Claude Drouin

[Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act, October 30th, 2003]

moved that Bill C-54, an act to amend the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act and the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Regulations, 1999, be read the second time and referred to a committee.

[Canadian Grand Prix, September 29th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said, there is no question of our abandoning the Formula 1 Grand Prix. We do, however, have rules and laws we need to apply, and we will continue to apply them, as the minister who was responsible for this matter, the Minister of Justice, has done from the outset on behalf of the government.

As I have also said, however, we are very interested. Should the private sector wish to invest, we are very open to this and hope that we can find a solution, in conjunction with the Government of Quebec and the City of Montreal, to keep the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

[Canadian Grand Prix, September 29th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada, along with the Government of Quebec and the City of Montreal, has spared no effort to find a solution to keep the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

There is no question at this time, however, of the government investing in this. If the private sector wishes to do so, however, it is welcome to. We will be very pleased to assist it in doing so.

[Softwood Lumber, June 11th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I would remind the hon. member that he ought to listen to the replies as well. We have never said we were not interested. All we have said is that we wanted to be cautious. We have spoken with representatives of the Forestry Industry Council and have asked them for proposals on how we can work together to find solutions.

This is what the hon. member ought to do, as we have been doing for several weeks, as well as providing $350 million in assistance to the lumber industry.

[Employment Insurance, June 10th, 2003]

As you know, Mr. Speaker, this program was put in place for specific regions affected by the cod situation. We will look into the matter raised by the hon. member, but I do not think that the program is applicable in this case.

[Softwood Lumber, June 10th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, what is important for members of the Bloc Quebecois to understand is that we want to help the industry, but we do not want to prolong the problem with the U.S. by helping the industry directly.

We have set up a $110 million fund to encourage economic diversification. We are seeing results: 110 project applications have been received and 19 projects have been accepted worth $1.3 million. As well, more than $5,000 has been invested in this business.

[Softwood Lumber, June 9th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I would like the other side of the House to listen.

There was a meeting on Thursday with the Quebec Forest Industry Council. We asked them for proposals. We are in the process of examining some solutions, in addition to all the measures we have taken totalling $350 million, for the softwood lumber industry and the communities. We are going to continue to do so.

[Softwood Lumber, June 9th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I met with industry people on Thursday. They have proposals for us. We are working together to support the softwood lumber industry and we will continue to do so, as we have been doing since the beginning.

[Softwood Lumber, June 5th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I hope that the Bloc Quebecois does not think we are the ones who imposed the surtax on wood. We too are working hard to help this industry, and we will continue to do so. One thing is certain: we will not give up, and we will find solutions, as the Government of Canada has done in all the other areas it has worked on.

[Softwood Lumber, June 5th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned and will repeat, we have taken steps to diversify regional economic development. At the same time, we are continuing our negotiations with the U.S. Also, we will work with the Quebec Forestry Industry Council to find solutions so that our Canadian industry remains as strong as it is has been in recent years.