Debates of May 5th, 2003

Fisheries

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

Mr. Speaker, with regard to the employment insurance system, we are glad the system is in place and it is working well for the majority of Canadians for whom it was designed.

I would remind him that the Government of Canada transfers significant funds to provincial jurisdictions for local labour market development initiatives, including the hon. member's own area.

With specific regard to older workers, we have specific projects in place with the provinces that direct their attention specifically to the circumstances facing older workers.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Bill Blaikie, NDP, Winnipeg—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Right Hon. Prime Minister.

Given that the member for LaSalle—Émard has said that if he became the prime minister he would not proclaim the first nations governance act, and given that a majority of the Liberal caucus are supporting the member for LaSalle—Émard for the leadership, why would the Prime Minister not just permit a free vote on Bill C-7 now so that we can kill this thing instead of pushing through a piece of legislation that will be dead on arrival anyway?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the problem concerning the management of native reserves and native affairs is an extremely important problem that has been debated for a long time. The renewal of the Indian Act is something that has been discussed. I was discussing it when I was Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs. The problem is that a lot of people do not want to change things, like the NDP. Those members are always for the status quo while we in the Liberal Party want to find new ways to manage the problems of the nation, including the native problem.

Foreign Affairs

[Bill Blaikie, NDP, Winnipeg—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, it would seem that it is not only the NDP that does not want to support the first nations governance act, it is possibly the next prime minister of Canada and a majority of the Prime Minister's own caucus.

However, I want to ask him about another issue that is proving interesting on that side of the House: the ballistic missile defence system. I asked the Prime Minister last week and he gave one of those answers that there might be a discussion but that there has not even been an agreement to have a discussion.

It appears now that there is a real discussion and a real debate within the Liberal Party. When can we have one in the country? When will the Prime Minister or the Minister of National Defence come into the House and say what the Americans have asked us for and give us the complete account of what is going on so we can have a real debate in this country and not just--

[The Speaker]

The Right Hon. Prime Minister.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I understand that there is no debate on anything in the NDP because it is still living in the thirties and we are living in a new century.

It is normal that we have a debate on this issue. I explained a minute ago that the situation is changing. A year ago the Russians and the Chinese were very strongly opposed. Now there is some change because the system is changing, and we are looking at different alternatives. In my party there is a debate--

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for St. John's West.

Fisheries

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

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.

We have seen violence in the fishery in New Brunswick because of political interference. We have seen large protests in Newfoundland and Labrador. The premier of Newfoundland and Labrador has said that the minister and the government are directly interfering in the process by trying to bribe communities by telling them that federal funding would be cut off unless they support the minister's plan.

How can the minister justify this blatant political interference?

[Gerry Byrne, Liberal, Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency)]

Mr. Speaker, the allegations are categorically not true and my deepest sympathies for the person who said them.

[Gerald Keddy, Progressive Conservative, South Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, my question is also for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. The minister is allowing the Full Bay scallop fleet from his riding to drag in area 29 outside his riding. In the past DFO has excluded the Full Bay fleet from fishing in area 29.

Other than fishing for votes, how can the minister explain breaking the precedent and changing the rules for fishermen in his own riding?

[Robert Thibault, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, the member would know that this area was open to the Full Bay fleet prior to my election. After scientific work was done in that area, it showed that there was sustainable stock. It has been shared with inshore fishers from that region. It is very profitable. It is positive news for the coastal communities to have a new and emerging fishery that we can manage within stocks and maintain for the future.

Agriculture

[David Anderson, Canadian Alliance, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Mr. Speaker, when the Canadian Wheat Board minister is not jailing farmers he is failing farmers.

On Friday the U.S. imposed a 10% levy on all Canadian grain imports. The minister says that Canadian farmers will not be immediately impacted and “that the practical impact at the moment is very small. It is largely in the category of a hypothetical problem”.

A 10% loss of income and a potential one half billion dollar loss of markets is not a hypothetical problem to prairie producers, especially after last year. When will the government move to fix this looming disaster for Canadian farmers?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, we are very disappointed that further duties will be applied to Canadian wheat entering the United States. We are monitoring anti-dumping investigations very closely to ensure that Canada's international trade rights are being fully respected.

Marketing systems are policy decisions that are made domestically and will continue to be made in Canada. I find it particularly hypocritical that the United States subsidizes wheat at $108 per tonne, whereas we only subsidize it at $31 per tonne. That is the reality.

[David Anderson, Canadian Alliance, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Mr. Speaker, farmers are continually disappointed by the government. After years of denying western farmers marketing choice, and defending the system that is at the heart of the U.S. trade challenge, the Canadian Wheat Board minister changed his tune Friday when he said in the House:

...the government defends the rights of farmers to make their own marketing decisions...

There is a simple solution to this latest trade challenge. Will the minister and the government end the U.S. trade challenge by opening up the Canadian Wheat Board, allow westerners the right to make their own marketing decisions, and give western Canadian producers a chance to compete in a market that both wants and needs our grain?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, as I say and as my colleague has said time and again, these decisions are decisions that are made in Canada by Canadians, but what western farmers would appreciate at this moment is that the opposition join us in recognizing that the OECD study acknowledged that the Americans subsidize wheat at $108 per tonne and we subsidize it at only $31 per tonne. The opposition should join us in supporting Canadian farmers who are being punitively attacked by the quotas at this moment.

Employment Insurance

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development. The surplus in the employment insurance fund is $44 billion, a huge sum, and the EI system, as it has been butchered by the federal government, does not really meet the needs of fishers from the North Shore, the Gaspé, the Magdalen Islands, and all of eastern Canada.

Instead of giving us her cold speech on the mechanics of the system, should not the minister have agreed to adjust the system with special provisions for people working in the fishery, who have been seriously affected?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would reiterate again that the employment insurance program and system is there and is working well. In addition to that, on this side of the House, we appreciate that it is work that Canadians want, and that is why my department along with partners in ACOA and other federal government departments are working community by community to help those communities to diversify the opportunities to work. I am sure the hon. member would agree that what Canadians really want is work, not employment insurance benefits.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, what I agree with—and the minister ought to agree with us—is that special conditions have been created by reducing the quotas. People are suffering, both those who are no longer working in the fish plants and those who are more directly involved in fishing.

The temporary measures the government took to satisfy these communities just before the last election will expire in October. I ask the minister if , at least, these measures could be extended, even though they are insufficient and the situation will be much worse by October.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am very glad that the hon. member has pointed out the flexibility that the government has shown. In fact, we had transitional measures put in place for those communities that were suffering and wanting to deal with changes in employment levels.

I am quite happy to convey to the House the successes we are having in those communities in diversifying the work opportunities that are there. I fully expect that those partnerships will continue.

Fisheries

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

Mr. Speaker, a month ago a New Brunswick crab fisherman advised the minister that adding permanent licences when crab stocks were in decline threatened the fishery and would cause havoc in the industry. The minister chose to ignore fisherman. Now, vessels and a fish plant have been burned in retaliation; hardly a vote of confidence in the minister.

What will the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans do to re-establish his credibility and the credibility of his department?

[Robert Thibault, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, for nearly a year now I have been consulting with the fishing industry, indicating to the permanent fleet that it was in the best interests of all to give temporary fishermen a permanent basis to address the perennial requests for additional quotas that we receive every spring. Every fishery in the gulf that was in difficulty would want a larger share of the gulf crab industry.

We wanted to stabilize that. We announced a permanent share at the lower end of the scale at 23%. We provided 12.5% of the allocation to the fishery and invited the traditional industry to negotiate the co-management agreement whereby we could increase their allocations by 2,000 to 4,000 tonnes.

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister talks about stabilizing access and certainly that is important. However at a time when crab stocks in area 12 and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence are in decline, the minister, in addition to increasing the number of permanent licences in area 12, transferred fishermen from area 18 in Nova Scotia into area 12.

Why, when stocks were in decline, did he transfer fishermen from another area into area 12? Why now? Was he trying to provoke confrontation?

[Robert Thibault, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, the member gives the false impression that the stocks are in poor condition. The stocks are in very good condition. They are in their normal cycles. They go up and down. We have the possibility of increasing the yield with a good co-management agreement.

There was a heavy concentration of white, soft shell crab in area 18. It was in the best interest of everybody concerned that the harvest be done in areas where the crab was in better condition, and let the white shell crab grow. We did not increase the effort on the total population. We kept it stable.

Microbreweries

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to the microbreweries, the Competition Bureau has stopped its investigation although it says that if the major breweries were to continue their practices, this could hinder free competition.

Although the Competition Bureau has identified practices that would have a negative impact on microbreweries, such as monopolizing shelf space, how can the Minister of Industry explain the Competition Bureau's decision to stop its investigation?

[Serge Marcil, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, we are currently analyzing this matter and an answer will be forthcoming in the next few weeks.