Debates of June 18th, 2002

The Media

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

Mr. Speaker, I indicated earlier, and the right hon. member himself referred to the fact that the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage is doing a review of broadcasting policy. In addition, under Standing Order 108(2) it can widen that and can study any other issue peripheral, ancillary or otherwise relating to that issue or anything else. Those are the rules of the House.

Leadership Campaigns

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

Mr. Speaker, he must have been on vacation that week.

The Minister of Canadian Heritage held a leadership fundraising dinner in Toronto just four days after the Prime Minister ordered all leadership campaigns shut down. The donations were camouflaged as contributions to the Liberal riding association of Hamilton East.

The CRTC reports to parliament through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Can she tell the House if her leadership campaign has received any contributions from any members of the Asper family personally, from CanWest Global, or from any other holding of the Asper family?

[The Speaker]

I am afraid that question is out of order. The hon. member for Battlefords--Lloydminster.

Government Contracts

[Gerry Ritz, Canadian Alliance, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has spent its past three terms fine tuning the questionable system of handouts and kickbacks. It is obvious that the Liberals could never truly be trusted or interested in cleaning up a system that has served them so well.

Canadians can have no confidence at all in getting to the bottom of the latest ad scandals unless there is an open public judicial inquiry. When will the minister do the right thing and implement one?

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

Mr. Speaker, I have described before in the House and elsewhere the methodical step by step approach that I am pursuing to get to the bottom of this matter to identify where the errors were made and to ensure that they are corrected and not repeated. There is a thorough departmental review being conducted by my department. The auditor general has indicated the scope of the work she will undertake. There are references to the police wherever that is necessary. The treasury board is examining the whole governance system and of course there is the work of the public accounts committee.

I am determined that we will correct the errors. We will recover the overpayments. If there is anything that raises legal questions, the police will do their job.

[Gerry Ritz, Canadian Alliance, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, that is all wonderful but a lot of this goes back long before the 2000 audit brought some of it forward. It goes back before the Prime Minister's silly scheme to buy Quebec loyalty.

Cabinet documents from 30 years ago show this system of filling Liberal coffers through Quebec firms was implemented under Prime Minister Trudeau at that time. The present Prime Minister sat at that same cabinet table. I want to know from the Prime Minister, was he simply complacent about this abuse of taxpayers' money for 30 years or was he complicit?

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

Mr. Speaker, that is a rather scurrilous allegation.

The Prime Minister has made it very clear that he wants this problem resolved. He wants the administration fixed where it was previously in error. He wants the overpayments recovered wherever they were made. If there was illegal conduct, he wants that referred to the police. Over and above that, he has invited the President of the Treasury Board to conduct a comprehensive review of the governance system and the management framework to make sure these problems are never repeated.

[Ghislain Lebel, Bloc, Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in a press release issued last Friday, Media IDA Vision stated that, in June 2001, it opened a special account for the government sponsorship money.

Can the government tell us what assurances were required of Media IDA Vision to ensure that the public money, with which it was entrusted while not complying with trust legislation, is safeguarded?

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

Mr. Speaker, the corrective measures were implemented about a year ago. They included a separate bank account and a turnover rate of no more than five days. Obviously, as evidence has shown in the House, these sorts of procedures are subject to audit either by the internal audit department of Public Works and Government Services Canada or indeed by the auditor general where that is appropriate.

[Ghislain Lebel, Bloc, Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, how can the President of the Treasury Board say that treasury board rules were complied with when that public money flowed, and is still flowing through Media IDA Vision? This means that taxpayers' money could well be seized in case of mismanagement by Media IDA Vision. That is the essence of my question.

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. gentleman seems to misunderstand the basic nature of the work undertaken by an agency of record.

The safeguard here is obviously the internal audit process. In this particular case the internal audit process has obviously worked. It discovered an error that was not in compliance with treasury board procedures. An action plan was devised to correct the error and it was implemented in June of last year.

Canada-United States Border

[Rahim Jaffer, Canadian Alliance, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration said Canada customs computers at the border have information about criminal records but not restraining orders. Today customs officials informed us that their access to information is not as extensive as the minister led us to believe. In fact 45% of border crossings do not even have access to the customs computer system.

How could the minister make such an error in a matter of security and safety?

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, what I have said I said. If people have lengthy criminal records it shows. Then it passes to the second line which is CIC. Then we have other computers that we can check. We have to be very careful. Security is our priority. Not only does Canada customs do its job, but it does it with professionalism.

[Rahim Jaffer, Canadian Alliance, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, if security is a priority, why do the agents not have the proper information to actually look up some of this stuff at the borders?

When Mr. Kiss crossed the border at Niagara Falls, 28 of the 44 customs officers on duty were summer students who get three weeks of on the job training. The government committed to Canadians that it would heighten border security yet 65% of the officers on duty were temporary workers.

How can the minister say our borders are secure when nearly two-thirds of the officers at one of Canada's busiest crossings are temps with limited training and no supervision?

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to know what my colleague has against students.

Let me begin by saying that not only is the work is carried out with great professionalism, but my hon. colleague is doing a remarkable job. The work done by our colleagues and our customs officers is impeccable.

Government Contracts

[Caroline St-Hilaire, Bloc, Longueuil, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Media IDA Vision was supposed to examine the work done by sponsors. In three cases, this was not done. The cheques were issued and the company got its 3% commission. In other words, it got paid even if it did not do its job.

How can the minister of public works justify his decision to keep this firm under contract instead of purely and simply dismissing it and launching an investigation?

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

Mr. Speaker, obviously all of the files in this particular program are under review in the period from 1997 to 2000. Where errors are discovered, the appropriate action is taken to correct those errors either by audit procedures or otherwise. Whenever recovery possibilities present themselves, they too are pursued.

[Caroline St-Hilaire, Bloc, Longueuil, QC]

Mr. Speaker, if the minister of public works is still using this firm, is it not because, if he dismissed it, he would be confirming that the Prime Minister has not assumed his responsibilities despite the incriminating report which dates back to the fall of 2000?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister asked me to take on certain responsibilities in this portfolio, to identify past problems and to see that they were corrected. He has placed no limitations on me whatsoever.

Canada-United States Border

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

Mr. Speaker, in the wake of the Grimsby murders, Canadian women and their families have been shocked to learn how little border protection there is to prevent someone with criminal intent from entering our country.

The minister claims that border guards have criminal information available to them by computer. We checked with border personnel and they say they have no criminal information available to them. In fact nearly half of them do not even have access to the database at all.

Who are Canadian women supposed to believe: the minister or the people who work on the front lines?

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I would advise the hon. member to proceed with considerable caution.

First of all, I would indicate that, not only was the work done, but we even read in this morning's newspapers that there had been no formal complaints. At no time, therefore, was there any record of this person's actions.

We must therefore be extremely careful. We have the necessary resources. We have the necessary tools. Should the matter of the restraining order be reconsidered?

Maybe, but let us be very prudent about what kind of question is being asked today.

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

Mr. Speaker, that is not what I asked. What I said to the minister is that he is telling Canadian women that people trying to get into our borders with a criminal record can be checked on the computer by the border guards. The border guards say they cannot check on the computers and in fact, half of them do not even have access to computer information.

I will ask the minister again. Should Canadian women believe him, who does not seem to know what he is doing, or the people on the front lines? Will he answer that question?

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, possibly the hon. member or her colleagues have had anonymous phone calls today and were asked questions.

I know most definitely, however, that the customs union and the customs workers themselves have said that the PALS system gives them access to criminal records.

If someone coming from the United States has a criminal record, then he or she goes to the second line. We have all the resources to make the checks. Security is our priority. We have to be very careful not to scare Canadian people today.

Quebec Marine Regions Development

[Claude Duplain, Liberal, Portneuf, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on June 10, the Quebec government announced a $34 million investment to develop marine resources, sciences and technologies for maritime regions.

Could the Secretary of State for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec confirm that he will provide financial support to the projects that will be submitted to him?

[Claude Drouin, Liberal, Secretary of State (Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec)]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question.

It was over four years ago that Canada Economic Development identified marine sciences and technologies as a strategic development pole for Quebec maritime regions. A total of $22.6 million is allocated to this sector.

We have established Technopole Maritime du Québec and contributed to the creation of Maritime Innovation, a centre for applied research in maritime technology.

These achievements reflect the federal government's longstanding commitment to Quebec's maritime regions.