House of Commons Hansard #6 of the 38th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was farmers.
Keith Martin LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition should know that the Chicoutimi and all three other subs crossed over the Atlantic without an escort.
The opposition must let the professionals do their job. The professionals in this matter are the members of the navy who have been tasked to get to the bottom of this and the bottom of this will be the answers that come out of the inquiry.
We will let the professionals do their job and the opposition should do the same.
Gordon O'Connor Conservative Carleton—Lanark, ON
Mr. Speaker, there are reports that pressure on funds and artificial delivery deadlines forced the department to cut corners with respect to submarine training. A former submarine commander referred to the training program as the great dolphin giveaway. He said that there was a shortage of candidates and that sailors were awarded qualifications without completing their training.
Will the Minister of National Defence confirm that the required number of personnel were trained for the submarine service and that all were provided with all the approved training?
Keith Martin LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, as the critic from the opposition knows full well as a former military officer, there is no way the military would put a sub out to sea before it was sea ready. In fact Commander Pelletier made it very clear, as did Commander MacLean, the head of our navy, who is also a submariner, that the sub was ready to go and that he had every confidence that the sub met all certified requirements, as did the people on that sub.
Gordon O'Connor Conservative Carleton—Lanark, ON
Mr. Speaker, I interpret that the minister is telling us that all the appropriate training was provided.
However we have the statement of a senior officer involved in the submarine service and the DND chief of review services report that says that program delays adversely impacted training.
Will the Minister of National Defence acknowledge that shortcuts in training were taken to meet the expediency of the government?
Keith Martin LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, I will not reiterate the comments that were made by the head of the navy as well as Commander Pelletier but I will assure the House that an inquiry is taking place, an inquiry that will be--
National DefenceOral Question Period
The Speaker
Order, please. We will have a little order. The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence is attempting to answer the question that was asked and he is entitled to be heard. We will have a little order, please.
Keith Martin Liberal Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC
Mr. Speaker, the responsible thing to do is to allow the professionals to do their jobs. The professionals are those on the inquiry who will get to the bottom of this and who will get the answers that all of us in the House want, particularly the widow of Lieutenant Saunders and the men on the Chicoutimi . We owe them the answers and the answers they will get.
Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier, QC
Mr. Speaker, on September 16, the Prime Minister announced that the October 26 meeting would deal with equalization and the “other financial pressures” facing the provinces. However, according to federal public servants, Ottawa only wants to discuss equalization. As regards other transfers, negotiations are out of the question.
Does the government intend to negotiate in good faith, not only to improve the equalization program, but also to address all the other financial pressures that Quebec and the provinces are facing, something which everyone except the federal government calls the fiscal imbalance?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, the principal purpose of the meeting on October 26 is to look at equalization. No doubt other issues will be discussed.
I would point out that the Government of Canada has already committed in terms of relieving financial pressures on the provinces an incremental $41 billion to help with health care and an incremental $33 billion to help with equalization.
Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier, QC
Mr. Speaker, Quebec, the provinces, the territories and all the opposition parties in Ottawa agree that the fiscal imbalance must be eliminated.
Therefore, will the federal government commit not to discuss, but to negotiate, on October 26, a comprehensive accord on the fiscal imbalance, an issue which only the Liberals stubbornly keep referring to as “financial pressures”?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that the provinces have significant financial pressures to deal with in their jurisdiction.
The Government of Canada has significant financial pressures to deal with within its jurisdiction. We have a number of agreements back and forth to assist each other: health care is one; equalization is another; early childhood development is another; housing is another; infrastructure is another.
The Government of Canada contributes enormously to the well-being of all Canadians in all provinces.
Yvan Loubier Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Mr. Speaker, as has been the case every year since 1997, the Minister of Finance's surplus forecast, which stands at $1.9 billion for 2003-04, is, based on preliminary indications, well below the reality. The actual figure is more likely to be somewhere between $5 billion and $8 billion.
Will the Minister of Finance admit that his little underestimation scenario is just a strategy allowing him to deny the existence of the fiscal imbalance faced by the provinces and to show up at the first ministers meeting without providing the true figures that should serve as a basis for discussions?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, I apologize to the hon. gentleman because I did not quite get the gist of his question.
However I can assure him that the Government of Canada always looks carefully at all requests from those who have ideas and suggestions to make about the programming of the Government of Canada, most especially the provinces.
I have indicated very clearly that we transfer literally tens of billions of dollars per year to the provinces to assist them within their jurisdictions.
Yvan Loubier Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Mr. Speaker, the minister asked the chief economist of the Bank of Montreal to advise him on how to make budget forecasts. We have a suggestion for the minister, if he is open to it.
Will the Minister of Finance admit that we would be much better served by an independent body accountable to the Standing Committee on Finance to get informed advice, rather than relying on just one individual who will be accountable only to the Minister of Finance and whose advice will only be made public by the minister to the extent that it suits him?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, the hon. gentleman is mistaken. The Government of Canada does not use just one in-house advisor. We do not just pick our favourite economist to tell us what we want to hear. In fact, we consult with 19 economists from every region of the country, from a broad spectrum of economic and political points of view to make sure we get the very best advice from all of those who have something useful to contribute.
Jack Layton NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON
Mr. Speaker, a veritable hurricane of health privatization is sweeping across our country and the latest touchdown was in Montreal where a major private clinic has just opened. We see the extension of for profit medicine once again and the Liberals have done absolutely nothing about it. This perhaps would not be a surprise, except that when they were seeking votes they promised to stop privatization.
When will the health minister, who while campaigning spoke out against privatization, actually take some action to stop it?
Ujjal Dosanjh LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, we already did. We will be passing on $41 billion to the provinces over the next 10 years so that public health care will be strengthened in this country. I support public health care. The government supports public health care. We support public delivery. We want to make sure the Canada Health Act is enforced across the country. If there is anything we can do under the Canada Health Act it will be done.
Jack Layton NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON
Mr. Speaker, it is clear why the minister was out in the hallway while the health accord was being discussed, that is for sure.
The fact is there is absolutely no plan to stop privatization of health care in this country. All we are hearing is rhetoric and we know what rhetoric means.
We see a similar case more tragically unfolding in the case of hepatitis C. The past president of the Hemophilia Society has said that hundreds of people have died because there has been no plan to ensure that the funds that were set aside are reaching those in need.
Could the Minister of Health tell us why there is no plan to ensure that patients get the money they need?
Ujjal Dosanjh LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, as I said the other day in the House, the government has invested $1.6 billion on hep C victims and $300 million out of those funds has gone to the provinces to care for the needs of the patients before 1986 and after 1990. It is important that the provinces become accountable to their own citizens and to the victims in this case.
Bill Casey Conservative North Nova, NS
Mr. Speaker, on the weekend I received an unconfirmed report of a fire that took place a short time ago on the HMCS Corner Brook . It sounds similar to the fire on the Chicoutimi in that it involved the cables that run through the captain's cabin.
Could the minister confirm that a fire occurred on the Corner Brook ? What action did he take to make sure this would not happen on any of our other submarines including the Chicoutimi ?
Keith Martin LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, I do not have any information on the issue the member has spoken about but I will certainly look into the matter.
What I can say with respect to the other submarines is that they are in port right now and an important announcement will take place later this afternoon concerning where they will go from there.
Bill Casey Conservative North Nova, NS
Mr. Speaker, last Friday I asked the Minister of National Defence about an urgent safety report produced by DND involving the ammunition and cartridges on our submarines. The minister tried to slough it off and said that it was up to the naval officers to answer.
The fact is we asked the minister in the House on March 9 and I met with the minister in his office on April 1. If the minister knows of a dangerous situation he has the responsibility to act.
Will the minister tell us what action he took when he became aware of this dangerous situation?
Keith Martin LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, I will ask the minister about the question that the other member posed a while ago.
Let me reiterate something. The government is committed to ensuring that members of the Canadian Forces have the equipment and the tools they need to do their job.
The opposition should remember that nobody in our armed forces will put our men and women of the armed forces in harm's way. Nobody will do that. I hope the member understands that they will not be put into situations where their lives are at risk.
Rob Nicholson Conservative Niagara Falls, ON
Mr. Speaker, three years after 9/11 our port security is still not adequate. The Minister of Transport said “It is clear that Canadian ports cannot remain sieves”. He was disturbed by a book that stated that the Hell's Angels had taken control of Canada's ports.
If the minister is scared that the Hell's Angels have taken control of Canada's ports, why has his government not done more to ensure the safety of Canadians?