Debates of Nov. 26th, 2002

Airline Industry

[Bev Desjarlais, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, a Transport Canada management working group has presented a report recommending that the federal government eliminate 55 aviation safety inspectors. The international civil aviation organization has already denounced Transport Canada's current inspection regime saying that it is understaffed and overwhelmed.

Will the transport minister assure Canadians that he will not eliminate any aviation safety inspectors and instead increase the number of inspectors to reduce the current shortage which threatens the safety of the flying public?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the answer is, yes.

Telemarketing

[Bill Casey, Progressive Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I have in my hand a letter from the government of the State of Washington confirming that the telemarketing schemes from Canadian prisons contravenes several Washington statutes.

The Solicitor General of Canada recently told the House that the prison telemarketing schemes had only been suspended and were under review. The Washington authorities have requested, and I quote, “to ensure no further acts of this nature occur”.

Will the minister comply with this request to permanently stop this embarrassing telemarketing scheme that targeted citizens of Washington and Idaho?

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member admitted himself, I already said in the House that the telemarketing schemes have indeed been suspended and a review is taking place. That review is being analysed.

I thank the hon. member for the additional information he has provided this afternoon.

[Bill Casey, Progressive Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the bottom line is that it appears Canada's top cop was breaking the law.

In 1997 the Prime Minister met with the President of the United States to discuss cross-border deceptive telemarketing. In 2001 the Solicitor General met with Attorney General John Ashcroft to discuss the very same thing.

How can the Prime Minister and the Solicitor General commit to fighting cross-border telemarketing and then turn around and run a program doing exactly the same thing out of a prison in Dorchester, New Brunswick?

Who within the Canadian government approved of this cross-border program? Who is it? Is it the minister or the deputy minister? Who approves international affairs?

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the member knows very well that the government is very committed to fighting cross-border crime. In budget 2001 we put in place a number of expenditures that went to better policing and better protection against cross-border crime. We will continue to do more as time goes on.

Airline Industry

[James Moore, Canadian Alliance, Port Moody—Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, taxes and fees account for up to 40% of the price of tickets for flying in Canada. Because of the Liberal government, Canadian travellers are the highest taxed air travellers on the planet.

What do we get for it? The government likes to boast about increased air security but the fact is that Peter St. John, who is an expert in terrorism, said that Canada was “at the bottom of the pile amongst western states” in air security.

The evidence is everywhere. When will the government cut or eliminate the air tax?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the quote from the individual cited is completely inaccurate. The fact is that we have a very good air security system. It was good before September 11, 2001. It is even better as a result.

Who does my hon. colleague propose to pay for these air security measures, the general taxpayer or the user? His party supports user charges on every other aspect of airline and airport policy but not on this.

However, as the Minister of Finance has said, the whole matter is under review.

[James Moore, Canadian Alliance, Port Moody—Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, yes, the whole matter is under review. The transport minister told the House that we would have a review of the air tax and that it would be tabled in the House in September.

We are now in the fourth week of November and the review has still not been tabled in the House. Where is it?

We have WestJet, Jazz, Tango and Pacific Coastal, you just name the air carrier, Minister of Transport, and they are cutting back services because of your bad job of defending the air industry.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. I know the hon. member admires the Minister of Transport very much but he has to address his questions to the Chair, not to the minister.

[James Moore, Canadian Alliance, Port Moody—Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, you name the region, Atlantic Canada, the north, British Columbia or Saskatchewan. Every single region in the country is seeing a loss of air service because of the government's high taxing of air travel. It is a fact, Minister of Transport.

When will the government review the air tax and lower it? When will the transport minister defend the airline industry?

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

Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear on what the hon. member is asking for. First, he does not acknowledge that $70 million of expense was transferred from the carriers to the government when the assumption of the responsibility for security occurred.

Second, what he is saying is that people who do not use air service should pay for those who do. It is a different approach. I am not saying that it is illegitimate but we do not agree with it.

We think that people who fly should pay the expense of the additional security measures that are being implemented. We said that we would review the charge and we are doing it.

Softwood Lumber

[Suzanne Tremblay, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette-Et-La Mitis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in addition to having to deal with the crisis in their industry, softwood lumber workers in Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean are having to cope with the inflexibility of the employment insurance program. In March 2002, the Bloc Quebecois called for a special targeted program that would include greater flexibility in the EI rules for these workers.

The workers of Saint-Fulgence are reaching the end of their benefits. Does the Minister of Human Resources Development intend to extend the benefit period, as these workers have been asking her to do for the past three months?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member will know that we do have a specific program for workers in the softwood lumber industry. The government announced $246 million directly in support of the trade dispute there because we are concerned about the workers and communities that may have to deal with this trade dispute for a long period of time.

Specifically, $71 million is going to those workers through my department, providing them with opportunities for increased training and different solutions that will assist them through this difficult time.

[Suzanne Tremblay, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette-Et-La Mitis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister ought to find out the details of the program she announced. There are two things: retraining workers, and what she has given the workers, which is a premium for moving away.

In Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean 500 jobs have been lost as a result of the softwood lumber crisis. The sawmill workers at Saint-Fulgence have written the minister and she has turned a deaf ear to their requests.

To repeat my question, does she plan to extend EI benefits for these workers, as they are asking her to do?

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

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary. Many of those in the softwood lumber industry recommended that we provide additional opportunities so that they could upgrade the skills and capacities of their employees.

We know that the softwood lumber industry is a high tech industry, like so many others, and there is an advantage to the workers to have the opportunities to develop their skills through the course of this dispute.

Canada-U.S. Security Measures

[Val Meredith, Canadian Alliance, South Surrey—White Rock—Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, despite the government's ridiculous assertions that everything is okay with our security, the Americans obviously do not agree. Canadians who travel to the United States are now being re-examined at mobile border patrol checkpoints up to 40 kilometres from the border, much like the Mexican border.

If Canadian security is so good, could the minister explain why the Americans continue to target Canadians with ever increasing security measures?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's question is somewhat imprecise and I would ask her to rephrase it in a supplementary.

With respect to airline security, it is true that with respect to clearance and preclearance by U.S. customs at Canadian airports, there is an extra level of security on a random basis at the gate. Perhaps that is what she is referring to. That is something that we agreed to with the Americans.

[Val Meredith, Canadian Alliance, South Surrey—White Rock—Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is unbelievable that the Minister of Transport does not realize that Canadians are being re-examined after they are already examined at the border and are already in the United States, much like the Americans do with the Mexicans.

Why are the Americans re-checking Canadians after they have gone through an initial checkpoint at the border? Why are they re-checking Canadians? They do not trust the Canadians to look after the security.

[Elinor Caplan, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, I invite the hon. member to visit a border crossing. What she will find is that when people come into Canada they are checked by Canadian customs and immigration. When they go into the United States, they are checked by American customs and immigration. If there is an additional check, it is not because of any action of the Canadians. The fact is that if she visits the border she will see how it works.

Organized Crime

[Dan McTeague, Liberal, Pickering—Ajax—Uxbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, marijuana grow houses are increasing at a rapid rate throughout Canada. It turns out that it is obviously a very lucrative opportunity for organized crime.

There are estimated to be over 10,000 grow houses in the GTA alone. In the last year we have identified 126 across Durham region, of which 70 were in my riding.

Aside from the serious threat to public safety, peace officers and firefighters, could the Solicitor General indicate to the House, given all the electricity that is lost and other concerns, whether he has a process for this?

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I certainly want to congratulate the men and women of the police forces across Canada for their important work in this area.

Big sweeps by the RCMP and its police partners, such as the one that took place last week, clearly show that co-ordinated police efforts do in fact pay off, but we do need to do more. That is why the RCMP has appointed a national marijuana grow operations coordinator to build on our efforts to fight organized crime and drug trafficking right across Canada.

Ethics Counsellor

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

Mr. Speaker, last Wednesday the first annual report of the ethics counsellor was tabled in the House. After eight years in office, there is a surprise.

The Prime Minister had asked for this report by September 30 but it was only tabled on November 20. Why did we have to wait an extra two months after eight years for a report that says nothing new?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, there was no requirement for the tabling of any document at all. I asked the ethics counsellor to prepare a report for this fall. We expected that to be tabled in September but it was a few weeks later. However it was the first time he was asked and he delivered on the requirement of the government.