hardened criminals were given the right to vote. Notwithstanding what the House leader just told us about opposing that case, the point is that the government paid the criminals to fight the case in the first place.

I want to know from the Minister of Canadian Heritage, who finances this program, why she would even allow taxpayers' money to be used in this way?

[Martin Cauchon, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, essentially the organization that decided to finance the lawsuit was an independent, arm's length organization in order to avoid any political interference.

[John Williams, Canadian Alliance, St. Albert, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it was not an independent organization. It was paid for by the Government of Canada and the taxpayers of Canada. It should stop now. I want to know if the government will stop this program right now.

[Martin Cauchon, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, we do not control it. People apply, develop the criteria and make their own decisions. We do not get involved in the process.

Budget Surplus

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal leadership race has started to loosen tongues. This time it was the Minister of Industry who stated that the government had put too much money toward the debt, thereby depriving the health care system of resources it sorely needed, in addition to preventing a public debate on the use of considerable sums of money.

Like his predecessor, the current Minister of Finance is deaf to our appeals, and similar appeals from the Auditor General. Will he be more receptive to the comments made by his colleague, the Minister of Industry?

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

Mr. Speaker, our accounts are determined in an annual system, in other words, at the end of the year, the books are closed. A few months later, the Auditor General gives us the year-end figures. I do not see how we could go back to the previous year and spend more money.

The accounts are closed. After March 31, that is it.

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Romanow commission is about to release its report on the health care system. When will the Minister of Finance acknowledge that the real problem with the health care system is the financial withdrawal of the federal government, which now contributes only 14 cents of every dollar spent on health care in Canada?

When will he acknowledge this?

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

Mr. Speaker, why does the member insist on using the wrong figures? She has it wrong. She is not including tax credits. She is not taking into account equalization payments. In her figures on provincial spending, she is including all social spending, including education.

Is she including education as a federal government responsibility? Her figures are completely wrong.

Government Contracts

[Gerry Ritz, Canadian Alliance, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, Media/I.D.A. Vision Inc., owned by the Liberal's favourite chalet host, Claude Boulay, has received $42 million, in brand new money, in contracts, after the Minister of Public Works claimed that he would to clean up the system six months ago.

Since Media/I.D.A. was one of the well known middle men in the sponsorship mess in the first place, why do we see even fatter contracts going to the same company now?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, despite the loose allegations that are sometimes thrown back and forth across the floor of the House of Commons, the fact remains that neither my officials nor the Auditor General found any evidence upon which to make a reference of the matter, referred to by this hon. gentleman, to the RCMP.

[Gerry Ritz, Canadian Alliance, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, nothing has changed. Nothing but smoke and mirrors there.

Since the sponsorship program ended, the money going through these companies has actually been ratcheted up, kicked into a higher gear.

Does the minister have any proof at all that taxpayers are getting any value for their money, or will he admit now that all he has done is funnel the money through the back door after the opposition slammed the front door?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. gentleman can try as he might to create misinformation or disinformation but the fact remains that wherever a firm was involved in questionable transactions that resulted in a reference to the RCMP, the business flow stopped to that firm, plus any outstanding moneys were held back. Indeed, the Government of Canada is holding back $3.9 million to make sure that the taxpayers of the country are kept whole.

Securities Industry

[Roy Cullen, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in the post-Enron and post-WorldCom world, Canada is not immune. A number of respected business leaders in Canada have called for legislation similar to the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation in the U.S.A., while others are calling for a less interventionist approach.

My question is for the Minister of Finance. Should Canadian investors have faith in corporate governance in Canada?

Is the minister planning any initiatives in the area of corporate governance? When will he begin consulting with Canadians generally and Canadian parliamentarians specifically on this important topic?

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

Mr. Speaker, public confidence in capital markets and public companies is obviously critical to a well functioning economy. I am very pleased with the cooperation that has been demonstrated to date by federal and provincial regulators and the private sector to implement an appropriate Canadian response to the issues highlighted by several recent U.S. corporate scandals.

The government is reviewing legislation to ensure that governance standards remain of the highest order. It is also reviewing the criminal law framework and the effectiveness of enforcement related to corporate fraud.

The Environment

[Joe Comartin, NDP, Windsor—St. Clair, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Environment has burned many bridges in the handling of the Kyoto file. His provincial counterparts have postponed and cancelled meetings, clearly signifying the minister has lost all credibility with them.

In order to preserve our international reputation, protect our environment and our health, will the Prime Minister show true leadership by taking upon himself the Kyoto file?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the hon. member that the Prime Minister takes a close and personal interest in the Kyoto file.

Furthermore, I can assure him that we do at the present time have some provinces jockeying for position. However I believe those provinces will recognize the importance of working together, as we have done for the past 5 years since Kyoto and the past 10 years since Rio.