Debates of Nov. 18th, 2005

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

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

Mr. Speaker, I think I was absolutely plain yesterday, and I will repeat what I said. The police services agreement is very clear. Article 6 provides that it is the contracting province, territory or municipality that determines the number of RCMP officers they need in their jurisdiction and are prepared to fund. The RCMP has answered positively to every single request from provinces under contract policing. There are no outstanding requests.

Social Development

[Derek Lee, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in recent years the Government of Canada has made significant progress in lowering the so-called welfare wall, most notably for families with children through the national child benefit initiative. However, obstacles to work remain in the system, particularly for single parents who take low income jobs.

Could the Minister of Finance explain what the Government of Canada is doing to foster better paid work for low and modest income Canadians?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. gentleman is indeed right. The so-called welfare wall needs to come down before true economic opportunity can go up.

I was therefore very pleased on Monday in the fiscal update to announce our intention to work with provinces and territories to develop a new working income tax benefit that would help people in this situation keep more of the money they earn and encourage them to take those critically important steps toward employment and self-sufficiency.

The Government of Canada is prepared to invest $2.25 billion in this important innovation in social and tax policy.

Canadian Heritage

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

Mr. Speaker, our broadcasting system must serve all Canadians, including our multicultural communities. The heritage minister welcomed the CRTC's announcement to allow more foreign language services in Canada.

Pakistani Canadians are desperate for Pakistani T.V. The Portuguese community, including the 20,000 who wrote the commission over nine months ago, still wait. The application process was completed four months ago. Why the delay?

What will the minister do to get this and the 32 other foreign languages services, waiting for approval, to thousands of Canadians now?

[Liza Frulla, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Minister responsible for Status of Women]

Mr. Speaker, does the hon. member suggest I phone the president of the CRTC and tell him what to do?

National Revenue

[Betty Hinton, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson, BC]

Mr. Speaker, a recently retired constituent had a very interesting question for me to ask the Minister of National Revenue. Could the minister explain why the Government of Canada feels the need to charge a retiree tax on a going away gift presented by the company for his years of service?

Why does the government play Scrooge with a retiree? Are there plans afoot by the Liberal government to also charge Canadians a taxable benefit penalty on the Christmas gifts they exchange between one another this Christmas?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Minister of National Revenue, this obviously is a question of technical tax interpretation. I would be more than happy to take it under advisement and to provide the hon. member with a written explanation, including the rationale behind the tax policy.

Seniors

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, rather than interfering increasingly in areas belonging to Quebec and the provinces, the Minister of Finance should invest his huge surplus in areas under his own jurisdiction.

Why has the Minister of Finance not used his huge surplus to treat seniors fairly by paying them the billions of dollars it owes them in guaranteed income supplement benefits?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, a number of measures are before the House right now, brought forward by the government to assist senior citizens.

First, we propose to increase the GIS on both January 1, 2006 and January 1, 2007, assuming the House stays in session and does its business. Second, we have implemented an energy rebate program to help offset the high cost of energy for those who are in receipt of the GIS.

Again, if the House pays attention and passes the necessary legislation, we will make our best effort to ensure all eligible seniors get their money.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Mario Silva, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration or the Minister of Finance.

In the greater Toronto area, the construction industry is one of the most vital and active sectors of the economy. Within it there are thousands of undocumented workers. Labour unions and management recognize that without these workers, the industry would be unable to function. For over two years I have worked to bring a resolution to this issue.

In view of the importance of these undocumented workers to the economic health of our country, will the minister let us know what action is being taken to resolve the issue of undocumented workers?

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his concern. It is an ongoing expression of his desire to solve a problem that everybody recognizes must be dealt with. We are doing the very best we can to bring together all the government departments and agencies, some 11 of them, and the employers, the labour groups and the NGOs that are involved in the process of integration and settlement.

I compliment the Minister of Finance for having brought with the economic update a $1.3 billion contribution over the course of the next six years precisely for integration and settlement. It will allow people to come here and be productive, almost--

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Winnipeg Centre.

National Defence

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the Year of the Veteran is almost over. We have made reparations to aboriginal war veterans and to merchant marines, but there is a significant block of veterans who have still fallen through the cracks and those who were deemed never to have served because they did not fill out their discharge papers properly.

The minister's answer that they can come forward individually and be dealt with is not good enough. We need to reinstate their service records by order in council so when they apply, there is a record of them having served.

Will he not agree to give justice to this last group of forgotten veterans?

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has suggested that go through the service records of some people. By his own colleague's statement, they even admit that over half of those people were either absent without leave or would perhaps have been prosecuted as deserters.

Is the hon. member really suggesting that we should take 14,000 names, determine who should have been prosecuted and who should not? I suggest that would be an unjust way to approach this. We are approaching it by allowing those who feel unjustly treated to come forward. We will rectify the records and work with them to solve it. That is the just and Canadian way to deal with this issue.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Jim Prentice, Conservative, Calgary North Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, since the time that I arrived in this Parliament, we have been asking the government to take action with respect to stopping violence against aboriginal women. We have heard today a shameful performance from the government on this issue.

Why will the government not answer the question? No more dodging, no more obfuscation, tell the House of Commons why violence against aboriginal women is not one of the agenda items at the first ministers meeting?

[Sue Barnes, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians]

Mr. Speaker, I will repeat my answer perhaps a little slower so it can be understood on the other side. Last June we had meetings where the federal government and the regional, territorial and provincial ministers came together with the aboriginal leadership, including NWAC. We together worked out the agenda of major items. We have health, housing, economic development and relationships. All these things will incorporate many different topics that could be included, and that is under discussion. These are the general--

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Saint-Maurice--Champlain.

Seniors

[Marcel Gagnon, Bloc, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Speaker, let us not forget that the GIS concerns the most vulnerable members of our society. We are talking about seniors who barely have enough to get by on.

Second, the Minister of Finance is swimming in a surplus of over $11 billion. This is shameful.

What will it take for the government to show a bit more heart and, above all, a bit more honesty with regard to seniors and pay them what they are owed?

[Lucienne Robillard, Liberal, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, what is shameful is that the Bloc wants to defeat the government and that all seniors, including those in Quebec, will not even get the GIS increase. That is the real shame. Its interests—and not those of Quebeckers—are the only ones that matter.

Premiers of Quebec

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there has been a strong reaction to recent comments made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Could he clarify his thinking for us?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I have the greatest respect for each of the former premiers of Quebec, even those rejected by the PQ and the one they booed the other evening.

Political life is so demanding that anyone who devotes himself to it deserves our admiration. I am very sorry to think I may have hurt the feelings of one of them. I was referring to the losing speeches by the PQ—their speeches in defeat—when I passed comment on the tributes being paid one after the other, the other night. I certainly do not think that the people who held such office were losers.

[The Speaker]

That concludes question period for today.

The hon. member for Prince George—Peace River is rising on a point of order.

[Jay Hill, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, apparently the misrepresentations and untruths are starting even before the election campaign gets under way. Today, during question period the Minister of Finance stated that if an election were to occur, then it is clear that the official opposition would have denied seniors the increase in their guaranteed income supplements. The hon. Minister of Finance knows full well that the increase was already under Bill C-43, the original Liberal government budget before we got into the NDP budget, so he should correct the record.

[The Speaker]

It does not sound like a point of order to me. It sounds very much like a matter of debate. The hon. member for Prince George—Peace River knows that if he wants to debate questions and answers he can do so in the late show. He can make an application for a debate in the late show and have some fun then.

Do we have another point of order? The hon. member for Cariboo--Prince George is rising on another point of order.

[Dick Harris, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order if I may--