Debates of May 4th, 2005

Minister of Citizenship and Immigration

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is, the remarks on both sides of this issue were intemperate and unfortunate. What I would now say to the Leader of the Opposition and the leaders of the other parties is that if one takes a look at what is happening in this House, at the lack of civility, the accusations and the allegations that are not allowed to be made outside--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker]

Order. Members have to listen to both sides. We have a question. We are hearing an answer. Members will listen to both. We will have the Prime Minister, who has time remaining for his answer.

[Paul Martin, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would ask the opposition parties to understand that no one looks good in this House with the lack of civility, the allegations, the accusations, the kinds of intemperate remarks that are heard. What I really believe is that Canadians expect better of us. I would hope that the opposition would give the opportunity for civilized debate--

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Durham.

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

Mr. Speaker, they applaud when they call the kettle black. As a member of the official opposition, I have been called an extreme racist by the immigration minister. No one in this House, never mind the millions of Canadians who voted for the Conservatives, should be subjected to such a low act of desperation. The Liberal Party will not deny in this House its own corruption and is flailing about with extreme accusations to deflect the truth.

Will the Prime Minister remove his immigration minister?

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

I am sorry, Mr. Speaker, but my voice will not carry as well today. I have already indicated that I had an intemperate use of language, prompted by my abject anger at the racial slur and the ethnic slur directed my way. I gave an indication, and I thought I already made that statement publicly. For me, I am saddened by the fact that I have to learn yet again that there is no depth to which some of these people will not descend when they want to--

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Durham.

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

Mr. Speaker, the immigration minister, I remind the House, has already been forced to withdraw comments attacking a Sikh member. To have a minister, particularly the immigration minister, who has a propensity for racial slurs is unacceptable.

They are not racial slurs if the public and the media believe that there are characteristics of that party that are similar to a popular television program. If the shoe fits, wear it. Will the Prime Minister demand his resignation or--

[The Speaker]

The hon. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.

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

Mr. Speaker, my record of the last three months as a cabinet minister for immigration will speak for itself.

As I said earlier on, I was deeply saddened by the response of the member for Edmonton—Strathcona and the member for Durham who missed the opportunity to condemn the actions and the member for Kelowna and his colleague from Calgary Centre who perpetuated a stereotypical image of 1.5 million members of our Canadian family.

I have given an indication already of my intemperate use of language, but I think the shame should be right--

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Thornhill.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

[Susan Kadis, Liberal, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the opposition justice critic attacked the integrity and independence of the RCMP. His attack suggested the RCMP was nothing but a third rate country's third rate police squad.

Could the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness assure the House that the RCMP remains as committed as ever to its mandate to protect Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, the attack on the RCMP commissioner yesterday made by the member for Provencher is an abuse of parliamentary privilege and is shameful. It is all the more shocking because that man was a former provincial attorney general.

More concerning is the fact that members of his own party, with the separatist Bloc, are the ones asking the House to overturn the RCMP's deployment plan. They want to reverse an independently made operational decision of an agency which must and does operate at arm's length from the government of the day.

The member's outrageous comments are undermining the integrity of our national police force.

Social Development

[Tony Martin, NDP, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker]

Order, please. We really are going to be deprived of questions and answers today with all this noise. We are not making good progress on this list and if everyone keeps yelling, progress is going to be very slow.

The hon. member for Sault Ste. Marie has the floor. If members who are carrying on the discussion would care to do it in the lobbies, it might help us get moving with question period. I would recommend that they go there and perhaps their colleagues who are sitting around them could encourage them to go to the lobbies and continue the discussion there.

The hon. member for Sault Ste. Marie now has the floor.

[Tony Martin, NDP, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Social Development.

Last night I spoke to New Democratic critics and ministers responsible for child care across the country. They were unanimous with the child care constituency that the new not for profit agreement which was struck with Manitoba and Saskatchewan is a good start to a national child care program. Even the Conservatives agree that they will not back away from that agreement.

Will the minister today commit to signing no deals for child care that will lead us to having a cash cow for big box--

[The Speaker]

The hon. Minister of Social Development.

[Ken Dryden, Liberal, Minister of Social Development]

Mr. Speaker, I know the hard work the hon. member has put into the area of child care.

As the hon. member mentioned, we have come to agreements with Saskatchewan and Manitoba and we are looking to conclude other agreements along the way.

As the hon. member knows, the way child care is delivered across the country is both in not for profit and for profit, and it is also delivered around the world in the same sort of way. The key component in all this for everyone is quality.

Pay Equity

[Jean Crowder, NDP, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today is the first anniversary of the pay equity task force report. It is also the day the world women's march charter for humanity stops in Ottawa with a focus on pay equity.

The task force concluded that pay equity is a fundamental human right. Will the Minister of Labour and Housing table legislation in the House now based on the recommendations of the pay equity report?

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

Mr. Speaker, the government firmly believes in the fundamental principle of equal pay for work of equal value. We put in place a review of the legislation and the task force has reported with 110 recommendations.

I am now developing a number of options with stakeholders and people to fully implement the recommendations of our task force. We believe women in the workplace need to be totally inclusive. Pay equity is a fundamental value in which we in this government believe, not over there in that party.

Sponsorship Program

[Diane Ablonczy, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister in his emergency TV broadcast begged Canadians to wait for the Gomery report because “only Gomery can tell us who is responsible”. Yet the Prime Minister prohibits Gomery from telling who was responsible.

Clause k of Gomery's mandate reads, “without expressing any conclusion...regarding the...liability of any person or organization”. The Prime Minister brazenly misled Canadians. How can he be trusted on anything?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member should look more closely at Justice Gomery's mandate. His mandate clearly says, “to investigate and report on questions raised, directly or indirectly, by Chapters 3 and 4 of the of the Auditor General” and furthermore, in a second report, to provide prescriptives to prevent it from happening again.

In addition to that, there are RCMP investigations, there are criminal charges currently before the courts and there have been civil proceedings against 19 firms and individuals to recover $41 million. We are clearly taking action and we are also supporting the work of Justice Gomery to get the truth.

[Diane Ablonczy, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Good bafflegab, Mr. Speaker, but the words read quite differently.

The Prime Minister told Canadians Gomery would tell them which Liberals are responsible for ad scam corruption, but told Gomery he must not tell who was guilty. Gomery himself states, “The commission may not establish...responsibility...nor does it intend to do so”.

The Prime Minister has been caught. How can he possibly claim the moral--