Debates of March 13th, 2002

Grants and Contributions

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, I indicated to the hon. member and to all her colleagues yesterday, and I am sure she is listening as attentively to the answer as I listened to her question, which of course she is not but that does not shock any of us, that in fact the supporting documents are made available to all hon. members, that the senior civil servant has actually made the progress payments and has signed under the Financial Administration Act that all of these documents are there.

To repeat the answer I gave yesterday, as soon I have the report she will have it too.

Employment Insurance

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the minister threw red herrings all over the place to try to hide her own guilt about EI undeclared earnings.

She quoted the opposition out of context. She blamed the opposition. She said that EI claimants could appeal when she knows full well that numerous appeals have already been dismissed. In fact, this is what one umpire said: “If the legislation is unfair, then only Parliament can change it”.

Why did the minister support an unjust law that took millions of dollars--

[The Speaker]

The hon. Minister of Human Resources Development.

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

Mr. Speaker, we did improve the administration of this aspect of the Employment Insurance Act. The only guilt that should be felt in the House is the guilt of that party standing up here asking questions when time after time it rejected the intention and the action of the government to improve the process.

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

Mr. Speaker, we received our access to information two days ago. Yesterday the minister had the gall to say that EI claimants who do not like what happened could write to her department, as if the onus for justice rests on the criminals. The responsibility of the undeclared earnings fiasco rests squarely on the minister, not on the workers she victimized.

When is she going to do the right thing and pay back these workers?

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

Mr. Speaker, this is laughable. The hon. member is suggesting that the only reason she would raise a question is because she got an access to information request served. We have discussed this in the House on a number of occasions. Their critic has debated this issue in the House. It is the government that has made administrative changes to the provisions and if that party had had its way nothing would have changed.

Public Works and Government Services

[Ghislain Lebel, Bloc, Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Works admits to having lost a report prepared by Groupaction which cost taxpayers $550,000.

There must surely be someone within the department, someone who can be held responsible for the loss of the document, and who is perhaps also aware of its content.

Does the Minister of Public Works intend to take steps to identify the person or persons responsible for the loss of this report which cost us over half a million dollars?

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, in response to the first part of the hon. member's question, I must say that I did not lose the report.

The report was already missing when I too asked to see it. If I had had a copy, I would not have lost it; I would have given it to the member. So the report is missing.

As for the identity of the public servants who received the report, this information is already in the media. It was in the newspapers a few days ago. Furthermore, it was in the consultation document which I provided to the member and which he has still not consulted.

[Ghislain Lebel, Bloc, Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps we could suggest that the minister have a look around Denmark; he might find the document there.

The fact remains that we asked him yesterday, and I am asking him again today, for his own credibility, whether he feels that a public investigation into the report's disappearance is indicated in order to show that he had nothing to do with its disappearance and that he is doing his job responsibly.

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, as I told the member in response to his first question, yesterday, in parliamentary committee and on other occasions, there are two reports; one will be tabled in the House of Commons today and the other, the supporting documents which have still not been consulted, are available to him and any other parliamentarian wishing to see them.

As soon as I have the other report, I will table it. He asked the same question and he gets the same answer as earlier.

Research and Development

[James Lunney, Canadian Alliance, Nanaimo—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, last week's CIHR announcement approving the use of embryos for research is a flagrant violation of the right and role of this House to legislate.

Who are the lawmakers in this country? Why has the health minister delegated the rights of this House to a non-elected government agency? It is absolutely outrageous.

[Jeannot Castonguay, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I remind the House that on Monday the minister informed the House that she will be introducing a bill in the House before May 10, further to the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Health, of which my colleague is a member, for the very purpose of addressing this issue.

It is also important to understand that CIHR, which was also to provide funding for research dealing specifically, in this case, with embryonic stem cells, was to provide guidelines, and that is what has been done.

[James Lunney, Canadian Alliance, Nanaimo—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary himself was part of that committee, a committee that was mandated and spent months studying issues related to reproductive technology, including the controversial stem cell issue.

Based on the scientific evidence, the all party committee placed strong emphasis on adult stem cell research. We made clear recommendations on the form and makeup of a regulatory body. This CIHR initiative discards our work entirely.

Will the minister suspend this outrageous act of parliamentary piracy and bring legislation to the House post-haste?

[Jeannot Castonguay, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps the member should have listened to my answer rather than reading his second question.

Once again, further to the recommendations of the committee, the minister has made a commitment to introduce legislation in the House before May 10. That is what was said, and the member should listen.

It is important to realize that I too was a member of this committee. It is true that we heard from many witnesses. It is a very complex issue that is of interest to all Canadians, and for this reason, we took quite some time in preparing our report.

Once the bill is introduced, it will be discussed in the House and then it will be referred to the committee, before coming back for third reading. That is what is happening.

National Defence

[Mac Harb, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are very concerned about the welfare of our troops in the situation in Afghanistan. The Minister of National Defence just held a press conference on Anaconda and Harpoon.

I want to ask the minister if he could give the House more details on the operation in these areas.

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, Operation Anaconda has ended with a meaningful Canadian contribution to the fight against terrorism.

Operation Harpoon began in the early hours of this morning. It involves an offensive against the al-Qaeda in the eastern Afghanistan mountains and involves a battalion, a coalition of Canadian and American forces, led by a Canadian. Lieutenant-Colonel Stogran of the PPCLI is the commander of the force. This is a major contribution to this campaign. Let us support our troops. Let our thoughts and our prayers be with our troops and may they return home safely.

Airline Safety

[John M. Cummins, Canadian Alliance, Delta—South Richmond, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Vancouver International Airport is a busy place with over 1,000 aircraft movements a day, the majority of which are large commercial aircraft whose flight path takes them over the mud flats on the Straits of Georgia.

Both the coast guard and the airport disaster plan call for the availability of two hovercraft to provide continuous, round the clock emergency services on the water.

We are now told that the replacement for the aging, soon to be retired back up hovercraft is unfit for service in extreme weather, undermining continuity of service.

Why does the government not believe that the over 16 million passengers who will use the Vancouver airport this year are not entitled to round the clock emergency services?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful that the hon. member has raised this matter with me. Of course security and safety at our airports are of paramount importance. I will undertake to him to look into the situation to see if there is a suitable answer for the problem he has raised. I will also talk to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans who is responsible for the coast guard to see what can be done.

Strategic Infrastructure Fund

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

Mr. Speaker, a backgrounder from the Department of Finance dated February 5 states that moneys for the strategic infrastructure fund will be made available thanks to interest saved by paying down the debt.

In other words, the total amount will not be available for seven years, a fact confirmed by officials from the Department of Finance.

Why then does the Deputy Prime Minister not ask that the sum of $2 billion be made available before the end of the fiscal year, March 31, to enable him to sign the five memoranda of understanding submitted by Quebec right away?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, what the Department of Finance said was that savings from the debt paydown will be used for this purpose, in other words, building strategic infrastructure. However, we did not say that would be the only source of funds.

Crown Corporations

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

Mr. Speaker, when in opposition, the public works minister said this about the bid rigging of federal land sales:

Is it not about time that this issue be referred to a parliamentary committee so we can investigate it, not next year, not after the election, but this week?

We all know the Liberals forced the sale of valuable federal land in Montreal to a Liberal supporter for only one-quarter of its value. Will the minister put aside his double standard on integrity, take his own advice and refer this shady land deal to a parliamentary committee or the RCMP?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have dealt with the disposition of lands by Canada Lands Company in the past. As the hon. member knows, these sales occur as a result of a request for offers. The best offer is accepted. It is very difficult to sell land for more than the offering price.

Madagascar

[Diane St-Jacques, Liberal, Shefford, QC]

Mr. Speaker, over the past few weeks, we have been following the general election in Madagascar.

In spite of an inconclusive first ballot, the opposition candidate declared himself the winner and then enjoined his supporters to go on a general strike and to organize protests. According to the latest news, there are now two parallel governments and two capitals.

Could the Secretary of State for Latin America, Africa and the Francophonie tell us what Canada is doing to try to solve this issue?

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

Mr. Speaker, the situation in Madagascar is very disturbing. However, we learned that, in a report tabled yesterday, the Organization of African Unity is proposing a national reconciliation government.

Yesterday I met with the ambassador of Madagascar. This morning I talked to our ambassador for the francophonie and I asked him to seek the support of the francophonie, in particular of Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, whom he will meet tomorrow in Paris, to continue to put pressure on the parties to arrive at a peaceful solution.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. It being 3 p.m., and pursuant to order made on Friday, March 1, it is my pleasure to invite the Right Hon. Herb Gray to sit at the bar of the House of Commons.