Debates of Sept. 29th, 2003

National Defence

[John McCallum, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, let me, from that long list, take the question of the Hercules. I am indeed seized of that matter because the Hercules is the workhorse of the military, critical for domestic and overseas missions. I have told the military to do whatever it takes, insource, outsource, buy, lease or rent, in order to increase the serviceability of our Hercules, which that are critical.

We have had several meetings, including one today. I am happy to report that as a result of decisions taken at that meeting we have had a 50% increase in plant serviceability per year--

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Perth—Middlesex.

[Gary Schellenberger, Progressive Conservative, Perth—Middlesex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we know the Minister of National Defence wants to wait for the new leader to take over so there are sufficient funds to buy spare parts or to allow the air force to patrol our coasts and protect our sovereignty. Now the Minister of Public Works is thinking about the member for LaSalle—Émard's comment that our new helicopters must be absolutely the best helicopters for the money, with the greatest capacity.

Will he tell this House how much this reversal in policy will cost the government and how much further the delivery date will be pushed back?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I might advise the questioner that it is not always a good idea to ask a question containing five components because it allows me to choose any one of the components that I choose to--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. I am sure the Minister of National Defence is very appreciative of the helpful comments and suggestions coming to help him address the question, but we have to be able to hear his answer, whatever it may be. The minister has the floor. I ask hon. members to listen to the answer from the minister rather than make their own suggestions.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, choosing from the myriad of issues raised by the hon. member, I would point out that the budget increase of $800 million in base funding has gone a very long way to sustain the military. Indeed the sustainability gap is in the process of being closed.

To give one example, the member mentioned spare parts. This year alone there is a $221 million increase in our budget for spare parts, which is having an excellent effect on the military.

Government Assistance

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, hurricane Juan has devastated citizens and communities of Prince Edward Island and in the Halifax regional municipality. Electricity, communications and transportation have been brought to a halt. Two lives have already been lost, thousands have been evacuated and many citizens remain vulnerable.

I want to ask the defence minister responsible for emergency measures to assure Haligonians and Islanders that federal equipment, such as generators, and army reserves and naval personnel will be deployed to the fullest possible extent to help with reconstruction and to keep our citizens safe.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I know the hon. member is very concerned as she comes from the region. I know as well that some of my colleagues such as the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the member for Halifax West have been in conversation with the mayor of Halifax. We are all working together on this matter in a non-partisan way.

I have given my two provincial counterparts from Nova Scotia and P.E.I. my cell phonenumber. I have told them to call me anytime if they have more needs. At the moment, they say we have met every need that they have, but I have told them we have generators and to call me if they need them. We are working in a spirit of excellent partnership and in a collaborative way.

Canada Elections Act

[Lorne Nystrom, NDP, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the new Liberal leader thinks that democracy should only be for Liberal MPs and not for the voters of this country. The government House leader thinks his own personal distaste for proportional representation is a good enough reason to deny voters a chance to tell us what they really think.

Tomorrow Parliament will have its first vote in 80 years on proportional representation. I have a simple question for the Deputy Prime Minister. Can he tell voters why they do not deserve to have a say in whether or not they want to change our voting system and bring us into the modern world?

[John Manley, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, experiments with how we function in our democracy are always of interest and actively debated.

One of the advantages of a federation is that very often new ideas can be tried out at the provincial level. I wonder whether the hon. member has ever thought of proposing to the NDP government in Saskatchewan that it try proportional representation in that province and we will see how it works before we try it at the federal level.

Liberal Government

[John Williams, Canadian Alliance, St. Albert, AB]

Mr. Speaker, today we have the Public Service Commission's report on the Radwanski affair saying that nepotism and cronyism are rife within the public service. Last week it was Boyer and Theberge running up massive expense accounts without supervision. Over the summer it was Allan McGuire and Paul Cochrane who were found to be on the take because no one was minding the store.

It sure looks like the government is corrupt. Who on that side is going to take responsibility for this Liberal culture of corruption?

[Lucienne Robillard, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, as is his wont, the hon. member for St. Albert is greatly exaggerating, particularly in terms of his choice of words. This destroys any credibility, including that of parliamentarians.

The Public Service Commission reports directly to Parliament, as does the Privacy Commissioner, an officer of Parliament. Therefore, I think that my hon. colleagues from the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates will carry out the appropriate follow-up to these reports, which have now been tabled.

[John Williams, Canadian Alliance, St. Albert, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Public Service Commission said during the summer that 20% of all summer job appointments in the government are rigged. Public servants are stuffing themselves at taxpayers' expense. Corrupt public officials are lining their own pockets with taxpayers' money. There are crooked contracts at public works. Now we find nepotism, cronyism and favouritism by the Privacy Commissioner. We cannot forget that there are police investigations everywhere. The smell of corruption is getting stronger every day.

With a new leader of the party on his way, can we expect business as usual or more corruption under his leadership?

[Lucienne Robillard, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, with all due respect that I have for my colleagues from all parties on the government operations committee, their approach differs from the approach of the member for St. Albert completely. They make a judgment based on fact and not on rumours or anything else. I would encourage the member for St. Albert to follow the example of his colleagues on the government operations committee and not use those kinds of words as that is very bad for the credibility of everyone in this country, including Parliament.

Canadian Grand Prix

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Beauport—Montmorency—Côte-De- Beaupré—Île-D'Orléans, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice's response to a suggestion by the Bloc Quebecois to save the Montreal Grand Prix was to reject the idea of using public funds to compensate the racing teams. Yet it seems that industry is heading toward that solution.

Given this new development, does the government not feel the need to send industry a clear signal that it too is prepared to do its part?

[Claude Drouin, Liberal, Secretary of State (Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec)]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada, along with the Government of Quebec and the City of Montreal, has spared no effort to find a solution to keep the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

There is no question at this time, however, of the government investing in this. If the private sector wishes to do so, however, it is welcome to. We will be very pleased to assist it in doing so.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Beauport—Montmorency—Côte-De- Beaupré—Île-D'Orléans, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would remind the secretary of state that the federal government stands to lose a lot of money in GST alone. I would also remind him that the only idea everyone is supporting at this time is for a temporary, two-year, transition fund.

Does the government not feel it is imperative to send a clear message that, if industry does its share, the government is prepared to do the same, in order to save the Montreal Grand Prix and the $80 million in economic spinoffs that go with it?

[Claude Drouin, Liberal, Secretary of State (Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec)]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said, there is no question of our abandoning the Formula 1 Grand Prix. We do, however, have rules and laws we need to apply, and we will continue to apply them, as the minister who was responsible for this matter, the Minister of Justice, has done from the outset on behalf of the government.

As I have also said, however, we are very interested. Should the private sector wish to invest, we are very open to this and hope that we can find a solution, in conjunction with the Government of Quebec and the City of Montreal, to keep the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

Citizenship and Immigration

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

Mr. Speaker, today we have another revelation about how the Liberals rip off immigrants. First they have done nothing to stop the bogus visa school racket. Now we find that even though visa processing fees are supposed to be based on cost recovery, they have not bothered to find out what the costs really are.

Through access to information, the government had to admit it does not actually have details of processing costs. It seems the Liberals simply use visas as a cash cow on the backs of people Canada wants and needs. How can the Liberals justify such unfair practices?

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

Mr. Speaker, I find it somewhat regrettable that one would speak ill of a program that is extraordinary for the students who come and share the Canadian experience and at the same time is an investment in a relationship between two countries, eventually.

Therefore, the Government of Canada is looking to invest more. We must find a program that fits the need, but we do want more international students and we will take the necessary steps.

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

Mr. Speaker, I do not think the minister even heard the question. He certainly did not answer it.

Access to information requests are supposed to be answered promptly to provide Canadians with a truly open and transparent government. Yet it took the minister nearly two years to sheepishly admit, “The total cost of each visa section around the world is presently unknown”.

If the Liberals do not have a clue about how much their slow and sloppy visa processing system costs, then how do they know how much to charge visa applicants and immigrants?

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

Mr. Speaker, once again, I find it sad that the opposition continually attacks our front line workers, whose role it is to ensure that people take full advantage of this kind of program.

The government is doing an outstanding job in that respect, and so are the people at the visa offices. Of course there may be delays, but I think that overall we are a model for the rest of the world.

Canada Post

[Brent St. Denis, Liberal, Algoma—Manitoulin, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I was pleased to hear in July that Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers had reached tentative collective agreements. Could the secretary of state responsible for Canada Post please inform the House on the status of these tentative agreements?

[Steve Mahoney, Liberal, Secretary of State (Selected Crown Corporations)]

Mr. Speaker, all members and all Canadians will recall the on-again, off-again threat of a postal strike this summer. I am pleased to tell the House that Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers have just announced the ratification of two collective agreements. This includes a four year contract for urban postal workers and a separate eight year contract for rural and suburban mail carriers, who will become employees of Canada Post.

I am sure all members will join me in congratulating the leadership of the union and the corporation for this historic agreement. Canadians can now be assured of four more years of uninterrupted postal service as well as other things.