Debates of Dec. 5th, 2007

Older Workers

[Monte Solberg, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development]

Mr. Speaker, it is very difficult when people lose their jobs. We understand that. That is why we have put in place a number of supports.

Service Canada shows up on site to make sure that workers understand their options. We provide not only income support but training. There is the targeted initiative for older workers. We just announced the extension of new seasonal benefits under the EI pilot project.

Again, the member needs to get with the current year. This is not the 1970s anymore. There are huge labour shortages in mining, in retail, in construction, in truck driving. There are opportunities and we are training people to--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for York West.

Ethics

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, section 41 of the Parliament of Canada Act states:

No member of the House of Commons shall receive or agree to receive any compensation, directly or indirectly, for services... to be rendered to any person... for the purpose of... attempting to influence any member of either House.

What steps is the government taking to determine whether Brian Mulroney should be prosecuted for the $100,000 cash he received while still a member of Parliament in 1993?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I can tell the hon. member that we have appointed an individual in the person of Dr. Johnston to investigate all issues with respect to this issue. We look forward to his report.

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, York West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would expect that the minister would be well aware of what the rules are anyway.

Yesterday, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs said:

There is nothing preventing members of Parliament, backbench MPs, as he would have been classified at the time, or even today, from engaging in activities outside of their parliamentary responsibilities.

Will the justice minister remind that member and all other government members who do not seem to be clear on what the law is, that it is illegal for MPs to accept money to make interventions on a government file? Even a 10-year-old knows that.

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I am well aware of the responsibility in all matters.

With respect to the allegations that the hon. member is making, again if she has any allegations, she should bring them forward in the appropriate manner. We are addressing this issue with the appointment of Dr. Johnston, and we should let Dr. Johnston do his work.

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in 1985 the Conservative government of Brian Mulroney brought in a conflict of interest code of conduct. It says:

Public office holders shall not act, after they leave public office, in such a manner as to take improper advantage of their previous public office.

Given Mr. Mulroney's involvement with the Bear Head project as prime minister, would accepting money to lobby on this same project not put him in breach of his own code of conduct?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, there is a process in place. There are hearings going on before the ethics committee. This government has taken action with the appointment of an independent third party who will look into all issues.

We will look forward to that report in due course.

[Bonnie Brown, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the code of conduct targets “using public office to unfair advantage in obtaining opportunities for outside employment”.

Given Mr. Mulroney's apparent work on Bear Head both during and after he was prime minister, will the public inquiry examine Mr. Mulroney's compliance with his own conflict of interest code?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I think the government has taken responsible action. When certain allegations were made, we immediately took steps to appoint an independent third party on this.

We have given wide latitude to Dr. Johnston and I think all members of the House will look forward to his recommendations.

Health

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

Mr. Speaker, in my riding the nuclear reactor at Chalk River laboratories went into shutdown two weeks ago for scheduled repairs. This resulted in a cross-country shortage of radioisotopes and medical tests being cancelled.

Now we have learned that during the reactor's maintenance check, regulators found more problems to repair than expected. This means that the reactor will not be operating at full capacity for another 10 days.

Can the Minister of Health tell us what the government is doing on this urgent situation?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member is no doubt aware, both AECL and the regulator are arm's length organizations independent of government. Nonetheless, we are certainly very concerned about this issue.

I am indeed working very closely with my colleague, the Minister of Natural Resources, on this issue. I have been informed today that we are in the midst of securing sufficient medical isotopes to address emergency procedures.

The Minister of Natural Resources and I certainly want to reiterate that we have asked AECL officials to do whatever can be done, if possible to be done, to resolve the situation for the benefit of all Canadians.

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, Environmental Defence Canada revealed today that the harmful chemical, bisphenol A, is used to line nearly every single infant formula can on the market. First we learned that this chemical was common in baby bottles. Now we learn that the levels found in liquid formula are likely to be far higher than those that leach from bottles.

Will the government put the health of working families and their children first and move immediately to ban bisphenol A in all food and beverage containers in Canada?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, I can tell the hon. member in this chamber we believe that science should be the judge on these issues.

Indeed, our chemicals management plan that was announced by our Prime Minister is world leading in the fact that it reverses the onus to industry to prove to us, to prove to society and to the Government of Canada, that their products and other chemicals are safe.

Since the launch of that plan, bisphenol A has been one of the first chemicals that we put to review. The information is now with Health Canada and Environment Canada and we are reviewing that information.

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I think the science is in. What the minister is saying today is nothing short of unconscionable negligence.

The government is actually complicit in allowing our children to be exposed to bisphenol A.

The government does it with toys, too. We are talking about poisonous toys made from lead, asbestos and other dangerous substances, and the best the government can do is put up a website.

Will the minister force importers of toxic toys and tainted products to take responsibility for their products? Will he give Health Canada the tools it needs to provoke product recalls when the health of our children is at risk?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure the hon. member is aware that in fact the current standard in Canada for bisphenol A is one-half of the tolerable intake limits that are found in the European Union and in the United States. That is the current standard that is found in Canada.

I hope the hon. member would agree with me that we have to take these situations with science as the basis for making our decisions, and that is exactly what we are doing in this case.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, Sharon McIvor recently won a landmark case at the British Columbia Supreme Court through the court challenges program.

The decision affects the status of thousands of aboriginal women who, by an act of Parliament, were improperly denied Indian status. First, this meanspirited government stayed the decision, and now it is appealing the decision.

The government cut the court challenges program. Now Ms. McIvor has no recourse for the appeal.

Will the government reinstate the court challenges program?

[Rod Bruinooge, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians]

Mr. Speaker, this case has been looked at since it was first announced. Though there has been no court date set, I am sure it will continue to make its way through the courts.

However, I have to marvel at the member's raising this issue. She along with other committee members from the Liberal Party, the Bloc and the NDP have chosen to delay the extension of human rights to first nations people. They would like to see it put off until after the next election, which of course the Leader of the Opposition is currently planning.

I would ask her to begin working to extend human rights to first nations people.

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the member is somewhat economical with the truth.

What recourse do disadvantaged Canadians, particularly aboriginal women, have to fight for their rights through our justice system?

Yesterday REAL Women of Canada, friends of that government, suggested to Ms. McIvor that she find her own money for the appeal. This is the same attitude the government has toward all vulnerable Canadians, that they are expendable.

How will the rights of these Canadian women be protected?

[Rod Bruinooge, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians]

Mr. Speaker, on the member's reference to the economics of the truth, I must say that she is truly bankrupt in that area.

If a first nations woman on reserve wants to bring forward a human rights case, she currently cannot do that. That first nations woman cannot go to the Canadian Human Rights Commission and file a case because first nations communities are exempted from the Canadian Human Rights Act.

This is something we are trying to do but unfortunately the members of her party are standing in the way and continuing to delay. We would like to pass this right away. They are stopping it.

Justice

[Susan Kadis, Liberal, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government has decided that it will pick and choose which Canadians will face the death penalty abroad.

What criteria are the justice minister and the foreign affairs minister using to make their decisions about whether a Canadian lives or dies?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, it has already been indicated by the government and most recently by my colleague, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, that we will look at cases on a case by case basis. With respect to the laws in this country, there are no plans to change the laws of Canada in that regard.

[Susan Kadis, Liberal, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the justice minister, who last week did not know what powers he possesses under the Extradition Act, is now making life or death decisions for Canadians facing execution abroad.

For clarity, who will make the final decision to seek commutation of a death sentence? Will it be the foreign affairs minister, the justice minister, the public safety minister, or will the Prime Minister himself decide whether or not Canada will be complicit in executing its citizens?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as we all know, Canada has abolished the death penalty, and we will certainly not be reopening that file.

Internationally, whether at the United Nations or in any other forum, we promote the abolition of the death penalty. That is consistent with our actions here at home. Internationally, we promote the same laws that we have here in Canada.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the 83rd annual UPA conference is being held in Quebec City this week. With the challenges faced by hog and beef producers and the forestry sector, the government has nothing to brag about. Government guaranteed, no-interest loans are needed in the hog sector. Beef production needs a $50 million aid program over two years because of the costs related to specified risk material rules.

Will the government accommodate the producers' requests?