Debates of June 11th, 2003

Foreign Affairs

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. Just today, I spoke to Mr. Brault, our special envoy for the Congo. We appointed him a few years ago, and he has been working closely with the United Nations and Secretary Kofi Annan to bring peace to that region.

We appreciate the seriousness of the situation, but Canada has offered to contribute to the force that will be sent to the Congo. We are confident that our measures and contributions, both military and in terms of humanitarian relief, will help bring peace and restore security to the region.

Employment Insurance

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, 125 people were laid off by Horne, in Noranda, after an 11 month strike. I asked a question last week of the Minister of Human Resources Development and have yet to get an answer.

Will the minister make these people who have been laid off by the company following an 11 month strike eligible for EI? The minister needs to act now.

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

Mr. Speaker, we are happy to see that operations have resumed at the Horne foundry. My officials met with the employer and the unions yesterday and the two groups are preparing a joint submission on the production status so that we can determine employment levels and get those who are permanently laid off into pay through employment insurance.

Government Appointments

[Gerry Ritz, Canadian Alliance, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Works constantly tries to assure us that corruption centred around Alfonso Gagliano is being looked into. He mentions the Auditor General and the RCMP and claims that the activities of specific public servants are being pursued under the Financial Administration Act.

That begs the question: Does Alfonso Gagliano fall under the category of specific public servant, or is he beyond the reach of any investigation?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, obviously I cannot comment on any investigation in detail but the issues that come under the purview of the Financial Administration Act were announced publicly some months ago and the first report thereunder has been referred to the RCMP. I cannot comment on the details.

[Gerry Ritz, Canadian Alliance, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is consistent and keeps claiming he will not interfere in police business but the longer the kingpin keeps Gagliano in exile the longer it will take to ventilate this scandal.

Now Denmark is saying goodbye to its unwelcome visitor with some Danish takeout.

Did the Prime Minister authorize the farewell before the rejection by the Vatican, or are the Danes just wanting to get rid of Gagliano too?

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, this is media speculation. As the Prime Minister has said in the House, Mr. Gagliano is the ambassador to Denmark and he remains to be our ambassador in Denmark.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, more than 100 aboriginal children from the Long Point Winneway first nation in Témiscamingue may not receive a proper education when classes resume in September because—arbitrarily, and without any explanation—officials from the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development decided to give the band council only half of what it costs to educate these children.

How can the minister justify this behaviour by his department, while telling everyone who will listen to him that we must provide greater opportunity for the future to aboriginal children?

[Bob Nault, Liberal, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know to which particular community he is referring but I can say that the first nation education system is the top priority of the government. We have moved financial resources and have increased the budgets year after year as long as this government has been here in power, and we will continue to do so because it is important for aboriginal kids.

[Yvan Loubier, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, if this is a top priority for the government, can the minister follow up his everyday rhetoric with concrete measures, including giving the Long Point Winneway first nation in Témiscamingue the money it needs to run its school?

The need is urgent; plans must be made now for school in September.

[Bob Nault, Liberal, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know the specifics of the case in question. Obviously there is a byelection there, which is probably why he is asking the question. If I get the information I will make sure we do as we always do, which is prepare the young people for school in the fall.

The Environment

[Bob Mills, Canadian Alliance, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday in the industry committee the environment minister gave no details on the spending of $1.7 billion on climate change.

It is not just the opposition who are critical of the government not having an implementation plan. This past weekend the former finance minister said “We didn't have an adequate plan then and we don't have an adequate plan now”.

Why is the government forging ahead spending $1.7 billion when it does not even have a plan?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I tabled in the House in November, I believe it was 64 pages--and the hon. member can call it an outline, a structure, a plan or whatever he wishes to call it. Whether he regards it as adequate or not is a legitimate subject for discussion but to say none was tabled and there is none, is obviously complete nonsense.

[Bob Mills, Canadian Alliance, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, obviously the future potential prime minister does not think there is any plan, so it is not just us. The government rolls out this dartboard of things with money for this and money for that. What that really leads to is patronage and corruption in the spending of this money.

I think we need to see exactly how this $1.7 billion will be spent, not this hodgepodge that the minister talks about.

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Of course, Mr. Speaker, we agree. We should be very careful about how we spend the money. That just shows the contradiction in the hon. member's position.

We are taking time to make sure we find cost effective methods to reduce greenhouse gases. We are not trying simply to rush into the expenditure of $1.7 billion without the proper analysis. That is why it takes a certain amount of time to put this in place.

Airline Industry

[Ovid Jackson, Liberal, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have a concern about their air travel this summer. My question is for the Minister of Labour.

Could the minister inform the House with regard to the dispute between Nav Canada and the Canadian Air Traffic Control Association?

[Claudette Bradshaw, Liberal, Minister of Labour]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce to the House that the parties involved in the Nav Canada-CATCA dispute yesterday reached a tentative agreement. This agreement is subject to ratification by the union membership and we hope to have the results before the end of June.

I would like to thank the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service for its hard work in assisting the parties and helping them reach this agreement. I would also like to thank my colleague, the Minister of Transport, for his support during this very sensitive labour dispute.

Coast Guard

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

Mr. Speaker, a Coast Guard engineering report warns of serious corrosion problems on the hovercraft currently in use in Vancouver. After a recent trip, two and a half tonnes of water were pumped from the vessel. The corrosion identified in the Coast Guard report will not stop. It will not reverse itself. The leaks will only get worse.

What is the minister's plan to deal with this serious erosion of rescue services on the west coast?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member knows that the Siyay is a formidable craft, a great state of the art vessel. Any time a new vessel like that, which is comparable to how aircraft is commissioned, there are some technical defects and some technical adjustments that must be made. They are being done. They are being noted in case we build a new one like that in the future when we replace the one we have so that we have an even better craft.

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

Mr. Speaker, these are more than technical problems. The engineering report refers to them as serious problems, almost impossible to control.

We have a hovercraft based at Vancouver airport, which is in a questionable state of readiness, and last September the Coast Guard commissioner told us that it would take two years to put in service a used hovercraft to back up the Siyay. Without an operational hovercraft mariners are at risk and air travellers are at risk.

Why will the government not properly equip the Coast Guard on the west coast? When can we expect a replacement hovercraft for the Siyay and how much will it cost?

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

Mr. Speaker, that is completely irresponsible. The Siyay is performing very well. It is a reliable craft. It will serve the people very well for a long time. I have been working closely with the member for Richmond who wants to ensure that we have a second hovercraft there to help in the security of the people. We will continue to do that. We will get a temporary craft and we will start plans immediately to build a new replacement hovercraft.

Agriculture

[Yves Rocheleau, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, at the end of April the UPA of Grand-Pré and the Envir-Eau-Sol group, which consists of 72 businesses in the regional municipality of Maskinongé, asked the Prime Minister and member for Saint-Maurice personally to guarantee, in their words, “farm income protection systems by increasing the amount provided within the agricultural policy framework so that the Financière du Québec can cover the production costs of our farmers”.

Can the Prime Minister tell us if he intends to reply in the affirmative to the legitimate demands of these agricultural producers from his riding?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are working with the ministries and the representatives of the agriculture producers across Canada to put in place the announcement that the Prime Minister and I made last June of $5.2 billion in additional new money to help in areas of food safety, business risk management, environment and to help build upon the work that is being done in the provinces already, not to detract from that, but to built upon that.

[Larry McCormick, Liberal, Hastings—Frontenac—Lennox And Addington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, concern has been expressed in the agricultural community that new products being introduced into the market could actually harm the market unless that introduction is done responsibly.

Could the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food tell the House what is being done to ensure the agricultural community does not suffer unnecessary market harm from such new products?

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

Mr. Speaker, first, we can all be very proud of the rigorous and science based regulatory system that we have that is world renowned and highly respected around the world. However, even taking that into consideration, we are aware of the implications that could happen, not necessarily that may happen, with the introduction of new products such as the member has referred to.

I have instructed my department to work with the industry and consult with the industry so we can come up with a process to address that. I believe officials from my department will be at the agriculture standing committee tomorrow and will be able to begin initial discussions on that if the issue is raised there.