Gilles-A. Perron

[Point Of Order, February 22nd, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, further to the introduction of a bill by the hon. member for Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, I have here a copy of the speech made by Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard on Bill 99, which was introduced at the National Assembly, and on Bill C-20 concerning referendum rules.

I seek the consent of the House to table this very interesting document.

[Points Of Order, February 18th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry to wake you up or to distract you from your intelligent discussion with your colleague, but I have asked permission to table a document and I sincerely believe that all members will give their consent.

[Points Of Order, February 18th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, with your permission, following the introduction by the infamous Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs of a bill denying all the fundamental rights of Quebecers, I ask for the unanimous consent of the House to table this document that will certainly enlighten members opposite. It is an article published in Le Devoir on February 10 last and entitled “Quebec made its nest in Davos”.

[Supply, February 17th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, to put it bluntly, the member for Macleod insulted me in his speech.

He has insulted all Quebecers by saying that the people from Quebec are not intelligent enough to understand the question, that we politicians are the only intelligent people here. This is an insult, pure and simple.

Tell me, sir, why did 95% of Quebecers vote? Tell me which of them are intelligent: those who voted yes or those who voted no? Please tell me.

[Petitions, February 15th, 2000]

Madam Speaker, I have here a petition signed by constituents in my riding in support of Bill C-309, sponsored by my colleague, the hon. member for Louis-Hébert.

These people and I are asking the government to make it mandatory to label all foods that are totally or partly genetically modified.

[Points Of Order, February 15th, 2000]

Madam Speaker, following the introduction, by the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, of a bill denying the fundamental rights of Quebecers, I ask for the unanimous consent of the House to table a document that will enlighten my friends opposite.

It is an article published on December 4 in Le Devoir entitled “Quebecers Want no Interference from Ottawa”.

[Income Tax Act, February 14th, 2000]

Madam Speaker, it is with bitterness that I rise this morning on Bill C-205.

However, it is not because of Bill C-205 that I am so bitter, so sad and so disappointed, it is because of the clarity bill, which we will be considering clause by clause in a few hours.

Bill C-205 leads me to talk about Bill C-20. Bill C-20 shows Quebecers, Canadians, the democratic world how low and arrogant the Liberal government has become and shows that it does not have the slightest respect for democracy. Its behaviour is shameful for all of us, members of the House, including you, Madam Speaker, who preside over the House.

I ask myself many questions: Where have they gone, the democratic values of the leader of the Liberal Party, the very little guy from Shawinigan? Where have they gone, the democratic principles of the brilliant university professor, the lackey of the very little guy from Shawinigan, the machiavellian member for Saint-Laurent—Cartierville?

How should we interpret the silence of the President of the Treasury Board, of the Minister of Finance, of the Minister of Public Works, of all the Liberal backbenchers on this assault on democracy? Are the advancement of the Liberal Party and the lust for power more important than democracy?

I have not forgotten the Minister for International Trade, the hon. member for Papineau—Saint-Denis; every member knows that he makes himself scarce these days, since he is responsible for the HRDC scandal. What a courageous man.

History will teach our children that the leaders of the Reform Party and of the New Democratic Party and the deputy House leader of the Progressive Conservative Party and all the members voting for C-20 have dealt democracy a dirty blow.

I hope that members of this House will weigh the benefits of Bill C-205, an act to amend the Income Tax Act (deduction of expenses incurred by a mechanic for tools required in employment), in terms of democracy and fairness.

I want to remind the House that mechanics generally have to provide most of the tools of their trade. You surely know how expensive these tools are.

Usually, a mechanic who is starting his career must invest at least $5,000 in various tools and, depending on his further training, this can reach over $40,000. The existing law is discriminatory for automotive mechanics. Indeed, a business can claim a capital cost allowance for the purchase of equipment, but auto mechanics cannot.

The act is unfair because it permits chainsaw operators, musicians, artists and farmers to deduct the cost of their instruments and tools, but it does not let auto mechanics do so.

The current act is dealing a serious blow to the profession of auto mechanic. Due to very high costs of buying tools, practically no young people are choosing this profession any more, which causes a shortage of auto mechanics.

Bill-205, sponsored by my colleague, the hon. member for Beauport—Montmorency—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île-d'Orléans, will permit mechanics to deduct the cost of providing tools for their employment if they are required to do so by the terms of the employment.

This deduction will encompass the following: rental, maintenance and insurance costs, the full cost of tools under $250, and such inflation-adjusted limit as is set by regulation, and the capital cost allowance of tools over $250, set by regulation.

I would like to draw the members' attention to the fact that the Commons finance committee had recommended, in its December 1997 prebudget report:

The Committee believes that all Canadian employees should be allowed to deduct from their income the cost of large mandatory employment expenses. Special provisions in the Income Tax Actalready apply to artists, musicians, chainsaw operators and farmers.

I ask all members to support this excellent amendment to the Income Tax Act.

[Points Of Order, February 10th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, for the information of the government House leader in particular, I would like to table a document, which is a speech made by his friend Mr. Jean Charest, leader of the opposition in the Quebec National Assembly, showing how undemocratic Bill C-20 is.

I ask for unanimous consent.

[Committees Of The House, February 7th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I have a few comments to make. In Motion No. 14 our friend the Reform member talks mainly about the social union. As he knows, the Premier of Quebec refused to sign the social union framework agreement.

He then said that if everything was working well, Quebec would stay within Canada. I would like him to prove to me that what he has just said is true.

[Point Of Order, February 7th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, following the introduction of Bill C-20, I have here a document written and presented by the Quebec director general of elections, where he explains what real democracy is and what real democratic rules are.

I would like to have your permission to table this document.