Gérard Binet

[World Forestry Congress, September 24th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, from September 21 to 28, 2003, Canada will host, for the first time, the World Forestry Congress in Quebec City. This event, attended by some 4,000 delegates and forestry experts from around the world, is an opportunity to present and share our experiences and contribute to the definition of a vision for tomorrow's forests.

The Government of Canada, through the Department of Natural Resources, is proud to host this congress.

This is also an opportunity for Canada to show the rest of the world that its investments in skills, knowledge and innovation contribute to maintaining a healthy and safe environment, as well as preserving our natural heritage.

During the World Forestry Congress in Quebec City, the participants from around the world will see for themselves that our country is truly a model in this field.

Congratulations, Canada.

[Chrysotile Asbestos, September 15th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, last week a conference was held to denigrate Canadian chrysotile asbestos; it was chaired by the member for Windsor—St. Clair and the international ban asbestos movement.

Their goal was to accuse our government and pro-chrysotile stakeholders of hypocrisy and profiting from the export of Canadian asbestos.

At a rally organized last Friday by the pro-asbestos movement, 250 miners and regional stakeholders came to Ottawa to protest the holding of this conference.

On Tuesday, results of a study on the low biopersistence of Quebec chrysotile released by the directors of the Asbestos Institute provide sufficient evidence to support the debate over the safe and responsible use of chrysotile.

And I reiterated the position of the Government of Canada—that when chrysotile is used safely it poses no risk to health.

I would like to thank the residents of Frontenac—Mégantic and Asbestos for this rally in Ottawa. We were able to demonstrate to all of Canada that properly used chrysotile is a fibre worth preserving.

[Adstock Strongman Festival, June 12th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, Adstock's first Strongman Festival will be held from July 10 to 13 under the patronage of Hugo Girard.

Hugo Girard, a police officer from Gatineau and world record holder, is the strongest man in the world, having won, among other things, the 2002 World Strongman Super Series sponsored by the International Federation of Strength Athletes. Since 1998, he has stunned crowds across Canada, the United States and Europe with his feats of strength and immeasurable challenges.

Twelve strong men from Canada and the United States will compete at the Adstock Strongman Festival, and the winners will move on to the provincial competitions.

Since the dawn of time, people have always been fascinated by strong men, from Samson to Cyr to Schwarzenegger. I cordially invite you to come to Adstock to watch the demonstrations of physical strength that are part of our folk tradition in Quebec.

Congratulations and best wishes to the volunteer organizers from the lovely municipality of Adstock.

[Jeux d'été du Québec, June 9th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, from August 1 to 9, the Asbestos region will host the 39th finals of the Jeux du Québec–été 2003. At this event, 4,273 athletes from all over Quebec will take part in a multitude of sporting activities.

On June 2, on behalf of the Minister of Human Resources Development, I had the pleasure of announcing $21,431 in financial support for the organizing committee. This funding comes from the summer career placements program and will make it possible to create summer jobs for seven students.

Whether they work in preparing for the games, or ensuring later that they run smoothly, having a summer job helps these young people develop new skills and abilities, identify career objectives and save money to pay for their education. This initiative, which will benefit the employer as much as the young people, is a fine example of the creative synergy between enthusiasm and experience; we can be very proud of this kind of program.

This summer, we invite you all to visit this beautiful region and take part in our summer games.

[Human Resources Development, June 4th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, on June 2, I had the pleasure, on behalf of the Minister of Human Resources Development Canada, to announce a contribution of $113,434 to the Centre d'entraide de la région de Disraëli. This centre helps disadvantaged people in the area and organizes various social and cultural activities.

The money will be used to give 10 young people, aged 16 to 30, an opportunity to plant seeds and maintain a garden using organic methods to control weeds and insect pests. This experience is expected to be very enriching for these young people, and as a consequence, will not only improve the centre's infrastructures, but also beautify the natural environment. It is an excellent initiative that will raise awareness and help young people take responsibility for their own personal growth, right in their community.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and long live Canada.

[First Nations Governance Act, June 3rd, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to take part in the debate on this amendment to the First Nations Governance Act.

When a new code is proposed, this amendment will require band councils to advise all members and residents of the reserve within 15 days for the code to be adopted.

As my distinguished colleagues know, this amendment was put forward and accepted by the committee. The government cannot support this amendment.

Before addressing the specific problems that this amendment raises, I would like to thank the members of the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs, Northern Development and Natural Resources for their work.

As my distinguished colleagues know, this legislation was sent to committee for review before second reading. Our objective was very simple: take every opportunity to improve the legislation as much as possible. I believe we reached our objective.

The first stage of the consultations on the First Nations Governance Act was, for aboriginals, the first clear opportunity in our entire history to influence the development of legislation and to profoundly change the direction of the Indian Act by establishing a solid foundation for a transition to self-government.

Sending Bill C-7 to committee before second reading gave us another opportunity to consult first nations people on improvements to be made to it. As members know, when a bill is submitted to committee before second reading, significant changes can be made.

That is precisely what happened and I would like to commend the members of the committee for their careful and meticulous review of the First Nations Governance Act.

Although the government does not support the amendment that we are talking about today, that does not diminish the value of the numerous improvements made to this legislation in committee. For instance, the committee put forward several amendments on the provisions of Bill C-7 in reaction to the concerns of first nations witnesses who wanted us to clarify the matter of search and seizure powers.

Through its work, the committee helped draft amendments that had been suggested at report stage. Those amendments respond to the concerns of first nations in matters of acquired rights by bands that have already adopted codes.

Although I applaud the excellent work done by the committee and I readily acknowledge the underlying good intentions of this amendment—in other words the desire to give communities enough notice about proposed new codes to be ratified—this amendment inadvertently causes true problems for first nations.

This amendment will limit the government's ability to make regulations on ratification votes and will limit the first nations' ability to express their views on these regulations in the third stage of consultations, which will take place after the bill is passed. As my distinguished colleagues know, a regulation may not conflict with a law. Consequently, criteria established by law cannot be changed by regulation.

Moreover, this amendment does not allow the drafting of regulations that would fully respect the rights of members living off the reserve. This would be in direct violation of section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as noted by the Supreme Court of Canada in the Corbiere decision. A fifteen-day notice will probably be too short to enable all members living off the reserve to take part in a ratification vote in an informed manner.

One of the problems with this amendment is that there is no provision allowing an extension of the fifteen-day period. Amendment CA4 would not allow any flexibility with regard to the notice period, contrary to what the first nations could request during the third stage of consultations.

The amendment uses the expression “non-member residents”. This is not consistent with the language used in the First Nations Governance Act nor is it consistent with current practices. Non-member residents of a first nation do not have the right to take part in a ratification vote on a code.

Finally, the expression “all members of the band” includes minors who are not entitled to vote on a code proposed by a band.

For all these reasons, this amendment, despite the good intentions of those who wrote it, does nothing to improve Bill C-7; it takes away from it.

If, as the amendment proposes, the purpose is to provide early notification to the parties involved in a ratification vote, I would like to assure my distinguished colleagues that this position will be taken into consideration in the regulations now being drafted.

Furthermore, these regulations will be strengthened through consultations and will reflect the needs and interests of Canadian aboriginal communities.

Before closing, I would like to encourage all of my distinguished colleagues to support Bill C-7, the First Nations Governance Act. This bill is based on several principles, including transparency, the requirement for accountability and reparation. These principles are the pillars of democratic governments. They are also the pillars of the right to self-government for Canada's first nations.

Once Bill C-7 has been passed by the House of Commons and has received Royal Assent, it will mark the beginning of a new relationship between first nations peoples, their administrations and the Government of Canada.

[A. Lacroix et Fils Granit Ltée, May 29th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to speak about a family business founded in 1962 in Saint-Sébastien, which all started in a home garage. A. Lacroix et Fils Granit Ltée, a stone manufacturing and cutting business, now has over 130 employees and has been serving its clients for three generations.

The business managed by Claude Lacroix and his two sons, Simon and Frédéric, has been awarded 25% of the New England Stone Industries contract to supply granite blocks for the World War II Memorial in Washington, a project of the American Battle Monument Commission.

This industry leader has outstanding expertise in custom orders, and its reputation for excellence is widely appreciated by contractors, project managers, stone setters and architects across North America. This leading supplier of natural stone has been involved in a number of remarkable achievements and can be proud of its reputation. I want to congratulate this company for its entrepreneurship. It is another fine example of international visibility—

[International Development, May 27th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, last week I had the pleasure of announcing, on behalf of the Minister for International Cooperation, $400,000 in financial support to the Collège de la région de l'Amiante for a development project in Tunisia.

This funding from the Canadian International Development Agency's Canadian College Partnership Program is intended to support the development of new mineral technology and geo-environmental programs.

The Collège de la région de l'Amiante will provide the Higher Institute for Technological Studies in Gafsa, Tunisia, with technical, human and educational resources to train technicians to better manage water, which is a rare commodity in Gafsa, Tunisia.

Gafsa is a mining and industrial region not unlike Amiante. Consequently, this type of initiative can benefit both countries. I would like to applaud everyone who combined their efforts to make this great expertise development opportunity possible.

Thank you and vive le Canada.

[Canada Labour Code, May 15th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Labour.

In light of a question asked yesterday in the House by the opposition, which gave an inaccurate depiction of the labour situation at Cargill, could the Minister of Labour inform us of the true status of the dispute between Cargill Ltd. and the Syndicat national des employés de Cargill Ltd.?

[Agriculture, May 12th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, certain provinces appear to be ready to sign implementation agreements for the agricultural policy framework.

Can the parliamentary secretary provide the House with the latest news regarding the implementation of the agricultural policy framework?