Debates of Nov. 15th, 2004

Citizenship and Immigration

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, members on all sides of this House know very well that the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration can issue such a permit on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Many members, including the hon. member who asked the question, have interceded with the minister on behalf of constituents on these same humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

This is a process. The minister has followed it. In the spirit of transparency, she is asking the ethics counsellor to look into this matter.

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is also for the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.

There is another example of the minister either looking the other way or being completely out to lunch, perhaps with her own pizza delivery man. There are reports that an Indian deportee facing a Canada-wide arrest warrant, on the run from her very department, regularly delivered pizza to and hung out in her election headquarters.

Did the minister alert her department and if not, why not?

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, everyone in the House has been in an election. We know that there are all kinds of people in the campaign office. The minister was certainly not aware of this particular case and she was certainly not aware that this particular person was there. She is very careful about the security of this country. The minister was certainly not aware of this incident.

[Nina Grewal, Conservative, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has been caught red-handed.

In addition to the exotic dancer situation, her election team failed to alert immigration officials about a deportee on the run from the department who was delivering pizza and helping out at her election headquarters. Apparently, fresh pizza was more important to the minister than things like integrity or due process. The minister has displayed a complete lack of respect for our immigration system.

Now that she has been caught using the system to hand out political favours, how does she defend her stance as a reformer of the system?

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, in fact, the government has been very clear on its priorities about security for this country. A person who is inadmissible will be deported. The minister was certainly not aware of this incident.

Mirabel Airport

[Caroline St-Hilaire, Bloc, Longueuil, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on October 29, the Bloc Québécois questioned the government about whether the facilities at Mirabel would be properly preserved, and about the future of cargo flights from there. The deputy leader of the government promised us an answer from the Minister of Transport the following week, but one has not been forthcoming.

Can the government, which has categorically refused to resell the excess expropriated lands at Mirabel, at least tell us whether or not it will make any formal commitment on properly maintaining the facilities in place and on developing new activities at Mirabel airport?

[Jim Karygiannis, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, in 1992 the management of Mirabel and P.E. Trudeau airports was transferred to the local group Aéroports de Montréal . This is a not for profit organization. It is responsible for operating, managing and developing the Mirabel and Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau international airports.

Under the terms and conditions of the ground lease signed with Transport Canada, it makes business decisions regarding these airports based on principles of accountability and local interests.

[Caroline St-Hilaire, Bloc, Longueuil, QC]

Mr. Speaker, instead of this incompetent behaviour in connection with Mirabel airport, ought not the government to immediately resell the land currently being leased by the farmers of Mirabel, in order to ensure its total redevelopment, produce a plan as soon as possible for the maintenance of Mirabel facilities and make a formal commitment to keep cargo flights at that airport?

[Jim Karygiannis, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the management of the airport is mandated to find the best practices to serve the people of the region, the province, and the country, and to look to the future of these facilities, in this case, spread out over the two major cities.

Employment Insurance

[Yves Lessard, Bloc, Chambly—Borduas, QC]

Mr. Speaker, during the last election campaign, everyone told the government that its employment insurance program did not meet the needs of workers, since 60% of the unemployed are excluded from it. The Prime Minister said this situation would be done away with.

Now that the election is over, will the Prime Minister renew his commitment and tell us when he intends to eliminate the injustices of the current employment insurance program?

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, injustice exists when there are no jobs. This year alone, in Quebec, we have already created 38,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate has also gone down in the province. The Prime Minister is still on track with a solution that involves both job creation and benefits.

[Yves Lessard, Bloc, Chambly—Borduas, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are talking about the unemployed here. Not only does the current employment insurance program exclude 60% of contributors, but it is totally useless for seasonal workers, who have to deal with the infamous gap every year.

The government has been looking into the problem of the seasonal workers for years now. What is it waiting for to improve the employment insurance system?

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps the member is not aware of the changes we made just six months ago. We tried to find a solution for individuals who do not have enough seasonal work. We are also trying to make use of regional business organizations and the benefits program. Nonetheless, it must be noted that the unemployment rate—

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Medicine Hat.

Sponsorship Program

[Monte Solberg, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, in February the government spent $127,000 on a poll to figure out how to do damage control in the wake of the AG's report. Is it not just a little ironic that one of the criticisms the Auditor General had was that the government broke its own prohibitions on using tax dollars for partisan polling?

How does the Prime Minister feel about this? Is he: A, somewhat mad; B, really mad; or C, mad as hell?

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, the survey in question was in fact conducted by Communications Canada. The results of that survey were presented to cabinet and were shared with the public accounts committee in February 2004.

[Monte Solberg, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, this was a poll to find out what Canadians thought of the Liberals in the wake of sponsorship. We did not need to spend $127,000 to find that out. We know the answer; they looked terrible.

Will the government quit wasting money this way or will it have to take a poll first to decide?

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, these surveys sought public views on a range of issues including health care, economic issues and environmental issues. We know that the hon. member and his party are not that interested in sustaining a nationwide, publicly paid for health care system. They are not that interested in environmental issues.

However, the fact is that Canadians are interested in these issues. That is why the Government of Canada is very interested in getting this data such that we can build public policy that reflects the views and interests of all Canadians.

Health

[Steven Fletcher, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James, MB]

Mr. Speaker, there is more evidence that the health minister and the Prime Minister are not on the same page.

Last week the health minister told an American audience in Boston that Internet pharmacies in Canada would not be a drugstore for the United States. Later in the week the Prime Minister said that his government had no plans or intentions to shut down Internet pharmacies.

This is a very important issue. Who should Canadians believe, the Prime Minister or the health minister?

[Ujjal Dosanjh, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, it was very clear. The Harvard University Medical School invited me to speak on the state of health in Canada. I wanted to ensure that I canvassed the issues that were important to both our jurisdictions. One of the issues that has been important for some time is the issue of drug prescriptions.

I said then and I say now, and the Prime Minister agrees with me, that a small country like Canada cannot be a drugstore for the United States of America.

[Steven Fletcher, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James, MB]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps we should have sold the minister to the United States. Goodness knows the candidate his party supported in the presidential election could have used some more votes.

Again, we see the Prime Minister corrected. The first correction was with privatizing the health care system, the next was with opening the hepatitis C fund, and now this.

When will the health minister get his act together and stop delivering contradictory messages to Canadians and Americans alike?

[Ujjal Dosanjh, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the opposite side, we support public health care today and we supported it yesterday. We supported the extension of benefits to hep C victims before 1986 and past 1990. We did that yesterday and we will do that tomorrow.

On the issue of drug prescriptions, the safety and supply of drugs for Canadians is of utmost importance and we will protect that at any cost.

Infrastructure Program

[Raymond Bonin, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of State for Infrastructure and Communities. Could the minister tell the House what actions the government is taking to improve public infrastructure for small urban and rural municipalities in Ontario?

[John Godfrey, Liberal, Minister of State (Infrastructure and Communities)]

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to inform the House that today the Governments of Canada and Ontario have announced that they will each invest $298 million in the Canada-Ontario municipal rural infrastructure fund, with matching funds from recipients that will take the total to $900 million over five years for public infrastructure in Ontario communities large and small.

We launched the COMRIF program this morning in Peterborough with the member for Peterborough and the minister from FedNor. This is just the beginning of a new deal for cities and communities.

Electoral Reform

[Ed Broadbent, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister responsible for Democratic Reform. In the throne speech, the government committed itself to embarking on a system of electoral reform. This was repeated by the Prime Minister subsequently in the House. Today in the Globe and Mail there is the contention that the government has developed a plan for this.

Will the minister assure the House that this plan will be submitted to the relevant committee before Christmas so we will have time to deal with this before the next election?