House of Commons Hansard #145 of the 37th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was pornography.
Carole-Marie Allard LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform this House that this morning, CBC officials appeared before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. They answered a barrage of questions, but their answers confirm that they are fully capable of fulfilling their national broadcaster mandate with the $1 billion the government gives them each year.
Gerry Ritz Canadian Alliance Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Agriculture has a dismal record of getting cash out to primary producers and I am sure they would be interested to know how many undeclared gifts of over $200 the minister has accepted in the last little while.
Lyle Vanclief LiberalMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, I can assure the hon. member, the House and all Canadians that I have declared every gift certainly within the knowledge that I have and that I received.
Dave Chatters Canadian Alliance Athabasca, AB
Mr. Speaker, I am sure that after two weeks of scandal every minister over there has had ample time and ample reason to search their recollection, search their records and search their conscience on this issue.
Has the natural resources minister received any undeclared gifts over $200?
Herb Dhaliwal LiberalMinister of Natural Resources
Mr. Speaker, I am amazed at members of the Alliance Party. Is this what Canadians elected them to do, ask questions for $200? No. They were elected to debate the issues most important to Canadians and that affect Canadians. That is why they are at only 13% in the polls and going down further.
Jocelyne Girard-Bujold Bloc Jonquière, QC
Mr. Speaker, since the construction of highway 175 was announced 14 months ago, nothing has been done in the Saguenay. The member for Chicoutimi—Le Fjord blames the delay on Quebec provincial officials.
Can the Minister of Transport tell us whether or not his government is prepared to take on 50% of the cost of building highway 175, as well as 50% of cost overruns, if any?
David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, last year we made a commitment regarding construction of this highway. We are going to pay 50% of the cost of constructing this highway.
Jocelyne Girard-Bujold Bloc Jonquière, QC
Mr. Speaker, Quebec's Liberal minister, Françoise Gauthier, confirms that the only thing blocking the agreement now is that the federal government refuses to accept responsibility for its share of cost overruns.
Will the Minister of Transport confirm that the Canadian government's commitment to paying 50% of the highway costs also means it will share 50-50 with Quebec on any cost overruns? If he will not make that commitment, it puts the whole agreement at risk.
Highway InfrastructureOral Question Period
October 28th, 2003 / 2:45 p.m.
Don Valley East Ontario
Liberal
David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, there is an agreement that our contribution to construction of this highway will be 50%.
Jim Gouk Canadian Alliance Kootenay—Boundary—Okanagan, BC
Mr. Speaker, the government seems to think that our questions today are inappropriate, but what is inappropriate is the government's conduct which has necessitated our polling of its ministers as to their improper conduct.
Has the Minister of Labour received any undeclared gifts in excess of $200, except for the one that she belatedly reported this week?
John Duncan Canadian Alliance Vancouver Island North, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Natural Resources are treating this ethical issue of reporting undeclared gifts over $200 as one of partisanship, not principle. That has been the problem all along.
Has the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development ever received undeclared gifts in excess of $200?
Peter Adams Liberal Peterborough, ON
Mr. Speaker, a few months ago I asked the Secretary of State for International Financial Institutions to launch national public hearings into the state of the insurance industry. Since then, things have gone from bad to worse in all insurance fields.
On behalf of the realtors of Canada, especially those in Peterborough, I now ask the secretary of state if he will initiate federal hearings into the declining availability and the rising cost of property insurance.
Maurizio Bevilacqua LiberalSecretary of State (International Financial Institutions)
Mr. Speaker, I share Canadians' concerns over the impact of rising insurance rates, which is why I have already taken action on this file. I asked OSFI to prepare a report on the industry in those areas covered by its mandate and OSFI reported that overall it considers the industry's investment portfolios and strategies to be prudent.
I know that the member, who has served as a parliamentarian at both the federal and provincial levels, knows it is the provincial governments that are responsible for regulating the market conduct of all P&C companies, which includes the issues of insurance contracts and premiums.
The fact that rising insurance premiums were major issues in several recent provincial elections clearly demonstrates that fact.
Rahim Jaffer Canadian Alliance Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Mr. Speaker, in the past two weeks the House has caught high ranking cabinet ministers with their hands in the Irving cookie jar. It seems that the line-up of Liberals coming out of the closet to admit their wrongdoing by accepting these gifts will only keep growing.
Since this trend seems to be increasingly fashionable among the Liberal ranks, I would invite the Minister of National Revenue to hop on the bandwagon. Canadians want to know. Has this minister ever accepted an undeclared gift in excess of $200?
Diane Ablonczy Canadian Alliance Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has made much of his new ethics package as part of his legacy. It is pretty hard to take him seriously when he makes a mockery of those who raise concerns about the ethics of his own ministers.
Has the immigration minister received any undeclared gifts of over $2,000, or $200?
Denis Coderre LiberalMinister of Citizenship and Immigration
Two thousand dollars? Now, Mr. Speaker, there is a raise in the question.
First of all, according to our sources, our ratings have unfortunately dropped by about 80% in the past two hours. As for myself, I have most certainly never accepted that kind of thing, to the best of my knowledge.
I note once again that these questions are coming from people who are not capable of respecting their own signatures on an agreement with another person; they tell me that Jim Hart is still waiting for his $50,000.
Yves Rocheleau Bloc Trois-Rivières, QC
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs made it known that he would be voting against the Bloc Quebecois motion calling upon the House to recognize that Quebec constitutes a nation.
My question is this: Can the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs explain to us how he could have voted in favour of recognizing the Nisga'a nation and yet now can oppose recognizing Quebec as a nation?
Stéphane Dion LiberalPresident of the Queen's Privy Council and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Quebecois is incorrigible. This is not the issue before the House. The issue before the House has to do with the link between the concept of an exclusive nation held by the Bloc and the right to opt out with full financial compensation. That was what the motion was about. For once, the Bloc must not distort its own question.
Beth Phinney Liberal Hamilton Mountain, ON
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the Ministers of Industry and Canadian Heritage for bringing Bill C-52 to the House.
Many of us have been in discussion with the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and are well aware of the financial and cultural damage that illegal satellite dishes and the piracy of intellectual property have caused in our country.
Would the Minister of State and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons assure the House that the legislation will pass expeditiously. Further delay would mean that there would be hundreds of millions of dollars lost in revenue to the provincial and federal governments?
Don Boudria LiberalMinister of State and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I have received representations from a number of people who have indicated to us how important this legislation is. I certainly agree with them and with my cabinet colleagues. I intend to put the bill forward for debate as early as next week. I urge all hon. members to support our Minister of Industry and our Minister of Canadian Heritage in this regard.
Pierrette Venne Bloc Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Revenue.
After the theft of computers from the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency's Laval premises on September 4, application was made to the Quebec Superior Court by the Union des consommateurs and a private citizen from Beauport to initiate a group action against the federal government.
Can the minister tell us whether she plans to compensate the 120,000 taxpayers who were victims of this theft, or does she plan instead to deny any responsibility for this situation?
Elinor Caplan LiberalMinister of National Revenue
Mr. Speaker, the member opposite should know that it would be improper and irresponsible for me to comment on matters that are before the courts or might be before the courts.
