House of Commons Hansard #169 of the 37th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was land.
Janko Peric Liberal Cambridge, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Justice.
Illegal and dangerous home grown pot operations have become serious problems in my riding and in other cities in Canada. What is being done at the federal level to help local authorities deal with this problem?
Martin Cauchon LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for this very important question.
We know that cannabis cultivation is a significant problem in communities across Canada. As well, as attorney general being responsible for the prosecution of those offences in most parts of Canada, it is of concern. We will keep working with local authorities in order to enforce the law, prepare cases and make sure that we bring those cases to court.
Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, institutional investors, such as the carpenters union, are increasingly concerned about the independence of financial auditors in Canada. In light of the Enron scandal, they believe that an auditor's independence could be compromised if they are selling other non-audit services to the same company. The retirement security of millions of Canadians could depend on the integrity of auditor independence.
Will the Minister of Finance agree that this practice poses a potential risk to investors? Will he commit today to investigate the matter and bring forth legislation that would disqualify auditors if they are providing other non-audit services to the same company?
Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, the concerns of the carpenters union is very much on point. While much of the action required is within provincial jurisdiction, we are indeed looking into the matter. We are doing so at the international level within the G-7 and within the IMF. We are also doing so within Canada. In fact some three weeks ago there was a very important meeting which the federal government attended along with all of the stakeholders in Toronto, including the Institute of Chartered Accountants.
The hon. member is absolutely right. Maintaining the integrity of our financial markets really does depend on the quality of our financial statements.
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Mr. Speaker, last year, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans purchased licences and crab fishing boats for aboriginal communities. Following this purchase, 19 fisher helpers lost their jobs without financial compensation.
Currently, ten of the affected fisher helpers are occupying the Fisheries and Oceans offices day and night, in Tracadie-Sheila. These fisher helpers do not have jobs, and some of them have no income.
Will the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans take action and provide them with financial assistance, based on the third recommendation in the report made public yesterday by an expert panel, and will he do so as soon as possible, and not one month from now?
Robert Thibault LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, every year, a hundred or so fishing ventures change hands. The employees of these companies may lose their jobs, or go with the new employer, depending on the demand.
It is unfortunate that in this case, given that we purchased fishing licences to comply with the Marshall decision, people are suffering. Our department and other federal departments are working with the province to find alternatives. We will continue to work with them to find other jobs. The mentoring program shows that we want to work with aboriginal communities and commercial fishers and may meet the needs of some employees. I cannot be certain about these people, but in the meantime, I would urge them to vacate my department's offices.
Elsie Wayne Progressive Conservative Saint John, NB
Mr. Speaker, the auditor general commented positively on the use of a $20,000 recruiting bonus to attract new recruits to our military.
Will the Prime Minister now agree that the $101 million for his new jets would be better spent on recruiting 5,000 new skilled recruits into our armed forces? We could have had those 5,000 by the end of March.
Art Eggleton LiberalMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, our new recruitment program is going quite well. We are passing our expectations. Last year we set the target at 7,000. This year we set the target at 10,000 and we have met it. Furthermore, the attrition rate is down 20% to one of the lowest rates in the NATO countries.
We are addressing that issue effectively.
Elsie Wayne Progressive Conservative Saint John, NB
Mr. Speaker, according to the news last week, a lot of our people are leaving the reserves every day.
The procurement procedure to replace the Sea Kings is a national embarrassment. Last week we found out that public works is still going through the bidding process to acquire desert camouflage uniforms for our troops who are fighting in Afghanistan. Those troops will be home before they even get the uniforms.
How can the minister expect to attract men and women to the armed forces when the Prime Minister's personal planes are deemed a national priority but safe helicopters and much needed uniforms are not?
Art Eggleton LiberalMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, as has been said before, the replacement of the Sea Kings is proceeding apace and by the end of the year there will be an announcement as to its replacement. Meanwhile the Sea Kings are operating quite effectively.
On this matter of the uniforms, let me again quote the commander of the army, who says:
Ill-informed and alarmist rhetoric surrounding the decision to send our soldiers to Afghanistan in the new green CADPAT uniforms does little to inform the public and is corrosive to the morale of soldiers deploying on this important operation.
That is from the commander of the army.
Rob Merrifield Canadian Alliance Yellowhead, AB
Mr. Speaker, last week, Genome Canada, a federal agency, approved $5.5 million for a stem cell genomics project. The press release was eerily silent on whether the controversial embryonic stem cell research was part of this project, but a call yesterday to a lead researcher confirmed that they are doing research on human embryos in this project.
My question is, why would the government hand over funds for research on human embryos before parliament has even seen a bill on the subject?
Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, Genome Canada is one of the world's leading genomics research agencies. Under its leadership, scientists in Canada are pushing back the frontiers of knowledge in this growing new science, which holds the promise of cures and treatments for serious diseases. The money invested through Genome Canada is helping us find ways to save lives. We are very proud of the work that Genome Canada is doing.
Rob Merrifield Canadian Alliance Yellowhead, AB
Mr. Speaker, we do not have any legislation on this. It is bad enough that we have one institute, the CIHR, approving federal funds, but now we have Genome Canada. Meanwhile the government has just shrugged its shoulders and poured millions of dollars into agencies. It is beginning to look a lot like a well orchestrated plot to me.
Who is calling the shots on these profoundly important Canadian issues, the Parliament of Canada or unelected, unaccountable scientists?
Anne McLellan LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, as I have indicated to the hon. member in the House before, we are going to introduce legislation in relation to assisted human reproduction.
I have made a commitment that we will both respond to the very fine report of Standing Committee on Health and introduce legislation on or before May 10. I hope the hon. member is in the House and able to facilitate the passage of this important legislation.
Yvan Loubier Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Mr. Speaker, Quebec and Canadian microbreweries are facing stiff competition from large Canadian breweries and foreign microbreweries. In their countries, these microbreweries benefit from an excise tax reduction. Since there is no such preferential tax treatment in Canada, half of Canadian microbreweries have shut down over the past five years.
Is the Minister of Finance waiting for the 48 remaining microbreweries to fold before deciding to reduce its excise tax?
Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, I already met with association officials. We have had discussions, and the issue is still under consideration.
Yvan Loubier Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Mr. Speaker, it is all well and good for the issue to be under consideration, but the government must act, because the situation is urgent.
Large Canadian breweries such as Molson and Labatt claim to support a reduction of the excise tax for microbreweries but, at the same time, they are putting the brakes on, with the complicity of the Liberals, when the time comes to take action under Bill C-47.
By its inaction on this issue, is the government not confirming that it is in collusion with the major breweries, and therefore responsible for maintaining a situation that has been deteriorating year after year in the microbrewery sector?
Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance
Not at all, Mr. Speaker. I already said that I met with association officials and that we are continuing to monitor the situation.
Deepak Obhrai Canadian Alliance Calgary East, AB
Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank you and my colleagues.
In the recent legacy safari of the Prime Minister to Africa he said that aid and investment would be targeted to countries that have a good record of human rights and democracy, but when he got to Nigeria where they stone women for committing adultery he did nothing but promise money. It shows how concerned he is about human rights.
Does the Prime Minister believe we should be assisting governments that continue to violate basic human rights, including stoning women for adultery?
Bill Graham LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, I would like to warmly welcome back the member to the House. It is good to see him back and in form.
He is in good form but he is badly informed, I am afraid, because in fact if he had been following the success of the Prime Minister's trip he would know that the Prime Minister was going on specifically the view of bringing this message to Africa: “We can help you, we want to help you. You must help yourself with good governance and respect for human rights”. The answer he received back from African leaders was “Yes, we will work with you”. This is a great success for the Prime Minister and for Canada.
Deepak Obhrai Canadian Alliance Calgary East, AB
Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the minister on his appointment and thank him for welcoming me back to the House.
I would like to inform him that I grew up in Africa, so I know very well about Africa.
The question is quite simple. On his recent legacy trip to Africa, the Prime Minister said that he would ask the African countries to rate themselves before he gives development dollars. How does he expect them to rate themselves when the likes of Mugabe and others are still ruling in Africa? Will that not create friction among the African leaders? How does he expect African leaders to rate themselves?
Bill Graham LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member's question is very pertinent, because we will recall that in the House recently we had the example of the Commonwealth and two African leaders, the leader of Nigeria and the leader of South Africa, who rated Mr. Mugabe insufficient to be a member of the Commonwealth. The African leaders themselves are buying into the agenda that they must offer responsible government. They believe in it.
For the member who has experience in Africa, I ask him to join us and all members of the House in encouraging this fantastic initiative which will bring all of us benefits throughout the world.
Bob Mills Canadian Alliance Red Deer, AB
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Environment said last week that he would be the one “hanging on the barbed wire bleeding” if the politically correct view of climate change science was faulty in any way. In fact, many scientists disagree with the Chicken Little sky is falling rhetoric of the minister when he does his presentations.
Will he allow both sides of the scientific debate on climate change to present their views to the government?