André Harvey

[Black History Month, February 1st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, in 1995, the Canadian government declared that February would be Black History Month in Canada. This is an opportunity to pay tribute to black people for their economic, political, social and cultural contribution to humanity.

Throughout the month of February, Canadians can get to know better black people in our country and in the rest of the world. I am convinced that Canadians will appreciate the important contribution made by black people to our society.

It is my hope that new ties will develop between our various communities, through intercultural exchanges. Those who are receptive to other cultures always benefit from them.

Activities will take place across the country to mark Black History Month. Hopefully they will impact positively on the lives of Canadians throughout the year.

[Broadcasting Act, January 31st, 2002]

Madam Speaker, I once again congratulate the hon. member on her persistence. I think the Minister of Transport did the impossible concerning the loan guarantee that was put on the table for Canada 3000. He did the impossible to save the operations of that airline. Unfortunately, it is a daily occurrence to see businesses going bankrupt after making commercial transactions involving the payment of taxes. It would be extremely hard to guarantee the reimbursement of taxes.

In the case of Canada 3000, I think we should turn to the trustee in bankruptcy, which will be in a position to assume the responsibility for paying back the creditors who, unfortunately, were caught off guard by this huge bankruptcy. Therefore, I would urge creditors to submit their refund claim to the officially appointed creditor.

[Broadcasting Act, January 31st, 2002]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from South Surrey--White Rock--Langley. It is always a pleasure to work with her on the Standing Committee on Transport and Government Operations.

Concerning the question she raised, I want to confirm that, as she said, the minister did co-operate for a long time with Canada 3000 before it went out of business.

As concerns her more specific question on the reimbursement of taxes, namely the GST and the HST, it is obvious that these taxes are levied at the point of sale, when a provider offers a certain service to a customer. Normally, that is when the tax is paid.

Consumers can get a GST or HST refund from the provider, if the provider also reimbursed the payment he or she received for services not rendered. But if the whole payment is not reimbursed, there is no specific transaction that allows the reimbursement of taxes paid on a service that was supposed to be provided.

In the case of insolvency, particularly the bankruptcy of Canada 3000, the taxes collected are part of the assets and liabilities, that fall under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. It is quite clear that all creditors then have a right of recourse. It is useful to point out to them that they can apply for the services of PricewaterhouseCoopers, trustee in bankruptcy for the airlines. Since December 4, very relevant information is updated every day on their website to help all creditors have access to recourses as fast as possible.

On this site, all creditors will find precise information on how to submit a claim as well as a frequently asked questions section. There is also—and I am announcing it officially—a toll free number for all creditors, which is 1-877-973-3000; this number gives people direct access.

It is clear that the claims processing procedure could be long and complex. Patience will certainly be needed, but normally, in the case of bankruptcies such as this one, it is the common procedure to have access to the trustee in bankruptcy in order to at least recover part of the taxes collected when consumers bought services they were entitled to receive.

Unfortunately, this is the situation we are facing now. I thank the hon. member for her question.

[The Budget, January 29th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, when I meet people from Jonquière, they tell me that they cannot wait for the next federal election. The outcome will be similar to the result of the provincial byelection that was held in the riding of Jonquière. It will be the same all across Quebec. Quebecers will take charge of themselves and they will take the place that is theirs.

Right now, when the PQ and the BQ criticize the federal government, they always say that it is to blame for everything that happens. Yet, the Canadian government is taking initiatives in our region. These initiatives will benefit the riding of Jonquière and all the ridings in the region, in Quebec and even across the country. In the spring, we will, among other things, build the Canadian centre on aluminum processing technologies.

Instead of doing like the PQ and creating committees that control all the regions of Quebec, we would rather create research laboratories. We will do so in the aluminum sector. We will also do so in the tourism sector, with the Canadian centre for the conservation of boreal biodiversity, formerly known as the Saint-Félicien zoo, which the PQ government was in process of shutting down. This will be done thanks to the Canadian government. We will also promote genome research in our regions, again thanks to the Canadian government.

With regard to the issue of highways, the PQ and the BQ have always said no to the construction of highway 175 between Quebec City and the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean region. Only very recently did they agree to go ahead with this project. They got such a scare from the results of the byelection in the riding of Jonquière that they are prepared to agree to anything.

They should at least have the decency to wait until the bill that will create the foundation is drafted and tabled. Then they can express their views. But we will have a tool that will allow us, as representatives of the Canadian government, to make choices jointly with the Quebec government and the other provincial governments, and say “Yes, we think this is an important project”.

[The Budget, January 29th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, when Bloc Quebecois and Parti Quebecois members are angered by the federal government's attitude, it surely means we are on the right track, does it not?

They should at least wait for the details on the foundation to be tabled here in the House, so they will know its basic components, its goals and how it will work. When I hear their comments, I am convinced they are very angry. They are happy only when things go wrong. They would rather see the project fail. What they want is for us to simply transfer funds to Quebec. However, we will not simply transfer funds, because we know that the regions receive very poor services in most areas.

So we have decided to create a foundation and a fund that will allow us to identify the important projects in all resource areas of the country, particularly those of Quebec. I understand that they are angry, because we will have some legal authority and the possibility to choose the projects we want to invest in. The only thing members of the Bloc and the Parti Quebecois approve is when Canada transfers funds to Quebec and lets the province choose the projects and the implementation schedule. The days are gone when things were done this way.

I am asking the member if he would rather, instead of having the foundation has been set up, see the Government of Canada simply transfer funds to the Parti Quebecois and let it do as it pleases and choose the projects it wants. Those days are gone.

[The Budget, December 12th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, in fact, since the outset of the crisis, the government has been objective in its contributions with respect to the major national airline partners. The policy put forward and the $160 million made available were managed fairly for all.

Obviously, the whole aspect of competition is currently under consideration by the government and the airline industry. The industry, and I am pleased to point this out to my colleague, is undergoing profound international change. This is true in Europe, it is true here and in the US. It is true everywhere.

Clearly, the government cannot manage each company individually and assume their responsibilities. The government must do everything in its power to ensure competition plays its role effectively.

I want to assure the member that the government will do all it can to ensure competition is beneficial. Both the federal government and the provinces have a role to play here.

A few weeks ago, the president of the Association québécoise des transporteurs aériens, Mr. Jenner, called on the government of Quebec to provide opportunities for assistance to the carriers through SPQs, Sociétés de placement du Québec, and Investissements Québec. The various levels of government have a substantial contribution to make.

In short, the federal government is very much attuned to what is going on in the airline industry. We are indeed facing major challenges, but the situation is the same all the world over. We have to look at events in Europe, with companies like Bosch, Ryanair and so on. A number of businesses are currently changing the roles of the airlines.

[The Budget, December 12th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to respond, on behalf of the Minister of Transport, to my colleague, the hon. member for South Surrey—White Rock—Langley, whom I must also thank for her work on the Standing Committee on Transport. It is, I can assure you, always a pleasure to work on that committee, because the relationships between members are good.

Over the past three months, there have been some major issues to deal with, and we have certainly not lacked work. A number of our meetings have addressed those major issues, particularly ones relating to the crisis resulting from the September 11 terrorist attacks.

My colleague is asking whether the government intends to legislate on anti-competitive acts in the delivery of domestic air services, in the interests of all Canadians. The minister's response at that time was yes, and I would like to elaborate on that.

Hon. members will recall that, in July 2000, new provisions in the Competition Act, along with new regulations, came into effect, creating a special regime for domestic air carriers. A specific offence was created for anti-competitive acts by a domestic carrier.

The regulations provide a more detailed definition of what is meant by anti-competitive acts, along with the criteria for determining them.

The amendments made to the Competition Act introduced in Bill C-26 in 2000 give the competition commissioner the power to issue temporary cease and desist orders that could put an end to actions that provoked a complaint in the time leading up to an investigation and a decision as to whether or not a case will be heard by the Competition Tribunal.

More recently, the Competition Act was examined by the House, and a number of motions to amend the act in Bill C-23, were presented to the committee last week. Two of them would make changes to the air carriers' regime.

One of the amendments would allow the competition commissioner to ask the tribunal to extend the temporary cease and desist order beyond the 80 day maximum, if the commissioner has not received all of the information necessary to allow him to determine whether or not grounds exist to make an application to the tribunal. This amendment corrects a shortcoming that was identified by the standing committee.

The second amendment allows the tribunal to impose administrative monetary penalties of up to $15 million, when ruling on a case.

These two changes are designed to demonstrate clearly that the government takes very seriously the actions that have led to complaints regarding anti-competitive acts in this country's airline industry.The changes should also prove that the government's measures will not give rise to the type of letter Air Canada sent, which led to my colleague's question.

[Airline Industry, December 7th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Transport has repeatedly said that he is prepared to do anything to increase competition here.

The member may be assured that we will continue to do everything to make the competition real, within the country, despite the public proposals that are sometimes made rather strangely.

[Aeronautics Act, December 6th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to intervene today at third reading of Bill C-44. As all of my colleagues are aware, this bill is an extract of an important clause of Bill C-42 on public safety.

The central purpose of this bill is to enable Canadian air carriers to work constructively with their international partners in conducting an effective fight against terrorism.

The bill obviously is in response not to all of the countries affected by this war, but specifically to the U.S. bill entitled the Aviation and Transportation Security Act. In this bill, we are asked to work with the U.S. commissioner of customs and provide all relevant information needed to bring this fight to an end.

As the Minister of Transport has said on several occasions, it is the prerogative of a sovereign country, like our neighbour to the south, to request vital information so we can together put an end to this extremely difficult task of fighting international terrorism.

Our American counterparts have yet to spell out the details they require, but it will not be long. They will soon define the most essential criteria that will allow them, and us too, to fight terrorism effectively.

The most important consideration is that this U.S. measure comes into force on January 18. There is therefore an absolutely inescapable time constraint. The government, through the Minister of Transport, must act quickly so our carriers can deliver the goods quickly and continue to assume their responsibilities, for the very important economic recovery aided by the air carriers.

Unlike many of our international colleagues in work on economic development, Canada has a Privacy Act, which currently prevents us from collaborating more openly to meet U.S. demands.

Obviously, we had to check closely—and I wish to pay tribute to my colleagues on the committee—with the privacy commissioner that Bill C-44 was consistent with his mandate to protect privacy. The commissioner, according to a study that was considered important, had to deal with restrictions. He initially suggested amendments to the bill.

I had the opportunity to move an amendment in which the commissioner stresses that, regarding information asked on a very short term by our U.S. colleagues and by other countries, in terms of privacy, we will obviously have to invoke, national security, public security and collective defence.

The role of the commissioner has been extremely important and the amendment we have moved allows these requirements to be met.

The committee obviously had a lot to do to rapidly meet these requirements. I wish to thank and congratulate my colleagues on the Standing Committee on Transport. They worked in an extremely efficient way. I had the opportunity to appreciate the quality of the input of all my colleagues on the committee. I can assure you that it is quite impressive to see the seriousness with which all my colleagues on the Standing Committee on Transport worked.

I am convinced that Bill C-44 will meet those important requirements and allow us to satisfy our international colleagues, while respecting the rights and privacy of citizens.

This was done in co-operation with the privacy commissioner but most of all with all my colleagues on the committee. Once again, I thank them. I want to pay tribute to them for the quality of the work they did on the Standing Committee on Transport.

Of course, I am pleased to start debate on the bill at third reading. I am convinced that we will be able to pass this bill before the House rises for recess, since the Americans have decided that, by January 16, we should be able to meet their minimum requirements regarding a thorough screening of travellers entering their territory. I believe this is a highly sovereign demand on the part of the U.S. government and we should be able to respond in a constructive way.

[National Safe Driving Week, December 3rd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, December 1 through 7 is National Safe Driving Week, sponsored by the Canada Safety Council. This year's theme is “Driven to Distraction”.

I would like to take advantage of this occasion to remind all Canadians to drive carefully.

We can be distracted in many ways, by cellphones and a multitude of other things. Between 20% and 30% of accidents are the result of distraction, yet these situations are easily avoided by drivers who are aware of the risks. When we drive, we must be attuned to the hazards that surround us.

Let us drive safely, for our own sake as well as others’.