Debates of Oct. 29th, 2003

Ethics

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's assertion is wrong. The facts are these. In the summer of 1996, seven and a half years ago, I was in Atlantic Canada on political and departmental business. I was in the riding of Fundy—Royal with the then member of Parliament, my colleague in this caucus. In the course of our schedule he suggested my family join his family for an evening at his wife's family cottage. We did that.

The hon. member can rest assured that the ethics counsellor has reviewed this and has said that there are no concerns.

[Loyola Hearn, Progressive Conservative, St. John's West, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the government in the Senate said yesterday that one must carefully separate when one does something with a friend from when one does something for so-called other reasons.

We know now that Paul Zed has invited the Minister of Industry, the Minister of the Environment, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, now the Minister of Human Resources Development to the Irving fishing lodge for vacations.

Could the Prime Minister tell us what criteria he advises his ministers to use to separate public business from private business, and will he table that criteria today?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, they are all over the place. Last week the big problem was the Minister of Industry, and it was a question with the Irvings. Now it is with Paul Zed.

I find it absolutely incredible that a member of Parliament, who is no longer a member of Parliament, who has made friends with people in this House, should not talk with his former colleagues. I think it is stretching this thing quite far.

For a long time in this House there was a sense of dignity and respect for the honesty of the people. Now it is always the presumption of guilt rather than the presumption of innocence.

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

Mr. Speaker, we are surrounded by scandal because of the ties between certain ministers and the Irving family, which has been so generous. Today it is the Human Resources Development minister's turn to confess.

What should we think of the future prime minister, who has several creditors who have contributed $100,000 or more to his leadership campaign? Does the Prime Minister realize the handicap his successor will have as he takes up his future duties?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, in contrast to the leader of the official opposition, who has only revealed the source of 13% of the money he received for his leadership campaign, the hon. member for LaSalle—Émard and the ministers who have been candidates have publicly reported on every dollar they have received, every three months, and they have revealed the names of all their donors.

It is public knowledge and I do wonder why they are asking these questions; it is all public knowledge. We have passed a law so that these things cannot be happen again in the future, but it is—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Longueuil

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

Mr. Speaker, beyond legality, there is something called morality, a value that this government seems to have forgotten a very long time ago.

Because, if receiving $1,500 casts doubts on a minister's impartiality, to the extent that he must distance himself from anything having to do with the Irving family, how can we think that contributions of $100,000 and more will not affect the impartiality of the one who benefits, namely the member for LaSalle—Émard?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, there were rules that applied to all the political parties in this House.

When there are conventions, in the case of the Liberal Party, every dollar donated is accounted for publicly. The amounts were made public before the convention, which does not happen in the other parties.

All the rules were respected. It is clear that with the new legislation, these things will be different in the future, after January 1, 2004, but until now, all the rules have been followed and everything was public knowledge.

Organized Crime

[Kevin Sorenson, Canadian Alliance, Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, organized crime and the violence that goes with it is increasing across the country, particularly in the cities, but also on reserves.

An RCMP report claims it has dropped aboriginal gangsters from its list of priorities. A lack of resources has forced the RCMP to pick and choose the organized crime it investigates and we have a smorgasbord to choose from: biker gangs, Asian gangs, Russian mafia, aboriginal gangs.

When will the RCMP get the resources to fight all organized crime?

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the resources have been increased substantially in the RCMP since 2001.

The report that the hon. member opposite talks about is a very good report. It establishes the priorities, looks at the problem, and analyzes the problem in order to make recommendations on what the key priorities should be for the RCMP and its work so it can make the best use of the resources that are available, both human and financial.

The RCMP and the government are in fact doing that.

[Kevin Sorenson, Canadian Alliance, Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that report says that when it comes to organized crime, the Mounties do not always get their man.

Why? Because two years ago the commissioner admitted that criminal investigations were being put on the back burner as officers were redeployed in the wake of September 11. Canadians are suffering the consequences of organized crime in their everyday lives.

When will the Solicitor General provide the resources so that the Mounties can get their man?

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, it is not unusual for the hon. member opposite to take what a report says out of context. That is entirely what he is doing in this case.

The fact of the matter is that this report balances the priorities for the RCMP, both in terms of public safety and national security.

As I have indicated earlier, we have increased the funding substantially out of the 2001 budget and added to it in the last budget. That is doing our job as we should.

Microbreweries

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

On February 18, the current Minister of Finance, who then aspired to being leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, tabled his budget. Although the Standing Committee on Finance unanimously called for the excise tax to be reduced for microbreweries, he ignored that recommendation.

Can the Minister of Finance tell the House if the several thousand dollar contribution to his leadership campaign from Labatt and the Brewers Association of Canada, which are at war with the microbreweries, influenced his decision not to reduce the excise tax for microbreweries?

[John Manley, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, first, we agreed to approximately two-thirds of the recommendations by the Standing Committee on Finance for last year.

Second, at the time I made decisions about the February 18 budget, I was not a leadership candidate. I did not receive one red cent in contributions from the breweries.

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, a few days after the minister tabled his most recent budget on March 8, the Globe and Mail published an article, according to which the Minister of Finance had spent several days in the Caribbean with Sandy Morrison, a Brewers Association of Canada board member, on a luxury sailboat chartered by that association.

Was this trip a reward from Mr. Morrison to the Minister of Finance for his refusal, contrary to all expectations, to reduce the excise tax for microbreweries?

[John Manley, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Morrison is a friend. Unfortunately for the hon. member, who may enjoy fishing expeditions, I paid my own way.

During our trip, Mr. Morrison did not discuss the situation with the breweries with me. Prior to that time, he had made representations in support of the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Finance.

Justice

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

Mr. Speaker, in 1996 Darcy Bertrand was convicted of three murders. He murdered his wife, and his wife's mother and father. For each murder he was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to three life terms in jail.

Six days ago, after only serving seven years of three life sentences, Darcy Bertrand was transferred to a minimum security prison which is 15 minutes away from surviving family members.

How can the government defend this gross injustice and coddling of this convicted murderer?

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, there is no coddling of this convicted murderer.

Within Correctional Service Canada there is an assessment done on offenders. Yes, sometimes they are moved from maximum to minimum facilities. It is done on the basis of the risk. The offender in question is serving his time as he should be.

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

Mr. Speaker, the injustice gets worse.

Last year the government tried to do the same thing. It transferred Darcy Bertrand from a minimum security prison to Ferndale Institution, a minimum security centre with a four foot fence. The family cried foul and the government sent him back.

Then, this week the government moved Darcy Bertrand to another minimum security centre with no fence at all, 15 minutes away from the home of surviving family members.

On behalf of the families, will the government reverse the decision, send him to a real prison and show the families of this convicted murderer the justice that they deserve?

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to outline that any Correctional Service Canada institutions listed in this country are in fact real prisons. There is a loss of liberty and people who are incarcerated in those institutions pay the penalty for their crimes. That is the bottom line.

Through Correctional Service Canada, people pay the penalties for their crimes and that is what is happening.

The Economy

[Sarmite Bulte, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there are more than 821,000 women entrepreneurs in Canada. They contribute in excess of $18 billion to the economy every year.

Their businesses have increased more than 200% over the last 10 years. What can Industry Canada do to give greater focus to this great and important component of our economy?

[Allan Rock, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, on behalf of all members of the House, I wish to express admiration and gratitude to the member for Parkdale--High Park for her extraordinary work as chair of the Prime Minister's task force on women entrepreneurs. She did a great job.

She and her fellow members of that task force presented a report today which contains important recommendations.

Today, the Prime Minister is making an announcement that, through Industry Canada, we are going to broaden and make available across the country the kind of services that women entrepreneurs need to ensure that this dynamic and essential part of our growing economy has what it needs for the success we know women will enjoy.

International Aid

[Bill Casey, Progressive Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Mr. Speaker, last Friday in Madrid, Spain, the Minister for International Trade made an absolute commitment to provide $300 million to the people of Iraq for reconstruction. Already this week, there are murmurings that the government is going to renege on this offer.

Will the government confirm today that it will honour this commitment made only days ago to help the people of Iraq?

[André Harvey, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, the government has indeed committed $300 million for the reconstruction of Iraq and for humanitarian aid. Of that amount, $200 million will go directly to construction, in collaboration of course with all the other donor countries, with a view to ensuring the people of Iraq of a brighter future.

Housing

[Norman E. Doyle, Progressive Conservative, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Minister of Natural Resources.

In August of this year, the Prime Minister announced a program called EnerGuide, a federal grant program aimed at making existing houses more energy efficient.

In order to qualify for a grant, however, a homeowner must have an evaluation done of his home by an authorized agent. There were no authorized agents in place in Newfoundland and Labrador in August. There are none now.

When will the minister put an authorized agent in place so that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians can avail of that program? There is no point in having a program if we cannot apply for it.