John Manley

[Statistics Canada, March 27th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, we went through this fairly painfully and slowly yesterday. I will try not to take too much time today.

I would remind the hon. member that we did-

[Communications, March 26th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, it has to be the height of irony to have the Reform Party posing a question like that.

Last year when we as a cabinet gave direction to the CRTC to set a framework which was going to lead to competition, it was that party which rose repeatedly to say we were interfering with the CRTC. It criticized us. It was not willing to take a stand with us in favour of competition.

We walked a very careful line in deciding how we would formulate our direction to the CRTC. We stayed within the law in giving direction on policy matters. The CRTC implements those policies. It did so.

If the hon. member does not like it, I do not know why he did not support us when we were making directive orders to the CRTC on this very issue.

[Communications, March 26th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, we have a very coherent telecommunications policy.

The hon. member knows that in the joint submission to the CRTC on the issue of convergence last year, we set out the framework for a competitive, Canadian telecommunications industry. We are looking forward to responding to the CRTC report on convergence in the near future.

With respect to foreign ownership which was in the preamble to the hon. member's question, I would like to point out to him something which I think is very important. Canada has had one of the most open and liberal foreign ownership regimes in telecommunications of all countries in the world. We wait with impatience for some other countries to actually deliver on their promises of reciprocity which they have made so often.

[Statistics Canada, March 26th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps the Leader of the Opposition would be kind enough to table the documents so that I will have a chance to look at them. They are not something that originated with me or my office.

If the hon. member wishes to provide names, as members of Parliament from all parties have done, those names will be passed on. The people will be subject to some rigid testing. After all, this is the census of Canada. We want qualified people to do the job. We do not want some of those people who counted the ballots in the referendum.

[Statistics Canada, March 26th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know how many times I can explain this.

With respect, the hon. Leader of the Opposition has given us a list and it has been forwarded to Statistics Canada. I do not know from what he is reading. I would be happy to look at it if he wants to pass it over to me. It certainly did not originate with me.

I can assure him that members of Parliament from all parties who submitted names through their contact person for census commissioner were disappointed with the results of the testing process.

In order to at least give some opportunity to those many people whose names were submitted-and there are many others that have to be hired because those lists would not be adequate-we have asked Statistics Canada to give priority to the qualified people, after testing, that have been submitted through members' offices.

That includes the names the Leader of the Opposition submitted from Roberval.

[Statistics Canada, March 26th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated in my answer to an earlier question, the Statistics Canada Act gives full discretion for the minister to appoint directly the people involved in the census process.

Rather than doing that, on a fully transparent patronage basis I have invited all members of Parliament to participate by submitting names. But I stress, with 35,000 of these people, most of the hirees are going to be people recruited directly by Statistics Canada either from the Canada employment offices or references from various groups and organizations in ridings across the country.

The census is going to be held and it is going to be on time. If the hon. member has some names, he had better get them in this week.

[Statistics Canada, March 26th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I suspect some of my colleagues would wish that I plead guilty to that accusation.

The system in place is based on testing and qualification by public servants evaluating the lists of names submitted for census commissioner by contract persons and other sources from all members of the House of Commons.

The second process is with respect to the hiring of the census representatives. There are over 35,000 of these people across the country subject to a two stage testing process.

In reflection of the fact that members of Parliament from all parties expressed some frustration that not all the people they considered qualified had succeeded in being chosen as census commissioners, we have asked Statistics Canada to give priority to those candidates who were tested and proven to be qualified for the census representative position who were referred through the minister's office. That includes names given by members of Parliament other than members of the governing party.

I invite the hon. member to do this but he does not have much time.

[Statistics Canada, March 26th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, again let us be perfectly clear. If the member is asking me if names were being submitted from my office solely for Liberals, the answer is no.

If he would like to make sure names are submitted from his riding, from his list, for census representatives I invite him to do so. Point final.

[Statistics Canada, March 26th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I think I have answered that question. Let me answer a different question.

If the hon. member is asking whether as minister responsible for Statistics Canada I am involved in staffing the census positions, the answer is yes. Under the Statistics Act the minister responsible for Statistics Canada is authorized to appoint the staff required to conduct a census.

However, the way we have gone about doing this in order to provide as many names as possible so that the most qualified people could obtain jobs was to use the political process as a source of names.

As I have told the member, with respect to census commissioners, that has been done through all members of Parliament providing a contact person. In the case of representatives from the Bloc Quebecois, from the Reform Party, from the NDP and from the Liberal Party, many people did not successfully qualify for the position.

Consequently, with respect to the 35,000 positions for census representatives, we have asked that, being subjected to testing first, people who have been submitted through my office be hired if they are qualified.

I am prepared to do that for any member of Parliament who indicates, as many official opposition members have, that they feel their people were better qualified than the testing revealed them to be on the first go-round. They are perfectly welcome to submit names.

[Statistics Canada, March 26th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I hope I understand the hon. member's question correctly. Let me make sure we set out the process.

In the appointment of census commissioners, I wrote to every member of Parliament and invited them to submit a name as a contact person. From those names, Statistics Canada solicited possible people to serve as census commissioners. In many cases the contact person submitted their own name.

All those people were subject to very thorough testing at two stages. They were required to write a written test and they were required to submit to an interview process conducted by public servants who were regular or term employees of Statistics Canada.

From that, over 2,000 census commissioners across Canada were hired. Subsequent to that, there is a request for further names for census representatives.

As I explained a moment ago, 35,000 across the country is not a bad number. I am forwarding any names left over or which come to me from members of Parliament for those positions. I invite the member if he has some names to submit them to me. I would be happy to forward them on his behalf.