Debates of Feb. 18th, 2002

Industry

[James Rajotte, Canadian Alliance, Edmonton Southwest, AB]

Mr. Speaker, documents obtained under the Access to Information Act show senior bureaucrats at the Department of Industry felt the current Minister of Industry's purchase of Cipro would be a blow for R and D and innovation in Canada. To quote:

The decision by Health Canada to circumvent Canada's Patent Act run[s] counter to this Government's agenda of innovation, economic growth and fostering of a knowledge-based economy.

Why should we believe the minister is suddenly interested in innovation when he has both broken the Patent Act and ignored advice that his actions would have a negative affect on innovation?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, I will ignore the outrageous inaccuracies of fact in the question in order to provide the following response.

Canadians should be gratified that in the time of emergency the most important motivation behind the government's action was the public interest. That is exactly what motivated our conduct last October.

[James Rajotte, Canadian Alliance, Edmonton Southwest, AB]

Mr. Speaker, those outrageous facts he refers to are from a memorandum from Andrei Sulzenko to Peter Harder, officials in his own department. This shows that neither the minister nor the government are champions of innovation. In fact, Canada has languished in innovation purgatory under the government.

Considering the minister's record according to his own present departmental officials, how would he as minister have any authority to punish or investigate any future circumvention of the Patent Act?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, the member's question shows the narrowness of his perspective. The government has acted always to protect the public interest.

In terms of innovation, last week we put forth an agenda which we believe, if acted upon by provincial and municipal governments, by the private sector and by universities and colleges, will result in the strengthening of our economy during this decade so that once again we can lead the world in economic growth.

Municipalities

[Richard Marceau, Bloc, Charlesbourg—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Transport recently said that Canada was a country of the 21st century with a constitution from the 19th century. He also stated that the fact that municipalities come under provincial jurisdiction is outdated and unproductive.

Are we to understand from the Minister of Transport's comments that he is announcing an upcoming constitutional reform?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

No, Mr. Speaker. Clearly I have other responsibilities today. I am simply saying, and it is my own opinion, that we are in need of changes to the constitution to help municipalities. The current environment makes any such changes very difficult.

[Richard Marceau, Bloc, Charlesbourg—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance also stated that the federal government's ability to work with municipalities will be critical to the kind of country we leave for our children.

Are we to understand that the Minister of Finance is also announcing that he wants to go over the heads of the provinces and deal directly with municipalities, at the risk of squabbles with the provinces? Is this what he is saying?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, if we take the example of the infrastructure program, we are already working with municipalities; we are doing so with the consent of the provinces. There are other examples. In the case of the green municipal investment fund, we do this directly. It is the same thing in the case of the homeless.

There are numerous examples where the various levels of government can work together for the well-being of Canadians.

Correctional Service Canada

[Kevin Sorenson, Canadian Alliance, Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, less than an hour ago the Ontario office for victims of crime accused the solicitor general of continuing to encourage parole quotas.

In April 2000, the solicitor general assured members of the House that there was no formal plan to parole more offenders.

Why does the solicitor general measure the performance or success of Correctional Service Canada by the number of paroled offenders it can fast track out of our prisons and back onto our streets?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I did meet a group of people this morning. I intend to evaluate the information they gave me, but as I have told my hon. colleague a number of times, there are no quotas in this system and there never will be quotas under my watch.

[Kevin Sorenson, Canadian Alliance, Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we have evidence quite to the contrary and I think you have been given evidence to the contrary.

An internal memorandum from senior correctional officials and accountability contract reports from two Ontario institutions contradict the solicitor general's denial. The reports clearly state that a correctional service objective is to substantially increase the number of inmates eligible for parole.

I ask the solicitor general, have federal institutions have been instructed to increase the number of parolees?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague is aware, and I have said many times, that public safety is always the number one issue.

What he has been trying to do over the while is to indicate that there are quotas in the system. He knows there are no quotas and he knows there will be no quotas.

Health

[Tony Tirabassi, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health. As we all know, smoking is addictive and can result in serious health problems. Among young adult university and college students 40% are smokers and up to 19% of current smokers begin smoking regularly after arriving on campus. One in ten post-secondary students smoke their first cigarette after the age of 19.

Could the minister advise the House of what action her department is taking to assist these young adult smokers?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the government has an aggressive national strategy with which to discourage tobacco use by young people, but we also work locally.

For example, in the riding of Niagara Centre, the riding of the hon. member, we are very proud to support a project with Brock University and the Niagara public health department in which they are targeting post-secondary students in a project entitled “Leave the pack behind”. The project addresses directly the fact that many young people begin smoking in university.

Working in partnership, we can ensure fewer young people start smoking and we can improve the health of all--

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Vancouver Island North.

Softwood Lumber

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadian and U.S. officials are meeting tomorrow to discuss the softwood lumber dispute.

Last week the chair of the U.S. senate finance committee called for a suspension agreement that would require Canada to extinguish its pursuit of legal remedies through the WTO. Meanwhile our trade minister is off selling vodka to the Russians.

Would the Deputy Prime Minister assure Canadians that in the face of American bully tactics Canada will not compromise on our WTO actions?

[Pat O'Brien, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, as the member noted, there will be trade talks tomorrow here in Ottawa. They will be led by the Canadian deputy minister and the U.S. deputy trade representative, so we will have equivalency in representation. Indeed, the minister of trade is away on a very important trade trip doing his job, which is trade promotion for Canada in a very important market overseas.

Infrastructure

[Jocelyne Girard-Bujold, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, under Quebec's legislation, municipalities may not conclude agreements with the federal government.

But the Deputy Prime Minister's bill establishing the strategic infrastructure fund will allow him to conclude such agreements with Quebec's municipalities.

Why is the Deputy Prime Minister adopting the sort of confrontational approach typical of the ministers of finance and transport? Why is he riding roughshod over Quebec's legislation with respect to this funding for Quebec's municipalities?

[John Manley, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Crown Corporations]

Mr. Speaker, this is not a confrontation. We have $2 billion available for strategic infrastructure projects throughout Canada.

I think that Quebecers will be very interested in receiving some of this money.

Softwood Lumber

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

Mr. Speaker, for the past few weeks it has been embarrassing to hear the Canadian Minister for International Trade publicly begging and pleading with the United States for a counter offer on the softwood lumber issue. The U.S. has totally rejected our offer and slammed the door in our face. The minister's approach has totally failed.

What is the strategy between now and the deadline of March 21, or has the minister just given up?

[Pat O'Brien, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is quite incorrect when he says that the U.S. is not responding. The U.S. has indicated that it is prepared to re-engage.

As I mentioned earlier, there will be talks beginning tomorrow here in Ottawa. The United States is committed to putting specific proposals on the table and now that it appears it is getting serious maybe we will see some progress on this file.

Francophone Summit

[Eugène Bellemare, Liberal, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Secretary of State for La Francophonie was in Paris last week to meet with his counterparts.

Could he tell the House the outcome of his discussions with the Secretary General of La Francophonie, and confirm whether the summit, which was to have taken place in Lebanon in the fall, will indeed take place in 2002?

[Denis Paradis, Liberal, Secretary of State (Latin America and Africa) (Francophonie)]

Mr. Speaker, last week, I had the honour of meeting with key players in La Francophonie, including His Excellency Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the Secretary General of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. He assured me that the summit would take place in Beirut, that preparations are well under way, and that it will take place next October 18 to 20.

Second, we noted the importance of March 20, the Journée internationale de la Francophonie. I invite all members of the house to take part in the events on March 20 to celebrate La Francophonie.

Third, I reminded—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Vancouver Island North.

Softwood Lumber

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

Mr. Speaker, the fact that the U.S. is pursuing an agreement which calls for us to abandon our WTO legal actions demonstrates that the U.S. lumber lobby has not reached its goals.

The U.S. lumber lobby has tried to delay and hamper the Canadian WTO appeal process at every step. Its legal case is weakening and it has responded by opening an attack on the Canadian Wheat Board.

Will the Deputy Prime Minister assure us he will not put the Americans back in the driver's seat by relinquishing our WTO rights?