Stan Keyes

[Income Tax Act, April 30th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure the member for Lévis will be elated with this answer. The station at Lévis on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River is currently used by VIA for its eastern transcontinental and Gaspé trains.

The intercity service between Montreal and Quebec City crosses the river at Ste. Foy and uses the Gare du Palais station in downtown Quebec City. This service does not use the Lévis station.

After the normal public hearings process the National Transportation Agency authorized CN to abandon its Montmagny subdivision, the south shore line used by VIA to serve Lévis. The abandonment was originally set to take place February 18, 1997. However, the line has remained open so that VIA and the government could look at options for the eastern transcontinental and Gaspé trains that would continue service to the south shore area near Quebec City.

In light of CN's decision to abandon the Montmagny rail line VIA would either have to purchase and upgrade the line or else use another site to service the south shore. After carefully considering the options, the Minister of Transport concluded that temporarily keeping the station open and building a new station is the most economic way to serve the travelling public.

The minister announced the decision on February 20. VIA has been asked to conduct a study to ensure that there are no significant disruptions to customers who will need to travel between the new station and Quebec City.

In response to the minister's concerns VIA was instructed to negotiate temporary arrangements with CN to keep the trains operating to the Lévis station. The line has been officially abandoned, but VIA has temporarily leased the tracks from CN.

The decision to relocate the station has the support of the local municipalities—and I cannot stress that enough—which want to convert the CN line into a park and bicycle path.

This decision balances the needs of the travelling public and VIA Rail, as well as the wishes of the local municipalities to make better use of the existing rail line.

[Income Tax Act, April 30th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, jobs, economic growth and youth are top priorities of the Government of Canada and these are major undertakings. As the hon. member for Etobicoke North has learned with all the hard work he has done in his riding, there are no single quick fix solutions nor is it the responsibility of any one level of government.

I am pleased with the number of measures that have been undertaken since 1993 which have created jobs and have ensured a skilled labour force for the future.

For instance as part of our initial red book commitments, the government promised to deliver on a youth employment strategy to give young people the skills necessary to succeed in the current and future labour markets, and we have delivered.

The government has also continued to work with the sectoral partnership initiative, SPI. It brings together employers, workers and other stakeholders in a particular industrial sector to define and address the human resources challenges facing the sector. Work through this initiative includes the establishment of sector councils which provide support to the private sector to develop the infrastructure necessary for the development and implementation of a particular industry's human resource strategy.

There are more than 20 sector councils operating, including councils for software, auto repair service, electrical and electronic manufacturing, and biotechnology, just to name a few. The work being done by the sectoral councils is important. In fact Human Resources Development Canada is currently consulting with the software sector council with regard to further research related to skills gaps.

In conclusion helping Canadians find jobs and be prepared for the changing work world is something that requires a collaborative effort on the part of governments, businesses, communities and individuals.

The Government of Canada will continue to work closely with provinces, industries and other stakeholders so that all Canadians, including our young people, can assume their rightful place in the workforce.

[Income Tax Act, April 30th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I want to first take this opportunity to applaud my colleague, the member for Mississauga South, for the dedication and effort he has put into this and other bills which are ultimately aimed at this country's greatest asset, our youth.

I am proud to say this government is placing a priority on supporting Canadian children and Canadian families. The current income tax system attempts to strike a balance between treating all individuals the same and considering different family circumstances. As a result, taxes are collected largely on the basis of individual income, treating individuals as equals in assessing their ability to pay.

At the same time, the tax system recognizes that family circumstances affect ability to pay.

My colleague's Bill C-244 appears to be aimed at putting in place further recognition of family circumstances by providing additional measures in support of families with children and a stay at home spouse. I appreciate the principles behind this bill. Indeed the tax system already includes a large number of measures that recognize and help alleviate the extra financial responsibilities of families with children.

For example, the current personal income tax system allows the transfer of unused, non-refundable credits from a lower income to a higher income spouse in order to lower overall family tax burdens.

I am not certain that the benefits of this bill are distributed widely enough given the high costs of this measure. Only about 975,000 one earner families with children would benefit under this proposal. This represents about 8% of Canadian families.

At the same time, the total cost of this measure would be approximately $1.2 billion in reduced federal income taxes and a further $800 million in reduced provincial taxes for a total of over $2 billion. In my judgment this is too expensive given the small number of beneficiaries. For example, the $2 billion total cost of Bill C-244 would be enough to increase the child tax benefit which was received by over three million Canadian families with children by about $350 per child.

While I share the goals put forward by my colleague in Bill C-244 of ensuring that Canadian families with children are supported by the tax system, the specific provisions of the bill are not the best way to accomplish this. It would be administratively complex for both government, employers and individual taxpayers. It would distribute benefits too narrowly given its $2 billion price tag.

The current individual based tax system achieves a good balance between equity and administrative efficiency for the vast majority of taxpayers. The current tax system already contains a number of measures that recognize the special circumstances faced by families, the child tax benefit and GST credits, married and equivalent to married credits.

I can assure my colleague from Mississauga South this government will continue to work with him and as a government on improving the benefits the current system delivers to Canadian families in a fair, efficient and effective manner as the fiscal situation permits.

[Income Tax Act, April 30th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Before the hon. member gets all exercised, I just want him to know that I am working on facts here and that in fact the benefits received by seniors are not means tested.

[Canada Shipping Act, April 30th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, as I always do, I sat in my place and listened to all the members opposite give their representations. Therefore, I will take this opportunity to make a comment rather than to ask a question.

I want to respond to the hon. member who just spoke and, as an aside, respond to members opposite, especially the member of the New Democratic Party who addressed the issue of delegation of ship inspections to a classification society. I want to respond to her concerns and the concerns of her party, even though the NDP is the only party in this place which will oppose the bill. The hon. member had an opportunity both in committee and here today to bring forward a constructive amendment, but there was no amendment. However, the NDP is still going to oppose the bill. It is rather confusing, but I guess they can oppose for opposition's sake.

I want to make it clear to the hon. member and her party that the objectives of the Canada Shipping Act make it clear that the Minister of Transport is responsible for all matters relating to marine safety involving commercial ships. In order to achieve these objectives the minister is authorized to enter into agreements respecting the administration of any provision of the Canada Shipping Act or the regulations. The minister can authorize any person with whom an agreement or arrangement is entered into to exercise and perform such powers and duties under the act as are specified in the agreement or the arrangement.

The proposed provisions in the bill are consistent with this authority and in no way—and I speak directly to the NDP member—undermine the overall safety of the marine community. Given that the minister is delegating this authority to organizations such as classification societies which will conduct inspections on behalf of the minister, the minister must be satisfied that the delegated party is qualified to perform the assigned duties. The minister will only delegate responsibilities to qualified organizations or persons.

Classification societies are international, not for profit organizations that provide ship survey expertise around the world and, as such, Transport Canada will enter into a memorandum of understanding with every delegated organization to establish reporting mechanisms and to establish the qualifications required for personnel carrying out the delegated responsibilities.

To ensure adherence to agreements and memoranda, any delegation of authority will be subjected to Transport Canada audit and quality assurance. These organizations or persons will be audited by Transport Canada inspectors through spot checks and documented audits. The department will also conduct inspections on any shipowners suspected of contravening marine safety regulations.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the hon. member from the NDP for her interjection. It is unfortunate that while every party in the House is prepared to support the bill only members of the NDP are not. I hope this latest interjection by myself will maybe change their minds at the end of the day. If it does not and there are no amendments forthcoming, it is rather puzzling.

[Canada Shipping Act, April 30th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, as always, I consider it a privilege to speak about Bill C-15 on the third reading debate.

Before I discuss the bill, the Minister of Transport and I would like to acknowledge the important role that has been played by the members of this House and the Standing Committee on Transport who have undertaken an examination on the proposed legislation.

As hon. members will recall, this bill is the product of the first phase of a two track reform to overhaul the Canada Shipping Act, an act that is in serious need of major reform.

Bill C-15 will bring about change for the shipping industry, change that is recognized as necessary and highly anticipated. It is a modern statute that can only benefit the marine sector and I am pleased to see the process of the overhaul proceeding so well.

As the bill enters third reading debate, I am happy to report that provisions of the bill have been favourably accepted. Concerns have been addressed by the standing committee and minor amendments proposed to the legislation have since been included.

Changes to Bill C-15 would not have been possible without the dedicated efforts and review of the bill by industry. Industry involvement resulted in government amendments which have improved the wording of the statute.

Key amendments to Bill C-15 include the removal of the section of the bill which updated the regulation-making authority for the licensing of small vessels.

As previously stressed, this government is sensitive to the concerns raised by my colleagues in this place. I am pleased to say that the committee was able to have a thorough discussion on the issue of small craft licensing.

The results are that the proposed section that caused concern has now been removed, while leaving the existing provisions of the act unchanged to permit continuous operation of Canada's licensing system which enables law enforcement agencies and rescue groups to locate and identify vessels. This change will provide the Department of Fisheries and Oceans with sufficient opportunity to review the regulation-making authority for the licensing of small vessels.

In addition, industry requested an amendment to clarify the government's intent regarding regulations for the control and management of ballast water in order to ensure that all ballast water was not treated as pollutant.

The statutory power to manage ballast water and to reduce harmful organisms being introduced into Canadian waters will now be available for all Canadian waters, including the Arctic. This will further strengthen environmental protection and enforcement mechanisms and will reduce the threat of harmful aquatic organisms.

I am also very pleased to see this progress. It further supports the desire to continue with the overhaul of the Canada Shipping Act to produce new legislation that is modern and which will help industry operate safely.

To recap, this proposed legislation consists of a new addition to the act that outlines the objectives and framework of the act where this previously did not exist. This will provide focus and direction for the entire statute.

As well, the modernization of the ship registration and ownership provisions coupled with the other urgent amendments included from former Bill C-73 truly helped set the government's direction. We will achieve our goals of simplified legislation that is up to date, consistent with federal regulatory policies and able to successfully contribute to the economic performance of the marine industry. Industry stands behind us as we move toward a new statute and the government stands behind its commitment to deliver.

As efforts are made by Transport Canada to modernize the national transportation system it is recognized that modern shipping legislation is vital to meet the demands of a global marketplace and to prepare Canada for the upcoming century. We are mindful of the need for Canada to remain competitive internationally as this is the very essence of a successful economy.

Throughout the process of consulting and subsequent drafting of this legislation officials from the Department of Transport have spoken at great length with industry, including shipowners, ship operators, seafarers, unions and the marine legal community.

I take this opportunity to thank these industry groups for their participation in this reform and their ongoing contribution and support for the new legislation. I am thoroughly convinced and I am sure every member of this House will agree that this new legislation represents an important step toward modernizing Canadian marine legislation.

I urge all my fellow colleagues, all members of parliament, to lend their support in order to pass this bill so it can also pass through the Senate in a timely fashion.

[Supply, April 28th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I think what is clear is that at the first instance when you first put the question, my colleague the Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board said no. Then when you rose and asked the second question, I asked for clarification because I did not hear the translation in time. I asked if this was a request for unanimous consent to have the non-votable motion become votable and at that point I thanked you for that clarification. You asked the question and I said no. This is a non-votable item and it will remain so.

[Petitions, April 28th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I have the honour and privilege to present to the House a petition which has been certified correct by the clerk of petitions.

The great constituents of Hamilton West request that parliament support the immediate initiation and conclusion by the year 2000 of an international convention which will set out a binding timetable for the abolition of all nuclear weapons.

[Transport, March 25th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I hope the hon. member is not suggesting that we should ignore the rules that are laid down by Transport Canada.

We are trying to make sure that Transport Canada and all those who are flying have the safest system in the world. It has been demonstrated and it is very clear.

The individual in question is not being singled out. He is part of a larger investigation. If the hon. member read on in the newspaper articles he would have seen how Transport Canada has said on many occasions that the individual is part of a larger investigation, that the investigation—

[Transport, March 25th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member asks an important question and I think he deserves an answer.

The answer is the individual is not being investigated. The helicopter pilot is part of a much larger investigation, one that stretches back starting in January. The investigation is looking at the flights that landed prior to and right after that tragic accident.