Peter Stoffer

[National Defence, April 30th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, therein lies the question. The government cancelled the project in 1993. Now the procurement process is so politically interfered with by the government that nobody knows. The minister cannot even answer when those Sea Kings will be replaced.

The minister stood in the House time and time again and said that the new helicopters would be replaced and flying in the year 2005. Public works has said one thing and now the minister is saying something completely different.

For the men and women who fly the Sea Kings, who maintain the Sea Kings and who do a great job for Canada, I ask him once again: When will those helicopters be replaced?

[National Defence, April 30th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, since the government took power back in 1993 the morale of the men and women associated with the military has sunk to an all time low. With rusting equipment, minimal pay increases and now increased housing allowances which are taking away those pay increases, no wonder morale is so low in our military.

With regard to the Sea King helicopters, it now appears that there will be further delays in their replacement. My question for the Minister of National Defence is quite simple. When will those Sea Kings be replaced? What date?

[The Gully, April 30th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, off the coast of Nova Scotia near Sable Island lies the largest submarine canyon on the eastern coast of North America, commonly known as the Gully. It is larger than the Grand Canyon in the United States.

The Gully is home to 15 species of whales and dolphins, including the vulnerable northern bottlenose whale, ancient sea coral and many varieties of fish.

For bringing the Gully to the attention of parliament and all Canadians, I wish to extend my thanks to Sarah Dover of the World Wildlife Fund, Dr. Rick Smith of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Elisabeth May of the Sierra Club, Derek Jones of Newellton, Nova Scotia and Mark Butler of the Ecology Action Centre of Nova Scotia. They stress the need for protection of the Gully from deep sea fishing and oil and gas exploration.

We in the New Democratic Party from coast to coast encourage the government to immediately designate the Gully as a marine protected area and protect it for future generations.

[Farm Credit Corporation Act, April 30th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the hon. member for Brandon—Souris. As he knows, the FCC has now expanded outside agriculture and into aquaculture. Should aquaculture be under the authority of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans or the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food?

Many commercial fishermen and the Canadian Council of Professional Fish Harvesters have expressed concern about government lending to aquaculture sites when environmental concerns about aquaculture have not yet been fully debated or researched. Does he or his party have concerns about funding to industries such as aquaculture?

[Farm Credit Corporation Act, April 30th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his comment. He is right about the $500 million being allocated on February 20. We on this side of the House and others have agreed that was about $400 million short. However the fact is that the delay of that money, which did not get sent out when it should have, is absolutely inexcusable.

I will take just a moment to mention the member for Malpeque, P.E.I., who has been very critical of the department of agriculture for really being out of touch with what is happening on the family farm. I believe his criticism is rightfully placed because the department is simply out of touch with family farms in this country.

I can assure the hon. member from the Liberal Party that I believe all he really has to do is walk over to the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister, tap them on the shoulder during question period and tell them to get on with the job of looking after our family farms. We would be very supportive of that.

[Farm Credit Corporation Act, April 30th, 2001]

My colleague from Brandon—Souris would like me to bring lobsters. I can do that tomorrow if he wishes. We could have lunch together.

I like bringing the Annapolis apples to Ottawa because I pick them right from the trees and hand them out to the first 100 people I see. Those apples are from farmers and producers and their families who are very proud of what they do.

All who go to the beautiful Annapolis Valley will see for themselves the pride of the communities in regard to growing a tremendous product. Anyone seeing the farms in Prince Edward Island will see the pride of farmers in producing those great potatoes. A great songwriter in Canada, Stompin' Tom Connors, wrote a great song called Bud the Spud . I highly recommend listening to that song in lighter moments. It is absolutely fabulous.

We have already debated what farming does for us in terms of being able to feed ourselves and in maintaining an agricultural policy. However, a majority of Canadians now live in urban centres and some of them have forgotten what it is like to be on a family farm. I highly recommend that all members of parliament and their families take time out of their busy lives to visit a family farm and thank farmers for the work they do and for maintaining the high standards of quality of the food we consume on a daily basis. Without farmers the country would be at a severe loss.

On behalf of farmers in my riding of Sackville—Musquodoboit Valley—Eastern Shore, it gives me great pleasure to rise today in support of this bill. We agree with the government that it should be moved ahead fairly quickly so that the farmers and primary producers of the country can get on with their busy lives.

[Farm Credit Corporation Act, April 30th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise to speak to the upcoming changes for the FCC. I am speaking on behalf of our agricultural critic, the hon. member for Palliser, who unfortunately could not be with us today.

Also a special hello and thanks to the dozens of farmers in my riding of Musquodoboit Valley. They are some of the best producers in the entire country. I am very proud to stand in the House to represent them and quite proudly say to them that I and my party support the thrust of this bill, although there are always a couple of cautions that need to be addressed.

Overall, we thank the government for these much needed changes. Similar to our colleague from the Bloc, we hope they pass fairly quickly. Above all we hope the constant consultation and dialogue with the main producers and with those people directly affected by the legislation continues. That dialogue is extremely important for the future.

Who could forget the crisis in the agricultural industry over the last few years? Many of us were at farm rallies on the Hill and at rallies held throughout the country, especially in the prairie provinces. Statistics show that over the last two years 22,000 families in the western provinces alone have left the farm. If that does not constitute a crisis in the industry, I am not sure what does.

Being a fairly new MP, going into my fourth year in this place, I always felt that it should be up to the Government of Canada, irrespective of one's political leanings, to look after our agricultural industry. If we do not do this to the best of our ability then unfortunately we will seriously neglect what I consider the most important industry in Canada.

When members had breakfast this morning and when they have dinner tonight, I hope they appreciate the people who are willing to get up at all hours of the day to sow the seeds so our families can be nourished. I think I speak for all members of parliament when I say we are extremely proud of the Canadian agriculture industry. We are very proud of the thousands of farmers and their families who toil in the fields and factories so we can provide nourishment to our families on an ongoing basis. Above all they do it fairly cheaply.

Food costs in Canada as compared to other countries are relatively inexpensive. People who suffer through tight financial times always worry about the cost of putting food on the table. When we look at the overall picture of what it costs to put food on our table compared to other items which we purchase such as shelter, clothing, home heating oil et cetera, food is relatively inexpensive. Therein lies one of the problems we are facing today.

The price that producers get for their product is very low. This is one of the crises we have. Wheat is made into bread and the bread is sold in the stores but the price of that generally goes to the middle man; the marketers, store owners and so on. If a loaf of bread cost $1, I believe the primary producer may get about 6 cents. That has to change so our primary producers who feed us and export to other countries get better value for the work they do.

The FCC is a wonderful institution for farmers when they need to diversify or when they need to purchase new equipment in order to ascertain future funding so they can carry on their business.

A young man from Saskatchewan with his family and many other farmers appeared before our caucus a few months ago to describe the scene on the family farm. I asked this young man, who was about 12 years old, if he was going into farming like his father and grandfather. He said no. I asked if there was anybody else in his classroom who was thinking about taking up agriculture as a livelihood. The young man again said no. That begs this question: Who are going to be the farmers of tomorrow? We know who the farmers are today, and many of them are going through a crisis because they are not sure if they will be able to make out the year.

Nobody likes to go from crisis to crisis year in and year out. Farmers know very well that historically there have been great years and poor years. They have always got through those years. However a tremendous number of farmers from coast to coast, not just in the prairies but in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, are going through a very difficult time. Anything the federal government can do to assist them should be done very quickly.

It appalls me at times when I hear the federal government say that it has a new aid package based on provincial funding and that it will give $6 out of every dollar for aid but the provinces have to come up with the other $4. Nova Scotia is going through a pretty severe debt and deficit situation right now. It simply does not have additional funding to give to its farmers.

Nova Scotia rightfully says that if the federal government is swimming in billions of dollars of taxpayer money then at least it should assist those provinces and others with more funding for farmers, at least to get them through this crisis stage so they can set up long term arrangements for the future.

I know the federal agriculture minister from Ontario is a decent fellow, but he made a comment regarding P.E.I. potato farmers that I am sure he will live to regret for the rest of his days. He said that maybe those potato producers should grow something else because of the recent battle with the United States.

That is easy for someone to say, but P.E.I. grows some of the best potatoes on the entire planet. They have diversified in potato farming. The infrastructure, the machinery, the plants and the workers were set up for that. Then the federal agriculture minister turns around and says that the battle with the United States is pretty tough so maybe they should grow something else.

If the federal minister honestly believes that, which I am sure he probably does not, then P.E.I. potato producers should say “Okay, Mr. Minister, if we are to diversify, what should we diversify into? Is the federal government going to provide the funding for us to diversify?” If that is indeed the case, the minister should back it up with dollars and then maybe some of those producers will grow something else. If the minister is suggesting that they need to grow something else after they already grow the number one potato product in the country—at least that is my biased opinion, coming as I do from Atlantic Canada—then he should at least back it up with some dollars.

Overall the changes in the FCC are positive, as long as the FCC continues to focus on the primary producer. That is essential. The Canadian Federation of Agriculture has indicated to us that it has no overall objections to the legislation. Credit Union Central of Canada, representing credit unions across the country, formed a committee to study this legislation. During the consultation process it fully supported the proposal as long as credit unions could participate in some of the services, equity financing and partnerships. This of course would include the caisses populaires of Quebec.

This aspect of it is extremely important. Bill C-8, the financial restructuring act, is now going through the House. It has gone through this place and is on its way to the Senate, ready for royal assent. It will create great change in the financial sector in the country. When all those changes happen it will be extremely important to ensure that agencies such as credit unions and caisses populaires, which play vitally important roles in our country, especially in rural Canada where most of our farms and primary producers are based, have an important say and a role in the future of how FCC does its business. If they do, they will continue to have our support.

The National Farmers Union is concerned that the FCC may soften its focus on family farms and primary production. The government and the FCC have made a commitment that farming and the primary producer would continue to be the main focus of the corporation. That is essential.

In order to maintain the so far lukewarm support of the National Farmers Union, which represents a tremendous number of farmers across the country, it is imperative that the government and whatever party is in government years down the road continue that important dialogue with groups such as the National Farmers Union to ensure that primary producers rural communities and those family farms are indeed integral to any decisions made.

The best way to do that is with open and transparent consultation. The federal government has been blamed many times—I think of the Sea King operation for example—for hiding behind its words, for other concerns it tries to hide from, and for not being completely open and transparent. I beg the government to ensure that it does not do this with our agricultural concerns. That would be a very sad thing.

The corporation's main focus would continue to be small and medium sized operations that contribute to local communities. We have to take the government and the directors of the FCC at their word. If indeed that is correct, they will have our support and the support of many family farms throughout the country.

However, again I would like to remind the government and those in opposition right across the country that it is imperative to maintain that and not lose sight of the main focus in years to come.

In fact, the FCC has only a handful of accounts with businesses that have revenues over $5 million. The majority of its day to day business is indeed with small and medium sized family farms. That is extremely important.

Another concern in regard to a lot of family farms these days is lease financing. Under the new legislation the FCC would offer lease financing directly to or in partnership with agricultural operators. There is a growing need for lease financing in the agricultural industry for operators who want to manage cash flows with increased flexibility. The 1993 act does not prevent FCC from offering lease financing. However, the new amendments clarify the scope of the corporation's service in that area. More important, with a more flexible financial structure the FCC will be able to create subsidiaries to partner with other organizations in offering more comprehensive financial packages.

With Bill C-8 and the concentration of our financial institutions, it is very important, at least in my mind, that farmers and primary producers have the option and flexibility to look for the best rates when it comes to their lending needs. The corporation would have access to additional financial management tools to secure its portfolio and offer expanded services to agricultural operations. A more flexible financial structure contributes to the viability of the FCC and its ability to serve agriculture in the long term. That is definitely what is needed.

The country deserves and demands an agricultural policy from A to Z that really meets the needs of the family farm and medium sized producers and ascertains and tells Canadians once and for all that in this country we will be able now and in the future to feed ourselves. An awful lot of people are concerned that we as a country may be losing our agricultural sovereignty. We simply cannot allow that.

I could not help but notice that one of the greatest fighters for the family farm, a gentleman from Ontario, is in the House today. I thank him for his personal efforts in bringing the issue of the family farm to the House of Commons and to his own government. He should be complimented for his work in creating awareness of the crisis on the family farm.

There are other concerns throughout the country. We would like to ensure that the family farm issue is not just not a debate in the House and is then forgotten. We would like the family farm issue to continue in the House and we would like to ensure that when changes need to occur we can meet those changes along the way.

It gives me great pleasure every September and October when I come to Ottawa to bring with me about 100 pounds of Annapolis Valley apples of various descriptions. I hand them out.

[Income Tax Act, April 4th, 2001]

Madam Speaker, I rise again on a question I raised in the House a couple of weeks ago about genetically modified fish that are commonly called transgenic fish. I prefer to call them frankenfish.

The government has completely abandoned any possibility of rehabilitating the habitat of our natural environment so that wild fish stocks can come back. Unfortunately it is aiding, abetting and promoting a genetically modified or transgenic fish. The only place this is being done in the world is in Prince Edward Island and in Newfoundland by a company called A/F Protein, an American company, that is using Aqua Bounty in Surrey, Prince Edward Island, to promote its product.

The government will say that it is done in closed laboratories. The fish will not be allowed to be outside the closed labs. The company is now applying to extract millions of salmon eggs and move those eggs into the United States for rearing in an open pen. This is a problem for many commercial fishermen and aboriginal groups. They also have other concerns about the average aquaculture industry. There are many escapes from these pens. The aquaculture industry told us that aquaculture fish cannot reproduce or survive in the wild. We now know that to be wrong. They do reproduce in the wild. These fish are so voracious in their appetite that they can overwhelm and overtake natural fish.

What I and many people in the industry fear is that these fish will escape into the wild and destroy the wild stock altogether. Since they are a genetically modified or transgenic species, they themselves over time will become extinct if there are no proper controls. This is our greatest fear.

The other fear we have is about these fish getting into the commercial market. Consumers who go to a supermarket now do not see any salmon there marked “this is farmed salmon”. I have said to the aquaculture industry time and time again that if it is so proud of its product then that product should be labelled. The industry should let the consumers of Canada know what they are buying. Consumers would not know what they are buying if transgenics get into the market.

The aquaculture industry has also said for years that under no circumstances would it accept genetically modified or transgenic fish. It has now modified that position and is saying it will not accept these species of fish unless the government can prove they are safe for human consumption. The only way that can be proved is through very long term studies of at least 20 to 30 years. We simply do not have the resources within the government or the human resources to do those types of tests.

The hon. member from the Liberal Party will get up and talk about CEPA and say what great things the government has, with the proper legislation in place. It is simply nonsense. CEPA is a piece of legislation passed in the last legislature which has so many holes in it that it simply will not protect wild species or human consumption, and they are what we are greatly concerned about.

The Royal Society of Canada did a report, apparently actioned by the federal government. It did a test study on transgenics and came up with some recommendations for the government. The Royal Society of Canada said to place a moratorium on transgenics and genetically modified fish or, as I prefer, frankenfish. The Royal Society said to place a moratorium on these fish until there is more information.

This is what the government needs to do. This is what my party encourages the government to do. We in the NDP say once again, please do all that is possible to protect wild fish stocks and their habitat.

[Foot And Mouth Disease, April 3rd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this very important issue in Canada. My party and I thank the hon. member for Brandon—Souris for bringing this important issue to the Speaker's attention so that we can rise and debate on this issue.

A lot of people are asking why someone from Nova Scotia would be debating the issue of foot and mouth disease. In the Musquodoboit Valley I have many dairy farmers who are extremely concerned about what would happen to them if this disease ever came into Nova Scotia, and for that matter, the rest of Canada.

We heard a lot of facts and figures about the costs to Canada if the disease came in. It was anywhere from $20 billion to $26 billion. Those figures are just on estimated losses from the producers themselves. Everyone tends to forget what this would do to tourism and other aspects of the economy. In fact the losses would be immeasurable. It would be absolutely scary to see what would happen. We heard that school groups throughout the country have cancelled or plan to cancel trips into England and other parts of Europe. That also figures into economic losses.

I echo the sentiment of many speakers here tonight who said that we as a parliament, we as a country, must do everything we can to prevent foot and mouth disease from coming into Canada.

Members spoke about the stories they have heard or the e-mails, faxes or phone calls they have received from various people who have gone through customs at airports at various points of entry into Canada and the lack of attention to detail that various customs agents have portrayed.

As a former airline employee for 18 years at the Watson Lake airport in Yukon and for 8 years at the Halifax airport, I can assure the House that the customs people there do an excellent job of trying to prevent not only drugs and illegal immigrants from coming in but also those various diseases that should not be coming in either through meats, cheeses or other contraband items. The problem time and time again is that our customs agents just simply do not have the resources in terms of human personnel or finances with which to do it.

We understand tonight that the minister of agriculture is working very diligently in this regard. He has said very positively in the debate tonight that they will do all they can to be extra vigilant at our points of entry throughout the country to try to prevent the disease from coming in.

The minister should be congratulated on his words tonight. We will work with him as a political party, the New Democrats, along with our other colleagues in opposition to ensure that various agencies throughout the country have the human and financial resources to do the job they would actually like to do.

As a former airline employee I would also like to say to the House that tomorrow I will be calling the airlines, Air Canada and others, to see if it is not possible for them to institute a total 100% refund policy for anyone who cancels a trip overseas because of the fear of spreading hoof and mouth disease.

I believe the airlines could do this as a sign of goodwill. It is also good business practice. I do not believe they need an act of parliament to be able to do it. As an airline employee I will be calling my contacts tomorrow to see if indeed airlines like Air Canada can take the lead, become good corporate citizens and do their bit to help eradicate the disease in the country.

I should also like to send kudos to our agricultural critic, the member for Palliser, on his comments tonight on the disease. He and other members come from the prairie provinces. I come from a area with small farming in Musquodoboit Valley. For western producers it would be absolutely scary to see what they would go through. I can only imagine, as was mentioned before, that many of them are not getting very much sleep at night worrying about their livestock and what it would mean in terms of losses.

A few weeks ago we had an emergency debate on the farm crisis in the oil and grain seeds sector and what was happening to our farmers and other producers. We talked about the ramifications of trade deals, their losses of revenue, people leaving the farm by the thousands, and the young people not taking up agriculture. Can anyone imagine now what the livestock industry is thinking about and what it is going through? Again it makes anyone kind of wonder why a young person would ever get into agriculture of any kind.

We encourage young people to take up agriculture because it is a wonderful career and a great livelihood. It is something they can make money at and actually help feed the rest of the nation forevermore.

I also wish to say on behalf of the people of Nova Scotia that we have a tremendous amount of people coming from various points such as Iceland, England, Europe, the United States and other areas into the Halifax airport.

In a private conversation the member for Windsor—St. Clair suggested that many people in Windsor actually go to Detroit to fly overseas. When they come back to Detroit it is just a matter of getting in their cars and coming back again.

My suggestion to the government would be to ensure that it is extremely vigilant on all travellers coming in from the United States. We tend to have a fairly porous border where a lot of people come back and forth. To prevent the disease from coming into Canada, we must be extremely vigilant with all those entrants from the United States. A lot of our exports go to the United States. If hoof and mouth disease came into this country we know that border would be shut down in a heartbeat, which would have a devastating effect upon agricultural producers in beef and cattle.

We as a parliament must do everything we can to ensure that we convince and give confidence to our producers that we will support them in every effort we can to prevent the disease from coming in.

Any person with a heart would have to send their love and prayers to the people of England right now. There are horrific pictures of thousands upon thousands of what look like healthy animals being crated up with backhoes, put in a pit and burned. That is just not what is supposed to happen, but that is the only way they can prevent the disease from spreading.

Those are the types of pictures and newscasts that we do not want to see in this country. We should be doing all we can to assist the people of Britain to ensure the disease does not spread. It is already in other parts of Europe. We should be doing everything we can to ensure it does not spread any further.

Education equals prevention. It has been said before that we must tell our embassies and consulates around the world to be ever vigilant in telling people what they must do when they come to Canada. Every person coming into the country must take responsibility to ensure they do everything they can to prevent the disease from coming in.

Again I wish to thank the member for Brandon—Souris for bringing forward this important debate. I also thank the Speaker for allowing us the time. I know we cannot take any questions or comments, but I want to thank you, Madam Speaker, for being here with us to listen to this important debate. By working together I am sure we can keep this terrible disease out of Canada.

[National Defence, April 3rd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, we will try his boss for the next question. My supplementary question is for the Prime Minister.

The government is not even supposed to be in a perception of a conflict of interest, but just recently David Miller, a lobbyist for Eurocopter, was assigned to the Prime Minister as a special adviser.

The entire maritime helicopter project is riddled with political interference by the Liberal government. Will the Prime Minister not agree that having David Miller from Eurocopter on his staff constitutes the perception of a conflict of interest?