House of Commons Hansard #185 of the 35th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was quebec.

Topics

Readjustment Act, 1995Government Orders

1:40 p.m.

Reform

Daphne Jennings Reform Mission—Coquitlam, BC

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for his comments.

First, his history professor feels very strongly, as does he, about the pain people experience. I understand his pain. I do not think it can be forgotten. I do not know if anyone could forget the pain. I do not know if my father could forget everything he saw in the four wars in which he fought. I do not know if my grandmother could forget that she lost four sons, 17, 18 and 19 years old. I do not know if people can forget those things. I know that we had better start looking at making a change. I know that they are still trying to get reparation.

No one can say that our friends in Quebec have been assimilated. I do not think that would ever happen. They are very proud of their culture. They have done a wonderful job in maintaining their culture. Every year in my classroom I had six students who came from Quebec. It was a wonderful experience. There is no danger of our friends in Quebec ever being assimilated.

However, I am asking them to do something for all Canadians, as well as for the people of Quebec. We are all one country. It is a rich country. We can set an example for the world if we are willing to work together. Please help us make that change.

Readjustment Act, 1995Government Orders

1:40 p.m.

Bloc

Pierre De Savoye Bloc Portneuf, QC

Mr. Speaker, I listened to my hon. colleague from the Reform Party. I heard him say, referring to the Loyalists, that: "There were so many in Quebec that Upper Canada had to be created-To be created out of what exactly?"

Does this mean that we were confined to a smaller territory; by "we", I mean francophones?

We are reminded of the massive influx of immigrants in 1815. The hon. member from the Reform Party said: "Those people were lied at. They could see no chance, no change coming into the system". Have we not been seeing the same thing happen over and over again for years.

She also said: "Reformers arose in the 1800s out of necessity". Does this statement not also apply to the sovereignists who have been pursuing their action for 30 years already and perhaps more?

I would like to leave you with this thought and I would like the thoughts of my hon. colleague from the Reform Party on this. "History tends to keep repeating itself mainly because we do not listen to it". And that is a question I would like an answer to.

Readjustment Act, 1995Government Orders

1:45 p.m.

Reform

Daphne Jennings Reform Mission—Coquitlam, BC

Mr. Speaker, yes, I would agree with the hon. member, history does keep repeating itself.

What happened when the Loyalists came there? We know that in the 1850s there were 400,000 people in Upper Canada. After the division in Lower Canada there were about 150,000 English compared to 450,000 French. When we look at that balance it is a lot of people to govern.

In the wisdom of the people at that time, I would assume it would only make sense to make a geographic division, the Ottawa River being the dividing line. That is all I can give the member in that answer.

Yes, there were reformers in Canada in the 1800s. The member said that history keeps repeating itself. I must tell the member that Upper and Lower Canada both had their reformers. Lafontaine and Baldwin were both recognized by the Canadian government. History keeps repeating itself. That is why there are reformers today. If we do not pay attention to history, then necessity comes again.

Readjustment Act, 1995Government Orders

1:45 p.m.

Bloc

Gilbert Fillion Bloc Chicoutimi, QC

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I must denounce Bill C-69, which, in my view, is a farce.

The only purpose of this bill is to take away from Quebec its vested rights as a founding nation. Allow me to explain.

It is essential that the historical number of members representing Quebec be maintained. Needless to say that, in a few months, after Quebec has become sovereign, the Government of Canada will be free to do as it pleases. But for the time being, we are still here and our job is to look after the interests of the people of Quebec.

Obviously, the members opposite, the Liberal government, have a short memory. I will try to connect them to reality by stating a few historical facts.

Representation and the description of the electoral boundaries are both calculated according to the rules provided in sections 51 and 51( a ) of the Constitution Act, 1867 and sections 14 and 15 of the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act.

The federal legislation on the readjustment of electoral boundaries established an electoral boundaries commission for each province. These commissions are responsible for drawing a new electoral map, in which the population of each electoral district will correspond to the electoral quota for the province. This quota is obtained by dividing the population of the province by the number of members of the House of commons assigned to the province.

There is a section of the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act that I find fascinating, namely section 15, which states: "Community of interest, or the specificity of an electoral district in the province or the historical development thereof, and a manageable geographic size for districts in sparsely populated, rural or northern regions of the province".

Last year, when this commission came to Chicoutimi, changes were proposed. Five of the seven municipalities in the riding of Chicoutimi were to be assigned to the riding of Jonquière. The problem with this change is well defined in the section I just read.

First, there is the community of interests. The municipalities of the Lower Saguenay which would find themselves separated have always had economic and social ties with La Baie, which is another major centre of the riding of Chicoutimi. Indeed, several services located in La Baie are provided to Lower Saguenay residents, including the Canada employment centre and the small business development centre.

Second, the area covered by a riding must be taken into consideration. In order to have access to services in the riding of Jonquière, residents of Ferland-Boileau-the municipality closest to the one which was going to be included in the riding of Jonquière-would have had to travel 45 kilometres. This is a good example of what the Liberal government planned to do in my riding last year.

I am convinced that this kind of nonsense would also have occurred elsewhere than in the Saguenay region. It would be interesting to check this out for the province as a whole. However, given the decisions taken every day by this government, there is no point in doing that. Indeed, the daily actions of the Liberals speak for themselves, which is more than enough.

A few days ago, the hon. member for Bellechasse pointed out that the 1985 legislation on electoral representation was very clear as regards the number of seats to be allocated to Quebec, since it stated that, before any new distribution, the chief returning officer had to ensure that Quebec would get 25 per cent of the seats.

This is not the first time that Quebec gets taken. This unfortunate reality is prevalent throughout the history of our province, which is one of the two founding provinces of Canada. I could mention the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which imposed laws written in English, and which prescribed for public office holders an oath administered under the Test Act, whereby they gave up their Catholic faith and pledged loyalty to the British Crown.

I can also think of the Quebec Act of 1774 and the Constitutional Act of 1791. In a newspaper of the time, it was said that Lower Canada was much too French to be anglicized by English-speaking settlers. Referring to Lower Canada, it said: "This colony is much too French. It must be degallicised. Since Quebec has fallen, it is time for this province to become English." We simply do not forget episodes like that.

Then came Confederation, which finalized a process which had started with the Union Act of 1840. After Confederation, French-Canadians thought they had a treaty between two peoples, between two distinct societies, between the two founding nations, but English-Canadians considered the treaty mostly as a piece of legislation giving the English majority the right to dominate the minority made up of French-Canadians. And why not try to make them suffer, to use a fashionable expression these days. With this bill, the government is trying to remove our vested right, which is the right for Quebec to elect 25 per cent of the hon. members in this House.

As I said earlier, as a matter of good conscience if not of respect, this bill should not be used to penalize Quebec once more. Have Quebec and Quebecers not suffered enough from this domination? As far as I know, Quebecers still account for more than 25 per cent of the Canadian population. So, do you not think it is normal that at least 25 per cent of the members in this House represent Quebec? What is the rest of Canada so afraid of that it feels it has to try so hard to remove our most legitimate right to fair representation?

As I said, Quebec has the legitimate and historical right to preserve a minimal political weight within the Canadian federation, even more so since we are not getting our fair share of federal transfers to provinces, whether it is for defence, for research and development or especially, as everyone knows, for job creation. Now Quebec could have its representation in the Canadian Parliament reduced.

Where was the Prime Minister, where was the hon. member for Papineau-Saint-Michel, where was the hon. member for Bonaventure-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, three outstanding Quebec citizens, when on a vote on March 28 the House rejected a motion put forward by my colleague from Bellechasse, which would have protected, once and for all, Quebec's political weight within this federation? They were away from the House at a time when they should have been here to vote with us on this issue.

Readjustment Act, 1995Government Orders

1:55 p.m.

The Speaker

My colleague, usually we refrain from referring to the fact that an hon. member is in the House or not. The hon. member may wish to rephrase his statement after question period.

It being 2 p.m., the House will now proceed to statements by members.

Young Achievers AwardStatements By Members

1:55 p.m.

Liberal

Andy Scott Liberal Fredericton—York—Sunbury, NB

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I extend congratulations to Measha Gosman on winning the YTV Young Achievers Award for 1995 in the vocal category.

Measha is a grade 12 student in my riding of Fredericton-York-Sunbury. She now holds the distinct position of being only the second of two people from Fredericton to receive this recognition in the six-year history of the award.

Constituents, New Brunswickers and her parents are obviously very proud.

Competition is fierce for the YTV award since only 15 are presented annually. Categories for the competition range from dance to entrepreneurship, and more than 1,000 young Canadians are nominated each year.

I look forward to seeing Measha at the awards ceremony here at the National Arts Centre tonight. On behalf of the people of Fredericton-York-Sunbury, I wish her well in her national television performance.

Human RightsStatements By Members

1:55 p.m.

Bloc

Réal Ménard Bloc Hochelaga—Maisonneuve, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Human Resources Development has once again shown a lack of consistency and vision when developing government policies that are supposed to protect citizens who are treated unfairly.

Last February, he tabled amendments to the Employment Equity Act. The commission's new responsibilities include enforcement of the Employment Equity Act, establishing an employment equity review tribunal and, last but not least, auditing reports submitted by private sector employers. According to the Human Rights Commissioner, the commission would need 15 new officers to carry out these new responsibilities.

The minister has probably forgotten that he himself closed the commission's regional offices and cut its budget by more than $3 million. This makes no sense at all.

The DebtStatements By Members

1:55 p.m.

Reform

Jim Hart Reform Okanagan—Similkameen—Merritt, BC

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the constituents of Okanagan-Similkameen-Merritt to salute the residents of Salmo, British Columbia. These fine Canadians have decided to take action on the national debt. They have to because the Liberals have done nothing to reduce it, in fact they are increasing it.

The people of Salmo are collecting pennies to send to the debt reduction fund. While these good Canadians are scraping the bottom of the barrel, desk drawers and every nook and cranny, the Grits continue their spending binge.

The Canada Council handed out $88 million in grants last year. One of the latest handouts is $10,000 for a gay and lesbian film festival to be staged in Saskatoon this weekend by the Positively Queer group.

My heart goes out to the residents of Salmo. What will they do when they realize that they will have to collect one million pennies to pay for the Liberal government's financial support of the Positively Queer film festival? That is almost three tonnes of pennies. The Liberals should be ashamed.

Child PovertyStatements By Members

1:55 p.m.

NDP

Bill Blaikie NDP Winnipeg—Transcona, MB

Mr. Speaker, the National Council on Welfare reports that the number of poor

people in Canada has increased dramatically and child poverty has reached a 14-year high.

For many years, successive Canadian governments have followed policies designed to reduce the wages of working Canadians and fatten incentives for wealthy Canadians. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and there are more of both of them. Middle income Canadians are being driven to extinction.

Deregulation, free trade, privatization, contracting out, and union busting are driving down the private incomes of working Canadians. At the same time, their social benefits are being reduced by cuts in health care and education, justified as a means to pay off a deficit caused by a high real interest rate policy and tax loopholes that favoured the rich in the first place.

Children are poor because their parents have no money. Case in point. Famous Players Theatres, owned by Viacom Blockbuster, wants its projectionists to take a 60 per cent wage cut and is using scabs to enforce its will. Government should act to protect the children of people who are on strike to protect-

Operation Home FrontStatements By Members

1:55 p.m.

Liberal

Jane Stewart Liberal Brant, ON

Mr. Speaker, this past Christmas, residents of Brant, led by Sheila Enslev and the Dunsdon Legion organized Operation Home Front to send support packages to our peacekeepers overseas. This idea was inspired by a study trip to Bosnia during which Ms. Enslev saw firsthand the valuable contributions made by our peacekeepers.

The response from the community was overwhelming and 172 packages were sent to Canadian troops stationed in Bosnia. One soldier wrote back and said: "You showed me that there are people who care and know we exist".

As the Easter season approaches, Operation Home Front will be extending its services to include our troops in the Golan Heights and in Haiti.

In light of the negative media that has recently accompanied our military operations abroad, it is important that Canadians everywhere recognize and appreciate the good work our peacekeepers have done and continue to do.

I want to say on behalf of our community, thanks to Sheila and the members of the Dunsdon Legion, for giving us an opportunity to say thank you to our peacekeepers.

Mary KennedyStatements By Members

1:55 p.m.

Liberal

Mauril Bélanger Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON

Mr. Speaker, hundreds of friends gathered on Monday in Ottawa's St. Patrick's Basilica to say farewell to a very special lady, Mary Kennedy.

Mary's work in Canadian politics spanned three decades, during which the likes of Hugh Faulkner, Ross Milne, Ralph Ferguson and our colleague from Edmonton North, John Loney, benefited from her dedication, hard work and principled advice.

I am humbled by the fact that Mary also helped me in the recent Ottawa-Vanier byelection. Mary was not an armchair critic. She believed in our political system and acted on that belief. She epitomizes the kind of Canadian every political party depends on and to whom we in the House owe tribute.

A passage from one of Irving Layton's poems describes Mary's spirit very well.

They dance best who dance with desire, Who lifting feet of fire from fire Weave before they lie down A red carpet for the sun.

We will miss you, Mary.

Cree NationStatements By Members

1:55 p.m.

Liberal

Dianne Brushett Liberal Cumberland—Colchester, NS

Mr. Speaker, recently, Domtar and Mishtuk built a sawmill in Waswanipi, in northern Quebec, as a joint venture. The new company is 55 per cent owned by aboriginal people and 45 per cent by Domtar.

We have here a perfect example of a large corporation contributing to the self-sufficiency of an aboriginal nation. Eighty long term jobs will be created for the Cree.

This initiative should also be commended for its approach to sustainable management of our forests. Today I want to pay tribute to Chief John Kitchen of the Cree Nation and to the Domtar management team.

Sugar IndustryStatements By Members

April 6th, 1995 / 2:05 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Zed Liberal Fundy Royal, NB

Mr. Speaker, two shocking and extremely dangerous pieces of legislation have been introduced in the U.S. Congress that could devastate the Canadian sugar industry.

Senator Jesse Helms and Congressman Dan Burton have each introduced legislation that would tighten the economic sanctions against Cuba by imposing sanctions against any country

that trades with Cuba. This would bar Canadian exports of sugar and related sugar products and would eliminate over $500 million in exports to the U.S. market.

These bills have been co-sponsored by presidential candidates Dole and Gramm and Senators D'Amato, Thurmond and others. Yesterday the Washington Post stated that this bill enjoys broad bipartisan support and is likely to pass after hearings this spring.

In the name of Canadian sovereignty, I call on all parties to continue our work together and support any government attempts to stop these dangerous pieces of legislation dead in their tracks.

International DevelopmentStatements By Members

2:05 p.m.

Bloc

Philippe Paré Bloc Louis-Hébert, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Foreign Affairs treated the people working in organizations promoting awareness of international development abominably yesterday.

After cutting the funding of these organizations, which represents only one half of one per cent of the total aid budget, the minister had the nerve to insult the thousands of volunteers involved. By saying that if they really felt it was important to increase public awareness about development aid, they would do it for free, the minister was distorting the facts. The funds allocated to these organizations do not go to pay volunteers.

Furthermore, the minister would appear to be unaware of the incalculable consequences this measure will have on the network of solidarity and international co-operation. Rather than insulting everyone, the minister should reconsider this very hasty decision.

Citizens Against Child ExploitationStatements By Members

2:05 p.m.

Reform

Werner Schmidt Reform Okanagan Centre, BC

Mr. Speaker, today Monica Rainey, executive director of Citizens against Child Exploitation will present the Minister of Justice with the signatures of 42,000 people. Each signature represents a child who has been sexually abused in Canada.

The message is loud and clear. Elimination of sexual exploitation of our children must become a priority.

However the government continues to choose political issues like gun control over critical issues like child sexual abuse, making this House merely a House of partisan politics. Unspeakable criminal acts are being committed every day in the places our children play, learn and most devastatingly, call home.

I challenge the Liberal government to enact legislation which will protect our children. Stop the legal system from betraying them. I ask the Minister of Justice to prove to us that Ottawa is not merely a place of political opportunism but a place where justice prevails, where meaningful issues take priority and true humanitarian acts of government are born.

Gasoline PricesStatements By Members

2:05 p.m.

Liberal

Roger Gallaway Liberal Sarnia—Lambton, ON

Mr. Speaker, certain members of the House are calling for an inquiry into gasoline prices.

With provincial and federal taxes representing about 55 per cent of the price and refineries averaging about a 4 per cent return on their investment for the last several years and gas stations closing because there is no profit, what is left? Might it be combined federal and provincial taxes, or legislative demands unilaterally imposed on the industry or high municipal taxes in cities such as Ottawa?

Clearly any inquiry must start with full examination of the role of government at all three levels in driving up the cost of gasoline. Acting otherwise would be closing one's eyes to the real problem.

Harbourfront CentreStatements By Members

2:05 p.m.

Liberal

Barry Campbell Liberal St. Paul's, ON

Mr. Speaker, on March 31 the minister of public works announced federal financial support for the Harbourfront Centre would be $6 million for the current fiscal year. He made no further commitments for subsequent years. In light of this announcement the Harbourfront board decided to close the facility on September 15.

Greater Toronto area MPs met on Tuesday night and reaffirmed their commitment to the centre, which is a vital cultural asset benefiting the region.

Area MPs are united in their determination to work for stable, multi-year base funding or identify alternative funding sources to secure Harbourfront's future. Area MPs have worked to obtain a significant level of funding for this year, in spite of tight fiscal constraints, and we will continue to work for the centre's future.

We regret the board's decision to close on the 15th. We had hoped it would have taken more time to explore other funding sources or secured the participation of new directors prepared to keep the centre open on a reduced budget.

The people of Canada would be poorer for the demise of centres like Harbourfront, but the people of Canada have also demanded that we get our fiscal house in order. Regrettably this means that Harbourfront and other important institutions and programs will have to learn to live with less financial support than in the past.

Expo 2005Statements By Members

2:10 p.m.

Liberal

Eugène Bellemare Liberal Carleton—Gloucester, ON

Mr. Speaker, last week the Bloc Quebecois member for Rimouski-Témiscouata stated that Hull was the ugliest city in the world. What a pleasure it is to hear that the hon. member is now spreading the message far and wide to the people of Hull that she is retracting her remarks and that she wants all who will listen, particularly her new friend the Minister of Canadian Heritage, to know that she supports Hull's application for Expo 2005.

This means that people from around the world could come and see the phenomenon of a city transformed into a friendly, welcoming community in the space of a week, thanks to the Bloc members. Is this a sign that the separatists have finally chosen a date for the referendum-2005?

Quebec ReferendumStatements By Members

2:10 p.m.

Bloc

Gaston Leroux Bloc Richmond—Wolfe, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Canadian Heritage does not share the opinion of the Minister of Labour when it comes to the announcement, yesterday, by the Premier of Quebec, that the referendum will not be held in the spring. The heritage minister confirmed that he and the Prime Minister did not wish that the referendum be held before the summer.

However, the labour minister, responsible for the federal involvement in the referendum battle, said she was surprised and disappointed that the referendum on Quebec sovereignty would not be held before the summer. Clearly, cabinet ministers are divided on the subject. However, they should be reminded that this decision belongs to the Government of Quebec, and the Premier is at liberty to set the date when this important consultation for the future of Quebec and Quebecers will be held, no matter what the labour minister might think.

Bill C-68Statements By Members

2:10 p.m.

Reform

Jack Ramsay Reform Crowfoot, AB

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Justice, with the support of the Liberal caucus, demonstrated his blatant disregard for the principles of democracy that govern this country.

The opposition Liberals ranted and raved when the GST debates were cut off and the ill-conceived tax was shoved down the throats of Canadians. Now what did they do? Follow the Mulroney lead.

First, the Minister of Justice publicly proclaimed that the gun legislation would not be determined by a head count. Then, on introducing Bill C-68, he said the consultation process was over.

Bill C-68Statements By Members

2:10 p.m.

The Speaker

Colleagues, we are all aware of the traditions of the House that we do not refer in any way to a vote that has been taken in the House. I would hope that the hon. member is not going in that direction. May I gently caution the hon. member not to mention any votes, reflect on any votes, or the way members voted in the House.

Bill C-68Statements By Members

2:10 p.m.

Reform

Jack Ramsay Reform Crowfoot, AB

Mr. Speaker, let us not forget that while the Liberals rammed through the bill-

Bill C-68Statements By Members

2:10 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh.

Bill C-68Statements By Members

2:10 p.m.

The Speaker

The hon. member for Haldimand-Norfolk.

Canadian Police Information CentreStatements By Members

2:10 p.m.

Liberal

Bob Speller Liberal Haldimand—Norfolk, ON

Mr. Speaker, it is estimated that 42,000 Canadian children are sexually abused annually. Last November the Minister of Justice and the Solicitor General announced changes to the Canadian Police Information Centre.

I commend the ministers for their positive improvements. Unfortunately, even though the database is available, there is no obligation to access it. At the moment the process is cumbersome.

Another serious problem is the granting of pardons for those convicted of sex offences against children. Tens of thousands of Canadians have signed petitions and letters asking for additional laws to protect our children. Many of these will be presented today after question period by Monica Rainey, founder and executive director of the Citizens Against Child Exploitation.

In light of the urgent plight of Canadian children, I urge the Minister of Justice to implement a mandatory certificate of clearance system and immediately investigate the option of amending the Criminal Records Act to prohibit pardons for those convicted of sex offences involving children under the age of 18.