Debates of April 7th, 2003

Canadian Forces

[Leon Benoit, Canadian Alliance, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said that Canadian military personnel serving on exchange with the U.S. and the U.K. in Iraq have become members of the exchange country's military. If that is true, then the Canadian troops in Iraq operate under the host country's rules of engagement.

The government cannot have it both ways. Do Canadian troops serving with the U.S. and the British in Iraq serve under special rules made up by the government, or do they serve under the same rules as the units they are attached to?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, that is a very tired question covering material I have gone over a dozen times.

These exchange agreements have been in place for decades. Before we send such a person, we verify that the actions are in accordance with the directions of the Canadian military and the Canadian government. However, once the person is in the field, he or she does not write back to Ottawa for orders on day to day matters but nevertheless, remains subject to Canadian law.

[Leon Benoit, Canadian Alliance, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the government says that Canadian military personnel serving with the United States and the United Kingdom in Iraq are only allowed to fire in self-defence. If Saddam's army fires on the U.S. or U.K. units to which the Canadians are attached, what are the Canadians to do?

Can the government assure us that our CF members will not face disciplinary action if they fire on the enemy to protect British or American troops in those units?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I am not quite sure I followed that convoluted logic. My colleague suggested I might try to draw a picture to answer the question. I understand that props are not allowed in the House, so I will leave it at that.

The Environment

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are increasingly active in Antarctica; students, researchers and tourists. Canadian business is also active there. Antarctica is a very special untouched part of the globe.

Could the Minister of the Environment tell us when Canada will ratify the protocol for environmental protection under the Antarctic treaty, commonly known as the Madrid protocol?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and I agree it is high time that Canada ratified the Antarctic treaty. The protocol is essential to protect one of the world's most sensitive and interesting ecological regions. I can assure the hon. member that ratification is expected by the end of the year.

Softwood Lumber

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, given the ongoing softwood lumber fiasco and the fact that Quebec and Ontario are not going along with the Aldonas policies, is it not time for the trade minister to abandon the strategy of provincial concessions that B.C. is still pushing and make it clear that Canada has a right to make its own forestry policies?

Will the minister be clear and state he will not sell out Canadian forestry policies and jobs? Will he assert that position both to B.C. and more important, to the U.S.?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, let me be clear that our government has always pursued a two track approach. We are absolutely free in this country to pursue the forestry practices we want in our own country according to our own sovereignty. We will win before the courts at the WTO and NAFTA.

However, the British Columbia government of Mr. Campbell was elected last time with its own plan of changes for forestry management practices. He was elected with the mandate of doing that. It is the sovereignty of the British Columbia legislature that will adopt the changes promoted by a government elected on that platform.

Health

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the recent increase in cases of SARS is causing nationwide concern in Canada, placing enormous stress on our health system. If nothing else, it points to the need for a national public health strategy and a meaningful health surveillance system.

The national laboratory network, of which the Winnipeg virology lab is a part, has said publicly that outdated legislation and fragmented Canadian public health programs are causing a great disservice to Canadians.

Will the health minister finally do what the Auditor General and Roy Romanow have recommended and implement a national public health strategy?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, we take our obligations in relation to public health very seriously, as do the provinces and the territories. We are constantly discussing how we can improve our public health infrastructure in this country.

While the SARS outbreak is obviously of deep concern to all of us and puts pressure on the system, I was reassured by the words of Dr. David Heymann from the WHO when on Friday he said that Canada is doing an exemplary activity. Much of what has been going on in Canada, including the system of notifying airline passengers and screening airline passengers, has been shared with other countries as an example of best practices.

Ethics

[Rick Borotsik, Progressive Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the ethics counsellor told CBC's Disclosure that he needed the permission of the member for LaSalle--Émard in order to publish the list of the 12 meetings he had with CSL officials during his tenure as finance minister. Such a list will tell us the dates, the topics and the people present during the meetings.

As the person responsible for enforcing the code of conduct for his ministers, will the Prime Minister instruct the member for LaSalle--Émard to please make that list public?

[David Collenette, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, these are matters between the member for LaSalle--Émard and the ethics counsellor. We have been consistent in all of the answers that we have given, the Prime Minister in particular. The former minister of finance followed all the rules, followed all the guidelines. We believe that should end the matter.

[Rick Borotsik, Progressive Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, in response to a question on Thursday about the Barbados tax loophole, the Minister of Finance said:

Perhaps the hon. member could be more precise about what loopholes he believes exist.

He also said that these provisions

--are not changed unilaterally. They do require negotiation.

The loophole in question is section 11.2(c). The minister knows that he is able to put an end to the provision unilaterally with six months notice.

Could the finance minister now tell the House why the loophole still exists? Who made the decision to keep that loophole open?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should know that the answer given by the Minister of Finance last week was indeed the correct answer to the question asked. He is right that the provisions of the treaty continue to apply and would not be a matter to deal with unilaterally.

Iraq

[Deborah Grey, Canadian Alliance, Edmonton North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the defence minister has more definitions for what constitutes a terrorist than a shelfful of Oxford dictionaries.

He says we are in the gulf to seek out terrorists of any citizenship, but then he will not allow Canadian troops to intercept, detain or transfer Iraqi suspects. Our allies are under constant threat by Iraqi terrorists.

I would like to ask the lexicon challenged defence minister what is his definition of an Iraqi terrorist, anyone except Saddam's henchmen?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member raised the question of the breadth of one's definition of terrorists. I think the Canadian Alliance is unrivalled in these matters. I remember a couple of years ago when the House decided to make Nelson Mandela an honorary citizen that it was a member of the Canadian Alliance who branded him a terrorist, a position with which this government took great exception.

[Deborah Grey, Canadian Alliance, Edmonton North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that is a nice try at a definition, but I think he will find that in the dictionary between “baloney” and “claptrap”.

The minister claims that we are in the gulf to help our allies fight a war on terror, but he will not allow our troops to intercept or detain Iraqis, the very terrorists who pose the biggest danger. Surely the minister would admit that Saddam's regime poses a huge terrorist threat.

How could he say that the war on Iraq is not connected with the war on terrorism?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I have said many times that the Government of Canada is proud to be engaged with our American friends in the war against terrorism in the gulf. Unlike the NDP and the Bloc, we are pleased when Ambassador Cellucci draws attention to the size of our contribution to this effort.

As I mentioned to the hon. member last week, if there is a boat carrying mines or other things damaging to ships, we will intercept that boat whether it is carrying an Iraqi flag, a Canadian flag or any other flag.

Canadian Television Fund

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today the board of the Canadian Television Fund held an emergency meeting in preparation for the announcement of the projects it will be funding this year. It is really feeling the impact of the $25 million cut in the federal government's contribution.

How can the Minister of Canadian Heritage be proclaiming loud and long that this cut in federal contributions is being offset by other partners in the fund, when commitments for Quebec content programming have been jeopardized by the $25 million annual cut?

[Carole-Marie Allard, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, the reason we are saying this is that it is true. The cable and satellite TV industry has greatly increased its contribution to the fund. At its inception in 1996, the participation by the Government of Canada was to be $100 million. This year, the government has decided to maintain its contribution at $75 million, thus ensuring that the fund will have $232 million available again this year. That is not a figure to be sneezed at.

[Christiane Gagnon, Bloc, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this is wrong, because there is $4 million less available to cable companies.

How can the parliamentary secretary and her government maintain there is no problem when it is forecast that there will be 60 fewer TV productions in Canada, and 20 in Quebec? Is that what assistance to production in Quebec is all about?

[Carole-Marie Allard, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, when the Canadian Television Fund was created, the projections were for it to be maintained at around $200 million annually. With the government's contribution this year of $75 million, the total will be $232 million. That is why we maintain that there is no problem; this government needs to support other sectors of the cultural industry also.

Health

[Carol Skelton, Canadian Alliance, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the World Health Organization has asked all affected countries to screen outgoing passengers for SARS. This measure would be a responsible way to suppress the SARS spread from nation to nation.

Canadian airport employees have not been ordered to pre-screen passengers before they board their flights. How can we expect other countries to screen passengers coming into Canada when we are not interviewing outgoing passengers?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said a number of times in the House, we have screening procedures in place for both inbound and outbound passengers. As I have tried to explain, we believe that those procedures are a reasonable approach at this time to deal with the level of risk that exists at this time.

I go back to what Dr. David Heymann, who is the executive director of WHO's communicable diseases unit, had to say. In fact, he applauds Canada and describes us as doing an exemplary job in relation to the system of notifying airline passengers and of screening airline passengers. In fact, those procedures have been shared--

[Carol Skelton, Canadian Alliance, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Mr. Speaker, what about Calgary, and what about the people who cannot read?

Employment insurance guidelines have changed to permit affected people to make claims if quarantined for SARS. Unfortunately, it only applies to claims made after March 30. During the tainted blood tragedy, Canadians made it clear that they do not like compassion that is determined by the date on which one gets sick. Will the minister remove the date restriction in order to permit any employed Canadian affected by SARS to make a claim?