Debates of Nov. 18th, 2004

Citizenship and Immigration

[Tony Valeri, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I think the minister has made it very clear that she complied with all of the Treasury Board guidelines, number one, and that is a responsibility of the minister. If the hon. members across the way do not accept that answer, then I suggest that it is a challenge the hon. members along the way will have to deal with themselves, because the hon. minister answered their questions on more than one occasion.

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about appropriate guidelines, then, because yesterday in the House the immigration minister stood up and said that all of her chief of staff's expenses were within the appropriate guidelines.

Let us take a look at those expenses. On February 24, while on a trip to Toronto, the chief of staff claimed $92 for a working dinner in Ottawa. On April 1, while on a trip to Washington, he claimed expenses for $245, stating he was in Ottawa.

My question is for the immigration minister. Were these expenses really within the appropriate parliamentary guidelines or merely within the appropriate Liberal guidelines?

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, clearly the member is new here. I can say we have enough controls in our systems that if it is not within the guidelines, and everything is audited, those expenses would never have been paid if they were not within Treasury Board guidelines.

Health

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

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health. Yesterday was lung disease day. In May 2003, the World Health Organization approved the framework convention on tobacco control. Why has Canada still not ratified that convention and when does it plan to do so?

[Ujjal Dosanjh, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the framework convention on tobacco control is a very important convention that Canada signed on to last year. It is important that we ratify that convention. We are on our way to very quickly ratifying that convention. We believe in strong tobacco control because it damages the lives of Canadians.

Privacy

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on a number of occasions I have risen in the House to ask questions about the U.S. patriot act and to warn the government that the FBI has access to Canadians' private information. Every time the President of Treasury Board has risen to answer, his answer has been in complete contradiction to the testimony given by the Privacy Commissioner yesterday.

Would the President of Treasury Board please tell the House why he is in contradiction?

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the member that I am not in contradiction with the Privacy Commissioner. In fact, what I have said and what she has said is that the legislation we have in Canada is adequate to meet the needs of controlling information held in Canada. Laws in Canada do not protect information held in another jurisdiction, which is why we are changing the contracting policy to prevent information being held offshore.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, then why has the President of Treasury Board insisted in reference that our current legislation protects our privacy? That is not the case and not what the commissioner is testifying.

If he is not willing to do the job, call a privacy summit and implement legislation that protects Canadians, will he step aside and let somebody else do the job?

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

Mr. Speaker, what I will not do is respond to the analysis of that particular member.

The reality is that the legislation we have is new and it is one of the best in the world. The Privacy Commissioner, who is also one of the best privacy commissioners in the world, will tell him the same thing.

Canada-U.S. Relations

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, over the past two years the member for Mississauga--Erindale has repeatedly jeopardized Canada's economic interests by expressing her hatred for American allies, calling them bastards, idiots and psychologically damaged. None of that resulted in her being disciplined or removed from the Liberal caucus.

Yesterday morning a tape was shown of her stomping on an image of the elected head of state of our closest trading partner. That did not result in her being disciplined until she attacked the Prime Minister and now she has been sent out the door.

Why is the message that someone can undermine Canada's economic interests but--

[The Speaker]

The hon. Minister of International Cooperation.

[Aileen Carroll, Liberal, Minister of International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, we have excellent relations with the United States. Just after the election, the Prime Minister called President Bush to congratulate him. My colleague, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, called his counterpart as well. Together we are working for the future prosperity and security of this continent.

I might add that my relations as well as many of my colleagues with our American counterparts are incredibly positive. We look forward to working with them for all of the interests of this continent.

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to see if the Prime Minister understands the problem here.

He has sent a message that it is perfectly acceptable to be a member of the government and express hatred for our American allies, to undermine our economic and trade interests, to do so repeatedly with mendacity, but the moment a member turns around and criticizes the Prime Minister or his PMO, the member is sent packing.

Why is it acceptable as a Liberal to express hatred for our allies and undermine our economy but it is not acceptable to question the Prime Minister?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member ought to know that our relationship with the United States is very strong. We are working together with the United States in Haiti. We are working with the United States in Afghanistan. The President of the United States is coming here to speak to Canadians.

I hope in the intervening weeks before the arrival of the President of the United States, that the leaders of the opposition will become a little more responsible in their comments, a little more understanding of the values that we share between our two countries and a little more visionary in terms of the kind of country that we want to build.

The Senate

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Edmonton—Spruce Grove, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Prime Minister said that he believes in Senate reform. Premier Klein has said publicly that before the federal election the Prime Minister told him he would look favourably upon appointing elected senators from Alberta. The Premier of Alberta and Albertans want him to keep his word.

Did the Prime Minister tell Premier Klein at the grey cup meeting a year ago that he would look favourably--

[The Speaker]

The hon. deputy House leader.

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

Mr. Speaker, what the Prime Minister and the government has said repeatedly is that we are quite open to Senate reform but that it will not be piecemeal reform. The whole Senate has to be addressed. Until there is a consensus to do that, that will not happen.

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Edmonton—Spruce Grove, AB]

Mr. Speaker, this is about keeping one's word and following through on one's commitments. Let us think about the consequences of this broken promise.

The Prime Minister has raised expectations that he refuses to meet. Alberta will spend $3 million of taxpayer money to run this Senate election. Ten Albertans have put forward their names and are spending their hard-earned money to further democracy in the country.

To the Prime Minister, I will ask you again. Does the Prime Minister understand the consequences of--

[The Speaker]

Order, please. I remind all hon. members, and particularly the hon. member for Edmonton—Spruce Grove, that questions must be addressed to the Chair and so must answers. We have had a bit of slippage on that point today. I invite the hon. member to refrain from referring to other hon. members but to address her remarks to the Chair. Perhaps she will want to rephrase the last part of her question with that in mind.

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Edmonton—Spruce Grove, AB]

Mr. Speaker, does the Prime Minister understand the consequences of raising the expectations and breaking a promise? Will the Prime Minister keep his word or turn his back on the democratic will of Albertans?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have been consistent. I have been consistent in what I have said on Senate reform here and what I have said on Senate reform in Alberta, which is that I support Senate reform. I have supported Senate reform right from the beginning.

However I do not believe that it should be done on a piecemeal basis. I believe there are a number of areas, including the number of senators to be appointed, the way in which they are appointed and the effectiveness of the Senate, that have to be looked at, but to do it on a piecemeal basis would only exacerbate tensions in the country.

Agriculture

[Sébastien Gagnon, Bloc, Jonquière—Alma, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the dairy farmers of Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean are at the end of their tether. Last week they held a general assembly at which they decided to increase their pressure tactics so someone will at last deign to heed their appeals. They are preparing to slaughter 600 cows and dump them all into a pit in order to gain broad media coverage and public exposure.

We must express disapproval of such action, but how far do the dairy farmers have to go before they get it across to this government that it has responsibilities toward them, as well as the financial means to help them out, and that the situation is more than urgent?

[Andy Mitchell, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, as I said in answer to a previous question, we provided some $366 million to the province of Quebec. In addition to that, we announced on September 10 additional resources to help build slaughter capacity.

As I said to previous members, although we understand that some 85% of the income of dairy producers comes from milk, there is a significant portion of their income that does not. It is imperative that we work with producers to assist them with that portion and that difficulty that they face.

[Sébastien Gagnon, Bloc, Jonquière—Alma, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the aid package for Quebec is inadequate. In addition to an emergency package for the dairy farmers, the minister could do something else that would not cost the government a thing.

Why does the minister not cooperate with his provincial counterparts to establish a floor abattoir price for cull cattle? A measure such as this would rescue the dairy farmers from the clutches of the major abattoirs, which are exploiting them shamelessly at present and forcing them into bankruptcy.

[Andy Mitchell, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, we are working very closely with people in the province of Quebec. I met with the UPA this week and I meet on a regular basis with my provincial colleague.

Yes, that suggestion is one of many suggestions that have been brought forward that are worthy of consideration. We understand the need to deal with that specific part of dairy producers' income where they are having difficulty, that is true, in the province of Quebec. It is also true in other provinces right across the country and we are determined to do that.