Debates of March 26th, 2003

Iraq

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, clearly the member—a leadership candidate for his party—came here with a prepared question, because I already said that today we are making $100 million available. The cabinet and the minister for international development authorized this sum yesterday.

Our plans are already being discussed at the United Nations through our ambassador, who met with the cabinet about this yesterday.

[André Bachand, Progressive Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as usual the Prime Minister has announced something without meeting with those responsible.

What is the Prime Minister doing? Is he going to meet with the UN Secretary General or is he going to do as he did with the war in Iraq and stall for months and months? When is the Prime Minister going to meet with the UN Secretary General to propose a Canadian plan for the reconstruction of Iraq? When will he do this?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are well enough connected at the UN for people to be very aware of Canada's position.

Louise Fréchette, second in command at the United Nations, is a former deputy minister of the Canadian government. I am certain that once we want to discuss our plans with the United Nations, we will be in a very good position to do so.

[Betty Hinton, Canadian Alliance, Kamloops, Thompson And Highland Valleys, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we on this side of the House fervently hope that the war to liberate the people of Iraq ends soon. The people of Iraq yearn for the freedoms they have been denied by their brutal dictator, Saddam Hussein. It can be safely estimated that he has been responsible for the deaths of an average of 137 people per day during his 20 year regime.

The foreign affairs minister has stated that Saddam Hussein and his regime should be brought to justice in accordance with the rule of law. My question is for the Prime Minister. Will he support efforts at the United Nations to indict Saddam and his henchmen for crimes against humanity?

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as the House knows we have agreed to an all party motion which addresses this matter. It was brought forward by members of the Canadian Alliance.

This is a complicated issue. There is a possibility, as I explained the other day, of a United Nations tribunal and there is a possibility of a mixed form of tribunal. We want to be active and make sure, as I have said before, that we act within the traditions of this House and of Canada in ensuring that international criminal conduct is punished by international criminal courts. I assure all members of the House that we will be active in that respect.

[Betty Hinton, Canadian Alliance, Kamloops, Thompson And Highland Valleys, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am going to assume that was a yes. I am not quite sure. If it was a yes, I am happy to see that the government has finally found some backbone.

The question then is, where will Saddam Hussein be tried? Would he be tried in the Hague or in Iraq, where the people of Iraq would actually be able to bear witness and see the results of justice?

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, this is the problem with this tricky business of answering yes or no to a question. I think the hon. member's recent question explains exactly why we have to treat complicated questions with complicated answers. To the hon. member, I am sorry about that, but that is a necessity of life and I think she raised a very valid point. When the international tribunal is set up, it will have to be set up under an international agreement which will address that issue. Canada will be active in that process.

Farmers

[Jocelyne Girard-Bujold, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in a letter to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the chair of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food asked that more time be given to implement programs so that the concerns of stakeholders could be taken into consideration.

The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food is wrong in wanting to impose his new net income stabilization program. Does he not believe he should agree to more time, in order to avoid confusing and angering farmers?

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

Mr. Speaker, I indicated very clearly to the standing committee the other day that there is more time and we will take that time. We will work with the provinces and the industry over the coming weeks to do just that.

[Jean-Yves Roy, Bloc, Matapédia—Matane, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is suggesting that it is farmers in Quebec who are resisting his program. However, the letter from the chair of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food indicates quite the opposite.

Does the minister realize that all of the farmers in Canada want more time?

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

Mr. Speaker, I just answered the question. They keep asking the same question and I keep giving the same answer. I said there is more time. We have time in the weeks ahead to do that and we will be doing it.

Canada Customs and Revenue Agency

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

Mr. Speaker, it has been reported that Canada Customs and Revenue Agency quashed an interim report prepared by Moduspec, a consulting firm it had hired to decide if customs agents required firearms to protect themselves. The original interim report called for CCRA to establish an armed presence at southern Ontario borders, including Windsor.

However, before this recommendation could be discussed in Parliament, CCRA directed Moduspec to rewrite its final report, leaving out this finding. Why did the minister cover up this issue by asking Moduspec to rewrite its report?

[Elinor Caplan, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, the member is completely wrong. We commissioned an independent report. Nowhere in the working documents was it ever suggested that customs inspectors should have guns. Further, in the working document it did say that giving guns to customs officers would be like giving 3,000 accidents an opportunity to happen. That was not in the final report that was issued.

It is important for the member opposite to know that RCMP Commissioner Zaccardelli has said that customs officers should not have guns. The independent report--

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for South Surrey—White Rock—Langley.

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

Mr. Speaker, it would be nice if the minister tabled the interim report so we could see for ourselves.

With a growing list of Liberal members, cabinet and senators bad-mouthing Americans, perhaps the minister can tell us, what are the chances of Canada obtaining an exemption on the 24 hour notice?

[Elinor Caplan, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, this is an interesting and important question. When we talk about the 24 hour notice, there are a couple of different 24 hour proposals. One would relate to land crossings and the other to goods entering Canada via marine crossings.

I can tell her that we actually agree there should be 24 hour notice for those coming into Canada by ship. It is on land crossings where a proposal has been made that we have some serious concerns. It is only a proposal and we are working right now to ensure that the interests of both exporters and importers are taken into consideration when that final decision is made.

The Environment

[Julian Reed, Liberal, Halton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the climate change plan for Canada calls on all Canadians, governments, industries and individuals to do their part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

My question is for the Minister of Natural Resources. How does Canada recognize the outstanding efforts and leadership of those companies, and individuals who are voluntarily reducing greenhouse gas emissions?

[Herb Dhaliwal, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, last night, the Minister of the Environment and I attended the sixth annual leadership awards ceremony of Canada's Climate Change Voluntary Challenge and Registry. This year's awards went to 22 Canadian companies, education institutions and individuals from across the country. For example, ALPAC, Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc., the winner of the forest products award, reduced its emissions by over 36% since 1994 through innovative practices, such as the commencement of new forests by planting hybrid poplars on agricultural land.

Health

[Rob Merrifield, Canadian Alliance, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the number of people who will contract the severe acute respiratory syndrome is expected to dramatically increase over the next few days. Ontario today declared an outbreak to be a health emergency. Is the Minister of Health planning to increase the federal resources to the provinces to combat SARS?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, this is a very important question. Let me reassure everyone that Health Canada is ready to respond to any requests for support from the provinces and territories.

Since the hon. member has raised the very serious situation in Ontario, I will direct my comments specifically to it. At noon today, Ontario's commissioner of public health indicated that there are 27 probable cases and five suspect cases. Health Canada has deployed five epidemiologists to assist in the investigation of the outbreaks. We have provided technical advice on infection control and clinical assessment. We are providing supplies for the isolation hospital in Toronto. At noon today--

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Yellowhead.

[Rob Merrifield, Canadian Alliance, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the SARS virus originated outside of Canada and the federal government has the authority to use the federal Quarantine Act to prevent further SARS cases from entering Canada. The health department said we are not in that situation yet.

My question is, under what circumstances would the health minister apply the federal Quarantine Act?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, this too is an important question. Therefore, I want everyone to understand the nature of the Quarantine Act. It provides the authority to detain persons, goods or conveyances, for example, possibly an airplane, on suspicion that the persons, goods or conveyances might introduce a dangerous communicable disease in Canada.

The authority under the act permits us to hold any individual, for example, for up to 48 hours to undertake medical examination. If detention is required beyond that period, we must present evidence for a continuation of the detention.

We are working very effectively with local health authorities. At this point we do not think it is necessary to invoke the Quarantine Act.

Guaranteed Income Supplement

[Marcel Gagnon, Bloc, Champlain, QC]

Mr. Speaker, for eight years Human Resources Development Canada kept an elderly couple in the dark when it came to their eligibility for the guaranteed income supplement. However, within 15 days of the death of his wife, Human Resources Development Canada wrote to André Le Corre to tell him that because of his wife's death, he would no longer be eligible for the guaranteed income supplement.

How does the Minister of Human Resources Development explain that her department was silent for 15 years, but only took 15 days to verify information with CCRA, assess the case, make a decision and write to the claimant to tell him that he would no longer—

[The Speaker]

The hon. Minister of Human Resources Development.