Debates of April 23rd, 2002

Softwood Lumber

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the government distorted the spirit of a letter from the Association des manufacturiers du bois de sciage du Québec in order to justify its failure to take action in the softwood lumber dispute. It did not mention that the association's main request to the Prime Minister had been for the establishment of a support program as quickly as possible in order to help the industry get through the crisis.

Since the letter was addressed to him, will the Prime Minister tell us whether the government will be offering an adequate support program to the softwood lumber industry before May 23, when U.S. duties take effect?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this is a problem which the government is studying right now, and I have nothing new to tell the House of Commons.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the House of Commons is perhaps the right place to announce policies.

Rather than turning a deaf ear, like the Minister for International Trade, who continues to say that the existing measures are enough and that there is no rush, will the Prime Minister hear the cry of alarm—as the association describes it—of the industry in Quebec and take prompt and effective action to offset the negative impact of U.S. duties on softwood lumber companies and employees, as the association in question is requesting?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, we are concerned about the situation. Right now, we are studying the issue. We have holding consultations with certain provincial governments, because it is not just the federal government which has an interest in this. Furthermore, forests actually come under provincial jurisdiction—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Saint-Maurice, QC]

Yes, that is the case. I think it is only right in the circumstances that we have a policy, as we have had to date, of working closely with provincial governments and industry.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the softwood lumber crisis has hit forestry industry companies hard, as is clear from their letter to the Prime Minister.

How, in all honesty, can the Prime Minister reconcile this cry of alarm from softwood lumber producers with the casual attitude of the Minister for International Trade who, last week, told the House that he was still looking at how existing government programs could be of assistance?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would hardly consider the minister's attitude as casual when he has spent the amount of time he has consulting with all the provinces, including the province of Quebec, and the industry.

All options are on the table. The government is looking at current programs to see whether they are satisfactory. Possible other actions may be taken, but the government will not be rushed into a bad decision just to please the hon. member.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, people in the softwood lumber industry are right to be worried when the Minister for International Trade suggests that softwood lumber companies may have made bad management decisions.

Will the Prime Minister rein the minister in, get him to see that the softwood lumber industry is not responsible for the crisis and that it needs satisfactory assistance if companies are not to be shut down?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is very clear who is responsible for this crisis and I think the hon. member would agree. It is the unfair punitive trade actions south of the border in the United States that is responsible. It is not the actions of this government or any of the provinces.

The Minister for International Trade and the Prime Minister have raised this issue with the American administration at every possible opportunity. Until the Americans are open to good faith negotiation on this, we will not see progress.

National Defence

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian investigation into the death of our soldiers will have to have access to all American data, documents and personnel. The U.S. Secretary of Defence's promises of co-operation and transparency are not enough. General Baril and his colleagues require total access to all American witnesses and documents.

Has the minister obtained assurance of this?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have set up our own board of inquiry, headed by the highly competent General Baril. I am certain that he will take all necessary steps to have all the information he considers appropriate in order to inform the Canadian public.

As well, the Americans have assured us of their co-operation and have invited a Canadian to sit on their own board of inquiry.

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, once again we fail to get assurances that the Canadian inquiry will get to cross-examine U.S. personnel. Can we focus on the U.S. investigation into the Kandahar tragedy?

Could the Prime Minister tell the House whether the Canadian representative will have the ability on behalf of Canadians to directly and personally cross-examine U.S. military witnesses or is our representative, co-chair or not, reduced to a Canadian bump on an American log?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is fabricating a problem to ask a question. This person will be there, sitting on the board of inquiry, as do all members when they are there. I do not think that the Canadian who will be there will be dumb. If he has some questions to ask, of course he will do his duty and ask the proper questions.

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

Mr. Speaker, he will be on an American board.

I asked the minister last week whether the terms of reference for the Canadian board of inquiry specifically included the compatibility of communications systems between the Canadian troops on the ground and the aircraft involved in the incident. Canadian soldiers report that they had to radio back to base, five kilometres away, to ask that the pilot of the F-16 stop firing.

Will the Canadian board of inquiry be directed to inquire specifically about the compatibility of communications equipment between the Canadians and the Americans?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, all that is covered in the terms of reference to the Canadian board.

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

Mr. Speaker, I beg to differ. It is not at all clear in the terms of reference. The Canadian officers in Afghanistan are now saying that the American officers were not only aware of the Canadian training mission but gave full approval to it. The two boards of inquiry that are underway may determine why the American pilot bombed Canadian soldiers when there was full approval for the exercise.

In the meantime there have to be immediate measures in place to ensure that any operational problems between Canadian and American forces on the ground have been identified and have been solved. Has that been done?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, there is ongoing co-ordination on a day to day basis. The commander of the brigade in Kandahar is an American. I have been there. I have seen the relationship that exists between him and the Canadian commander. They are in fact in communication on a very frequent basis every day.

Again, in terms of the board of inquiry, there are 10 very specific measures that are outlined for them to look into. If his point is not covered by the first 10, it says at the bottom “any other issues of relevance to this investigation”. Everything will be covered to ensure that we get the information we need to find out what happened.

Age of Consent

[Larry Spencer, Canadian Alliance, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the age of sexual consent is 14. It has become clear to most Canadians that there needs to be a change. Thousands of requests were brought to Parliament Hill today. Technology is making it easier for sexual predators to access older kids and to spread child pornography. That makes victims of our most vulnerable members of society.

Will the justice minister send a message to sexual predators and table legislation that bans all forms of child pornography and that raises the age of consent to at least 16?

[Martin Cauchon, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the member has to know that the government is already engaged in discussions regarding the age of consent. As I said last week, the government is actively looking into the matter. We started some time ago in the sense that we brought it to the federal-provincial-territorial table and there were discussions. As well, there is consultation among officials to see what type of consensus we can gather around that question.

[Larry Spencer, Canadian Alliance, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday in question period it was suggested by the parliamentary secretary that the age of consent was 18. It is clearly set out in the criminal code that the age of consent is 14. The age of 18 only comes into play as an age range under certain conditions.

Is the government confused about this basic matter or does the government think that by tossing around higher age brackets it can persuade Canadians that it is doing a good job of protecting our children?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, let me tell the House that we have received very good advice on this subject this morning in the National Post , when the leader of the Alliance, Mr. Harper, said “What Canada really needs is to immediately embark on a well thought-out, consultative approach to dealing with these issues”. That is exactly what we are doing.

Softwood Lumber

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in connection with the softwood lumber matter, the Bloc Quebecois has proposed a three-part action plan to the government, that is assistance for—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. There are other arguments, but no doubt the hon. member for Roberval has one to present in his question. It is important for everyone to hear the question, particularly the members of the official opposition and of cabinet. The hon. member for Roberval.