Debates of Nov. 18th, 2004

Securities Industry

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I was trying to say that George Bush and star wars is bad, but the United States corporate accounting practice is good, so I want to ask the Prime Minister this. Years after the United States crackdown on corporate accounting, why did the Liberals do nothing to protect people from Nortel's crooked books?

[John McKay, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the government commissioned the Wise Persons' report, which report has been tabled and has been well accepted by the government and by the industry. We are at the present time working with the various provincial authorities to see whether in fact there can be a national securities regulator set up so that the very problems the hon. member identifies can in fact be addressed in a coherent way.

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North, MB]

The fact of the matter is, Mr. Speaker, years after the United States crackdown on corporate fraud, this government and these Liberals have done nothing and Canadians are concerned. Many pension plans banked on Nortel and Liberals owe these people an apology.

Three years ago it was Enron. Two years ago it was WorldCom. Nortel was next. The Liberals did nothing. The throne speech two years running promised a national securities commission. It never happened.

Again, this time for the Prime Minister, three Liberal finance ministers, including himself, have done nothing on corporate accounting scams. Why?

[John McKay, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, in addition to the Wise Persons' report and the work that has been done on that to date, the minister introduced Bill C-13 on September 15, which in fact deals with the very issues raised by the member, namely, corporate fraud. I am sure that we will therefore enjoy the hon. member's support as that bill proceeds through the House.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Diane Ablonczy, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, information is leaking out that the Prime Minister and his office knew months ago that the immigration minister abused her power. The Prime Minister knew she had unfairly fast-tracked one of her campaign workers for citizenship. The Prime Minister knew her campaign staff let an admitted deportation dodger come and go without reporting him to police.

This is a serious matter and the Prime Minister must not be evasive. When did his office know about these improprieties? When?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as I have already said, my office heard at some time during the summer months. Inquiries were made of the minister's office. Assurances were received that in fact these allegations were unfounded. Again, the reason we have an independent Ethics Commissioner is so these kinds of matters can be referred, and it is the minister herself who referred it to the Ethics Ccommissioner.

[Diane Ablonczy, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister must know that there are some very serious questions being asked about the actions of his minister, very serious questions, showing that her actions were in fact problematical. A lot of people are now questioning whether our system is fair or whether it is being abused by those in power.

I ask the Prime Minister, did he know about the questionable conduct of his minister before he reappointed her to cabinet?

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

Mr. Speaker, I stand here as a very proud Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to defend all of my decisions. All of the decisions that I have done have been based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

I have to say that it clearly saddens me to see members opposite basing their comments on pure hypocrisy and discrimination. How dare they judge a person's lifestyle and suggest that they are less worthy. Let me ask the hon. member the question. Would they be asking the same question if it was a doctor or a lawyer?

[Rahim Jaffer, Conservative, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, at the time of the election, the Prime Minister's Office had concerns about suspicious operations in York West. Worrying information about the issuance of immigration permits reached the ears of a certain Scott Reid.

Did the Prime Minister know about this before or after confirming the appointment of minister?

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

Mr. Speaker, the issue of immigration in Canada is extremely important. It is fundamentally about human beings who want to come to Canada, who want to live in Canada and who want to help us build this great country. No matter who these people are, they all are deserving of humanitarian and compassionate consideration.

[Rahim Jaffer, Conservative, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the immigration minister continues to be stripped of her credibility.

Yesterday she was asked a very specific question regarding her Ottawa political staff travelling to her riding and working on her election campaign. This staff person charged $5,900 to the taxpayers for hotels, meals and travel. When asked if this person worked on her political campaign, the minister changed the subject.

I will ask the minister again. Did the political staffer from Ottawa work on her campaign, yes or no?

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

Mr. Speaker, I said this yesterday and I repeat it today. All of my expenses regarding anything from my office are under Treasury Board guidelines and we follow everything every inch of the way.

Agriculture

[Denise Poirier-Rivard, Bloc, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the federal government should be ashamed of the way it is treating farmers who are currently going through a catastrophic situation. They are not only victims of a crisis that is not their fault, but they are at the mercy of the limited number of slaughterhouses that can set the price of beef as they wish.

In light of this growing problem, what is the government waiting for to increase its support for victims of the mad cow crisis?

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

Mr. Speaker, specifically for the province that the hon. member represents we have been able to provide assistance from our business risk management envelope of some $366 million. In addition to that, and the member points out quite rightly the need to create slaughter capacity, on September 10 we announced initiatives that will assist in developing that slaughter capacity, including in the province of Quebec.

[Denise Poirier-Rivard, Bloc, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the problem is so serious that the rate of suicides among farmers is high, reportedly. Some are starving, while others have exhausted their life savings and are facing bankruptcy. Farmers are fed up with empty speeches. They are waiting for real solutions to this tragic situation.

What is the government waiting for to allocate part of its huge surplus to help the farmers?

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

Mr. Speaker, clearly the government is not waiting. That is why $366 million has been advanced to producers in Quebec. It is why on September 10 we did announce a program to increase slaughter capacity.

As I have mentioned to the member on a number of occasions, and to others, we are continuing to work specifically on the issue of dairy and on the issue of cull cows and how we need to address that.

[Roger Gaudet, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on September 23, the president of the UPA criticized the federal government's centralizing attitude in the mad cow situation. Laurent Pellerin said that the federal government's five aid packages are not geared to the reality in Quebec.

What is the minister waiting for to recognize the urgent need to help the dairy and cattle farmers in Quebec?

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

Mr. Speaker, that is not entirely accurate, because there is a portion of the industry in Quebec, the cattle industry, that operates much like it does in the rest of the country. In that respect we provided assistance, and as I said, in the province of Quebec, some $366 million.

In addition to that, though, there are issues that are in Quebec and in other provinces in terms of dairy. This is something that I have indicated we are working very closely on with a number of producer groups, including with the provinces, to deal specifically with that issue.

[Roger Gaudet, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it was Mr. Pellerin who said that. So far the government has delivered five different aid packages to try to alleviate the impact of the crisis. The five packages do not reflect the reality in Quebec.

What is the minister waiting for to announce a package that properly covers all the farmers in Quebec?

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

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that those programs do not ignore Quebec. Our CAIS program for 2003 was $90 million. For 2004 it advances to $102 million. For the cull animal program, it is almost $18 million. Under the transitional industry support program, it is $93 million, and that does not count the money we will be putting into new slaughter capacity.

As I suggested to the hon. member earlier, we are working with the industry on the issue of the dairy industry and the particular challenges it faces in respect of BSE.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Monte Solberg, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I do not think the immigration minister understands how serious this situation is. We have asked some very straightforward questions about whether or not her ministerial staff did political work during the election campaign. She steadfastly refuses to answer straightforward questions, which perhaps speaks volumes.

Will the minister answer the question? Did her staff do political work during the campaign? If she will not answer, will she step aside until the ethics commissioner finishes his investigation?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, I asked the ethics commissioner to review the particulars of the case and report back. I will gladly share that report with the House when it is done.

[Monte Solberg, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, this is question period. We have a right to ask questions about things that are of vital interest to the Canadian public and the minister has an obligation to answer.

My question once again is, did the minister's ministerial staff do political work during the election campaign? This is a very simple question. Does she not feel any obligation to the Canadian public at all to tell them the honest truth about what happened in that situation?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated before, I conform with all of the Treasury Board guidelines, and I have to tell the House that I take great pride in the job that I do. I think all members on that side of the House know that when they turn around and ask for assistance I have always been able to help them on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

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

Again, Mr. Speaker, my question is for the immigration minister. Again the minister is not answering the question. Very simply, did the minister have a political staffer working on her campaign?

The minister refuses to answer questions and defers behind the ethics commissioner. By her own admission she has asked the ethics commissioner to rule only on whether she interfered with an immigration case, not on whether or not her political staffers worked on her campaign. Will the minister step aside until this question is answered in the House?