Mr. Randy White (Langley—Abbotsford, Ref.)

Mr. Speaker, last week we talked about two prisoners receiving bus passes to go from one prison to another unescorted. Both of them were identified as dangerous criminals by the police. One was even up for murder three years ago. Both of these people got off their respective buses somewhere along the road.

I would like to ask the solicitor general how he feels about the innocent people on those buses not knowing that criminals are getting on the buses. Does he feel safe enough to put his own family on these public buses today?

Hon. Lawrence MacAulay (Solicitor General of Canada, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, let us get the facts straight.

These offenders are on conditional release. But public safety is the number one priority for this government. That is why I have asked Correctional Service Canada to conduct a full review of this procedure.

Mr. Randy White (Langley—Abbotsford, Ref.)

Mr. Speaker, actually the minister is going to need a lot of reviews because I have many more cases like this. I will give one more.

Curtis Rabochenko left a medium security prison in Abbotsford, British Columbia and was encouraged to go all the way to the Vernon institution. Of course, he was a no-show.

This is what the solicitor general said Friday about such a prisoner at large: “As a few do, he did not do what he was supposed to do under the Conditional Release Act”.

I ask the solicitor general, do the bus companies know about this? What is the liability of—

The hon. solicitor general.

Hon. Lawrence MacAulay (Solicitor General of Canada, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated previously, these individuals are on conditional release. They are going from a penal institution to a halfway house in order to be integrated back into society.

Mr. Gordon Earle (Halifax West, NDP)

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister will know that scientists from the health department gave testimony this morning before the Senate agricultural committee.

These scientists spoke about pressures being placed on them to approve a drug. They spoke about gag orders, files being stolen and intimidation. Most importantly, they talked about their inability to perform the moral and ethical duties of their jobs as scientists.

Rather than silencing them, why is the Prime Minister not commending these scientists for their brave actions in the public interest and why will he not allow them to speak out on important health issues?

Ms. Elinor Caplan (Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Health, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, in fact it was the Minister of Health who encouraged the scientists to appear before the Senate committee to testify openly. He assured them that it was their duty and their responsibility. The member has it all wrong.

Mr. Gordon Earle (Halifax West, NDP)

Mr. Speaker, it is clear from the response that the government will continue to silence these scientists, even though there is an ongoing and unresolved international debate on the safety of the bovine growth hormone for human health. Health Canada scientists have expressed fears that this growth hormone may be linked to different forms of cancer.

Why is the minister not allowing Canadians to be informed about potential health risks? Why is he allowing Canadians to eat potentially carcinogenic meat?

Right Hon. Jean Chrétien (Prime Minister, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, I have to say that it is a very funny form of muzzling to invite them to appear before a committee and to speak up. If that is the kind of muzzling we are having in Canada, it is pretty good.

I hope that scientists will still be invited to appear before the committee and to speak up, and the NDP will talk about muzzling.

Mr. Scott Brison (Kings—Hants, PC)

Mr. Speaker, in a February 24 Ottawa Citizen article the Minister of Industry said that by the end of April he would be presenting to cabinet various options that would help keep NHL franchises here in Canada.

Now the minister is saying that he wants to have a hockey summit to further discuss the issue.

After two months of study, does the industry minister actually have some concrete suggestions to make to cabinet, or is this hockey summit just a delaying tactic, some way to buy time because the industry minister does not really know what to do to keep the hockey franchises here in Canada?

Hon. John Manley (Minister of Industry, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, we have agreed to be part of a process.

There are a lot of stakeholders involved in this issue, a lot of Canadians. Virtually every Canadian has a view on it one way or another. I think it is appropriate that we hear from the stakeholders as to what solutions they might want to propose.

Mr. Scott Brison (Kings—Hants, PC)

Mr. Speaker, it is not just hockey teams that need help. It is not just hockey teams that we are potentially losing from Canada.

Nortel is losing 500 engineers per year to U.S. competitors. The fact is that last week Nortel's CEO, John Roth, said that Canada has a problem, that we are driving our talent away.

The industry minister has said what I have been saying for a long time, that we have to lower taxes. Specifically, what taxes should we lower? What taxes does the minister want to lower to keep Nortel here in Canada along with the other high tech industries that we have?

Hon. John Manley (Minister of Industry, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, to answer that question, the taxes we need to lower are the ones that we have to pay to pay down the debt that the hon. member's party ran up during its years in office. It left us with a $42 billion a year deficit. That is the problem we face.

Mr. Mac Harb (Ottawa Centre, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, the business community just celebrated the fifth anniversary of the NAFTA.

Can the Minister for International Trade tell Canadians about the status of negotiations concerning a free trade agreement in the Americas?

Hon. Sergio Marchi (Minister for International Trade, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, let me thank my hon. friend for his interest in the free trade initiative of the Americas.

Under Canada's able chairmanship, I am happy to say that progress with those 34 countries is going well.

The ultimate aim is to create the largest free trade area in the world, which will be comprised of 34 nations, 800 million people and over $10 trillion.

As a result, we believe that Canada is strategically well placed, not only to participate, but to offer leadership to the free trade initiative.

Mr. Myron Thompson (Wild Rose, Ref.)

Mr. Speaker, those questions should be saved for a senator.

A month ago we learned that the United Nations condemned this Liberal government for its treatment of aboriginal grassroots natives. Then we learned that the RCMP became proactive by producing a manual to deal with fiscal mismanagement on Indian reserves. Now we have the auditor general saying that the department is woefully inadequate when it comes to accountability and that essentially it is failing grassroots natives.

If the minister will not listen to the grassroots people, will she listen to these experts?

Hon. Jane Stewart (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear. The United Nations congratulated the government for introducing “Gathering Strength” and recognizing the partnership role that we have to play in improving the lives of aboriginal people in Canada.

I might point out that the auditor general last week attended a symposium sponsored by the Federation of Saskatchewan Indians which focused specifically on accountability.

That is the view we take: we have to do this in partnership. I would ask the hon. member to join us in that regard.

Mr. Antoine Dubé (Lévis-et-Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, BQ)

Mr. Speaker, the motion being debated today calling upon the federal government to develop a proper shipbuilding policy is a repetition, word for word, of a motion passed by the Liberal Party faithful in 1998.

How can the Minister of Industry explain to his own party faithful that he is thumbing his nose at their motion and valid concerns relating to the future of shipbuilding in Canada?

Hon. John Manley (Minister of Industry, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, like his colleagues from the Progressive Conservative Party, this hon. member lacks information.

With the Canadian export development program, the assistance available to shipyards has been enhanced. There is also the tax shelter program for purchasers of Canadian ships, as well as tariffs to protect shipbuilding in Canada.

Canada does, therefore, have a policy on shipbuilding.

Ms. Libby Davies (Vancouver East, NDP)

Mr. Speaker, despite what the solicitor general says about funding for the RCMP, the fact remains that there are more than 400 vacancies in the RCMP in B.C. The solicitor general knows full well that lack of federal funding is to blame. Now there are new studies which show how poorly paid RCMP officers are.

What will the solicitor general do to rectify the situation, or do we tell the people of B.C. that this is just one more example of a fine Liberal performance to let people down?