Debates of March 8th, 2005

The Environment

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if the Prime Minister had bothered to inform the House of the full quotations from those individuals, he would have told us that it was the NDP, the Bloc and the minority Parliament that were credited with taking action, and it is on the record.

Most environmentalists are frankly embarrassed by what they see. Where is the plan? We do not see a plan for Kyoto. There is no plan for BSE. There is no plan for credit card medicine to be stopped. There is no plan on foreign aid. The PMO does not know where it is going. On International Women's Day, we have no plan for non-profit child care.

Is the money going to profit-making companies or to kids?

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I think the leader of the NDP is jealous because he would be unable to name one NDP government since Confederation that ever delivered the greenest budget like the one the Minister of Finance gave to Canadians.

Transport

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

Mr. Speaker, experts have described the control measures proposed by the Liberal government for Canadian ports as inadequate. Most controllers, crane operators, lift operators and flatbed truck drivers will not be checked under the proposed changes. However, background checks are done of airport employees.

How does the Minister of Transport justify having one standard for airports and another standard for ports?

[Jean Lapierre, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, it is clear. We have started to set up regulated areas in airports and we have done background checks on airport employees. We are now considering doing the exact same thing—not a double standard, but the exact same thing—in Canada's ports.

We are going to start in three ports: Halifax, Montreal and Vancouver, but eventually all ports in Canada will be controlled the same way.

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

Mr. Speaker, it has been three and a half years since 9/11 and the government has had the opportunity to get its act together with respect to Canada's ports of entry.

Organized criminals should not be working at our ports, and the Conservative Party believes in strong measures to ensure that does not happen. The government is putting forward certain elements that will cause an undue invasion of privacy for longshoremen at our ports rather than dealing with organized criminals in an effective way.

Why has it taken three and a half years since 9/11 for the government to get its act together to put forward real measures to secure our ports rather than harassing longshoremen with undue security--

[The Speaker]

The hon. Minister of Transport.

[Jean Lapierre, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe my ears. The first thing we have to do is background checks. The member wants us to have secure ports and he is against background checks. What does he want after all?

Justice

[Belinda Stronach, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on the weekend the New York Times reported that the marijuana grow op industry and criminal drug trafficking across the border were huge security concerns for the United States. In B.C. alone it is a $7 billion business.

However, the Prime Minister and that party continue to play fast and loose with the national interest by talking about decriminalizing and now even legalizing marijuana. Once again the Prime Minister is taking the country in the wrong direction.

Will the Prime Minister get focused, look at the cost to our economy and withdraw the bill to decriminalize marijuana?

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, regrettably, it is the hon. member opposite who is playing fast and loose with the facts. If we look at the report from which she is speaking, it says that the big picture in terms of cross-border cooperation is certainly encouraging and that Canadian and U.S. law enforcement officials have dismantled major criminal industry operations.

What we intend to do with our proposed legislation, if they pass it, is to combat those grow ops.

[Belinda Stronach, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and the government are ignoring warnings from the U.S. ambassador that there will be consequences resulting from decriminalization causing costly cross-border delays.

Apparently the Prime Minister does not believe the senior U.S. enforcement official quoted in the New York Times who said that the criminal situation was, “getting worse and worse and we need to address it at every level”.

Is the Prime Minister willing to risk Canadian economic interest by proceeding with this misguided bill to decriminalize marijuana?

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, again what was quoted were the words of an academic on the American report. The report acknowledges that the vast majority of illicit drugs come from South America and Mexico and that there is full cooperation between Canadian and U.S. law enforcement authorities.

Employment Insurance

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, pregnant women in Quebec have access to a preventive withdrawal regime when their working conditions put their health and the health of their baby at risk. Unfortunately, women employed in federally regulated companies do not have the same benefits.

How can the federal government contribute to perpetuating such inequality when a simple agreement with the Government of Quebec could resolve this situation?

[Joe Fontana, Liberal, Minister of Labour and Housing]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out to my hon. colleague that all our programs, including the budget, have gone through a gender based analysis. Everything we do in the government, from parental leave to all programs with regard to women's workers rights, go through a gender based analysis. We will continue to ensure that women are treated more than fairly and in fact do much more in the workplace, and have the employment equity.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, is International Women's Day not the right time to challenge all discriminatory practices against women? Through its stubbornness, the federal government contributes to keeping women working under its jurisdiction at a disadvantage.

Why does the federal government refuse to give its female workers the same benefits granted to other women in Quebec in terms of preventive withdrawal?

[Joe Fontana, Liberal, Minister of Labour and Housing]

Mr. Speaker, as the members know, the labour code seeks to treat people equally. With regard to employment equity issues, it is this government that believes we must do everything possible to ensure that there is a discrimination free workplace and that women must be treated equally. In fact, we are determined to ensure that they play a more active role in all levels of government than in the workplace.

Canadian Forces

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

Mr. Speaker, two internal investigations of the Canadian army indicate that there is still a great deal of intolerance toward women within their ranks. Despite the employment equity program launched in 1999, the results observed six years later are certainly not up to expectations.

On this, International Women's Day, can the Minister of National Defence tell us how he plans to remedy this situation once and for all?

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the proof lies in the fact that the report referred to by my colleague was commissioned by the army itself. The Canadian Forces wanted to know exactly what the problems are and they are the ones rectifying them.

If the hon. member wants to accompany me to where the Canadian Forces are, and the women of the Canadian Forces are, in Kabul, in Bosnia, in Haiti and all the other places where men and women are serving side by side, he would be pleased to see that our servicewomen consider themselves full-fledged members of our forces and are proud to belong to the Canadian armed forces.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would be delighted to accompany the women members of the infantry to Kabul, if that is what the minister wants to know. I will point out, however, that the report in question is an armed forces report, and the forces themselves are pointing out that there is indeed discrimination. That is what needs to be corrected.

The situation of women members of the armed forces is nothing to write home about. They are still subject to discrimination, and we would see that if we went to Kabul or to Bosnia.

As preparations are being made to recruit 5,000 soldiers and 3,000 reservists, does the Minister of National Defence not think it is high time to take some strong measures to put an end to this discrimination toward women once and for all?

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, this is precisely what we did by commissioning that report. We looked into the situation. We spoke with members of the forces, and I can assure the hon. member that our servicewomen are proud and happy to be members of the armed forces. We will continue to improve their position in the forces.

I am certainly proud of the place women occupy in our forces. I am certain that, if the member accompanied me, and even if he accompanied some servicewomen, he would find, as I did, that they are quite happy to belong to our forces.

Agriculture

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the border remains closed to live cattle and ruminants for an indeterminate amount of time, making increased slaughter capacity essential. The industry's losses are well over $7 billion. This government thinks that its token relief is sufficient. Farm families are still waiting on CAIS money they hope they qualify for. Millions are being gobbled up by administrative overruns. The loan loss reserve program announced in September does not exist because lenders and the government cannot agree on how it will work.

How can Canadian farmers and ranchers expect to access the fabled loan loss reserve program when it does not exist?

[Andy Mitchell, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, I think Canadian taxpayers would be surprised to hear the hon. member characterize the $1.9 billion that this government has committed for BSE as a token. He may think it is a token. Canadian taxpayers do not think it is a token and beef producers do not think it is a token.

We have seen a 20% increase in slaughter capacity. There is another 10%, so a total of 30%, online that will see increased slaughter capacity.

I am pleased to announce today that an agreement has been reached with the FCC, so that it is now participating actively in providing loans to assist those who want to increase slaughter capacity.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake, MB]

Mr. Speaker, due to his past experience, this minister has been banking on the border reopening.

The agriculture minister has not delivered any of his promises. He talks about billions in farm aid, yet producers are going broke. Much needed CAIS money is not reaching the farm gate and not one penny has helped build even one packing plant. This is just another example of Liberal promises made, Liberal promises broken.

Why will this government not use the contingency fund to offset the losses in the industry and support farm families?

[Andy Mitchell, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is simply wrong. He may want to go to Prince Edward Island and ask those who were involved in the new plant in Prince Edward Island if there was federal money invested in that plant. He would get the answer that yes, it has seen federal money put into the plant.

He may want to ask those beef producers who received $106 million in emergency advances under the CAIS program whether or not they have been assisted. Or, he might want to ask those producers who today have received almost $1 billion in general CAIS payments whether they think there has been assistance provided. I think the answer from them would be yes.

[Rob Moore, Conservative, Fundy, NB]

Mr. Speaker, farmers continue to suffer as a result of this government's incompetence. This government's bungling of our relationship with the United States contributed to the vote by its senate calling for the border to remain closed. From day one this government's strategy on the crisis has been to simply hope for the best.

It has been almost two years and our farmers have received nothing but empty promises and meaningless announcements, with no help at the farm gate. The time to act is now. Will this government commit to using the contingency fund immediately to help Canadian producers?

[Andy Mitchell, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, as in the answer to the previous member, no help at all. There is $1.9 billion in specific payments for BSE, the close to $1 billion that we have now had an opportunity to pay out in CAIS, and the fact that it will pay close to $1.4 billion in respect of the 2003 year.

We have been fully engaged with the Americans and it is not the American government that is opposed to opening the border. In fact, the American administration very much stands with Canada on this issue and the President has indicated that he will exercise his first veto to ensure the political process sees the border open.