House of Commons Hansard #119 of the 37th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was corporation.
Claude Duplain LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, I want to mention here that the minister and his team did an extraordinary job. This is the first time anywhere that, 100 days after the disease was detected, the borders have reopened so that meat can be sold.
To date, the measures taken in the first phase total $460 million. The second phase is estimated at $57 million. The situation continues to be evaluated in order to help farmers. This is proof that the government is addressing this issue.
Svend Robinson NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Last week, two respected Canadian Muslim religious leaders and Islamic scholars, Ahmed Kutty and Abdool Hamid, travelled to Florida to lead prayer services. Instead, they were handcuffed, thrown in jail, interrogated and kicked out of the United States.
Why has the Liberal government not called for a full independent inquiry and apology and why has it not protested this shameful racist treatment of these and too many other Muslim and Arab Canadians?
Bill Graham LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, clearly we recognize that the United States of America determines who goes across its borders and who does not, as every sovereign country does. What we do is we tell our American friends on every occasion that those of us living in Canada are not involved in terrorism and we wish to work with Americans to establish moderate voices. I understand the people who went there were moderate people trying to establish links with moderate voices in the United States of America. We will continue to make sure the American government understands that from Canada we come as friends. That is the voice we have with the United States and we will continue to keep that tone.
Leon Benoit Canadian Alliance Lakeland, AB
Mr. Speaker, the RCMP is rolling out its prosecutions in the Gagliano Groupaction affair. First up is Liberal supporter Paul Coffin of Communication Coffin, who has been charged with 18 counts of fraud. We can expect a number of others in the weeks to come, but the one person we will not see is the former public works minister. Why will the government not initiate a judicial inquiry into the sponsorship program that will include recalling the former public works minister, Alfonso Gagliano?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, first let me congratulate the hon. member upon his promotion to the role of official critic for public works. I welcome him to that role.
On the substance of the question, our approach over the past 15 months has been to put first things first, moving steadily forward, step by step. We want to make sure that nothing interferes with the appropriate independent investigations of both the RCMP and the Auditor General. We have encouraged and co-operated with both those investigations and obviously the action taken recently by the police indicates the wisdom of that approach.
Leon Benoit Canadian Alliance Lakeland, AB
Mr. Speaker, this government's actions in the past in fact clearly have not solved the problem and the government cannot distance itself from ministerial responsibility. The fact is, the minister is responsible for his department. If there is criminal conduct at the public works department, the minister must be held accountable. Why is the former minister not being held accountable and why is a judicial inquiry being refused? Who in this government will be held accountable?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, since May of last year we have frozen all activity to stop the abuses. We terminated the use of private sector middlemen. We stopped doing any business with certain firms in question. We set up financial holdbacks and launched money recovery proceedings. We toughened the program rules and procedures. We reduced its budget. We conducted extensive transparent internal inquiries. Disciplinary proceedings are underway. All legal issues have been referred to the RCMP. We called in the Auditor General; in fact we expanded her mandate to make sure that the job could be done right.
Paul Crête Bloc Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Mr. Speaker, when BioChem Pharma, one of the bright lights of Quebec's pharmaceutical industry, was purchased by Shire, a British company, Shire promised to invest $27 million over four to six years in research and development into leukemia and pancreatic cancer.
Following this agreement between Shire and Industry Canada in 2001, the minister approved the transaction. Can the minister confirm to the House that his approval was dependent on these conditions and, if so, is he prepared to make these conditions public, now that Shire has closed the BioChem Pharma lab in Laval, putting 120 leading scientists out of work?
Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that the government has the firm intention to ensure that the commitments are respected.
Paul Crête Bloc Kamouraska—Rivière-Du-Loup—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Mr. Speaker, if the minister is not prepared to go farther than that, he will allow an important company to disappear. The minister is aware that the law authorizes him to reveal information contained in the agreement with Shire, if he feels that it is in Canada's best interest to do so.
Therefore, does the minister intend to make the agreement public and help save these jobs?
Allan Rock LiberalMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, I intend to obey the law. I also intend to make sure that the company respects all the commitments it made at the time it purchased BioChem Pharma.
Gerry Ritz Canadian Alliance Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
Mr. Speaker, since May of this year the Canadian livestock industry has been reeling from the impact of a single BSE infected cow. All the stakeholders in the provinces agree there was and continues to be a lack of leadership at the federal level.
When will the agriculture minister abandon his heavy-handed attempt to force his APF strategy on the provinces and concentrate on resolving the BSE crisis?
Claude Duplain LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, I would like to reiterate what the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food achieved by working hard with his colleagues.
This is the first time we have managed to reopen a border to trade. Several millions of dollars have been invested in trying to rebuild the industry.
Consultations will continue to try to find ways in which to assist the farmers even more. I do not think that consultations are useless at this time.
Gerry Ritz Canadian Alliance Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
There you have it, Mr. Speaker, some more of that BS package that they were spouting all summer.
The minister knows his April fool's joke contains no provisions that will address a crisis like the BSE outbreak. Farmers and ranchers reject the APF as again too bureaucratic and off target. Using their own calculations, farmers will receive even less support from the Liberal government than they have in the past.
Why will the minister not sit down with the producers and provinces and actually work at resolving this crisis before he cripples another industry?
Claude Duplain LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, that is totally untrue. The new strategic plan will provide farmers with tools to receive all the support necessary. As the provinces sign the framework agreement and we sign bilateral agreements, farmers will be able to benefit from them.
Charles Caccia Liberal Davenport, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question is addressed to the minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board.
According to Ken Ritter, the chair of the Canadian Wheat Board, 82% of the board's customers say they do not want to use genetically engineered wheat.
Does the minister agree with the position taken by the Wheat Board's customers and the board's opposition to Monsanto's application to cultivate and market genetically engineered wheat in Canada?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, as all hon. members will know, given our painful experience this summer with BSE, it is important to take a science based approach to cross-border trade issues. That having been said, I have a great deal of concern about the same things the Canadian Wheat Board is concerned about. We do not want to lose either markets or market share. A great deal of work therefore remains to be done to ensure intelligent and responsible behaviour in respect of genetically modified products.
The government is working very closely with the Canadian grains industry and other stakeholders, including the Canadian Wheat Board, to determine how best to proceed in a responsible manner.
Rick Casson Canadian Alliance Lethbridge, AB
Mr. Speaker, with the collapse of the trade talks in Cancun, Canadian agriculture producers have been dealt yet another blow. Producers in Canada have been placing their future hopes on these negotiations.
The Minister for International Trade stated that WTO members must redouble their efforts to build bridges and find consensus. The minister needs to redouble his efforts to build bridges in his own backyard. Canadian producers are hurting. When will the Liberal government rebuild damaged relationships with our farmers and our international trading partners?
Murray Calder LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister for International Trade
Mr. Speaker, everybody knows that there was nothing in the draft agreement that was agreed to in Cancun, but additional insights have been gained and that will lead to further discussions which will be taking place on December 15 in Geneva when the WTO group meets again.
Rick Casson Canadian Alliance Lethbridge, AB
Mr. Speaker, Liberal policies continue to destroy international relationships and alienate and harm our Canadian farmers.
When will the government deal with opening the Canada-U.S. border to live cattle? When will it deal with high tariffs placed on grain farmers? When will it deal with restricted market access to agriculture producers?
Why is the Liberal government continuing to harm our Canadian agriculture producers?
Claude Duplain LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, Canada went to Cancun to agree on a framework document on agriculture that would allow us to continue to pursue our negotiation objectives, in other words, the elimination of export subsidies, maximum reduction of internal support that distorts trade, and true improvements to market access for all agri-food products, which is very important to us.
Francine Lalonde Bloc Mercier, QC
Mr. Speaker, the deputy prime minister of Israel has acknowledged that assassination was among the options Israel had contemplated to get rid of Yasser Arafat, the president of the Palestinian Authority.
Does the Minister of Foreign Affairs plan to summon the Israeli ambassador to Canada in order to indicate to him his strong disapproval of this statement by the deputy prime minister of the Israeli government, advocating murder as a method of resolving political conflict?
Bill Graham LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, last week I had the opportunity to meet with the Israeli Minister of Immigration and the ambassador in my office. We discussed this policy of the government of Israel. I indicated to him the position of the Canadian government, which is the same as that of the U.S. government and many others, namely that it is unwise at this time for the Israeli government, in the interests of security, to take steps that might not be in its long term interests, which depend on implementation of the road map for peace.
We are therefore asking our Israeli friends to exercise restraint in order to guarantee—
Peter Adams Liberal Peterborough, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the government House leader.
The electoral boundary commissions completed their work during the summer and the new riding boundaries will not come into effect until August 2004. When does the government expect to introduce its bill to advance the coming into force of the new electoral boundaries?