Order.

Oral Questions GOVERNMENT POSITION

Ms. Joy Langan (Mission-Coquitlam):

Mr. Speaker, my supplementary question is for the Prime Minister. Is the Prime Minister rushing through the business of this House so that we can take a Christmas holiday while families in British Columbia, in Mission- Coquitlam in particular-

Mr. Lewis:

Stop ringing the bells.

Mrs. Langan:

-are facing a future of unemployment? Will the Prime Minister stand up for those people, the workers in the industry, on this issue?

Hon. John C. Crosbie (Minister for International Trade):

Mr. Speaker, I rather resent the suggestion that I made a joking reply to the plight of the shakes and shingle workers. I am having difficulty with my voice because I am suffering from a cold as a result of struggling at GATT last week with 100 nations.

Oh, oh!

Mr. Crosbie:

We have taken action to protect the jobs of Canadians by refusing to allow cedar logs, blocks, bolts, planks and short boards to be exported to the United States. We issued an export prohibition. That was challenged in the courts. We were successful and that prohibition is now in effect. We are doing everything we can to preserve the jobs of Canadian workers.

We do not find this amusing, and I am not amused by the Hon. Member's suggestion that I took this matter lightly. We have done everything possible within Canadian law to ameliorate the effects of the action taken in the United States.

Mr. Brian Tobin (Humber-St. Barbe-Baie Verte):

Mr. Speaker, being a fellow Newfoundlander I have some compassion for the Member for St. John's West. I know that he is screeched out-

Oh, oh!

Mr. Tobin:

It is that time of the year. We heard that he was in a sing-along in St. John's last week.

December 13, 1988

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport. We have just witnessed the spectacle of a Minister of Transport, a member of this Government for the last four years, stand and tell the House that we finally began to deal with the problem at Pearson last Friday.

Question.

Mr. Tobin:

Pearson is inefficient, it is frustrating for passengers, and Pearson International Airport is dangerous.

Beyond these bland assurances, what measures are being taken by the Government to hire and train additional air traffic controllers and to make the system safe so that Canadians travelling during this holiday period and in the months ahead know that Canadian airways are safe?

Hon. Shirley Martin (Minister of State (Transport)):

Mr. Speaker, as I answered earlier questions in the House today, action has been taken to ensure that traffic flows safely and more effectively through the airport at Toronto. Part of the problem that we have with some of the shortages go back to the Auditor General's Report under the former Government which said that we had-

Ms. Copps:

You have had four years.

Mrs. Martin:

Four years of deregulation. Regulatory reform has brought forth far more traffic at Pearson International Airport. Traffic has escalated and we are working to handle it. We will be bringing more air traffic controllers on-stream next year to help. We are handling the traffic that will be going through over the holiday season. Safety has always been number one and will continue to be number one at Pearson International.

Mr. Brian Tobin (Humber-St. Barbe-Baie Verte):

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General's Report in 1984, as the Minister started to say but thought better of, said there were insufficient air traffic controllers in Canada. The Standing Committee on Transport of the House of Commons said at the time of the introduction of deregulation, four years ago, first that we must have more air traffic controllers. The Government in 1984 actually laid off air traffic controllers.

The current situation is dangerous. It is not just frustrating. It is dangerous. I want to ask the Minister of Transport to quit beating around the bush and tell

Canadians and Members of this House what concrete measures the Government has taken concerning our air transportation system after the Government has botched it through four years of inaction.

Hon. Shirley Martin (Minister of State (Transport)):

Mr. Speaker, action has been taken to make sure that traffic flows safely through Pearson over the Christmas holiday period so that travellers can get home for the holidays.

Meetings will be held in January in Toronto with all the interested parties. As far as the medium and longterm plans for the airport are concerned, number one is safety and will continue to be for this Government as far as air traffic flow is concerned.