House of Commons Hansard #101 of the 37th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was national.

Topics

Canadian Television FundOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Liberal

Sheila Copps Liberal Hamilton East, ON

All right then. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Coast GuardOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

John M. Cummins Canadian Alliance Delta—South Richmond, BC

Mr. Speaker, the Coast Guard response to the fire yesterday aboard the B.C. ferry Queen of Surrey was woefully inadequate. The Coast Guard attended the scene with all the equipment available to it at the time: a 41 foot cutter from the Kitsilano Coast Guard base, a 24 foot inflatable from the Gibson Coast Guard auxiliary and a helicopter from Comox.

Fortunately the weather was kind and evacuation of 350 passengers was not required, but what if an evacuation had been required? How could this tiny fleet effect a massive rescue effort?

Coast GuardOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

West Nova Nova Scotia

Liberal

Robert Thibault LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans

Mr. Speaker, that is absolutely ridiculous. That was a very good response. We got three vessels there. The military was there with its Cormorant helicopter. B.C. ferries were there with a spare vessel. Had it been necessary, we could have evacuated everybody off that ferry. There was a great response by the crew of the ferry and they should all be congratulated.

Coast GuardOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

John M. Cummins Canadian Alliance Delta—South Richmond, BC

Mr. Speaker, obviously the minister does not know the capability of his equipment. Missing from yesterday's emergency was the only vessel capable of carrying sufficient life rafts and operating near the shore: the hovercraft based at Vancouver airport. It was laid up for repair.

Yesterday it was 350 passengers aboard a B.C. ferry. Tomorrow it could be 350 passengers aboard a jumbo jet on the tidal flats off the airport, where a hovercraft is the only vessel capable of functioning. When is the government going to--

Coast GuardOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

The Speaker

The hon. Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.

Coast GuardOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

West Nova Nova Scotia

Liberal

Robert Thibault LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans

Mr. Speaker, I recommend that the member take a trip on one of the B.C. ferries or any other commercial vessel. He will notice that these vessels do carry life rafts capable of taking care of their passengers. They had a second ferry there in response and we had three vessels and a military helicopter. It was a great response by all agencies and above all a super response by the crew of the B.C. ferries who put out the fire safely, not needing any evacuation.

La FrancophonieOral Question Period

May 13th, 2003 / 2:50 p.m.

Liberal

Hélène Scherrer Liberal Louis-Hébert, QC

Mr. Speaker, we know that the French-speaking segment of the population of the United States is growing. Could the Secretary of State responsible for la Francophonie share with us Canada's vision of the development of the French language south of the border?

La FrancophonieOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Brome—Missisquoi Québec

Liberal

Denis Paradis LiberalSecretary of State (Latin America and Africa) (Francophonie)

Mr. Speaker, there are currently some 12 million citizens of French extraction in the United States, and more than 2 million of these speak French fluently. There are hundreds of French language organizations and groups across the United States. For example, the American Association of Teachers of French has a membership of more than 10,000.

Canada must be prepared to help its neighbours, especially those with whom it shares a border, by developing with them a dynamic dialogue on la Francophonie.

Canada Customs and Revenue AgencyOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

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

Mr. Speaker, the Nexus program was designed to separate low risk travellers from high risk travellers. The greater use of this program will free up customs and immigration officers to concentrate on the small percentage of high risk travellers.

However, today Nexus is only used at a couple of land crossings. Why the delay in using Nexus at all Canadian land crossings?

Canada Customs and Revenue AgencyOral Question Period

2:50 p.m.

Thornhill Ontario

Liberal

Elinor Caplan LiberalMinister of National Revenue

Mr. Speaker, in fact there has been no delay. We are very proud of the fact that the Nexus program, which is two way with the United States and negotiated as part of the smart border, is rolling out across the country. There has been a lot of interest. People are signing up and 39,000 to date have already applied. It is an example of how we can make the border function smarter. That means safer and more efficiently for both Americans and Canadians.

Canada Customs and Revenue AgencyOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

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

Mr. Speaker, while the Nexus program has generally worked well at border crossings in British Columbia, one flaw has been the lack of an appeal process. Constituents of mine have been denied Nexus passes because of such minor issues as sandwich meats or old customs violations by their now deceased spouses. When will the minister introduce an appeals process to the Nexus program?

Canada Customs and Revenue AgencyOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Thornhill Ontario

Liberal

Elinor Caplan LiberalMinister of National Revenue

Mr. Speaker, this gives me a very good opportunity to let people know how important this program is, because everyone who qualifies for this program must have a clear criminal record, have no security concerns and no customs violations. The terms have been agreed to by both Canada and the United States. This is a new program. We are watching it to see how effective it is and if the member has suggestions on how it could be further improved. However, this program rewards those people who have no blemish at all on their records. Those are the people we trust and those are the people who qualify.

AgricultureOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Bloc

Bernard Bigras Bloc Rosemont—Petite-Patrie, QC

Mr. Speaker, with the support of Canada, the American administration has today announced that it will be bringing a challenge before the World Trade Organization in connection with the European moratorium on importing genetically modified organisms.

How can the federal government support this American action when 87% of the population of Canada, and 90% of the population of Quebec expect more transparency from their government and more precautions in the handling of GMOs?

AgricultureOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Papineau—Saint-Denis Québec

Liberal

Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister for International Trade

Mr. Speaker, what we have asked for today, in conjunction with the United States, Argentina, Egypt and several other countries, is merely that the European Union not implement its GMO legislation, and we wish that EU member countries would respect their own laws and stop blocking the process. That is all we are asking.

Political Party FinancingOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

Joe Jordan Liberal Leeds—Grenville, ON

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-24 is of direct concern to all members of the House as well as to future members because it will change the way political parties and candidates are funded in the future.

Bill C-24 is currently before the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. Could the chair of the committee inform the House as to the progress of the committee in its consideration of the bill and the issue of political financing?

Political Party FinancingOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

Peter Adams Liberal Peterborough, ON

Mr. Speaker, the member's interest in this topic is an example to us all.

The committee has been considering Bill C-24 for three or four weeks. This evening at 5:30 in room 253-D there is a round table meeting of the committee which is open to all members. We hope that all members will respond to that opportunity.

Later this week we will have further witnesses from provinces which have experience with similar legislation, and some time after the break we will be consider clause by clause and amendments.

Political Party FinancingOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Bloc

Pierrette Venne Bloc Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the House. Bill C-24 calls for the automatic payment of a quarterly allowance to established parties, which will guarantee their financial survival and enable them to amass campaign funds paid for out of the public purse.

Can the government leader explain to us why his bill does not contain any provisions to ensure that these allowances are paid solely for the purpose of reimbursing actually incurred expenses, as the Quebec electoral legislation does?

Political Party FinancingOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Glengarry—Prescott—Russell Ontario

Liberal

Don Boudria LiberalMinister of State and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, the system in Bill C-24 is in part based on the systems in place in Quebec, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. It provides parties with $1.50 per vote cast, which will enable them to ensure that their party offices can be run properly.

As far as I am aware, the parties have not said that this would leave them with any money left over. If the member claims this is the case for certain parties, I would like to know the names of these parties.

InfrastructureOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

Myron Thompson Canadian Alliance Wild Rose, AB

Mr. Speaker, there is a killer stretch of highway in my riding where there have been 22 deaths and 119 seriously injured since 1999.

The federal government has been aware of the need to widen the Trans-Canada Highway near Lake Louise in the Banff Park for many years.

Since 1993, I have been calling on the government to address this problem. How many more lives must be lost before the government will submit to the twinning of this major highway?

InfrastructureOral Question Period

2:55 p.m.

Don Valley East Ontario

Liberal

David Collenette LiberalMinister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should know that there is a program under Transport Canada for highway infrastructure improvements and the Government of Alberta has signed that agreement. Certainly that particular stretch of highway, which we well know is a dangerous section, is eligible for funds, but really the matter has to be shared with the provincial government.

Canada-U.S. BorderOral Question Period

3 p.m.

Bloc

Gilles-A. Perron Bloc Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC

Mr. Speaker, softwood manufacturers are asking the Minister of National Revenue to harmonize Canadian customs services with those of their American counterparts, so as to obtain the same services on both sides of the border.

Can the minister assure us that she will provide the money needed and establish additional customs officers at the border crossings in Estcourt, Saint-Pamphile, Saint-Just, Sainte-Aurélie and Saint-Zacharie in order to provide the same services on the Canadian side of the border as are offered on the American side?

Canada-U.S. BorderOral Question Period

3 p.m.

Thornhill Ontario

Liberal

Elinor Caplan LiberalMinister of National Revenue

Mr. Speaker, an interesting but little known fact is that traditionally on the Canadian side of the border, prior to 9/11, we had 40% more resources in customs officers than on the American side. The Americans have beefed up their people. They have been hiring and training.

We are working very hard at this point now, as part of the smart border initiative, to develop those kinds of initiatives to ensure that the border is safer and more efficient. I can assure the member opposite that we have the resources to do that.

The House resumed from May 7 consideration of the motion that Bill C-33, an act to implement treaties and administrative arrangements on the international transfer of persons found guilty of criminal offences, be read the second time and referred to a committee.

International Transfer of Offenders ActGovernment Orders

3 p.m.

The Speaker

It being 3:02 p.m., the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at the second reading stage of Bill C-33.

Call in the members.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

International Transfer of Offenders ActGovernment Orders

3:15 p.m.

The Speaker

I declare the motion carried.

Accordingly the bill is referred to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

(Bill read the second time and referred to a committee)