Yvon Charbonneau

[International Year Of Volunteers, March 12th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform the House and all Canadians that the United Nations have declared 2001 the International Year of Volunteers.

The commemoration of the International Year of Volunteers is being co-ordinated by Volunteer Canada in collaboration with government and business as well as national and local volunteer organizations.

The federal government is supporting the International Year of Volunteers through activities which recognize both the contributions volunteers make to our organizations and the contributions public servants who volunteer make to their communities.

Volunteers are a pillar of Canada's economic and social life. The International Year of Volunteers is an opportunity to pay tribute to the 7.5 million volunteers in the country and to point to their contribution.

I urge Canadians to find ways to do volunteer work in their communities.

[Interparliamentary Delegations, February 28th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the 30th annual meeting of the Canadian group of the Canada-France Interparliamentary Association held from September 9 to September 16, 2000 in France.

[Immigration Act, February 26th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of Health indicated, this issue was dealt with in a very transparent manner.

Indeed, as soon as the minister was told about allegations of improper use of funds, he immediately took three measures.

First, he directed the forensic audit to take place. Second, he told lawyers for the government to go to court and ensure that we had every document needed to trace the funds. Third, he directed that no further funds be paid to the Virginia Fontaine Addictions Foundation until all outstanding questions were answered.

The government believes strongly that all public money be accounted for carefully and the department assures the House that it will do whatever is required to trace public spending by this organization.

Health Canada firmly believes that the best health programs are the ones provided by those who are most closely involved. This transfer is often made through contribution and transfer agreements, including the agreement signed with that foundation.

Transfers are a relatively new initiative that has experienced some growing pains. With the support of first nation and Inuit leaders, Health Canada has striven to strengthen accountability provisions in the transfer agreements.

In the fall of 2000, Health Canada began developing an internal management control framework to improve the management of negotiations and the enforcement of agreements.

Moreover, all new agreements over $100,000 will now be scrutinized by a review committee and, as of April 1 of this year, all new agreements will comply with the new Treasury Board policy protecting the interests of the state.

The allegations concerning the Virginia Fontaine Addictions Foundation are disturbing. Let me assure the House that Health Canada has taken these allegations seriously and has acted quickly to ensure that all information is gathered so that any misspent public moneys can be recovered.

[Health, February 26th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Don Valley West for asking this very important and very relevant question.

It gives me an opportunity to announce the Canadian government's decision to provide $24.4 million in funding for research into heart disease. This is in addition to $9.2 million already announced a while ago in Alberta for stroke research.

This funding is evidence of the Government of Canada's commitment to leading edge research in Canada in this very important field.

[Health, February 26th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, let me assure the opposition member that the Department of Health is monitoring this situation very closely. It feels that, as a partner, it can help resolve these issues, in co-operation with provincial and local authorities in British Columbia.

Health Canada provides all the advice, services and insight required to enable local authorities to fulfil their responsibilities regarding this serious problem.

[Aboriginal Affairs, February 26th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, as we know, health records administration for aboriginal people in remote areas is an extremely complex issue.

Some newspaper articles allude to deficits. I should point out that these were authorized deficits and that such deficits may be authorized for a number of reasons, both in this case and in other provinces.

When issues are raised, which the Health Canada official did, investigations are instigated and efforts are made to recover the money that may have been improperly spent.

[Canadian Sikhs, February 20th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, a great many scientists work at Health Canada. They are responsible for public health and food safety, but they do not all work in the area of mad cow disease.

I assure the House that Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency each have a team of specialists who oversee the scientific, political and administrative aspects of this issue.

The Health Canada scientists who were recently quoted in the media and by the opposition member were not members of either of these teams.

In addition to that, I have the pleasure to communicate to the House that an independent science advisory panel within Health Canada has endorsed the government's controversial decision to temporarily ban Brazilian beef over concerns that it may be contaminated with mad cow disease.

The science advisory board is headed by astronaut Roberta Bondar and composed of people with expertise in areas such as science, medicine and bioethics. The board has stated that the temporary suspension of imports and the removal of Brazilian beef products are justified actions on scientific grounds.

As can be seen, the opposition member is committing a serious error in implying that this decision was unfounded scientifically.

When it comes to public health, Canada has clear policies which are based on a scientific approach developed by experts, an approach supported by independent experts, as we have just seen, and this enables us to reduce to a minimum all known or apprehended threats to public health in Canada.

[Canadian Sikhs, February 20th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, as everyone knows, Catherine MacLean was killed and Catherine Doré was seriously injured in a tragic accident that happened in Ottawa, on January 27.

The driver of the car that struck both women was Andrei Knyazev, a Russian diplomat who was apparently driving under the influence.

Immediately after the accident the Department of Foreign Affairs sought a waiver of Mr. Knyazev's diplomatic immunity by the Russian government. As is normally the practice in such cases, the Russian government refused to waive his immunity and Mr. Knyazev returned to Moscow on January 29.

Since the accident, the Minister and the Department of Foreign Affairs, as well as the Canadian embassy in Moscow, have been working hard to see that justice is done in Russia. We have just learned that the Russian attorney general has announced that criminal charges will be laid against Mr. Knyazev.

We understand that the case is now being turned over to the Moscow police for investigation. The Canadian police file on the accident involving Mr. Knyazev was sent directly to the Russian authorities through police channels on February 12. It has now arrived in Moscow.

The tragedy that occurred on January 27 has led the Minister of Foreign Affairs to ask for an urgent review of the policies and procedures followed by the Department of Foreign Affairs. The results of this review carried out by the deputy minister will be made public shortly.

The department recognizes that diplomatic immunity was crucial to bilateral relations and allowed diplomats to appropriately serve their countries.

The convention is clearly supported by the world community.

[Heart Disease, February 1st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform the House and the people of Canada that February is heart disease awareness month.

We are proud of the Canadian heart health initiative, a multi-level collaboration encouraging Canadians to adopt healthy lifestyles and to create working and living conditions conducive to healthy choices.

Each year, some 79,000 Canadians die from heart disease or stroke. This is a huge loss for Canada.

Great progress has been made, but there is still a long way to go in the fight to reduce the major risk factors, such as smoking, hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes.

The quality of life of a myriad of Canadians will be enormously improved, but we as Canadians must choose to invest in heart health by mobilizing society as a whole.

[2000 Manifesto For Peace, October 19th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, last month, in the presence of the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Speaker of the Senate, I was privileged to hand over to the Director-General of UNESCO, His Excellency, Mr. Matsuura, the 2000 Manifesto Pledge, signed by nearly 300 Canadian parliamentarians from both Houses.

This initiative was carried out under the auspices of the Friendship Group of Parliamentarians for UNESCO and under the umbrella of the International Year for the Culture of Peace decreed by the UN.

May I remind you that the Manifesto 2000 for a culture of peace and non-violence is a commitment to respect the life and dignity of every human being, to practice active non-violence, to put an end to exclusion, to defend freedom and cultural diversity, to promote responsible consumer behaviour and sustainable development and to contribute to the democratic development of our communities with full participation by women.