Debates of Oct. 21st, 2005

National Security

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

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I reject the entire premise of the hon. member's question.

Having said that, he has raised an important question around lawful access. As everyone knows, we have had wiretap legislation in this country for years, as have other countries. What we need to do is update that wiretap legislation to take into account the fact that we need to intercept communications in relation to new methods of communications. It may be a BlackBerry; it may be the Internet; it may be a cellphone.

In fact, let me inform the hon. member that other countries have been working on this challenge around law enforcement and we—

[The Deputy Speaker]

The hon. member for Ottawa Centre.

[Ed Broadbent, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Yes, Mr. Speaker, and other countries have violated human security as well.

My next question pertains to what Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and former distinguished member of the Canadian Supreme Court said yesterday. She said, “there are no circumstances that can ever justify torture”.

Does the minister agree, and if so, will she categorically assert that no Canadian will be sent again from our country to a country that indulges in torture?

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

Mr. Speaker, I can reassure the hon. member that we are in complete compliance with both international and domestic law, the domestic law as defined by the Supreme Court of Canada in the Suresh case. I can reassure the hon. member that we intend to continue to be in compliance with both international law and the domestic law of this country as defined by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Lobbyists

[Bev Oda, Conservative, Clarington—Scugog—Uxbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Richard Mahoney is a friend of the Prime Minister. He engaged in lobbying his friend without registering. He was lobbying in Regina with the Liberal caucus in August. He was lobbying at the Prime Minister's cocktail party at 24 Sussex in September, but Richard Mahoney did not register until October 4 after winning a favourable decision for his client.

Is the Minister of Industry directing the lobbyist registrar to investigate Richard Mahoney?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the registrar administers the act in a completely independent manner. The registrar seeks no advice from any minister in the Government of Canada. If the registrar has reason to believe that there has been a contravention, he will take the appropriate steps to ensure that the law is enforced.

[Bev Oda, Conservative, Clarington—Scugog—Uxbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I think Canadians are not satisfied because the facts are that Richard Mahoney is a close friend of the Prime Minister. Richard Mahoney was in Regina with the entire Liberal caucus in August. Richard Mahoney was at the Prime Minister's cocktail party and two days later the government ruled in favour of Richard Mahoney's clients.

Friends of the Prime Minister can register a month after winning. The facts demand an investigation. The Conservative Party, the opposition, demand that the lobbyist registrar investigate the illegal activities of Richard Mahoney.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has obviously put some allegations on the floor of the House.

I would emphasize once again that the registrar is a completely independent officer. The registrar does not take instruction from the government and I am sure that the hon. member would not wish it to be otherwise.

Government Contracts

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Public Works Canada first awarded and then cancelled two contracts with Abotech, a company owned by a Liberal MP's wife.

Can the minister explain why these contracts were cancelled and what the irregularities identified by the KPMG consultants were?

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, we decided to cancel these contracts as part of an overall review as we strengthen governance and improve competition and value for tax dollars. It is important to note that there was no issue with the services being provided, and in fact, that value was received for tax dollars.

Justice

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

Mr. Speaker, internal documents show that there is once again political interference by the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness on the establishment of a DNA missing persons index. The minister established a public consultation last spring and only through access to information documents we now learn that the most substantive part of the discussion was deleted and replaced with the comment from the minister's office, “the question will not arise because we won't let it”.

Why is the minister wasting everyone's time and money when she has already made up her mind in advance?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am not exactly sure that I know what the hon. member is referring to, but let me reassure the hon. member that when it comes to DNA and the creation of the DNA data bank, this is a very serious matter of law enforcement. We are consulting widely in relation to amendments to that DNA data bank to ensure that it is as complete and useful as possible as an instrument or tool of law enforcement in this country as the law permits.

Taxation

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, according to the Globe and Mail , two of the independent forecasters, including the Conference Board, appearing before the Standing Committee on Finance next week, estimate the federal government surplus to be over $10 billion.

Does the minister intend to use the enormous surplus to address the fiscal imbalance, by increasing transfers for post-secondary education, as students have been asking for, and by substantially improving the equalization program?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the government has already announced in the course of our last two budgets that we are not only taking existing transfer payments to an all-time record level, which they are now at, but over the course of the next decade, we have already indicated the resources that will be added to those transfer payments, totalling in excess of $100 billion.

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the enormous surplus shows, once again, that the federal government takes in more revenue than it needs to meet the obligations under its jurisdiction.

Does the Minister of Finance agree that it is high time to sit down with Quebec and the provinces in order to review the equalization program and negotiate a new division of the tax fields in order to correct the fiscal imbalance once and for all?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, a review of equalization is already under way. I expect to receive a report on that during the course of this coming winter.

I would also point out that in addition to increasing transfer payments to the provinces by $100 billion, we have also reduced the tax burden on Canadians by $100 billion.

If the provinces believe that they need more taxes, we have provided them some room that they could occupy, if they think that is the right thing to do.

Oil Industry

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Rivière-Du-Loup—Montmagny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the oil companies are raking in the profits. In the third quarter alone, from July to September, Esso expects earnings of $652 million, up 20%. Petro-Canada's estimated earnings are $652 million, up 59%, and Shell's $516 million, up 14%.

Will the government finally assume its responsibilities and impose a minimum $500 million surtax on the oil companies to help consumers, who were left out of Bill C-66 and are struggling with the latest price hike, get through this crisis?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I do not believe that the solution to energy issues at the present time lies in increasing taxation.

I would point out to the hon. gentleman that one of the most severe price spikes actually occurs in the field of natural gas.

If he is going to take his logic as embedded in his question, is he arguing for a major federal tax increase on Gaz Métropolitain?

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Rivière-Du-Loup—Montmagny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there has been a transfer of wealth from the pockets of taxpayers, to the pockets of those who control our economy, to the oil companies. It is the government's duty to act.

How can the government sit idly by, given the devastating effects of the spike in gas prices, without asking the oil companies to do their share? It is unacceptable for the government to act like this.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, about a week ago we announced a package of relief measures totalling some $2.4 billion. They include not only payments to reduce the burden on our most vulnerable citizens, but also a very important investment of $1.8 billion in energy efficiency and energy conservation that will make it possible for every Canadian family to save, if they take advantage of the programs, something on average in the range of $400 to $500 not just this year but every year, year after year after year into the future. That is good public policy.

Justice

[Myron Thompson, Conservative, Wild Rose, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians, including myself, are really sick and tired of the law constantly protecting the rights of predators while not considering the rights of victims, especially children. A 14-year-old and a 15-year-old are still children.

The Prime Minister likes to say that Liberal values are Canadian values. I want to ask him, how many Canadians feel their values include adult men having sex with 14-year-old girls?

[Paul MacKlin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, clearly, we are well aware that the victims of crime do have concerns about the criminal justice system being in balance. We know that the victims question the amount of money that is spent to train and rehabilitate those who are incarcerated.

The reality is the primary goal that most victims will agree with us on is that they never want to be a victim again, and the government agrees with this goal.

Health

[Carol Skelton, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the health minister rises daily in the House to talk about our pandemic preparedness, while the public health minister issues dire warnings.

The health minister brags that we have Tamiflu pills for 2.5 million of our population, less than 10% of the population. European countries have 20% and 25% of their population covered.

Why is the Liberal government not preparing to protect more than 10% of our population?

[Robert Thibault, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, we have been recognized by the World Health Organization and many countries internationally, or all countries internationally, as being the most advanced in this area of preparation.

What is the right level of one substance as opposed to another that we should have? We work with experts across Canada and internationally to inform us on that.

An organization will be making a recommendation to government within the next couple of weeks. Perhaps the recommendation will be to increase the avian Tamiflu or others.

Next week the Minister of Health is hosting an international conference because this requires an international answer, and Canada will play the lead.

National Defence

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it has been over three years since the crash of a CH146 Griffon helicopter claimed the lives of two pilots.

Why is the minister expanding the use of the Griffons for search and rescue missions before the final report on rescue 420 has been publicly released?