House of Commons Hansard #23 of the 37th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was chair.

Topics

2 p.m.

The Speaker

As is our practice on Wednesday we will now sing O Canada, and we will be led by the hon. member for Saint John.

[Editor's Note: Members sang the national anthem]

Ernest George CottreauStatements By Members

2:05 p.m.

Liberal

Robert Thibault Liberal West Nova, NS

Mr. Speaker, on March 7, the riding of West Nova and Canada lost a respected family man, community member and parliamentarian.

A native of Wedgeport, Nova Scotia, Ernest George Cottreau had a distinguished career in education, business and politics.

Among his many accomplishments, Mr. Cottreau was owner and operator of Baker Motors, principal of Sainte-Anne-du-Ruisseau Consolidated School, and an active member of the Yarmouth community for many years.

A lifelong Liberal, Mr. Cottreau brought a keen interest and dedication to local and provincial politics, serving on various committees and associations.

Ernest Cottreau was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 1974, where he earned the respect of colleagues on both sides of the chamber.

It is with admiration that we remember the life and accomplishments of this great Canadian. Adieu, Senator Cottreau.

Canadian ForcesStatements By Members

2:05 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Elsie Wayne Progressive Conservative Saint John, NB

Mr. Speaker, earlier this week the Canadian Forces ombudsman reported that the government had insisted that 10 soldiers pay back close to $30,000 they had received in meal allowances.

We have now learned that the Department of National Defence was swindled out of $90 million by phony invoices. Although an investigation is currently ongoing, sources suggest the DND paid the money to a computer contract for goods and services it never received.

The $90 million is almost as much as was blown in the $100 million sponsorship scandal uncovered by the Auditor General.

How is it that the government can pinch pennies when it comes to meal allowances for soldiers but it cannot keep track of $90 million worth of computer services? How can $90 million disappear into a black hole, when our military is strapped for cash?

How can this government account for the fact that it is ruthless in seizing $30,000 from soldiers but it cannot seem to get $90 million from contractors who produced nothing for DND?

International Women's DayStatements By Members

2:05 p.m.

Liberal

Sophia Leung Liberal Vancouver Kingsway, BC

Mr. Speaker, Canadians celebrated International Women's Day on March 8. This day was established by the United Nations in 1977 to recognize the achievements of women.

This year the Government of Canada has decided on the theme of “She's on a Role”. Our government is promoting a full week of activities to celebrate women's leadership from Vancouver to St. John's. This is an important week for all Canadians to recognize the achievements of women for their strong leadership in Canada.

However we also learned from a recent report of the Canadian Council of Social Development that 10.5% of immigrant women of visible minority have experienced emotional and financial mistreatment in Canada. These women victims usually lack personal and social support in a new country.

Yorktown Family Services Humanitarian AwardStatements By Members

2:05 p.m.

Liberal

Sarmite Bulte Liberal Parkdale—High Park, ON

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Charlie Coffey, who on March 2, 2004, was honoured in Toronto as the recipient of the 2004 Yorktown Family Services Humanitarian Award. This award recognizes and celebrates the outstanding contributions and dedication by an individual to improving the lives of people in the community.

While in his daily job Charlie Coffey leads government relations and community affairs for RBC Financial Group, throughout his career he has made community leadership a priority. He especially enjoys interacting with young people, entrepreneurs and aboriginal peoples.

His commitments include: co-chair, Commission on Early Learning and Child Care for the City of Toronto; co-chair, Champions; governor of the Canadian Council to Promote Equality and Respect and the Aboriginal Human Resource Development Council of Canada.

In the past, Charlie has been named as an honorary chief for his support of first nations. As well, he has received the Canadian Women's International Business Initiative Award.

I ask everyone to join me in congratulating Mr. Coffey.

International DevelopmentStatements By Members

2:10 p.m.

Liberal

Don Boudria Liberal Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Secretary General of the United Nations, His Excellency Kofi Annan, gave a speech to this Parliament in which he reminded us of the important role Canada has played and continues to play within the UN.

He reminded us of the millennium development goals, including substantial poverty reduction by 2015, as well as the NPAD, a Canadian initiative adopted at the Kananaskis Summit of the G-8. We must, however, pick up the pace in international development. He used the example of the need to provide more help to the neediest countries, such as Haiti.

As Chair of the Canadian section of the Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the Americas, I wholeheartedly support the comments of the Secretary General who asked that Canada, already on the right path, provide even more assistance to the people of Haiti in these most difficult times.

Sumas 2 Power ProjectStatements By Members

2:10 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

Grant McNally Canadian Alliance Dewdney—Alouette, BC

Mr. Speaker, residents of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia achieved a victory last week. The National Energy Board announced it will not allow the power lines needed for Sumas 2 energy plant just south of the Canadian border.

As an intervenor against SE2, I have heard from thousands of my constituents who oppose the project because it would spew 2.5 tonnes of pollutants per day into our already stressed air shed in the Fraser Valley.

Despite years and years of public appeals, personal interventions and questions in this House, the environment minister still has no understanding of the devastation that SE2 would cause for Fraser Valley residents. He has done nothing to oppose its plans. In fact, SE2 used his comments to support its air-polluting plant.

Thanks to my Conservative colleagues and the thousands and thousands of British Columbians who have fought this for years, together, we have achieved a victory in the battle for clean air in the Fraser Valley.

RAI InternationalStatements By Members

2:10 p.m.

Liberal

Yvon Charbonneau Liberal Anjou—Rivière-Des-Prairies, QC

Mr. Speaker, I would like to echo the demand by the Italian-speaking community in my riding and in other regions of Quebec—some 250,000 people—to have access to the Italian television network known as RAI International.

Italian television is accessible throughout the world, but not in Canada, because of an agreement with a Toronto company called Telelatino, which, it appears, holds the rights to broadcast a number of hours of RAI International programming. The Italian-speaking community is furious, and rightly so; the situation is currently before the CRTC.

During the CRTC consultation process, this request has received more than 344 favourable comments. Presentations in favour of RAI International have included a letter-writing campaign and a huge petition containing over 100,000 signatures.

I hope that common sense will prevail in this matter. As I have for months, I continue to support this legitimate request from the Italian-speaking community.

Atkins & FrèresStatements By Members

2:10 p.m.

Bloc

Jean-Yves Roy Bloc Matapédia—Matane, QC

Mr. Speaker, I want to pay tribute to Atkins & Frères, a company in my riding that recently won the national Renaud-Cyr award in the Artisan category.

This is a national merit award for the restaurant and food industry in recognition of a company that has made a remarkable contribution to Quebec gastronomy. The national merit awards are one of the five major events for the bio-food industry in Quebec.

Located in Mont-Louis, Atkins & Frères has built its reputation on its seafood products and traditional smoking processes, and has helped put the Gaspé Peninsula and the Lower St. Lawrence on the national gastronomic map.

This award is proof of the abundance of fine foods waiting to be discovered in the Gaspé Peninsula and the Lower St. Lawrence region.

I want to congratulate Atkins & Frères for winning this award and for helping make the bounties of our region better known.

CKCO TelevisionStatements By Members

2:10 p.m.

Liberal

Andrew Telegdi Liberal Kitchener—Waterloo, ON

Mr. Speaker, as the member of Parliament for Kitchener—Waterloo, it gives me great pleasure to recognize the 50th anniversary of CKCO Television, our local CTV station.

A pioneer in Canadian television, CKCO started its first broadcast on March 1, 1954. It was the third private television station on air in Canada. At that time there were only about 3,000 television sets owned by the 65,000 people in Kitchener—Waterloo.

Since those chaotic first days of live programming, CKCO has grown. It plays an integral part in keeping our community well informed and entertained.

CKCO provides the Waterloo region with up to the minute information on local sports and services, cultural, religious, ethnic and community events. It is a visual local media centre for all that is important and relevant to our lives.

I want to extend my congratulations to CKCO on its golden jubilee and best wishes.

Pictou Career Resource CentreStatements By Members

2:15 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Peter MacKay Progressive Conservative Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS

Mr. Speaker, I call on the federal government to reconsider its decision to allow the Pictou Career Resource Centre to close at the end of the month.

It is a grave misjudgment to close the Pictou Career Resource Centre, a critical resource in helping constituents secure gainful employment.

These services are being withdrawn from a region ranked among the top 39 Canadian centres to do business. Yet Pictou County workers are being denied services that would help them benefit from this strong business environment.

The services and resources offered at the centre are critical to encouraging people to take a proactive approach to their employment searches and to building a strong economy in that community.

The centre offers a range of services to help people become job ready: assistance with writing résumés and cover letters; effective job interview strategies; and the use of computers and online job banks.

Removing these resources and the valuable staff who deliver them is a real negative blow to local economic and skills development in Pictou County.

The human resource centre should remain open. I call upon the human resources minister to rescind and revisit these closure plans.

Status of WomenStatements By Members

2:15 p.m.

Liberal

Gurbax Malhi Liberal Bramalea—Gore—Malton—Springdale, ON

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada has undertaken many initiatives in recent years to address the social, economic and health aspects of women as individuals, paid workers and parents, reflecting its commitment to gender equality.

Economically speaking, the Government of Canada increased investment in the Canada child tax benefit to $9 billion by 2004. In the area of health, the Government of Canada launched Health Canada's women's health strategy. To contend with issues of violence, the Government of Canada committed $32 million annually to a national crime prevention initiative and $7 million annually to the family violence initiative.

There is still much work to be done. Yet, it is good to know that under the Government of Canada we are making great strides in areas of federal accomplishments toward equality for women, women's human rights, issues of violence against women, and economic well-being affecting women.

Canadian NationalStatements By Members

2:15 p.m.

NDP

Bill Blaikie NDP Winnipeg—Transcona, MB

Mr. Speaker, the strike at Canadian National is about many issues, but ultimately it is about the attitude of an American led management team that is contemptuous of its own workforce and Canadian values. This disrespect has taken a new and nasty turn in the community of Transcona where CN is now using the strike as cover for closing down the midway or street that runs through the CN shops, which has been used by the public since 1909.

I am told that yesterday a young man was arrested, handcuffed and charged for using the midway. Shame on CN and shame on the government for its indifference to the way that Hunter Harrison and his paramilitary managers are treating railroaders, strikebreaking with American imports and now abusing the people of Transcona.

A truly Canadian government would step in and tell CN to show more respect, open the midway, send the American scabs back where they came from and go to the table with a new and decent proposal.

HockeyStatements By Members

2:15 p.m.

Bloc

Caroline St-Hilaire Bloc Longueuil, QC

Mr. Speaker, the savage attack during Monday night's NHL game is reprehensible and proof that hockey truly does have a culture of violence. Checking by players is increasingly violent and only serves to further damage hockey's image.

What is worse, however, are the consequences that this can have on our young amateur players. How can they not identify with their idols and not attempt similar unjustified attacks?

Although the player responsible for the attack, Todd Bertuzzi, was suspended indefinitely and could face criminal charges, NHL executives will have to take the necessary measures to change this culture of gratuitous and retaliatory violence, which has no place on the ice or anywhere else. Given the seriousness of his actions, this player deserves a punishment that will serve as an example to others, thereby sending a clear message and putting a stop to this culture of violence before something worse happens.

Hockey needs to be played the way it used to be, with a real code of honour.

Academic SuccessStatements By Members

2:15 p.m.

Liberal

Diane St-Jacques Liberal Shefford, QC

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to be able to tell you about an absolutely exceptional Internet site that was created by citizens in the riding of Shefford. Jereussis.com is a virtual gateway to learning.

Its designers recognize that every student is unique and, with this site, give students an opportunity to develop that unique potential. Their mission is to encourage academic success by providing French-speaking secondary school students in Canada with an opportunity for better student-teacher interaction.

Their mandate: to optimize learning opportunities through an innovative concept of academic assistance through both virtual and real contact. This project was made possible by a grant from the Industry Canada SchoolNet program.

Congratulations to Micheline Émond and all her Jereussis.com team. They have understood that success builds confidence and self-esteem, and academic success means involvement and an upbeat attitude.

Street RacingStatements By Members

2:20 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

Chuck Cadman Canadian Alliance Surrey North, BC

Mr. Speaker, here we go again. Yesterday in Surrey, B.C. just before the evening rush hour, an 18-year-old lost control of his muscle car at an estimated speed of 140 kilometres per hour. He demolished a bus shelter, critically injuring a 71-year-old woman. Another car was spotted fleeing the scene, making it obvious to all concerned that this was yet another tragic result of a street race.

As warmer weather approaches, street racing incidents will likely increase and participants are confident they will not spend a day in jail even if they kill or injure. Nationally, insurance claims resulting from street racing more than doubled between 2000 and 2002. A message must be sent to the courts that these crimes are to be treated more seriously.

I urge all members to maintain support for Bill C-338, which the House passed and sent to the justice committee. It will make street racing an aggravating factor for sentencing. If we are really serious about deterring this irresponsible criminal activity, Bill C-338 must become law before the end of this Parliament.

Sponsorship ProgramOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Macleod Alberta

Canadian Alliance

Grant Hill Canadian AllianceLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister yesterday studiously avoided some straightforward questions so I am going to try again today.

In 1998 members of his cabinet met with Groupaction to discuss the Liberal ad scam. My question is pretty straightforward. Which ministers in his cabinet today were at that meeting?

Sponsorship ProgramOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

LaSalle—Émard Québec

Liberal

Paul Martin LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, the government has already indicated that upon receipt of a proper motion from the committee in question, all of that documentation will be available and all the information the hon. member seeks will be made available.

Sponsorship ProgramOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Macleod Alberta

Canadian Alliance

Grant Hill Canadian AllianceLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, it was not that tough to answer that question. I could ask it again but I suppose it would be a waste of time in question period. Let me try another angle on this question.

The Prime Minister appointed individuals to his cabinet not so long ago, in December, in fact. Was he aware that those individuals whom he appointed to this cabinet today were at that meeting chaired by Gagliano?

Sponsorship ProgramOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

LaSalle—Émard Québec

Liberal

Paul Martin LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member is asking, did I ask members of the cabinet if they attended every single meeting and checked all 300 meetings that might have been taken over the last little while, the answer is no.

What I did was to ask every single potential member of cabinet. They were asked by an independent group at the time that they became members of cabinet if they had anything that they wanted to declare that might have any reflection on their background. I also then put the question to the full cabinet. I did that this year. In both cases I am delighted to say that cabinet responded appropriately.

Sponsorship ProgramOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Macleod Alberta

Canadian Alliance

Grant Hill Canadian AllianceLeader of the Opposition

Once again, Mr. Speaker, there is no answer to this very straightforward question. Let us try again.

In 1996 the current Deputy Prime Minister was part of a Treasury Board meeting that discussed the forerunner of the sponsorship program. An audit had already warned of abuses. She okayed a scheme that increased the budget while removing all the reporting requirements. Once again, did the Prime Minister know about that when he brought her into his current cabinet?

Sponsorship ProgramOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Winnipeg South Manitoba

Liberal

Reg Alcock LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board

Mr. Speaker, there has been an enormous amount of discussion about this issue and the changes that took place in the oversight and the policies of the Treasury Board over time, some of which led to a reduction in comptrollership, which is one of the reasons the Prime Minister has been so insistent that we build a modern comptrollership program. It is one of the things he has tasked me with.

If the member has a specific allegation to make about somebody committing a criminal act or some wrongdoing, make it.

Sponsorship ProgramOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Peter MacKay Progressive Conservative Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS

Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister was in fact intimately involved with the various cabinet committees linked to the sponsorship scandal from the very beginning. She was in the loop and perhaps the tie that binds. In 1995, she was a member of the unity committee; in 1998, a member of the ad hoc committee on government communications; in 2001, an official member of the communications committee.

Will the Deputy Prime Minister admit that she was not only in the know but was in fact the common thread in the elimination of controls and safeguards and boosting up spending into the contract scam?

Sponsorship ProgramOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

LaSalle—Émard Québec

Liberal

Paul Martin LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is hitting new lows. That is sheer and absolute nonsense.

If the question is, was the Deputy Prime Minister an outstanding minister of energy, the answer is yes. If the question is, was she an outstanding Minister of Justice, the answer is yes. If the question is, was she an outstanding Minister of Health, the answer is yes. If the question is, is she an outstanding Deputy Prime Minister, the answer is yes.

Sponsorship ProgramOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Progressive Conservative

Peter MacKay Progressive Conservative Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS

Mr. Speaker, was the Prime Minister avoiding the question? Yes. Was the Deputy Prime Minister involved in this ad scam? Yes.