Debates of Oct. 3rd, 2003

National Defence

[The Deputy Speaker]

The hon. member for Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca.

[Keith Martin, Canadian Alliance, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister needs to come to my riding in Esquimalt and see the substandard housing that my military families are living in. It is absolutely disgraceful.

It is completely unfair for the government to give our armed forces personnel money with one hand and then yank it back with the other.

I ask once again. Will the minister do the right thing and stop the shameful increases in the rents on the private married quarters and freeze those rents today?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I have visited the hon. member's riding many times.

I would repeat that quality of life initiatives are a top priority for the government. Indeed I would give my predecessor credit. He always made quality of life for members of the Canadian Forces his top priority. He achieved many successes in terms of salaries, resource centres, health expenditures and many other initiatives.

In terms of this rent issue, as I said before, it is an equity issue. The government certainly limits the annual increase that is permissible and also limits the percentage of any individual's income that is devoted to housing.

Cinar

[Mario Laframboise, Bloc, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, at the beginning of the week, the question to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons was clear: did the Minister of Justice receive a report from the RCMP with respect to the CINAR case?

Instead of answering our question, the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons tried to cloud the issue by saying that he would not comment on whether or not there had been RCMP investigations. We know that CINAR was investigated. That was not the question and the government House leader knew it.

We want to know whether the RCMP submitted its report or not. Can the Minister of Justice enlighten us?

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

Mr. Speaker, I answered the question yesterday. I thought it was a thorough answer. A question was asked in the House. Someone wanted to know whether there was a report. I said that I would inquire. Later, upon rereading the question, I noticed that it implied that it was about a police report. Of course, we do not comment on whether or not there is a police report, let alone on its content and even less so on who submitted it to whom.

[Mario Laframboise, Bloc, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question was for the Minister of Justice. Why is he so afraid to confirm the existence of a report? What is the government trying to hide? The question is simple: did the Minister of Justice receive a report from the RCMP concerning CINAR and does he intend to follow up on its recommendations? It is simple; he should be a man about it.

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

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated earlier in my first answer, we do not comment on whether or not there is an RCMP report, let alone on its content or to whom it was submitted. We did not comment on a such a case in response to a first question, nor will we comment in response to a supplementary question.

Agriculture

[Rick Casson, Canadian Alliance, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the government has failed to answer my questions regarding BSE so I will try a question from Beth, a constituent of mine. Beth writes “My family operates a cattle hauling business that has been at standstill since BSE hit. Twelve families depend on this business. We have no cash coming in. The aid program that is being offered has not filtered down. What about the spinoff businesses that are collapsing as a result of this? We need help”.

My question on behalf of Beth is, who in the government is prepared to step forward and help businesses like Beth's? Who will do that?

[Lyle Vanclief, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, the way to recover for the beef industry is to get beef moving and then Beth and her employees will have an opportunity to truck cattle again.

As I have said, we have the American border open partially. We have the Mexican border open now and a majority of the product that we have sent to Mexico, to our second largest customer, will now be eligible, can I say, to go there.

We are moving very well as far as opening the border to the United States for live cattle under 30 months of age. We anticipate that in the not too distant future that is the way Beth and everyone in the beef industry will start to recover even more so from the situation that we are all in.

[Rick Casson, Canadian Alliance, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that border is only open a crack and the minister knows it.

Beth is 68 years old and she is watching a lifetime of hard work, sweat and tears slip away. She went on to say that she has been in contact with the government and she was told there were other things more important on its agenda. BSE was third on the list behind SARS and the definition of marriage. It is unbelievable.

Her question is straightforward. How can the most devastating issue facing our industry be third on the list of the government's priorities?

[Lyle Vanclief, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, maybe the hon. member could give me a copy of the letter from whoever responded on behalf of the government.

We have a number of issues and that party over there wants us to address all of them. The reaction of the government within 30 days of announcing we had BSE was to come forward with $260 million, followed up with $36 million more. Two weeks ago I announced $600 million in transition funds. We signed implementation agreements. There is over $500 million in business risk management for Canadian farmers.

We have made that money flow. We have shown we are there to support.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Carmen Provenzano, Liberal, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we know that skills development and learning are crucial to an individual's success and to Canada's labour market and economy as a whole.

The government has made skills and learning a priority and Canada's labour market performance shows the positive results of this approach.

However, aboriginal people, especially in remote and northern regions, do not have the same opportunities for skills development or employment as other Canadians.

Will the Minister of Human Resources Development tell the House what the government is doing to help aboriginal Canadians develop the skills they need for the workforce and to participate in economic opportunities?

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

Mr. Speaker, indeed in Canada today we have a concerning paradox. On the one hand we anticipate a shortage of up to a million skilled workers by the year 2010. On the other hand we know that many aboriginal workers are not fully integrated into the labour force.

The gap here is skills. That is why today I am pleased to announce the aboriginal employment and skills partnership, an $85 million program that will assist aboriginal people in gaining the skills that they need to participate in the economic development and activities in communities in and around where they live.

We hope through partnership to build 7,000 jobs for aboriginal people so that they can make a vital contribution to the Canadian economy.

Child Pornography

[Myron Thompson, Canadian Alliance, Wild Rose, AB]

Mr. Speaker, last week Canada's top cop, Toronto police chief Julian Fantino admitted to an international conference on child exploitation that he was “embarrassed and ashamed by the performance of our criminal justice system that in essence has put the rights of pedophiles ahead of the rights of children”. He went on to say “Canada lacks both the vision, determination and the moral courage to address this issue”, words I have heard from many parts of this country.

When will the government obliterate conditional sentences and house arrest for these horrific crimes against children?

[Martin Cauchon, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker--

[An hon. member]

Do you want to dance?

[The Deputy Speaker]

I no longer referee so please make it easier for the Speaker. The hon. Solicitor General.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, in fact the reason the Minister of Justice and I were both trying to get up to answer this question was that we just had a federal-provincial-territorial ministers meeting in which we did announce the centre established by the RCMP for child protection services. That comes from the coordinating committee that we announced last January or February between the OPP and the RCMP.

We are moving forward on the issue of child pornography and we are continuing to take on that challenge.

[Myron Thompson, Canadian Alliance, Wild Rose, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Tweedledum or Tweedledee, it does not matter. I am looking for an answer to the question.

I will now ask the Solicitor General. He is now reconsidering changing the sex offender registry to include convicted pedophiles and that is a good improvement. Does the Solicitor General agree with me that child pornography is a vile crime and should be stamped out altogether? If he does not agree, why not?

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Of course, Mr. Speaker, I agree with him on that point. Of course I do. That is why we have been moving ahead as we are.

The member should be congratulating us for some of the success coming from the federal-provincial-territorial meeting. We are moving ahead on child pornography. We are gaining greater consensus for our national sex offender registry. We are taking on the challenges that are before the country in terms of making our streets safer.

Steel Imports

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

Mr. Speaker, we have learned that several ships with approximately 80,000 tonnes of reinforcing steel on board are about to set sail, if they have not already, from Turkey to Quebec and eastern Canada. An August 2002 decision by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal on a safeguard inquiry into the importation of certain steel goods into Canada recommended that the federal government impose a surtax on reinforcing bars.

Since this decision excludes the Unites States, does the Minister of Finance intend to act on it in order to prevent steel dumping on Quebec and Canadian markets?

[Maurizio Bevilacqua, Liberal, Secretary of State (International Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, the government is seized with this issue. The government is very much aware of the problems of the international steel market caused by overcapacity and cheap imports. The overcapacity is a global problem that we are attacking on several fronts, particularly in the context of discussions and negotiations with the OECD.

Guaranteed Income Supplement

[Marcel Gagnon, Bloc, Champlain, QC]

Mr. Speaker, while the federal government is squandering public funds in the boondoggle at Human Resources Development Canada, the sponsorship scandal and the Radwanski affair, seniors have to tighten their belts while waiting for the money they are owed under the Guaranteed Income Supplement Program.

Is it not time for the Minister of Human Resources Development to recognize that her department has been negligent and to give seniors the money they are owed, with full retroactivity?

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

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, the government is anxious to ensure that seniors have access to the programs that we have in place to support them. That includes the guaranteed income supplement.

The hon. member will know we have increased our connections, our contacts with Canadian seniors so they are aware of this program. We have made the applications much easier because indeed, we want those citizens to have access to these important supporting programs.

Public Service

[Greg Thompson, Progressive Conservative, New Brunswick Southwest, NB]

Mr. Speaker, about a year ago I introduced Bill C-241, a whistleblower's bill, in this House which would go a long way in reducing or eliminating wrongdoing in government by protecting whistleblowers.

Why is the minister so reluctant to embrace that legislation or at least at the minimum, introduce government legislation which would do the same thing; protect whistleblowers and end the type of corruption that we have seen in this government?