Debates of June 6th, 2002

Government Contracts

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

Mr. Speaker, the RCMP obviously enjoyed a remarkable celebration on its 125th anniversary. It would seem to me that it is appropriate for the Government of Canada, in the appropriate ways, to support that anniversary. I will certainly make inquiries and determine if there is anything at all that can possibly be criticized about this transaction.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, is the minister not being totally ridiculous by considering that a commissioned middleman was needed to give the RCMP money for its celebrations?

Since it is the RCMP which is investigating these questionable cases, is it still suited to do so if it is part of the system? Is a public inquiry not necessary if we really want to get to the bottom of this?

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

Mr. Speaker, the RCMP obviously had a very significant reason to celebrate on its 125th anniversary. It was an anniversary that all Canadians wished to participate in, from coast to coast to coast. It was not a police function per se. It was an anniversary celebrating a very important milestone in Canadian history.

As I said to the House earlier today, where there are instances drawn to my attention where in future work can be done without the benefit of an agency, that would be my preference.

[John Reynolds, Canadian Alliance, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast, BC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we learned that last summer the public works minister gave the Francophonie Games $300,000 more than it asked for. It asked for $2.5 million. It received $2.8 million.

Why is this? Is it because over $400,000 of that money went to Liberal friendly advertising firms?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I pointed out to the House, the Francophonie Games was a very large international undertaking. It was organized over a period of at least two years. It was a complex undertaking involving many participants. Over the course of that period of time, it happens, as in business usually, that contract requirements can change and be amended. This was the case in this instance.

[John Reynolds, Canadian Alliance, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast, BC]

Mr. Speaker, there was no answer to the $400,000 that went to Liberal friends. It is money that could have been better used for the Prime Minister's imaginary homeless friends.

Other situations like this were presented yesterday to the minister and his replies were totally inadequate. He has a responsibility as a minister of the crown to get to the bottom of this mess.

When will the minister become a friend of the taxpayer instead of a friend to the Liberal donors and when will he stop all of these contracts and start a full and independent inquiry?

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

Mr. Speaker, on my very first day in this portfolio I indicated very clearly that transparency, accountability, value for money and respect for the taxpayers' dollars are very, very critical priorities. I intend to honour that trust.

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the minister of public works was unable to identify the firm that had produced the CD-ROM-Dessins animés, and his office refused to reveal it claiming that the company was being investigated.

We are not after state secrets, we simply want to know the name of a company that produced a CD-ROM with our money.

So, I ask the minister once again: What is the name of the company?

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

Mr. Speaker, the difficulty yesterday, if any, was in the obscurity of the questions being asked by the opposition members. If the House will recall, I asked them on at least two occasions to clarify what they were talking about.

In the absence of their information, I pointed out that there were matters in relation to CD-ROM-Dessins animés that had in fact been referred, in the proper course, for police investigation.

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

Mr. Speaker, the question is not a complex one, and we are drawing on documents of the minister of public works for our questions.

So, if the minister refuses to answer, saying that the matter is under investigation, at the rate things progress, we will be unable to get the name of any of the companies under investigation before parliament adjourns.

And if the minister is sincere in his desire to shed some light, would he agree to provide, before the end of the session, the complete list of all the files under investigation and the names of the companies in question?

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

Mr. Speaker, I have said both inside and outside the House that with respect to those cases that require police examination I want to be as forthcoming as I can possibly be, but I also do not want to discuss matters in such a casual manner that in fact the police investigation could be compromised.

I am being invited to talk about information in the public domain that might in fact stymie a police investigation and I will not do that.

[James Moore, Canadian Alliance, Port Moody—Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, two Liberal connected firms, Groupaction and Media IDA Vision, earned $630,000 in commissions for placing $45 million worth of government ads with the CBC.

The CBC is a federal crown corporation. Why did taxpayers have to pay Groupaction $630,000 to place government ads on a government TV station?

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

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. gentleman is referring to certain advertising that took place in connection with the Nagano Olympic Games. To me, this would appear to be clearly an advertising campaign and not a true sponsorship project and therefore, in my opinion, it probably should not have been funded from the sponsorship envelope.

Before I arrived in this portfolio my predecessor already had taken the initiative to change and tighten the program criteria to eliminate that type of activity.

[James Moore, Canadian Alliance, Port Moody—Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, while the Liberals applaud like trained seals cleaning chalkboard erasers, I think Canadians are less than impressed by that answer. Canadians deserve an apology for that.

Taxpayers pay for the CBC. Taxpayers paid for the ads. Now they pay Groupaction to run the ads that they paid for on a station that they already own. Then Groupaction gives $112,000 of the $630,000 contract to the Liberal Party as a donation.

Why do the Liberals not apologize to Canadians for this gross corruption?

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

Mr. Speaker, I gather that buried in that assertion is the allegation that government investments in advertising should be treated differently if it is CTV or Global compared to CBC.

Accordingly, I want to repeat the point. When this activity was undertaken it would appear to have fit within what were then the guidelines of the program. Since that time the guidelines have been changed, so this type of activity would not be permitted.

Trade

[Mac Harb, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister for International Trade.

Mexico, with over 100 million people, represents a huge market for Canadian businesses. Obviously we have a lot of businesses that are interested in areas such as technology, transportation, aerospace and education.

I want to ask the minister what he and the government are doing in order to ensure that Canadian entrepreneurs have access to the market in Mexico.

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that since NAFTA was signed by our government in 1994, Canadian exports to Mexico have more than doubled and Canadian investments in Mexico have more than tripled.

This very week we have worked very hard at further deepening our relationship with Mexico. This week I led a very successful trade mission, with a large Canadian delegation, to Mexico. I met with President Fox and his economy minister, Mr. Derbez, to discuss bilateral relations and ways to enhance our trade and investments, and the EDC is expanding--

[The Deputy Speaker]

The hon. member for Dartmouth.

The Media

[Wendy Lill, NDP, Dartmouth, NS]

Mr. Speaker, today saw another urgent plea for the government to abandon its policy to allow unfettered media concentration. This plea came from 40 of Canada's greatest journalists, sponsored by the Southams, one of our greatest newspaper families. They want tax incentives for media companies that preserve journalistic independence, measures to promote journalistic freedom, and stronger tax policies to protect our culture from foreign ownership.

These measures have to come from the government. They are outside the terms of the standing committee study on broadcasting.

Will the government act on these measures now?

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

Mr. Speaker, we will take note of the hon. member's question. I apologize to her that I cannot give a fulsome answer to the question she has asked.

This is an important issue, which has been raised in the House of Commons previously and which the Minister of Industry and, I believe, the Minister of Canadian Heritage have addressed before. I will endeavour to provide an answer for her at the earliest opportunity.

Government Contracts

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, the Quebec firm CD-ROM-Dessins animés received $752,000 for a sponsorship application of $450,000.

This coming February, my riding will be hosting the Canada Winter Games. The organizing committee has applied for financial assistance of $900,000 from the sponsorship program and has received only $500,000.

Can the minister of public works tell us whether the sponsorship program is solely for Quebec or if one of the criteria for program eligibility is to have connections with the Prime Minister and his cabinet?

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

Mr. Speaker, first let me say that I am delighted to have the endorsement of the hon. member and the New Democratic Party for the value and worth of the sponsorship program.

I am aware of the application to which he has referred. It is under active consideration at the present time. One thing that will be important, of course, in dealing with this particular set of the Canada Games is to make sure that the support of the Government of Canada is provided on a basis consistent with both previous and future sets of the games. It is under active--

[The Deputy Speaker]

The hon. member for Saint John.

National Defence

[Elsie Wayne, Progressive Conservative, Saint John, NB]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's defence spending amounts to 1.1% of the GDP, the second lowest in all of NATO. Maybe that is why we buy those used submarines that will not float.

Last fall the finance minister said:

You can't just sit at the G-8 table and then, when the bill comes, go to the washroom.

It is time for the minister to put the money where his mouth is.

Will the minister commit to increasing our defence spending to 1.6% of GDP as recommended by the defence committee report that was tabled in the House last week?

[John O'Reilly, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, we are trying to get the submarines to go down, not up, but I appreciate the member's interest. The fact is, the report--