Debates of Sept. 18th, 2003

Voyageur Colonial Pension Fund

[Rahim Jaffer, Canadian Alliance, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Minister of Finance said that his boss, the member for LaSalle—Émard, had done nothing wrong. The Voyageur bus drivers lost up to 30% of their pension fund. The Minister of Finance did not say much when we confronted him yesterday.

Is that not enough to suggest a conflict of interest?

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Again, Mr. Speaker, I do not care how often this question is raised, the answer is still the same.

The superintendent of OSFI is independent. It has been reviewed. The book is closed.

If in fact hon. members want to make these allegations, they should make them outside. We will deal with them out there.

[Rahim Jaffer, Canadian Alliance, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, maybe the hon. member should know that the allegations have been made outside. In fact we are waiting for information from that side.

The former finance minister left his mark on this issue. Once he is the Prime Minister, will he protect the interests of Canadians or his own? How much political pressure did the former Minister of Finance exert?

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I realize why the hon. member is worried about the member for LaSalle—Émard. We can all understand that on this side of the House.

However, as far as this issue is concerned, we already heard from one member over there who suggested that he had written to OSFI. Let us hear what the response is, because at the moment, all we have is a question that has been apparently written, but we do not have the answer.

Those people want to be the judge and jury before we get the answers apparently.

Municipalities

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs stated that the federal government never overstepped its jurisdiction. However, the Privy Council is currently considering the possibility of direct federal intervention in municipalities, which are creatures of the provincial governments and are answerable directly to them.

Will the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs admit that, if the municipalities have problems and the federal government, which has benefited from the fiscal imbalance, has a surplus of funds to assist them, then help should be provided via Quebec and the provinces, to which these municipalities are answerable?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Quebecois is like a broken record. It is always talking about the threat that is yet to come. I challenged the Bloc to identify the federal government initiatives outside its jurisdiction. The Bloc is forced to talk about the future, saying that there is no intrusion but that there will be.

The Government of Canada was able to assist the municipalities by implementing urban policies within its jurisdiction, with the full cooperation of the provinces.

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

Mr. Speaker, today the former finance minister and the future Liberal leader told the Montreal chamber of commerce that he hoped to directly assist the municipalities, thereby bypassing the provincial governments.

How else can the Privy Council's current review be interpreted than as an indication of the federal government's desire, once again—this is neither the first nor last time—at the request of the future Prime Minister, to overstep its jurisdiction and infringe on that of Quebec and the provinces?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Government of Canada has not gone beyond its jurisdiction but has assumed its responsibilities very successfully. I invite the hon. member to come and see what the government has done in my town of Saint-Laurent. If this municipality is an economic mainstay for Quebec and the rest of Canada, it is largely due to what the Government of Canada did within its jurisdiction.

Immigration

[Kevin Sorenson, Canadian Alliance, Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, organized criminals, including dangerous Asian gangs, are entering Canada because the RCMP deliberately failed to properly investigate allegations of widespread corruption at the Canadian high commission in Hong Kong.

I ask the Solicitor General what political pressure was exerted on the RCMP that forced it to abandon its investigation?

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as is typical of the party opposite, it looks at the latest headline as if it was a fact. No political pressure is exerted on the RCMP on any matters, as the member full well knows. The RCMP operations are controlled by the commissioner of the RCMP.

The fact of the matter is that in the case he raised, it would be improper for me to comment. The internal disciplinary process is still ongoing and I would not want to jeopardize either side by making comments.

[Kevin Sorenson, Canadian Alliance, Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am simply echoing the very report from the words of the RCMP internal review committee. That very same committee found evidence that the Department of Foreign Affairs pressured the RCMP into curtailing the probe because “it did not want the force to know what truly happened”.

This is a very serious allegation of Liberal political interference. Why is a federal department interfering and influencing an RCMP investigation?

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the member is drawing conclusions that ought not to be drawn from a press report. There was no political influence in this matter and there is an internal disciplinary process ongoing.

Give that process time and the results will be seen in the full light of day. That will be the time to do the analysis.

Agriculture

[Peter Adams, Liberal, Peterborough, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. The minister has worked valiantly to help farmers affected by the BSE crisis, which now affects the entire country.

In my riding the export of live animals is of particular concern. Can the minister bring the House up to date on this? Has there been progress for the beef, sheep, goat and other farmers whose livelihoods have been hit by this crisis?

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

Mr. Speaker, as the Prime Minister and all of us are informed, we know that the opening of the border to meat as far as we have at the present time by Mexico and the United States is a precedent. It has never happened before in this type of situation to accept product from a BSE country.

I met again last week with the secretary of the United States and the secretary of Mexico. They both promised me that they would expedite the process in order to move live animals into their respective countries. I am confident that they will do that. When that happens that will apply to all ruminants at that time.

Government Policies

[Norman E. Doyle, Progressive Conservative, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the drawn-out Liberal leadership race will waste millions of dollars because we continue to hear from his supporters that the new Liberal leader will be changing legislation on the marijuana bill, same sex marriage, aboriginal governance and heaven knows what else. That being the case, the current work of this Parliament and even the Supreme Court could all be a waste of time and money.

Why are the Liberals showing such contempt for public funds and due process?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, bills have been passed here on many issues. They are on the books and they will be there. But it is normal that in future years, for example, in 30 years from now the Conservative Party might form a government, they might change a few bills. I would not be surprised.

Intergovernmental Affairs

[Bill Casey, Progressive Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I put a question on the order paper a little while ago to try to find out why the government has not paid the provinces in Atlantic Canada that experienced extra costs because of September 11. Instead of getting that answer, I got back a list of money that was paid to airlines. The government budgeted a total of $158 million. It has already paid out over $99 million to the airlines.

If the government could pay $99 million to the airlines, why can it not pay a couple of million dollars to the provinces?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, in fact the Government of Canada has an agreement with all the provinces and territories involved and the details will be released pretty soon.

Taxation

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

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the industry minister.

Today we have been talking about tax havens. I would like to ask about floating tax havens, the ones created when shipping magnates put foreign flags on their ships, like the shipping magnate that the minister is supporting for Liberal leader, the one who ran foreign flags up the poles so he could exploit foreign workers and evade Canadian taxes, even as he was finance minister.

Can the industry minister tell Canadians whether he condones shipping companies evading Canadian taxes by flying foreign flags instead of our own?

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, rhetoric aside, the hon. member knows the government believes very strongly in comprehensive rules when it comes to taxation of foreign income. The member knows that. She should be honest about that. Even members in her own party have said that they support that.

The fact is the government continues to ensure that those rules work effectively. We did that yesterday, we are doing that today and we will be doing that in the future.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals think they are so smart crowning the former finance minister as leader. I have just two words for them: John Turner.

The former finance minister thinks it is fine to tell lesbian and gay people to get to the back of the bus. He is fine with taking away the bus drivers' pension too. Today we have all heard from workers who lost their pensions, thanks to the corporate greed of the former finance minister.

Given how much money he saved evading Canadian taxes by flying foreign flags, does the Prime Minister think it is only fair that he give that money to the bus drivers?

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if there was a question and if there was a question, I do not think it is relevant to the Department of Finance.

I will tell the hon. member that at least she is up on some of the past Liberal leaders. It is nice to know that. Maybe she is going to join the Liberal Party.

Immigration

[Diane Ablonczy, Canadian Alliance, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, today the immigration minister gave up trying to bar the door to skilled immigrants, but a new report shows his door may be open to international criminals.

An independent commission found evidence of widespread fraud at a Canadian embassy. It says Triad members have likely been allowed to immigrate, with criminal backgrounds scrubbed from our government computers.

A court found the minister misled Parliament about his unfairness to skilled immigrants.

Are the Liberals also hiding the truth about the criminals getting into Canada?

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, today we celebrate equity. We celebrate flexibility. The government made some changes. We announced an adjustment to the passports for the federal skilled workers applicants. From now on with the new grid, instead of needing 75 points, one needs 67 points. I think that is good news.

On this side of the House we do not perceive immigrants as potential terrorists or criminals. We take every allegation very seriously. We are doing our homework. I can assure members that security is also a priority for the government.

[Diane Ablonczy, Canadian Alliance, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the minister did not take an investigation seriously. In fact they tried to suppress the results of the investigation, even though an immigration applicant blew the whistle when employees offered to fast-track her visa for $10,000, when embassy personnel were seen depositing large sums of cash, when fake visa stamps were found in an embassy desk, when an officer reported that Triads had infiltrated the computer system. And all this was confirmed by an RCMP investigator who was then fired.

Today's report says political pressure kept everything under wraps. So what else is going on at Immigration Canada that the Liberal government is hiding from Canadians?