House of Commons Hansard #208 of the 37th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was aboriginal.
Lawrence MacAulay LiberalSolicitor General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague wants to get his information from news releases and does not want to hear it from the government. I have indicated quite clearly what the government has done and what it will continue to do. We have and will continue to live up to our responsibilities.
Robert Lanctôt Bloc Châteauguay, QC
Mr. Speaker, market garden producers from the Montérégie Ouest region of Quebec are in a dire economic situation. Flooding in their fields has caused enormous losses. The region's market garden production, which represents more than 50% of all of Quebec's production, is threatened and the economic impact will be very severe, since market garden producers export more than $80 million worth of produce per year.
Does the minister of agriculture plan on compensating producers for the losses they have incurred?
Lyle Vanclief LiberalMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, there are a number of programs in the province of Quebec and across the country that farmers can participate in to mitigate the risks that might come to them as a result of weather or other things that affect agriculture and their business. I would have to assume that the farmers in that area of the province of Quebec, who are very good farmers, have taken advantage and are participating in those risk management programs.
Nancy Karetak-Lindell Liberal Nunavut, NU
Mr. Speaker, this week in the national capital region the first national gathering on aboriginal artistic expression is taking place. This event brings together more than 250 Canadians, such as aboriginal artists, performers and entrepreneurs, with special departments, agencies and the private sector.
Could the Minister of Canadian Heritage please tell the House why the government is investing in this gathering?
Sheila Copps LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to thank the member for Nunavut for this very important question on diversity of voices. The reality is that we have representatives of the Inuit, the first nations and the Métis people gathering here in the nation's capital to help redefine what is truly Canadian heritage.
It is pretty incredible that for the last 130 odd years we have had a heritage policy that has excluded aboriginal and Inuit Canadians. Hopefully this meeting will be the first step toward ensuring that they are a full part of Canadian cultural policy. I want to thank all the members who participated in this process.
Leon Benoit Canadian Alliance Lakeland, AB
Mr. Speaker, another day and another report condemning the government for its inability to govern effectively. The military ombudsman reported today that the policies of the government are driving personnel out and away from the Canadian forces despite the millions given to Liberal friendly advertising agencies for advertising on recruiting.
When will the minister begin to clean up his department, starting with putting the needs of the military ahead of the needs of the Prime Minister and his Liberal buddies?
John McCallum LiberalMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is we exceeded our hiring targets this year. We hired 50% more this year than last year. We have been having a highly successful recruitment campaign over the last couple of years.
I am delighted to welcome the report of the ombudsman. His job is to stick up for the little guy who puts his life on the line for the country. He has made terrific progress and I support him 100%.
Yvan Loubier Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Coopérative fédérée de Québec pulled out of the Canadian consultations because the federal government, unlike the Government of Quebec, is refusing to consent to a tax deferral on dividends paid to shareholders in the form of preferred shares.
Why is the Minister of Finance refusing to implement the same tax measure at the federal level, which would allow Quebec's agricultural co-operatives to grow and remain competitive by increasing their levels of capitalization?
John Manley LiberalDeputy Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I certainly find this interesting. I can tell the member that the burden is more or less equal across Canada. It is not the role of the Government of Canada to make decisions that would discriminate against any region in Canada.
Yvon Godin NDP Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Mr. Speaker, the New Brunswick minister of natural resources has been quoted as saying that the federal government was not taking decontamination of the Tracadie-Sheila firing range seriously. According to him, the province will not accept transfer of this property until the federal government has carried out a total decontamination of the site.
Will the Minister of National Defence free up the funds to complete decontamination of the firing range, thus making the land safe and accessible, and enabling the Acadian peninsula to reap the benefit of its economic potential?
John McCallum LiberalMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, as one of the federal government's major property owners, my department is firmly committed to minimizing the environmental impact of its past and present activities and operations.
In addition, environmental considerations are part and parcel of any decision making at all departmental levels, and several major initiatives are under way.
Loyola Hearn Progressive Conservative St. John's West, NL
Mr. Speaker, last fall when the then minister of finance brought down his budget it included $2 billion for special infrastructure programs.
In light of this, will the minister responsible for infrastructure tell us what progress has been made in negotiations with the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, the city of St. John's and surrounding municipalities in relation to the cleanup of St. John's harbour?
John Manley LiberalDeputy Prime Minister
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in the House before, we do need to prepare all of the parameters of the programming. I do hope and expect to be able to announce how that program will work in the very near future. Only at that point, once cabinet has approved the programming parameters, would I be in a position to begin discussions with other levels of government concerning projects that they would consider to be strategic and which the strategic infrastructure fund could participate in.
I do hope that we can begin that process over the course of the summer months.
InfrastructureOral Questions
The Speaker
We have finished the list so we will complete question period on that happy note.
Myron Thompson Canadian Alliance Wild Rose, AB
Mr. Speaker, during question period it was obvious that the solicitor general has had a number of agreements with the municipalities of Alberta regarding the G-8 summit--
InfrastructurePoints of Order
The Speaker
Order, please. The hon. member for Wild Rose has the floor.
Myron Thompson Canadian Alliance Wild Rose, AB
Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding from the solicitor general that all the municipalities in Alberta have agreements signed regarding the G-8 summit and compensation package.
I would ask that the solicitor general table any agreements that he has with the municipality of Ottawa in regard to any trouble caused as a result of the summit.
InfrastructurePoints of Order
The Speaker
We will have the solicitor general take the matter under advisement, I am sure. I did not hear him make reference to a document in the answer to his question but I am happy to review the blues. If he did, of course, we will ask that the document be tabled, but I am sure that absent such a reference by the minister, he will take note of the point of order raised by the hon. member for Wild Rose and possibly come forward with various materials as he sees fit.
Don Boudria LiberalMinister of State and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, there has been consultation among all parties in the House. I hope representatives of all parties are listening to this. I move:
That, notwithstanding any standing order or usual practice, Bill C-48, an act to amend the Copyright Act, be deemed to have been concurred in at report stage, and that the House shall proceed forthwith to consideration of the third reading stage of the said bill, which shall be disposed of after no more than one speaker from each recognized party has spoken in debate thereon.
Business of the HousePoints of Order
The Speaker
Does the House give its consent to the minister proposing this motion?
Business of the HousePoints of Order
The Speaker
The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?
Business of the HousePoints of Order
Some hon. members
Agreed.
(Motion agreed to, bill deemed concurred in at report stage)
Sheila Copps LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
moved that Bill C-48, an act to amend the Copyright Act, be read the third time and passed.
Sarmite Bulte LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, I am absolutely delighted to rise today to speak on the third reading of Bill C-48. This is a piece of legislation that went to committee, was amended at report stage and received unanimous support from all parties of the House. We are delighted to be here today at third reading. It also shows, as my dear colleague, the vice-chair, the hon. member for Toronto--Danforth, has always said, that we as parliamentarians need to have impact on public policy.
Very quickly I want to tell the House why some amendments were made, why they were the right amendments and why we are pleased to have them supported today by both the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the Minister of Industry.
Section 31 of the Copyright Act is what Bill C-48 deals with. This is about a compulsory retransmission licence. Some people might wonder what that means and why it is important. It addresses whether or not Internet transmitters should be allowed to retransmit and rebroadcast over the air radio and television signals without properly compensating the rights holders.
The legislation that was proposed was originally enabling legislation which would lead the determination of whether there should be an exemption or whether the Internet provider should have a compulsory licence exemption as well. We as a committee decided that it was very important to put a new media exemption in the legislation. We agreed to that for many reasons. We think it is the right thing to do. It brings into balance all the rights holders and the broadcasters. It addresses those rights. It addresses concerns of the Americans. We feel that the committee as a whole has made good public policy by currently putting this media exemption into the act.
Having said that, let me say that both ministers also advised the committee that they would ask the CRTC to reconsider its 1999 new media exemption. The CRTC will continue to do that and will report back to the committee, at which time both ministers have agreed that should draft regulations and conditions be brought forward so that if Internet retransmitters such as Jump TV, or iCraveTV in the United States, want to qualify, we would be able to do so.
With this legislation today, I think we have shown how all the members of a committee can work together for the benefit of good public policy. I want to thank the chair, the vice-chair and all the members of the committee for their hard work. I want to thank the Minister of Industry and the Minister of Canadian Heritage for their support and for listening to the committee. I know that we will continue to work together as regulations go and as the CRTC reviews its exemption order. Should we one day find that we do allow Internet retransmitters to have the benefit of a licence, I look forward to doing so, but after we as a government have looked at those regulations.
Once again I am delighted to be able thank all members of the committee for their great work. We look forward to passing the legislation immediately.