Debates of Dec. 14th, 2004

Fisheries and Oceans

[John Cummins, Conservative, Delta—Richmond East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Liberal hack and failed judge Brian Williams has been appointed to chair an inquiry into the Fraser River sockeye disaster. The commercial fishing industry withdrew from the inquiry in protest due to his bias.

Chief Justice Williams lost his authority to decide resource and aboriginal cases due to his bias. The health minister appointed him to head an inquiry, but he was forced to resign because of his bias. He is a donor and adviser to an advocacy group that sought to shut down commercial and recreational fisheries on the Fraser, another bias.

When will the minister give up on Williams and establish the judicial inquiry sought by fishermen?

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, it is really beneath the hon. member to attack this particular gentleman who was a former chief justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, a distinguished British Columbian, and a distinguished Canadian.

It really is beneath that party. It is not surprising that it would want to besmirch the reputation of a judiciary in this country. Those members do not respect the Charter of Rights. They do not respect the courts. That is their nature.

National Defence

[Gary Schellenberger, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, during the last election campaign the Prime Minister promised that 5,000 full time soldiers would be added to the forces. Recent reports suggest that this will take five years to achieve. My constituents are telling me they want to see us make this Parliament work. Despite our best efforts the Prime Minister's inaction is making it very difficult.

When can I tell my constituents that the Prime Minister has kept his word, and our brave men and women serving in Canada's armed forces will get the reinforcements they were promised?

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, we heard the Prime Minister in the House just now speak to this very issue. He pointed out that he made this promise which will require substantial assets in the budget. The Prime Minister has said that they are coming. We are preparing for this.

The evidence given the other day before the committee made it clear that the armed forces are preparing to do this in a way in which they can absorb, train and put these new resources to the benefit of Canada, the benefit of Canadians, and the benefit of our foreign policy. We will have a stronger Canadian Forces. We are proud of what we are doing.

[Daryl Kramp, Conservative, Prince Edward—Hastings, ON]

Mr. Speaker, our military men and women place their lives on the line every day for this country. I believe they deserve a more truthful answer than that.

Not only has the government neglected to recruit the 5,000 new troops which it promised in the last election, but it has no plans to house them, no capacity to train them, and no equipment to provide them. Our military men and women cannot wait five more years.

Is this just another example of a broken Liberal promise? Why does the Prime Minister not increase the defence budget today?

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

I will rely on you, Mr. Speaker, to determine whether it is correct parliamentary procedure for the hon. member to suggest that I was not telling the truth in my answer.

However, if I have to put up the word of the Prime Minister and what he has achieved for the country in terms of turning the country around, giving us a strong budget to enable us to deliver for our armed services, I will bet on the Prime Minister and this government any time of the day.

Textile and Clothing Industry

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the apparel and textile sectors have seen a huge shift of employment toward countries that use the worst forms of exploitation such as child labour, forced labour, and the total denial of workers rights. This constitutes true social dumping.

Does the government realize that by refusing to ratify the fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organization, which prohibits the worst forms of exploitation, it loses any ability to exert pressure to put an end to these practices?

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

Mr. Speaker, this country has acknowledged the international protocol with regard to child labour. In fact, we have some of the best labour practices in the world. We share them with the rest of the world. We will ensure that we abide by them and promote them around the world.

[Pierre Paquette, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we cannot accept a liberalization that will end up reducing working conditions here and elsewhere to the lowest common denominator.

In future international agreements, does Canada intend to demand the respect of human rights as a condition of the agreement, for instance agreements on the textile industry? As things stand, workers on the other side are denied human rights and workers on this side, lose their jobs.

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member will know that when this country enters into free trade agreements, it does two other important things: an environmental side agreement and a labour agreement. We will continue to do that when we enter into free trade agreements with other partners in the world.

Firearms Program

[Brian Jean, Conservative, Athabasca, AB]

Mr. Speaker, while in Whitehorse in May 2003 the Prime Minister stated that the federal gun registry overrun represented one of the worst examples of governments run amok. A year ago the Prime Minister announced that his new expenditure review committee would examine it.

This committee failed the gun registry on all seven tests that the Prime Minister devised to measure cost effectiveness. Not only is this gun registry blowing another $119 million this year but the government now promises that it will not be ready until 2008.

Why is the Prime Minister pouring millions of good money after bad money--

[The Speaker]

The hon. Deputy Prime Minister.

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

Mr. Speaker, I do not know where the hon. member gets the notion that the gun control program is not ready. Of course it is ready. We have registered over seven million guns and millions of people are licensed. Over three million police inquiries have been made to the Canadian firearms information system. This program is not only ready, it has been up and running for some years now.

Taxation

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

Mr. Speaker, last week I asked the Minister of National Revenue about the Prime Minister's election promise to help the struggling former employees of JDS Uniphase. He advised that his department was seized of the file and it was working on it. It has been over six months since the Prime Minister promised those people, personally, that he would fix the problem. In February this file will be four years old.

Will the Prime Minister stop dithering? Will he tell his minister to fix this problem right now before the end of the year? Will he help these people, yes or no?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to single out my colleague, the member for Esquimalt--Juan de Fuca, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence, for his great work in this area. It is in no small measure due to his efforts that my department and the Department of Finance are really seized of this matter as we speak.

Tourism Industry

[David Smith, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last week, the Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada pledged to find a solution in the very short term for workers in the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean tourism industry, which is so important to Quebec federal Liberal members. Where do we stand?

[Jacques Saada, Liberal, Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec and Minister responsible for the Francophonie]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to announce that seasonal workers in the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean tourism industry will be able to benefit from the program extending the tourism seasons until March 31, 2005. The initiative taken by Canada Economic Development to help the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean tourism industry is not an income support measure, but it follows up on the support already provided to ATR, the regional tourism association, which works to support tourism promotion in foreign markets. The efforts made by ATR now enable us to take another step to consolidate the businesses involved. This exceptional short term measure will benefit tourism industry workers in the region.

Foreign Affairs

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Grey—Bruce—Owen Sound, ON]

Mr. Speaker, a 47 year old man, who is the father of two and a graduate of Queen's University, is being held in a Libyan prison after receiving a life sentence in 1998 for helping a group that works toward democratic change in Libya, which is under military dictatorship. According to Amnesty International, Libya's human rights record is horrendous, with reports of torture, death in custody and other punishments on political grounds.

Will the Prime Minister be raising this issue with Moammar Gadhafi when he visits Tripoli later this month?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, whenever he travels abroad, the Prime Minister is always concerned about the status of Canadian citizens.

The Prime Minister uses every opportunity he has to promote human rights on every one of his trips, and I am confident that he will do the same thing when he visits Libya.

China

[Rob Anders, Conservative, Calgary West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, three more Chinese intellectuals were thrown in jail for being critical of that government. This is part of a widespread campaign to silence opposition. Forcing political prisoners to work in government-run mines, destroying the Tibetan nation and jailing legitimate dissent is business as usual in communist China.

This repressive regime gets away with these human rights abuses because leaders like the Prime Minister only pay lip service to human rights and refuse to take action. Why is the Prime Minister rewarding this despotic nation with a full state visit?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely obvious that the Prime Minister cares very much for human rights everywhere around the world. He will use the opportunity when he visits China to promote human rights, but we have a responsibility for all Canadians, and it is to engage with China. China is a very important partner of the international community. It is now a member of the World Trade Organization.

Opportunities are there, and our Prime Minister is promoting Canadian interests when he does these things. We will promote human rights in China and everywhere else.

Textile and Clothing Industry

[Louise Thibault, Bloc, Rimouski—Témiscouata, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Carpet Institute is greatly concerned that the House of Commons apparently included in the call for tenders to replace the rug in this chamber requirements which effectively exclude any Canadian business.

Given the very difficult times the textile industry is going through, could the Minister of Public Works tell us how he justifies his department systematically excluding Canadian carpet manufacturers, when at least two of them, more specifically Quebec based manufacturers, would be able to carry the contract out adequately?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Board of Internal Economy of the House of Commons has been seized of this matter and is currently considering all the options. No decision has been made regarding the carpet of the House. Hopefully, we will some day have a new carpet, which will be green and be made in Canada.

Justice

[Marc Godbout, Liberal, Ottawa—Orléans, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. It concerns the very important subject of trafficking of children.

It was brought to my attention that Canada has not yet ratified the United Nations optional protocol to the convention on the rights of the child and the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

What will the Government of Canada do to address this important question, and thus better protect the rights of children, both domestically and internationally?

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the protection of children against all forms of sexual exploitation, including child pornography, is a priority of the government. It was reflected in the first piece of legislation, Bill C-2, introduced in this Parliament. In the Speech from the Throne, we announced that we would take steps regarding the trafficking in children.

We have signed the optional protocol. We are now consulting with the provinces with a view to securing ratification as soon as possible.