Debates of Oct. 20th, 2004

National Defence

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the air force is treating this matter very seriously. As a precautionary matter, the Cormorant fleet will only be flying essential SAR operations as mandated, but this is only a precautionary measure.

I have spoken with the military today. It is working with the manufacturer of the helicopter. It is still under warranty. This is a matter of a recently delivered machine. We are working closely with the manufacturer to address all and any problems that arise. The military is approaching this extremely seriously and with great responsibility.

[Gary Lunn, Conservative, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to funding, there is a study that has been released showing that Canada is at the bottom of 169 nations with respect to military funding, half of the average NATO nations.

Even when the Cormorants are cleared to fly, they require 22 hours of maintenance for every hour in the air. That is more than three times what was originally estimated.

Why is the military being forced to pay millions of dollars more in maintenance for a brand new aircraft at a time when the government has left its pockets empty?

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I totally reject the hon. member's preface in his question.

I am proud to say that in terms of total defence spending, that is total money spent on our military, Canada ranks in the top 10 of NATO and the top 20 of the world. This is a record to be proud of, not to be denigrated by members from the other side of the House.

We are working with the manufacturer of the helicopter to ensure that we get the best equipment for our troops, as we do in every area in which we operate.

Broadcasting

[Rahim Jaffer, Conservative, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Canadian Heritage maintains that no ministerial influence is being exerted on the CRTC. It has been confirmed that both the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Ms. Scherrer broke the rules and met with the president of the CRTC.

Were these just social meetings or were they used to influence the decisions about CHOI-FM?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, first, the ministers who met with the president of the agency did so at the president's request. Furthermore, they discussed the agency's broad parameters. They did not discuss any specific case.

[Rahim Jaffer, Conservative, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, the Minister of Canadian Heritage proclaimed her innocence, but that same day, she fussed over the CBC's content. The next day, it was the Minister of Foreign Affairs who was selling off Canadian television audiences to Italian politicians.

When will Liberal ministers stop their manipulation and censorship of public broadcasting? When will Canadians finally be free to choose?

[Liza Frulla, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Minister responsible for Status of Women]

Mr. Speaker, I think that Canadians are free to choose. With the CRTC, we have one of the best broadcast regulating systems. That said, the CRTC is an independent agency. It is now and always will be. However, that does not prevent the ministers responsible from meeting the presidents of their agencies to discuss their needs or simply their roles.

Housing

[Christian Simard, Bloc, Beauport, QC]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to social housing, Quebec and the federal government are negotiating the transfer of affordable housing and co-op units built before 1994. The Quebec minister, Jean-Marc Fournier, estimates that Quebec is also entitled to compensation at least equal to 24% of the federal investments in this sector, in view of the federal government's withdrawal in 1994.

Does the federal government intend to meet Quebec's requests by transferring not only responsibility for social housing but also the money that goes with it?

[Joe Fontana, Liberal, Minister of Labour and Housing]

Mr. Speaker, my critic's question is very important, and he would know that Quebec and Canada have signed phase two of the affordable housing agreement. In fact, Quebec is doing some absolutely incredible things in partnership with communities and in partnership with the Government of Canada with regard to affordable housing.

On his question with regard to social housing, I and my counterpart in Quebec are negotiating for the social housing transfer. We hope that we can come to an agreement fairly soon because in fact we believe that the Quebec government can deliver social housing along with the Government of Canada.

[Christian Simard, Bloc, Beauport, QC]

Mr. Speaker, is the minister aware that, because of the loss of revenue suffered by Quebec, there is a need to catch up in social housing? Consequently, when the transfer takes place, does he intend to compensate Quebec in full for its losses?

[Joe Fontana, Liberal, Minister of Labour and Housing]

Mr. Speaker, again let me assure the House and this particular member that negotiations are taking place with the minister of housing in Quebec. Our goal is to work in partnership not only with Quebec but with all the provinces to make sure we can deliver affordable housing to those people in need. We have a commitment from the Prime Minister and from the government that we intend to work with communities and provinces to finally deliver some homes to the most needy in our country.

Ethics

[Jeremy Harrison, Conservative, Churchill River, SK]

Mr. Speaker, today we learned that the public service is being trained in ethics by a former senior RCMP member who was convicted of fraud in 2002. Maybe the Prime Minister will start sending his federal cabinet to similar ethics courses. I can see it now: “How to win friends and influence people 101”, taught by Alfonso Gagliano.

When will this government admit it does not know the first thing about ethics, taught by fraudsters or otherwise?

[Reg Alcock, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, the--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker]

Order, please. The President of the Treasury Board has the floor.

[Reg Alcock, Liberal, Winnipeg South, MB]

Mr. Speaker, a contract was let in May 2003 for instructors for the school. There has been an issue identified with one of the instructors. The irony of it is certainly not lost on me. I can tell the hon. member that we are looking into it. I have ordered that the payment on the contract be stopped. I will report back to the House when I have all the details.

Reproductive Technologies

[Rob Merrifield, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the government says it is opposed to human cloning, but last year at the United Nations, Canada abstained from a vote on the issue. This week it has another chance. The United Nations is again going to debate the resolution to ban all forms of human cloning.

Will the government continue to say no at home but something different at the United Nations, or will it say no to human cloning?

[Ujjal Dosanjh, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian law is very clear. We are committed to opposing all forms of human cloning, and we will take positions internationally that are consistent with our domestic policies.

Official Languages

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Speaker, francophones living in minority situations and nearly all Canadians are outraged by the opposition leader's declaration, in his so-called Belgian plan, that he wants to see territorial unilingualism in Canada.

Is the Minister responsible for Official Languages prepared to reassure the Canadian people that the Government of Canada is fully committed to the Official Languages Act and that it will say no to territorial unilingualism in Canada?

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Indeed, Mr. Speaker, what the Leader of the Opposition proposes looks like a situation in which only French would be spoken in Quebec, and no English whatsoever, while in the other provinces, except New Brunswick perhaps—who knows—only English would be spoken and no French at all. That is territorial unilingualism.

Let us be clear. Like the governments of Wilfrid Laurier, Louis Saint-Laurent, Pearson and Chrétien, this Prime Minister's government will never abandon the official language minority communities, wherever they are in the country.

National Revenue

[Myron Thompson, Conservative, Wild Rose, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I received a very distressing call from one of my constituents who has not received his payroll remittance forms from Revenue Canada due to the strike. He was informed that if he failed to drive into Calgary, about 200 miles, and produce his payment he would be charged with a significant interest penalty.

André Ouellet probably will not be charged. Will the Minister of National Revenue do the right thing and assure all Canadians they will not be charged or penalized due to job action taken by the employees of Revenue Canada?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member makes a good point. I received this information yesterday afternoon. I can tell him that my office is working diligently on the matter and we will get back to him as soon as possible.

National Security

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Athabasca, AB]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.

The oil sands of northern Alberta account for billions of dollars in this economy. They account for 40% of the oil production in this country and are the largest oil reserve in the western world.

The Prime Minister's own security adviser has warned him that the energy sector in Canada is a primary target for terrorists. The director of CSIS has also clearly stated that this government is not doing enough to protect our energy sector.

Since the Prime Minister cannot seem to follow the advice of his own advisers, what is it going to take for him to start taking note of and protecting the 70,000 people who work--

[The Speaker]

The hon. Deputy Prime Minister.

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, in fact the government takes the protection of critical infrastructure of all kinds in this country very seriously, which is why we are working with the provinces, local governments and the private sector to develop a national strategy around the protection of critical infrastructure.

Let me say that in fact we have released a consultation paper in this regard. The province of Alberta, where the oil sands are largely present, is working very constructively with us in terms of ensuring that critical energy infrastructure is protected in this country.