Debates of May 30th, 2002

Government Contracts

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the matters pertaining to the sponsorship program, the auditor general has conducted an inquiry, she has filed a report, she has referred certain matters to the RCMP and she has indicated that she will be conducting a government-wide audit into all these matters. I would point out that once that report is filed, it is automatically referred to the public accounts committee and to all members of the House.

Africa

[Carole-Marie Allard, Liberal, Laval East, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Africa will be on the agenda during the Kananaskis summit, on June 26 and 27.

Could the Secretary of State for Latin America, Africa and the Francophonie tell us what he is currently doing to make Canadians aware of this issue?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are extremely proud to be Canadians when we see what the Prime Minister and Canada have done to include Africa as a priority issue during the G-8 summit.

I personally began a Canada-wide awareness tour, along with a number of MPs. We visit schools and we meet special interest groups and members of the local and regional newspapers.

When 53 of Africa's poorest countries agree on a partnership plan to develop that continent, and when eight of the world's richest countries are getting ready to provide a response, I think we are about to witness a historic moment.

Health

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the health minister.

Given the latest evidence of skyrocketing drug costs, Canadians would really like to know why the Liberals will not abolish the Progressive Conservative inspired drug patent protection act. This is the act that is gouging Canadians and an act the Liberals once promised to scrap.

With almost $400,000 rolling into Liberal Party coffers from pharmaceutical companies, could it be that Liberals are just as addicted to drug money as they are to communications company money?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is correct that the total cost of drugs in the health care system does continue to rise. This is a matter that was identified as being of concern for first ministers and was addressed in the accord signed in September 2000 by the Prime Minister and the premiers.

The federal government and provincial and territorial health ministers continue to work together, dare I say very effectively, in relation to dealing with tough issues around drug utilization, prices of individual drugs and the total cost of drugs to the health care system.

Agriculture

[Dick Proctor, NDP, Palliser, SK]

Mr. Speaker, for years now the agriculture minister has been urging grain farmers to diversify into livestock and they have. Now Saskatchewan agricultural producers are saying that half the cattle herds in that province are at risk because the water has dried up and the pastures have burned up in a devastating drought.

The $2.2 million in the rural water development program evaporated months ago and more than 2,000 applications are still outstanding. The question the farmers and ranchers want answered by the government is why does the minister of agriculture refuse to take the request forward for an additional $5 million for this program?

[Lyle Vanclief, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, on an annual basis there is $5.5 million for rural water projects in western Canada. Last year the government added another $3.3 million to that. Just a few weeks ago we added another $1.1 million to it in the hon. member's province.

This is usually done on a cost share basis but in that case the member's own province did not even want to help the farmers in Saskatchewan so the federal government did it on its own for them.

Government Grants

[Peter MacKay, Progressive Conservative, Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the conflict of interest questions surrounding the solicitor general's conduct in helping his brother's college access over $8 million comes straight out of the Shawinigate playbook. They have run this pattern before. Like the Prime Minister, the solicitor general, upon hearing that a loan he wanted approved was rejected, intervened directly and personally with what is supposed to be an arm's length government agency, namely the RCMP.

What exactly did the solicitor general say to the commissioner of the RCMP in his meeting on May 14?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times in the House, what happened was that the proposal was given to my office and submitted to the AIF. When my office received a copy, it submitted a copy to the RCMP. When the commissioner met with me on May 14, he indicated to me that they would have difficulty supporting the project.

[Peter MacKay, Progressive Conservative, Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS]

Mr. Speaker, we know what the commissioner said. My question was what did the solicitor general say?

Can the solicitor general tell the House whether he has pulled any other patterns out of the Shawinigate playbook? In other words, has the solicitor general and political minister for P.E.I. made similar direct interventions to lobby on behalf of any of the millions of dollars in contracts awarded to the APM Group whose CEO, Tim Banks, is the president of the P.E.I. Liberal Party?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, any proposal that I receive from Prince Edward Island is sent to the appropriate department to be dealt with. Any proposal that I have received has been dealt with fairly. I am surprised that my hon. colleague would try to defame people who are trying to make Prince Edward Island and Atlantic Canada a better place in which to live.

Government Contracts

[Ted White, Canadian Alliance, North Vancouver, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians now know that political interference in the awarding of advertising contracts started in the office of the Minister of Finance as far back as 1994. That is when the minister's assistant urged officials to add Liberal firms and donors to the preferred list. Just months after being elected on the Prime Minister's platform of ethical government, there was the Minister of Finance up to his neck in the pork barrel trying to get jobs for his Liberal friends.

For how long after 1994 did the minister continue with this completely unethical practice? Is he still adding names to the list, or has he run out of names?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, in 1993 when we took office the very important Canada savings bond program was in fact in slow motion, if not on the skids. It was in desperate need of revitalization. That was my opinion, the opinion of the department and that of most outside observers.

One of the important ways in which one does this is to increase the professionalism of the services that are being provided for it. What was recommended in the memo was that we go to as open and transparent a bidding process with as many bidders as possible. That is what the memo recommended and that is good policy.

[Ted White, Canadian Alliance, North Vancouver, BC]

Mr. Speaker, telling officials to look in the yellow pages is the way to get good competition. In the yellow pages in Ottawa alone there are hundreds of firms listed. That is the way to get a good competition going.

The Minister of Finance has not denied that he pressured his officials to add Liberal firms to his preferred list of appointments. He also added Groupe Everest to that list. He has not complained about Groupe Everest. This could be one of the firms that is under investigation by the RCMP.

Why did the minister instruct his officials to add Groupe Everest to his list of preferred advertising companies? What exact--

[The Speaker]

The hon. Minister of Finance.

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, Groupe Everest was already there. It had won an open competition long before the memo.

The simple fact is that we now see the difference between the Alliance members and ourselves. We are recommending an open process, a transparent process with as many bidders as possible right across the country from coast to coast to coast. That is how we would award contracts. They would let their fingers do the walking.

Hells Angels

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we have just learned to our astonishment that the Hell's Angels are being invited to take part in a cavalcade marking the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's reign. As people know, this criminal gang is now embroiled in a sensational trial in Quebec. This morning, the House rejected a motion put forward by the Bloc Quebecois House leader asking that this decision be reviewed.

I ask the Deputy Prime Minister if the Canadian government intends to intervene officially to protest this unacceptable decision.

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Minister of State and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I was made aware of the proposal made by the hon. Bloc Quebecois House leader earlier this morning. We are now looking into what took place to determine whether the allegations in the media are true.

If I understood what went on this morning, the refusal did not come from this side of the House.

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, would the government therefore agree to vote in favour of the Bloc Quebecois motion and allow the House of Commons to take an official stand against this decision, or does it intend to make the representations requested in the motion of its own volition?

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Minister of State and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the question is a hypothetical one, because we have still not been able to verify the allegations as they were presented by the media this morning. Until we have established what took place, it is hypothetical to wonder whether a motion should originate on one side of the House or the other. We will look into this. I consult several times a day with the Bloc Quebecois House leader and also with all the other House leaders.

Government Contracts

[Diane Ablonczy, Canadian Alliance, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister stonewalls questions about the immigration minister's ties to Boulay but the minister has a long history as a Liberal porkmeister.

The ethics counsellor revealed that the government had all grants in Quebec approved by Liberal political bosses.

The minister as Quebec organizer had a heavy hand in doling out political pork. Then he tried to deny he bedded down at the home of a major beneficiary. He owes Canadians straight answers. Why does he keep hiding behind the skirts of other ministers?

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

Mr. Speaker, when we talk about stonewalling, I think really it is time for that glass house to be careful where it is throwing stones. After all, who exactly did contribute to the leadership campaigns on the other side?

We have heard that the Leader of the Opposition denounces Canada's advocacy of a landmines treaty because the Americans might not like it. Were his contributors all Canadians? We do not know who contributes to the National Citizens Coalition. We do not know.

[Diane Ablonczy, Canadian Alliance, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that was a pretty pathetic diversionary tactic.

Canadians believe that integrity means being truthful. The minister strenuously denied staying at chez Boulay and then changed his story when the facts came to light. His credentials as an honest minister are in question. Instead of facing people openly, he cowers over there in his seat. Is this because he has something to hide?

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

Mr. Speaker, interestingly in the byelection campaign the Leader of the Opposition refused to attend public debates, an example that he followed from the member for Calgary--Nose Hill in the last general election. They refused to stand in front of their people and answer questions in open debate with other candidates for election. What is it about their views that they want to hide?

Middle East

[Sarkis Assadourian, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

During his recent trip to the Middle East the minister had the opportunity to meet with the leadership of both sides involved in the ongoing conflict. Can the minister share with the House his observations on the current situation and outline the position of the government in regard to assisting in the creation of a lasting and durable peace in the region?