Debates of Feb. 3rd, 2004

Canada Steamship Lines

[Monte Solberg, Canadian Alliance, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I did not expect such a colossal cop-out from the Prime Minister on his first day in the House.

Let us talk specifically about Lansdowne Technologies. Lansdowne was partly owned by the Prime Minister and received 52% of the government contracts that went to CSL companies, yet coincidentally it was left out of the blind management agreement four years running, an agreement that the Prime Minister declared was a true accounting of his assets.

Why should Canadians believe their government when they cannot even believe the Prime Minister?

[Jacques Saada, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister responsible for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely amazing. When the Prime Minister decided to follow the code of ethics and the rule of ethics applying to ministers and therefore had a blind trust to deal with this issue, they wanted the Prime Minister to know what was in the blind trust. Either he was distanced from it or he was not. In this case he was distanced from the blind trust.

Social Programs

[Suzanne Tremblay, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette-Et-La Mitis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in the matter of parental leave, the Quebec Court of Appeal handed down its ruling, confirming that this was indeed an exclusive jurisdiction of the Quebec government.

Given that thousands of Quebec families are still waiting for the implementation of the Quebec parental leave program, which is more comprehensive and more generous than the federal one, will the Prime Minister face the facts and state today, in this House, that he will not appeal this decision and that he agrees to give to the Quebec government the funds for setting up its own program?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, as you know, the Prime Minister had the opportunity to discuss this issue with the Premier of Quebec on Friday, during the federal-provincial conference of first ministers. The Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development continues to examine, along with the Attorney General of Canada, the ruling to determine whether we should appeal it or not.

However, the Prime Minister has already made it very clear that he is fully prepared to see our government sit down with the Quebec government to discuss the parental leave program.

[Suzanne Tremblay, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette-Et-La Mitis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, does the Prime Minister realize that, because of his government's stubbornness, Quebec families are losing millions of dollars, simply because the federal government refuses to admit that it is interfering in an area in which it has no business?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Quebecois may still want to resort to confrontation in this House. What we want is cooperation with the Quebec government.

Last Friday, the Prime Minister of Canada offered to sit down with the Premier of Quebec and take a look at the future of parental leave.

National Defence

[Claude Bachand, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government announced in the throne speech that it had undertaken an integrated review of its international policies, the results of which will not be made public until the fall.

How can the government explain that, at the same time that a study on foreign policy is being carried out, the results of which will not be made public until the fall, it is already negotiating Canada's participation in President Bush's missile defence shield?

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I think all the members of this House are well aware that the world is not waiting for the results of our reviews. The Prime Minister said that we are going to consider how to give Canada a stronger world presence, and we will. However, at the same time, we must act in the best interests of Canadians.

As a result, the Minister of National Defence and I are examining the best way to protect Canadians. Naturally, we are holding discussions with our American colleagues on this.

[Claude Bachand, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's Minister of National Defence, who supported a war in Iraq, wrote last month to the American Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld, to say that he was prepared to negotiate Canada's participation in the missile defence shield and even split the costs.

Since the throne speech makes no mention of the missile defence shield, are we to understand that this silence confirms, for all practical purposes, the government's unequivocal commitment to President Bush's project?

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the member knows very well that discussions are under way. My colleague, the Minister of National Defence, wrote a letter to Mr. Rumsfeld. We must now participate in the discussions. We have to wait to see what the outcome will be.

The Government of Canada always acts in the interests of Canadians and their safety, and determines the best way to proceed for Canada. We would never agree to anything that would threaten our sovereignty or undermine our control over our own destiny. That is what we are doing. That is the spirit in which we will conduct all our negotiations.

Canada Steamship Lines

[Monte Solberg, Canadian Alliance, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, administrative errors, typos, where will it all end?

I asked a relatively simple question a few months ago and I would like an answer to it. There is still no clear answer.

The government's actions cast doubt on the answers to all previous Order Paper questions.

I want to know whether or not there is more money to be added to the $161 million figure in contracts and grants received by Canada Steamship Lines and its subsidiaries.

Will the government House leader give us the final definitive figure as to how much money the Prime Minister's companies have received? How much money?

[Jacques Saada, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister responsible for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, after my colleague raised the question on October 22, 2003, a process was begun to compile all the figures available to us.

As I explained, government documents are kept for six years. We went back eleven years. I checked all the documents available to me and I was assured by those who worked on compiling these figures that they were complete and accurate and a true reflection of reality.

Canadian Wheat Board

[Monte Solberg, Canadian Alliance, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, maybe the Prime Minister claims that he is working with a blind trust, but Canadians do not have blind trust in the answers coming from the government.

The information that we have received from the government is not accurate. We know of contracts that do not jibe with the report that the House leader has given us.

The Prime Minister is asking, where? I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, through grants with CIDA. I can tell the House that we have not received information from the Canadian Wheat Board regarding contracts that came through the Canadian Wheat Board.

We want a complete answer, not a whitewash like we are--

[The Speaker]

The hon. government House leader.

[Jacques Saada, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister responsible for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, the Wheat Board is an organization which must keep its own rates confidential for competition purposes. It has published all the volumes. All the information provided to us by the Wheat Board is part of the document that we have put on my website last January 28.

Municipalities

[James Moore, Canadian Alliance, Port Moody—Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, last year the federal government brought in nearly $7 billion in gas tax revenues, $4.7 billion in excise taxes, and $2.2 billion in GST on the fuel and on the excise taxes themselves.

The GST scheme that the Prime Minister announced yesterday will give $580 million to cities which is less than 8% of the gas tax revenues that the government will collect from drivers in municipalities across the country.

Does the Prime Minister really believe that taking $1 out of the pocket of taxpayers and giving back 8¢ is a new deal for cities? Is he really proud of that?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, it is a very substantial down payment

I quote the President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, “It's a big shining light at the end of the tunnel”. I quote David Miller, the Mayor of Toronto, “This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”. I quote Mayor Pat Fiacco of Regina, “It's exactly what we asked for”. I could quote Bob Chiarelli of Ottawa, Gérald Tremblay of Montreal, Glen Murray of Winnipeg, Gilles Vaillancourt of Laval, and Hazel MacCallion of Mississauga. What more does the hon. member want?

[James Moore, Canadian Alliance, Port Moody—Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, all that list proves is that a starving man will be thankful for just a few crumbs from the Liberal government.

The Minister of Finance asked me, what more do we want? We want the Prime Minister, who preached to Canadians about ending a democratic deficit, to end the democratic deficit.

He ran for the office of Prime Minister saying that he was going to give more money to municipalities. He is giving them 8¢ on the dollar. He promised that he was going to end the democratic deficit and respect the wishes of the House.

The House voted in October to give substantive gas tax dollars back to municipalities. Why is the Prime Minister betraying the very mandate that got him his office of--

[The Speaker]

The hon. Minister of Finance.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, there is absolutely no betrayal. In fact, exactly the opposite.

We have made a very substantial down payment on the commitments that were made over 10 years. That down payment will add up to $7 billion.

On top of that, we are prepared to sit down, and talk to the provinces and the municipalities about how to properly deal with the fuel tax or to find some other mechanism that accomplishes the objectives that the municipalities of this country have set. We have said that city hall will have a place at the national table.

The Environment

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Bras D'Or—Cape Breton, NS]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday's throne speech clearly stated to the people of Cape Breton, and in particular the people of Whitney Pier, that the federal government remains committed to the cleanup of the Sydney tar ponds.

The people of this area understand the complexity of the problem and they have shown incredible patience over the years while JAG developed and researched potential cleanup technologies.

My question is for the Minister of the Environment. Now that these technologies have been brought forward and the federal government has reaffirmed its commitment to the cleanup, when will the cleanup begin?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, on the basis of the commitment yesterday in the throne speech, we can begin to negotiate with the Province of Nova Scotia which has the lead responsibility here, but I would like to pay tribute to the work done by the two members from Cape Breton in the Liberal Party.

I find these two members are a clear example of what was said today by the Prime Minister when he said the government believes in the responsibility of private members to represent their constituents as they see fit. These two have done so with distinction and I congratulate them.

Health

[Svend Robinson, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

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

Recently, Dr. Brian Day, who is the head of the biggest private for profit surgery clinic in British Columbia, bragged that the Prime Minister, at a $1,000 a plate dinner, had said that he was wide open to experimentation in Canada's health care system. Now, the Prime Minister has hired his top lobbyist, Bruce Young, as part of his B.C. campaign team.

I want to ask the Prime Minister, will he now tell Canadians clearly that he will put a stop to the growth of private for profit health care in Canada and will he commit to publicly delivered and publicly funded health care in Canada?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister was absolutely clear this morning. Our government remains absolutely committed to the Canada Health Act and its five principles. We are committed to it and we will continue to work jointly with the provinces to implement each and every one of them.

[Svend Robinson, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

Mr. Speaker, no wonder Gordon Campbell is thrilled with this privatizing Prime Minister.

I have a supplementary question. There was not a word in the Speech from the Throne on the Romanow recommendations and a whole range of areas. There was not a word on home care, pharmacare, the national drug agency and diagnostic services.

I want to ask this Prime Minister, is he seriously committed to the Romanow recommendations, and instead of shovelling bucks to his corporate buddies, will he put some money into home care and pharmacare in this country?