Debates of Feb. 4th, 2005

Foreign Affairs

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, 159 members of the House have written to the Prime Minister asking him to encourage the People's Republic of China to enter into direct negotiations with the Dalai Lama or his representatives to resolve the status of Tibet, a place that has been the victim of 50 years of terror and cultural genocide and the destruction of thousands of monasteries.

Has the Prime Minister done that, and if not, will he do that?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the respect for human rights, including cultural and religious freedoms, minority rights and freedom of expression and association are important objectives of Canada's views on the situation in Tibet. We are consistent. We have consistently spoken in favour of those rights. We do it at the United Nations. We do it in all of the forums in which we have the opportunity of doing it and we will certainly continue to express those values.

Public Works and Government Services

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, there can be no doubt that forced labour in Chinese factories really brings down the production costs of commercial items, but some of us believe that our emblems of our cultural heritage should be manufactured by Canadian workers in Canadian factories.

I would like to know if the minister for roadside hucksterism has had a chance to review the NDP's position. Will he tell us today that in the future, lapel pins or any other flag products for the House of Commons will be made here in Canada by Canadian workers in--

[The Deputy Speaker]

Is there no minister responding?

The hon. member for Ottawa--Orléans.

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

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Public Works and Government Services. For some time now I have been preoccupied that our companies would be allowed to compete on an international basis for outsource production. I would like to ask the Minister of Public Works and Government Services to clarify whether or not he has taken any action to ensure that these pins are manufactured in Canada.

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize the hard work of the member for Etobicoke North, who has worked on this file for years. A competitive contract for the lapel pins was actually awarded to a Canadian company, which then sourced the pins to a Chinese manufacturer.

As a government we respect our trade agreements, but we do have a parliamentary exemption which we can apply within those trade agreements to purchases for members of Parliament and senators. As such, I have directed that Canadian pins made for the use of senators and members of Parliament will be manufactured in Canada from this point forward.

Points of Order

[Bill Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I think the House would want to take note of the fact that the government showed disrespect for the protocol of the House of Commons.

There was a member who asked a question about the manufacture of the pins. The minister did not rise in his place to answer the question. Instead, he waited until he was asked a question by a Liberal backbencher.

I do not think, Mr. Speaker, I have ever seen before the government not rise to answer a question. We can understand why it did not because somehow it wants to take credit for the fact that it was actually a New Democrat who raised this and it is the New Democrats who changed the government policy when it came to the manufacture of these pins.

[The Deputy Speaker]

I thank the member for Elmwood—Transcona for that. Marleau and Montpetit is quite specific on the rights of members. It states on page 433 that during question period:

Members may not insist on an answer nor may a Member insist that a specific Minister respond to his or her question.

I appreciate the intervention of the member for Elmwood—Transcona and I believe that it is a point of debate rather than a point of order. On the same point of order, the member for Elmwood--Transcona with some new information.

[Bill Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I think you would also want to know just how entirely rare it is for the government to hide behind Marleau and Montpetit on this. It goes to show how profoundly embarrassed it was by its position on this--

[The Deputy Speaker]

I thank the member for Elmwood--Transcona. It is surely a matter of debate and not a point of order.

[Tony Valeri, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, just so that we are absolutely clear, I want the record to show that there is no minister of roadside huckster. Therefore, nobody got up to answer the question.

[The Deputy Speaker]

I thank the government House leader for that clarification.

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, during some of the exchanges today the hon. minister of public works referred to members on this side of the House as losers. Clearly I defeated a former Liberal cabinet minister. That must not have included me. However, I think the remark should be withdrawn.

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

Mr. Speaker, as a member of this government, I am certainly entitled as a member of Parliament to comment on the result of the last federal election and the fact is they did lose and they will lose the next--

[The Deputy Speaker]

I do think that is debate and everyone here is a winner, 308 of us are winners I would think.

Petitions

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition on behalf of the hon. member for Peterborough. This petition draws to the attention of the House that a number of toxic substances are known to cause cancer. The petitioners ask that Parliament legislate that all processed foods that contain these particular items be properly labelled for the benefit of Canadians.

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present petitions on behalf of over 600 Canadians across this land, including concerned citizens from my riding of Langley.

The petition calls for Parliament to amend the Canada Health Act and corresponding regulations to include IBI, ABA autism therapy for children with autism, as a medically necessary treatment and require that all provinces provide or fund this essential treatment for autism.

These petitioners also ask Parliament to contribute to the creation of academic chairs at a university in each province to teach IBI, ABA autism treatment, at the undergraduate and doctoral level in each province so that Canadian professionals will no longer be forced to go outside of our country for this critical training.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am pleased to present two petitions. The first is from a number of citizens of Charlottetown and across Prince Edward Island.

The petitioners state that, “We the undersigned citizens of Canada, draw the attention of the House to the following: Whereas marriage is defined as a lifelong union between one man and one woman is the best foundation for families and the raising of children; whereas this definition of marriage has been changed by the courts; and whereas it is in the exclusive jurisdiction of the Parliament to define marriage; therefore your petitioners pray that Parliament define marriage in federal law as being a lifelong union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of others”.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Mr. Speaker, my second petition is from my riding and it states, “We, the undersigned residents of Canada, draw the attention of the House to the following: That our children need protection from sexual exploitation, therefore, your petitioners call upon Parliament to protect our children by taking all necessary steps to raise the age of consent from 14 to 18 years old”.

[Charlie Penson, Conservative, Peace River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have one petition to present today. It has been signed by 199 people from the Peace River riding. The petitioners ask the Government of Canada not to collaborate with the Americans to build their ballistic missile defence shield.

Questions on the Order Paper

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

Mr. Speaker, Question No. 27 will be answered today.

Question No. 27

[Rick Casson, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

With respect to the proposed plan by Correctional Services Canada to institute a needle-swapping program to combat the spread of blood-borne diseases in prisons, what are: ( a ) the expected duration of this program; ( b ) the locations of any Correctional Services Canada institutions which will be involved in the program; ( c ) the expected short-term and long-term costs of the program; ( d ) the number of prisoners to be involved in the pilot program and in the main program to follow; ( e ) a summary of concerns directed to the Deputy Prime Minister and to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness from the unions representing prison guards and other prison workers regarding this program; and ( f ) the expected amounts of payments to private medical practitioners assisting in the establishment and maintenance of the program in Canadian prisons?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I am informed as follows:

Correctional Service Canada, CSC, has no plan at this time to implement a needle exchange program and therefore has no information to provide in response to parts (a), (b), (c), (d), or (f) of the question. In response to part (e) of the question, CSC has conducted a review of correspondence received by either the commissioner and/or minister and has found no record of any letters from the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, UCCO, on this topic. However, please note that, at a meeting of the National Joint Occupational Safety and Health Committee of March 24, 2004, the UCCO representative expressed concerns regarding the implementation of a needle exchange program. CSC clarified that it has not received a mandate to implement such a program at this time, and the UCCO representative was asked to ensure that UCCO members recognize that no plans in this regard have been made.

The Public Health Agency of Canada will need to review and analyze the Canadian HIV-AIDS legal network's report in order to provide formal public health advice to Correctional Service Canada on the prevention and control of infectious diseases in prisons.

It is premature to comment on specific programmatic issues until this analysis is completed and Correctional Service Canada has had the opportunity to consider the advice and/or recommendations of the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Under the Canadian strategy on HIV-AIDS, Correctional Service Canada receives $600,000 annually to support prevention and education activities in federal correctional institutions. Correctional Service Canada is the lead on this part of the file and should answer specific questions about funding. However, the Public Health Agency of Canada provides funding to the legal network, the organization responsible for the report, through the Canadian strategy on HIV-AIDS. The legal network is responding to media enquiries about the content of the report. Correctional Service Canada may ask the agency for formal advice and recommendation on this issue.

To enhance our efforts, federal funding for the Canadian strategy on HIV-AIDS will double over the next five years to $84.4 million.

[Paul MacKlin, Liberal, Northumberland—Quinte West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all remaining questions be allowed to stand.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Is that agreed?