Lee Morrison

[SOMALIa INQUIRY, March 21st, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, after months of trying to defend the shutting down of the Somalia inquiry and letting a political cover-up go unpunished, the Liberal government has finally admitted it was wrong. Unfortunately, instead of letting the inquiry commissioners get at the truth, the Liberals are trying to orchestrate a whitewash in the Senate.

My question is for the Minister of National Defence. Since the government now believes that the minister was wrong, why will it

not simply let the inquiry fulfil its mandate instead of trying to cover up the cover-up in the Senate?

[Journée Internationale De La Francophonie, March 20th, 1997]

Madam Speaker, it is an honour for me, as Canadian, to address this House on the Journée internationale de la Francophonie.

I would like to say a word on the importance of multilateral relations. The benefits of such relations are the reasons why Canada belongs to a number of international organizations. The G7, NATO and the Commonwealth are all important structures for the promotion of our foreign policy. The Francophonie includes 45 countries and a few other entities, including Quebec, for example, which have in common the use of the French language.

Membership in international organizations should be based on enlightened self-interest. It is to our benefit to help maintain international stability, but I have some fear that our financial contributions through CIDA to certain members of la Francophonie represent a disproportionate share of our foreign aid budget. Historically we have helped to prop up some very nasty and corrupt regimes for no apparent reason other than that the recipients speak French. We should perhaps be more careful with our national chequebook.

Since 1970, Canada has been a leader in the development of the Francophonie. It is also a founding member of the Agence de coopération culturelle et technique. Thursday, March 20, is the Journée internationale de la Francophonie. Happy Journée internationale de la Francophonie to all francophones and francophiles who have made Canada a better place.

[International Business Development, March 19th, 1997]

The hon. minister says they are not falling. He should check the government's statistics which are a matter of public record. India, I recall, had a drop of 16 per cent.

There must be some other ingredients required in the foreign sales mix. A healthy economy is one. Strong companies and confident consumers who are not burdened with an unbearable tax load is another one. How about the ability to build some muscle through domestic trade by allowing companies to freely trade with neighbouring provinces?

[International Business Development, March 19th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to respond on behalf of the Reform Party to the tabling by the Minister for International Trade of the document entitled "Achievement of the International Business Development Program".

Although we have not yet had a chance to see the document, this is democracy at its finest. We are told that it responds to recommendations put forward in the November 1996 auditor general's report on Canada's export promotion activities.

Let us examine some of what the auditor general actually had to say about Canada's export promotion activities. His comments are somewhat less than flattering. "We concluded that Parliament needs to be better informed about the expenditures, outputs, revenues and cost sharing of Canada's export promotion efforts. This would help ensure that there is no undesirable overlap, that the distribution of expenditures reflects the government's priorities and that Parliament is kept informed about the progress being made toward the government's objectives".

I have to agree with the auditor general that there is a pressing need for the public to know how its hard earned tax dollars are being spent. For example, how much do all of our globe trotting Team Canada missions cost? We are always told that business people pay their own way, so "don't worry, be happy, it is not costing us anything".

I would remind the House that it is the taxpayer who picks up much of the tab for plane fares, hotels and food for all the government officials who lay the groundwork for these missions and for the PM's tag-along entourage. That is not paid for by the business community.

I have a sneaking suspicion that some programs for export market development money gets sprinkled around, as well as quite a bit from the Export Development Corporation. I would really like to know how much, to whom and did we get our money's worth. I challenge anyone to get that kind of information out of EDC. All you will get is a thousand and one reasons why such information is confidential, sensitive or none of our business.

I look forward with some eagerness to seeing what the minister proposes be done to keep Parliament better informed about expenditures on all aspects of trade promotion.

Directly related to cost is cost effectiveness. Here is what the good AG had to say on that score: "While we were unable to find conclusive evidence about the direct effects of trade promotion, it is possible to measure the cost effectiveness of specific activities. To do this requires information on costs and systematic objective measures of the usefulness of specific activities to business or measures of their impact. However, both the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Department of Industry need better cost information. They need to obtain systematic and objective feedback to determine the value and utility of more of their key activities".

I know, and the auditor general knows, that the exact impact of government programs might be hard to measure. Did a foreign sale happen because of a government initiative or did it happen because a Canadian company had a superior widget and a lot of sales moxie and initiative? All that the auditor general is asking is for objective feedback about the key activities. He thinks that it can be done. I think it needs to be done and done often.

I would like to comment briefly on the puffery surrounding Team Canada's alleged success in snagging those ephemeral deals. The government needs to ask itself: What other factors play a role in determining our exporters' success? Really, if Team Canada's initiatives are all it takes to be successful abroad, then why would we not see our exports to China, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay rising instead of falling after our big ticket missions there?

[An Act To Amend Certain Laws Relating To Financial Institutions, March 17th, 1997]

Like you do.

[An Act To Amend Certain Laws Relating To Financial Institutions, March 17th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, a point of order. I would think that great herd of Liberals could somehow manage to maintain a quorum.

[Points Of Order, March 17th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would request that the Prime Minister be required to withdraw his slanderous inference that the Reform Party would do away with old age pensions.

[Copyright Act, March 13th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, when I was interrupted I was making reference to the fact that many small radio stations depend rather heavily on their libraried material, which can be in several different formats depending on how old the station is.

The legislation with its lack of considerations for transfer of format does not recognize advances in technology. As a matter of fact it penalizes radio stations that might want to advance their technology. It is somewhat like the weavers of Manchester breaking up the steam looms. We are moving into the 21st century but the government does not recognize that. The anti-technological biases of the Minister of Heritage being well known, I am not terribly surprised by it.

The other question regarding ephemeral rights refers to the length of time people will be allowed to maintain material in their files before it has to be destroyed or at least not used. The 30 days

proposed is preposterously short. Six months, which is what the industry requested, would have been quite reasonable.

I would like to read a letter received from the Kiwanis Club of Pembroke, Ontario. It may cast some light on how this lack of reasonable time shift will affect some of the charitable ventures that rely upon broadcast. I will read it in its entirety.

The Kiwanis Club's efforts to ensure continued Easter Seal benefits for the children in our community, could be seriously jeopardized by provisions in the new Copyright bill currently being debated in Ottawa.

Dennis Runge, Chairman, said today that he is sure that it is just an oversight by the Members of Parliament, who have no idea that the fund-raising telethons Easter Seals have so successfully held with CHRO TV over the years could be really harmed by some small exceptions which have inexplicably been omitted from this proposed bill.

Runge explained that the problem is with the entertainment portions of the broadcast, which are so important in attracting viewers. "CHRO has told us that under the proposed Copyright Bill, they could be fined, or else have to pay additional costs and undertake a major effort to clear the rights, just for taping local performers a few weeks ahead of the broadcast, and then playing it back during the telethon".

The Kiwanis Club believes that if it loses the ability to showcase these entertainers, the broadcast will suffer. And, if either they or CHRO TV have to pay a second time just for the necessity to tape and playback these performances, the costs will add to the telethon budget, and not as much money will be able to be directed into Easter Seals.

Runge says that CHRO TV has indicated it wants to continue to do the broadcast, that it believes in the work of the Kiwanis Club and wants to support our valuable work in the community. However, CHRO TV has also said that if the Copyright legislation is passed as is, the future of the telethon will have to be seriously re-examined.

The Kiwanis Club says "local Members of Parliament have to tell the government that broadcasters should be giving time shift' andtransfer of format' exceptions in the proposed Copyright Bill, which would eliminate the problem, and permit Kiwanis and CHRO TV to continue working for the benefit of people in Pembroke and surrounding area.

"Sometimes it is not clear that new legislation can have detrimental effects in a community" said Runge. "But this time we have been able to see the problem coming, and hopefully our MPs will understand that it is up to them to see that the people of our town don't lose out by a careless decision made in Ottawa".

It is signed by Dennis Runge, chairman of the Kiwanis Club of Pembroke, Ontario.

This is a very typical example of the way in which people with good intentions try to protect everybody from everything imaginable and end up creating severe problems for other people who do not deserve to have problems. I am sure they have received letters similar to this. They must have received them by the hundreds. I would hope that they would start to give a bit of consideration to what they are doing and make serious amendments to this bill, not just to gratify the Quebec entertainers who have been getting everything they want, but to think about the service clubs and the small community stations all over Canada that are going to suffer under this legislation.

[Copyright Act, March 13th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, listening to this prolonged debate and looking at the eleven and a half pages of amendments in the Order Paper, I cannot help but think there must be a lot of disorganization in the background of this legislation. I wonder why the government does not go back to the drawing board and start out with something that makes sense to all concerned and the public can use.

However, we are now debating these amendments line by line. The question of the ephemeral exemptions is a particularly trying one in my riding. Although it is a vast area, probably about one-fifth the size of the province of Ontario, there are within that area only three radio stations, one cable outlet and one independent television station. They are all going to suffer from this legislation. Some of them are going to suffer so much that I am afraid they might be lost.

That does not make any difference to the government members or to their friends and accomplices on the separatist side who have been working hand in glove devising this legislation.

As a somewhat technical person, one of the things in this legislation that I find most offensive is the lack of any real exemption for the transfer of formats. Most smaller radio stations have fairly extensive libraries, some of them in two, three or even four formats. It is a dog's breakfast. It is that way because they cannot afford to make a massive conversion. Now we are going to tell them, when we pass this bill, that their libraries, unless they are willing to pay for the transfer of formats every time they take something off the shelf, have become basically useless.

[Copyright Act, March 13th, 1997]

Madam Speaker, since a 30 minute bell is now a 24 minute period I would like to go on record as supporting this motion.