Debates of April 19th, 2002

Bilingualism

[Lucienne Robillard, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, every year, the number of bilingual positions in the public service increases. Therefore, the number of bilingual positions will not decrease.

We are more and more encouraged to see young people from eastern, central, and western Canada who are bilingual when they apply for positions with the federal public service.

So, it is very clear that we will meet the deadlines.

National Defence

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the tragic deaths of our Canadian soldiers in Kandahar are deeply felt. My own community is mourning the deaths of Private Richard Green and Private Nathan Smith who belonged to the Halifax regional family.

It is imperative for General Baril to get to the bottom of the so-called friendly fire casualties. The minister has pledged co-operation and the Americans have committed to co-operating but it is going to take a lot more than that. Specifically I want to know if the government has received U.S. assurances that General Baril will have full access to all U.S. witnesses and documents, all communications records and flight data. Did the minister get that absolute assurance?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated previously, we are working on the terms of reference and the details are in progress at this point in time. I have the assurances of the secretary of defense, and the Prime Minister also got the assurances of the president of the United States of full co-operation in this matter.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Musquodoboit Valley—Eastern Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Defence.

In light of the tragic incident that happened in Kandahar, has the minister of defence along with the military over there, considered at all postponing all live military exercises with the Americans in Afghanistan until at least General Baril has had the opportunity to find the reasons for the incident so that this type of incident again will never occur again? Has he at least considered postponing future live exercises?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, we certainly want to reduce any possibility of any risk of this ever happening again. As to whether we use that specific site again or not, I could not say at this point in time.

Certainly there is a need for ongoing training in that area relevant to any activity of combat that may exist. Our troops have to be prepared for combat activity with the enemy. We would want to make sure that they are able to survive in any circumstances and we want to reduce the risk of any harm coming to them.

[Joe Clark, Progressive Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we look forward to seeing the report of General Baril but there are things the minister would already know.

Was the American aircrew briefed that there were Canadians in the designated training area that it bombed and that the area was off limits? Has the minister seen the American rules of engagement covering activities of this kind and would he table those American rules of engagement in the House?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, if we knew all the answers to that, we probably would not need a board of inquiry. We do need a board of inquiry to get to the truth of the matter and to understand thoroughly what has happened.

The answers are not available to those matters and the board of inquiry will seek them out. That is its duty.

[Joe Clark, Progressive Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the leader of the government in the Senate said that the special duty area pension order for our soldiers in Afghanistan and their families has still not been passed. It has been 66 days since the arrival of the Princess Patricia's in Afghanistan.

Why were our troops sent into a war zone without assurance from the government that they and their families would receive the necessary protection in case of incidents?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the right hon. member they will receive all of the support they should get under the circumstances of these troops operating in a combat zone. There is a special duty area designation which is currently in the process of being put in place. It will be put in place and the remuneration and all of the benefits that are associated with special duty areas will be made retroactive to the beginning of this mission.

The Environment

[Bob Mills, Canadian Alliance, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, economists say that the uncertainty surrounding Kyoto is forcing industries to rethink their investment plans for Canada. Just one example is that important gas exploration is being delayed. The industry is telling us we will soon see gas shortages and a spike in the prices.

Will the government finally reject Kyoto and develop a made in Canada climate change program as we have been advocating all along?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the basic approach of reducing greenhouse gases is to substitute low emission fuels for the higher emission fuels. Natural gas and of course electricity are at the top of the list. The prospect for the gas industry as a result of this approach is of course expansion, not contraction.

[Bob Mills, Canadian Alliance, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, 200,000 litres of diesel fuel are leaking off the coast of Newfoundland, which is only the latest crisis in that region. A quarter of a million seabirds are killed annually with the dumping of oil. Yet only one aircraft is patrolling the entire Atlantic region.

The government is not dealing with the issues of oil spills on our east coast. The fines are too small. The surveillance is disgraceful. When will the government show that it has an environmental conscience?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I genuinely appreciate the support of the Alliance Party in increasing expenditures in this area of Department of Fisheries and Oceans activities and Department of Transport activities. I genuinely appreciate that because it is important and it is enormously expensive to have surveillance of every one of those ships crossing the Atlantic and going into American ports that come so close to the coast of Newfoundland.

He is correct: The mortality of seabirds is quite unacceptable to Canada. That said, I am very pleased to report that the last time we took a ship to court, which was quite recently, the fine was dramatically higher than previously. The judicial system is beginning to recognize the importance--

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Beauport--Montmorency--Côte-de-Beaupré--Île-d'Orléans.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Beauport—Montmorency—Côte-De- Beaupré—Île-D'Orléans, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the president of the FTQ, Henri Massé, called on all stakeholders in Quebec to unite to save the Alsthom plants in Montreal. Through the Agence métropolitaine de transport, Quebec undertook to do everything possible to save the 650 jobs at Alsthom, and the Bloc Quebecois intends to do likewise.

The only player doing nothing is the Liberal government. Will the Minister of Justice, who is the political minister from Quebec, tell us whether the government intends to impose environmental standards on the rail industry and propose tax incentives in order to ensure that this company survives?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Yes, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday, I answered a similar question from the Bloc Quebecois.

Yes, it is true that it is possible to benefit the environment by reducing greenhouse gases and, at the same time, to have economic growth. I am very pleased that the member has noted that it is possible to have both.

But there are also other factors which must be taken into consideration before a railway company can change its system of locomotive engines. I expect a decision which takes into account all the important factors.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Beauport—Montmorency—Côte-De- Beaupré—Île-D'Orléans, QC]

Mr. Speaker, during the last federal election, the Liberals claimed to be able to defend the interests of Quebec. Today, all stakeholders in Quebec are joining forces to save Alsthom because it is in Quebec's interests to do so.

The Liberal candidate for Verdun says she wants to stand up for Quebec, but her colleagues here are doing nothing to deliver on their promises.

Will the Minister of Justice, the political representative from Quebec, undertake to persuade his cabinet colleagues to do something, or will he continue to keep a low profile and abandon the 650 GEC Alsthom workers to their fate?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, it is very important to know that a decision to purchase rail equipment is not just up to the Government of Canada. A number of factors must be taken into consideration.

At this stage, all I can tell the hon. member is that, yes, we are taking into consideration the impact of greenhouse gases and all other factors. However, this is primarily a business decision.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Industry recently stated in Alberta that he has serious reservations about ratifying the Kyoto accord. He was concerned about the impacts on productivity, investment and our standard of living. He vowed to serve as industry's advocate in cabinet and publicly favoured an approach based on innovation and technological advances.

Will the parliamentary secretary reaffirm his minister's public opposition to the Kyoto accord?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the position of the government--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. Perhaps the debate going on at the far end of the Chamber could be continued outside the House, because there are questions and answers that are doubtless of great importance.

The hon. Minister of the Environment.

[David Anderson, Liberal, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the position of the Government of Canada is clear. It was stated in the House this week by the Prime Minister and that is the position of all the ministers of the crown. It is that we would like to ratify Kyoto this year, but we will not make the decision on ratification until such time as we have had full consultations with the provinces and territories, our partners, and also with the industry that is affected and the general public.

Further, there would of course be no ratification decision until such time as we have a plan in place that does not adversely disadvantage any particular region of the country. That is the position of every member of this government.

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

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that there is not a clear consensus in cabinet on this issue. There are different signals, particularly from the industry minister and from the natural resources minister, on the issue of Kyoto ratification.

In fact, the industry minister said “I'm not comfortable until we get some reliable information on that...the impact of Kyoto on the economy. The decision has to be based on facts, not on ideology and not on theory”.

The industry minister is responsible for productivity and competitiveness, yet he has no figures on how Kyoto ratification will affect productivity. If he has no figures or reliable information, how can the government possibly continue to support ratification of the Kyoto accord?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I forget the number of times I have told the Alliance Party that there is a federal-provincial-territorial working group, including every province, every territory and the federal government, which will be reporting on the issue of costs with respect to Kyoto some time at the end of this month or early next month. Obviously until that report comes out, the government is taking no position on costs and the words of the Minister of Industry are absolutely correct. We should indeed get that information from a working group that is not of the government but is of the provinces and the territories as well. When we get that we will be in a position to go further and decide on our decision.