Question Period- Hansard excerpts- June 27/2005

Air-India

Hon. Stephen Harper (Leader of the Opposition, CPC): Mr. Speaker, during the trip to Ireland it was more than apparent that the victims' families were not satisfied with the government's handling of the Air-India issue, and neither are most members of Parliament.

On April 12 a majority of the members of the House voted to direct the government to immediately hold a public inquiry into the Air-India issue.

Will the Prime Minister honour the will of the House, yes or no?

Right Hon. Paul Martin (Prime Minister, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that the memorial that was held in Ireland was very emotional, and justifiably so this being an enormous Canadian tragedy.

At the meeting, as we have in the past, the hon. Bob Rae met with the families, as did I, and have said that once Mr. Rae has completed his examination and his discussions with the families, the option that the government will take will follow that recommendation in terms of the nature of how we should come to the answers that they and the country justifiably require.

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Health

Hon. Stephen Harper (Leader of the Opposition, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the following is a second example of the government's failure to act on the decisions of Parliament.

On April 20 the House unanimously called for the immediate compensation of all hep C victims and yet the government has still not spent one additional dime.

Before the House breaks for the summer could the Prime Minister tell us why the hep C sufferers have still not received the promised compensation?

Hon. Ujjal Dosanjh (Minister of Health, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition knows that this is an issue that is before the courts. As well, there are lawyers talking to other lawyers from both of the classes, the class of 1986 to 1990 and the class of pre-1986 and post-1990. They are engaged in discussions.

There is no question that there is a will on the part of the government to ensure all of the victims are adequately compensated.

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Transfer Payments

Hon. Stephen Harper (Leader of the Opposition, CPC): Mr. Speaker, it is amazing that when they were talking to Jean Chrétien's lawyers, unlike the hep C or Air-India cases, they were able to get immediate action and immediate agreement.

[Translation]

I have a third example. On November 2, 2004, the House passed a resolution calling on the government to recognize the existence of the fiscal imbalance. Almost eight months later, the Prime Minister still has not reacted.

Is the Prime Minister close to admitting that the fiscal imbalance exists?

[English]

Hon. Ralph Goodale (Minister of Finance, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, as we have pointed out in the House on a number of occasions, federal transfers to the provinces are now at an all-time record high. Over the course of the next 10 years they are scheduled to increase by another $100 billion.

In addition to that, the government will continue to look for ways in which it can cooperate with the provinces and build an ever stronger federation........

Technology Partnerships Canada

Mr. James Rajotte (Edmonton—Leduc, CPC): Mr. Speaker, last week I searched the Technology Partnerships Canada website for a list of current repayments of the more than $2.7 billion that has been loaned out. There was a link, but it did not work.

Today the link on the TPC website to the repayment schedule has been erased completely, as if it was never there in the first place. Why did Industry Canada remove the link to the list of TPC repayments? What is the minister trying to hide?

Hon. David Emerson (Minister of Industry, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, if the link has been erased, it is for reasons that I am unaware of. It was certainly not by design. We are very committed to disclosing all the information that companies will permit us to disclose subject to commercial considerations.

Mr. James Rajotte (Edmonton—Leduc, CPC): Mr. Speaker, this vanishing link to repayments is a classic example of the mismanagement and secrecy that surrounds this whole program. They did the same thing when we asked about job creation figures. They removed that from the website.

The industry minister refuses to release the results of the forensic audit of TPC. Now he even refuses to allow the public to see how much of its money has been repaid under this program. Will the industry minister commit today in the House to put the repayments back on the website and will he release the results of this audit today?

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Hon. David Emerson (Minister of Industry, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I am sure that we will put the repayment schedule back on the website.

I have said before that I will be releasing the results of the forensic audit. Whether I do it today or not is uncertain, but it will be very soon.

Mr. Werner Schmidt (Kelowna—Lake Country, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Industry has acknowledged in this House that $2 million of TPC money has been paid to the wrong people and not to legitimate companies seeking funding.

Has the minister issued an order that no officer of TPC is to meet in the future with lobbyists on behalf of companies seeking TPC grants? Has he put a stop to it?

Hon. David Emerson (Minister of Industry, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should know a lot about TPC because a half a million dollars in funding has gone into his riding. I am sure he is up to speed.

There is no prohibition against the use of consultants under the TPC program. The prohibition is a government-wide prohibition against the payment of contingency fees that create a moral hazard for people in government and for consultants and which we do not want to put up with even though in many cases it provides a very positive service to the companies concerned.

Mr. Werner Schmidt (Kelowna—Lake Country, CPC): Mr. Speaker, that is typical Liberal rhetoric. Despite admitting that $2 million in TPC funds has already been misappropriated in the form of kickbacks to Liberal lobbyists, the minister refuses to put a stop to it.

Now he is asking the public to trust an audit conducted by his own office. When will the minister take responsibility for his department's failure, ask the Auditor General of Canada to conduct a full audit and stop the misappropriation of these TPC funds?

Hon. David Emerson (Minister of Industry, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is sounding like a broken record. The reality is that it is against government policy to pay contingency grants or contingency payments. Companies enter into contracts which stipulate that no contingency fee will be paid. Those contracts are still in place. We will enforce them strongly.

In the case of any payments that have been made thus far, we have recovered the money. It is a matter of good, diligent audit that we have captured this and caught it in time.

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Immigration

Mr. Roger Clavet (Louis-Hébert, BQ): Mr. Speaker, while hundreds of people are waiting for their immigrant status to be resolved, we learn that the daughter of a Syrian general, who, until recently, was responsible for the domestic intelligence service, will be coming to Canada shortly to give birth.

How does the government explain that this individual, as well as other members of her family, has a visa to give birth in Canada and is getting Canadian citizenship immediately?

Hon. Joseph Volpe (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I am not in the habit of discussing and elaborating on a personal and individual case. I will make no exception today. We are clearly talking about an individual who received a visa like anyone else who follows the rules and regulations in place.

Mr. Roger Clavet (Louis-Hébert, BQ): Mr. Speaker, if we are talking about humanitarian reasons, there are much more serious and clear cases that should find favour in the minister's eyes. I am talking about the Mexican family of five children the government plans to deport shortly.

Does the minister realize that he should direct his largesse elsewhere, instead of giving this Syrian citizen the right to have her child in Canada? Instead of chasing separatists all over the place, is the minister capable of doing his job and bringing forth an intelligent solution?

Hon. Joseph Volpe (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, to me, the use of theatrics is no mark of sincerity. On the subject of sincerity, we have a process in place that gives every individual seeking political asylum the chance for a response that complies with international conventions such as the 1951 UN convention. The entire process is based on that convention.

Citizenship and Immigration

Mrs. Diane Ablonczy (Calgary—Nose Hill, CPC): Mr. Speaker, Canadians were shocked to learn that the daughter and daughter-in-law of a powerful Syrian intelligence chief were given visitors' visas to Canada to allow them to give birth here. The babies automatically get Canadian citizenship, including the future right to sponsor family members into Canada.

Why did the government abuse our immigration system to give backdoor citizenship opportunities to senior members of a foreign dictatorship?

Hon. Joseph Volpe (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, it is a bit of a stretch to talk about the government abusing anything.

We have an individual who made an application. Quite frankly, I asked the standing committee of the House of Commons six questions in view of preparing for citizenship legislation that was forthcoming. She is a member of that citizenship committee and I am looking for a response that would address one of these issues.

Mrs. Diane Ablonczy (Calgary—Nose Hill, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the decision to approve these visas would automatically have triggered security and political concerns. Statesman category protocols govern such high risk and sensitive cases. This means our government deliberately chose to allow queue-jumping in these applications. Sources say that it is common for the children of senior regime figures to travel to Canada to give birth.

How can there be trust in Canada and in our immigration system when our own government gives out visitors' visas for political favour?

Hon. Joseph Volpe (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, perhaps the hon. member would prefer to get off that particular line. There is no granting of any of these visitors' visas for political favours. That is a regrettable and reprehensible accusation on her part.

She should perhaps concentrate on getting forward a report, as asked, about how to address larger citizenship issues in that committee rather than repeat those same impeccable sources that nobody can identify.

Mrs. Nina Grewal (Fleetwood—Port Kells, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the Liberals politicize visitors' visas and ministerial permits and continue to allow the abuse of our immigration system. The daughter-in-law of the notorious Syrian general, Bahjat Suleiman, was issued a visitor's visa to allow her to give birth in Canada so that the baby would automatically be a Canadian citizen. Now the general's pregnant daughter has been issued a visitor's visa so that she can give birth in Canada.

Why should Canadian citizenship be treated like a political favour?

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Hon. Joseph Volpe (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, as I said in response to an earlier question, I am not sure that theatre is to be confused with sincerity.

The fact is, judging by the popular press, that someone made an application for a visitor's visa and now we have jumped to a series of other conclusions. I do not know whether we ought to do that. Quite frankly, these fall in the realm of some of the questions that I asked the standing committee to address in preparation for presentation of citizenship legislation that would include, among other things, how one acquires citizenship, how one might lose it, and the--

The Speaker: The hon. member for Fleetwood--Port Kells.

Mrs. Nina Grewal (Fleetwood—Port Kells, CPC): Mr. Speaker, this unacceptable backdoor practice must stop and the visa that has been issued to the general's daughter must be revoked.

General Suleiman supported the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister in February. Why is it the practice of the government to issue visitors' visas to family members connected to such a ruthless man while countless other legitimate applicants are turned down?

Hon. Joseph Volpe (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, let me go over the number of people who do not get turned down. Last year we had 1.1 million, seven digits for those who can count, positive decisions for visitors' visas, temporary work visas, student visas and permanent residencies.

I think the hon. member is trying to create a trend out of one or maybe two decisions that she wants to call into question. If she is serious about it, perhaps she and her colleagues would get to work on the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration and address the questions on citizenship as asked.

Justice

Mr. Richard Marceau (Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, BQ): Mr. Speaker, a newly published book reports that in 2003 more than half of all federal judicial appointees were likely Liberal supporters. The study found that the political affiliation of the candidates is still a significant consideration in the choice of the committee responsible for appointing judges, which was created in 1988.

In light of these revelations, which confirm our worst fears on the lack of neutrality in the process, does the Minister of Justice intend to cooperate fully in overhauling the judicial appointment process started by this House?

Hon. Irwin Cotler (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I have said that the current judicial appointment process is excellent. However, I have initiated a review process. I had a meeting with all the chairs of all the advisory committees, and we will continue to have such meetings.