Debates of June 21st, 2002

Africa

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is only just that Africa be a centrepiece of next week's G-8 meeting.

Africa is the most compelling, indeed urgent, case of humanitarian concern anywhere in the world: where 1 African in 5, 160 million people, are daily victims of armed conflict with the genocide by attrition in Sudan the most alarming cri du coeur; where 260 million of the 660 million in sub-Saharan Africa live on less than $1 a day and millions face imminent starvation; where the disease and debt burden are staggering; where the most urgent crisis, and one which threatens the life of an entire continent, is the AIDS pandemic; where of the 40 million people worldwide affected with HIV, more than two thirds live in Africa; where 2.3 million Africans die every year and thousands a day, as we speak, are dying of AIDS; where 13 million children, an entire generation, have been orphaned; and where entire families and entire education systems are ravaged as parents and teachers die.

A great continent, Africa, is dying. It can only be saved and the G-8 vindicated if combating the AIDS pandemic and urgently mobilizing the necessary funds to do so is the overriding priority. Otherwise the goals of NEPAD will never be secured and its legacy will be not a Marshall Plan for the living but a requiem for the dead.

Radio-Canada

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, under Radio-Canada's management, culture is dwindling. First it was the disappearance of the program Au coeur du monde , and now management has announced that the most popular radio program, Johanne Laurendreau's Rayon Musique , is going to be cut, supposedly because there are too many radio hosts, and also because the new broadcasting plan is focusing more on music and less on spoken commentary.

When Mira Krie and Jean Deschamps were forced to retire, it was assumed that they would be replaced by permanent staffers, but instead they have been replaced by people on contract.

What is more, the disappearance of the program Passage delivers a strange message to its faithful listeners, who, during the Radio-Canada lockout, made their feelings known and expressed their nostalgia for quality programming at Radio-Canada. Is radio programming not being stripped of its content?

Yet, the vice-president in charge of programming, Sylvain Lafrance, appeared before the joint committee on official languages and spoke of the great generosity for funding regional productions, in the cultural sector in particular, and of the additional journalists who would be starting this fall.

Is there not a contradiction here?

G-8 Summit

[John Harvard, Liberal, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia, MB]

Mr. Speaker, next week on June 26 and 27 the Prime Minister will host the G-8 summit in the Kananaskis region of Alberta. This beautiful mountain setting will serve as the backdrop for discussions about how to solve global challenges including African development, economic growth and security issues.

The Prime Minister has taken a lead role among his colleagues in the G-8, particularly in the area of African development. Just this week CIDA announced it will contribute $34.2 million for humanitarian aid to southern Africa.

Canada will not only host this important meeting but will also be a key player in helping to set the international agenda. The discussions that will take place at this year's summit will impact ordinary people all around the world and will provide Canadians with an opportunity to share our values with the world.

I ask the House to join me in welcoming the world leaders to Canada.

Canada-U.S. Border

[Val Meredith, Canadian Alliance, South Surrey—White Rock—Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on three separate occasions the government has announced that it would sign a new border accord with the United States only to subsequently announce each time that the ceremony had been cancelled.

This is typical of the Liberal government's relationship with the United States. It has no idea what the relation should be, little idea of what it should not be, and the occasional minor signing ceremony to pretend that we are getting somewhere.

Because the government has been unable to get its act together, this summer my constituency which contains the two largest border crossings west of Windsor-Detroit can look forward to border lineups between two and four hours long. These lengthy lineups will occur despite the fact that the crossings are in the process of implementing NEXUS.

It is time for the government to develop an end-game strategy in its relationship with the Americans, forget these little signing ceremonies, and quickly implement a program that is both secure and promotes the easy movement of goods and people across our borders.

G-8 Summit

[Yolande Thibeault, Liberal, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to our government for everything it has accomplished and will accomplish to make Canada the best country in the world to live in.

Next week, Canada will welcome leaders of the greatest industrial countries for the annual G-8 summit, in the breathtaking countryside in the foothills of the majestic Rocky Mountains in Alberta.

For the first time in the history of the G-8, non member countries have been invited to join the eight most powerful countries in the world. Representatives from five African countries will come to defend and promote a new development plan to world leaders.

For the first time in 50 years, we have five consecutive balanced budgets. Canada is the only country in the G-8 that expects to balance its budget this year.

National Aboriginal Day

[Bill Blaikie, NDP, Winnipeg—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, today the first day of summer is National Aboriginal Day, a day to celebrate aboriginal people, their communities, their cultures and their successes. It should also be a day to acknowledge their continuing need for justice, their continuing right to justice and their relationship with non-aboriginal Canada.

On National Aboriginal Day let us dedicate ourselves to a new era for aboriginal people in Canada. Among other things the federal government should go the extra mile in settling land claims, ending its evasion of responsibility when it comes to residential school claims, and providing the resources necessary to help lift aboriginal Canadians out of the terrible social and economic conditions so many of them have to endure.

We have a long way to go before we can celebrate a different day called national day of justice for aboriginal people.

Linguistic Minorities

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is not enough for member for Beauséjour—Petitcodiac to insult everyone left, right and centre when the speaks; he makes outrageous statements. Recently he was directing his venom at the members of the national assembly, accusing them of spending their time taking rights away from Quebec's anglophone minority, and saying that they had no lessons to teach the francophones of New Brunswick.

If he took the time to look more closely into the matter, he would see that the English speaking community in Quebec is far better off than French speaking and Acadian communities in Canada. In fact, it is generally accepted that anglophone Quebecers are the only minority with all of the institutions needed for its development. Rather than disparaging Quebec as he has, he should encourage the province of New Brunswick to follow in Quebec's footsteps.

The national assembly only expressed its solidarity with the actions of the Société nationale de l'Acadie, the institution that represents the Acadian people, on the issue of recognizing the wrong done during the deportation. This member should know that Quebec has the greatest number of Acadian descendents in the world. If he knew this, he would not reduce Acadia, as he did, to the francophones of New Brunswick alone.

G-8 Summit

[Charles Caccia, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, next week's event in Kananaskis is the result of the Prime Minister's hard work over the past year and his all out effort to eradicate poverty from Africa. As a result of the Prime Minister's visits to G-8 capitals there is now agreement on investing in Africa's economic growth and social development.

Today Africa is the only continent where poverty is on the rise. Consequently G-8 leaders will discuss poverty reduction, promoting primary education, fighting the spread of HIV-AIDs, and reducing the technology gap and the debt of the poorest nations.

Kananaskis is likely to be remembered as a milestone in the practice of human solidarity and in narrowing the gap between the haves and have nots in the global community. Canadians can be proud of the Kananaskis initiative.

Cadets Canada

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

Mr. Speaker, it is with pride that I stand today to recognize yet another achievement by a distinguished Atlantic Canadian. For the third time in the past eight years a cadet from the Admiral Murray sea cadet corps of Pictou County, Nova Scotia has been named Canada's Top Sea Cadet of the Year by the Navy League of Canada.

Chief Petty Officer First Class Tennille Bowen, a 17 year old resident of Westville, Nova Scotia, is this year's deserving recipient. Her parents, Stephen and Debbie Bowen, are no doubt bursting with pride at Tennille's success. Cadet Bowen joins two former Admiral Murray sea cadets who have also won this prestigious award. Dwayne Conrod received the award in 1994 and Greg Muir was the recipient in 1997, both from Stellarton, Nova Scotia.

Cadets Canada is the largest youth program in the country with over 55,000 young men and women enrolled in every province and territory. Cadets are encouraged to be active, responsible members of their communities and they learn valuable life and work skills such as teamwork, leadership, citizenship and physical fitness.

I congratulate cadet Tennille Bowen. She has brought pride to the cadets, her region, her family and her community. A nation salutes her success.

Soccer

[Julian Reed, Liberal, Halton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the first Under-19 Women's World Soccer Championship will be held here in Canada. Awarded by the Fédération internationale de football association, this prestigious event will run from August 17 to September 1 in Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria.

It is an opportunity to hold a new event for a sport whose popularity is increasing steadily. It is also very exciting to see that another high visibility sport event has been awarded to Vancouver which we hope will be the future site of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. As host country Canada will field a team that will proudly represent us at this first Under-19 Women's World Soccer Championship.

I congratulate the Canadian Soccer Association and the organizing committee under the leadership of Mr. Jim Fleming who will be responsible for hosting this wonderful event in Canada.

Parliament of Canada

[Ken Epp, Canadian Alliance, Elk Island, AB]

Mr. Speaker, this day reminds me of many days that I experienced as an instructor and as a teacher and as a student. It is the last day of the semester.

We think the exams are over. I am not sure they are. Certainly the marking has not yet been done. That is going to be done in the next couple of days, and I am sure that Canadians everywhere are going to be looking with great interest at what the results are for the government. I think they will see that it has failing grades in a number of areas, but there are other places where there are definitely passing grades and some with honours. I think, for example, of the wonderful work our pages have done. I would give them firstclass honours. I think of the people at the table. They have served us very well.

Mr. Speaker, if I may conclude, you and the other three people who occupy the chair have served us ably and well, and we express our gratitude.

Agriculture

[Stephen Harper, Canadian Alliance, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we had two separate and contradictory announcements on agricultural assistance. The minister of agriculture said that farm aid would only be sent to the provinces if they forked over 40% of the bill. The Prime Minister later said that the federal portion would go out in any case.

Why can these guys not get their lines straight? Who exactly speaks for the government? What is the policy?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have had programs of that nature before and each time the federal government has subscribed to 60% and the provinces came along and subscribed to the other 40%. We are hoping that the negotiations will bring the same result.

[Stephen Harper, Canadian Alliance, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure the Prime Minister actually answered the question, but I will go on. The government is creating a situation where some farmers may get more support than others depending on the province they live in. This is unfair. We are dealing with a national issue, a trade injury compensation issue, that is a federal responsibility and should be a national program.

Will the Prime Minister agree to treat all farmers fairly and to provide 100%, not 60%, compensation to farmers in areas where the provincial government cannot afford to do so?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Alliance is asking us to spend even more money than we are spending, so that will be well noted.

Agriculture has been a shared jurisdiction and we have been more generous than the provinces by funding 60% of the program. We are making the same offer. We hope that the provinces will respond because they have done it in the past. They have recognized the responsibilities.

We will put 60% on the table. We hope they will put their share on the table. However, if some provincial governments think that their farmers are not important enough to them, what I can say is that they are important to us.

[Stephen Harper, Canadian Alliance, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is right. In this case we are asking for more funding when the provinces cannot afford it. If the government did not have so much money for its advertising buddies, it might have money to pay every farmer fairly.

Yesterday the Prime Minister stated in his speech that he wants farmers to increase their incomes through value added processing. Western Canadian farmers have wanted to do this for years but have been stopped by the Canadian Wheat Board. Farmers have been demanding an end to this for years. Now even Liberal members of the agriculture committee are demanding the same thing.

Will the Prime Minister step in and adopt the position of his own backbenchers and finally give western farmers the right to process and market--

[The Speaker]

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House we have always been a great supporter of the wheat board. Now the wheat board is managed by the farmers themselves. They have a say on that and will be in a position to comment on it.

The wheat board has been a great instrument for the farmers of western Canada. We gave it the benefit of the doubt. It will look at the situation. However I do think that it is the duty of this parliament to respect the laws of the land that have established the wheat board, which has been a great success over the years.

[Grant Hill, Canadian Alliance, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, if the wheat board is such a great success, why does it not operate in the eastern part of the country as well as the west?

It is very interesting to me that three provinces, B.C., Saskatchewan and Manitoba, have all said that they cannot afford 40% of the farm aid package. My question to the government is this. If those provinces do not come up with the 40%, will the farm families in those provinces be treated equally with the rest of the farm families in Canada?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as the Government of Canada, we are taking our responsibility. Now the hon. member says that if the provincial governments do not care about the farmers, we should be blamed for that.

The people of these provinces will have the occasion to tell their provincial governments to look at what the federal government is doing for them and that they want the provincial governments to do the same thing for them.

[Grant Hill, Canadian Alliance, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister knows that trade is a federal responsibility. The government knew that this U.S. farm bill was coming. What did it do? Absolutely nothing. It has failed internationally and it has failed now domestically.

My question to the Prime Minister is this. Is the government going to launch a WTO and a NAFTA challenge so that the farmers in this country will not be hurt by this U.S. farm bill? Yes or no.

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, we are continuing to work with our partners in the European Union. Brazil is looking into it. Our Cairns partners are there as well.

The problem at this moment is not necessarily the compatibility at the WTO, whether the American subsidies are legal or not. What this government is saying is that they are illegitimate. They might very well be legal at the WTO. We are checking that and we will be working with our partners. However we made a commitment at Doha, and the United States was there, to eliminate export subsidies and to reduce substantially domestic subsidies. That is what the Americans are not doing and we want our U.S. partners to withdraw that sort of--

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Laurier-Sainte-Marie.

Sponsorship programs

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

Mr. Speaker, we have finally learned that cultural and sport events will not be adversely affected by the scandals that are plaguing this government.

Indeed, festivals of all kinds will receive the promised money, and this is good news, even though the Department of Public Works and Government Services also said that the sponsorship program would remain in effect for at least another year.

As regards the cheques that will soon be issued, can the minister tell us whether the sponsorship program will operate in the same fashion, that is with firms pocketing generous commissions, or whether, on the contrary, the middlemen have been eliminated, as the minister claimed he intended?

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

Mr. Speaker, just to be precisely correct, the moratorium that I announced some four weeks ago remains in effect. We are examining the ways in which we can move forward for the balance of the current year.

Before the moratorium came into effect, about half of the program already had been administered for this fiscal year. Obviously that is work that already has been committed. However for the balance of this year, the remaining half, it is indeed my hope that we can administer that without the assistance of commission agents.