Sheila Copps

[Unemployment, February 4th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the preamble to the member's question is not correct. In fact the Liberal Party met its obligations very specifically to get certain amendments to the NAFTA. Those were achieved by the work of the Prime Minister.

If we are going to make statements in the House we should make sure we are on track. That being said, obviously the first priority of the government is job creation. We are disappointed that the figures are not better. We have a fiscal plan and a jobs plan on track.

Because the hon. member has a great deal of experience in this area, I know she is going to want to work collaboratively with the Minister of Human Resources Development. We do want to live up to our obligation to get Canadians back to work. That is why they have put their confidence in us and we intend to discharge it.

[National Defence, February 4th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, obviously the government respects the will of Parliament on any motion passed in the House. That is democracy.

[National Defence, February 4th, 1994]

Absolutely, Mr. Speaker.

[Hibernia Project, February 4th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I think that it would be inappropriate to compare Toronto Airport with the Hibernia project.

The Toronto Airport deal was signed during the election campaign. It is also known that the Government of Canada had made a direct commitment to cancel the helicopter contract and that the former government, during the election campaign, was in a position to withdraw the contract but the previous prime minister did not exercise that option.

As a government, we have said that the future projects which we will consider will not be megaprojects, because we cannot afford them and it is not profitable for small and medium-sized businesses, which are the basis of our red book.

That said, we want to respect the contracts and commitments made in writing by the previous government. I presume that it must also be the policy of the Bloc Quebecois, if it ever came to power, to respect the contracts signed by previous governments.

[Hibernia Project, February 4th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, of course, in the red book, the Government of Canada adopted policies on this megaproject for the future. I will also remind the hon. member of comments

made by Quebec's Minister of Natural Resources, Mr. Christos Sirros, who spoke on this issue this week.

That being said, the Government of Canada intends to respect contracts and written commitments, because the government has the right and the duty to honour commitments already made, including those concerning the Hibernia project.

[Tobacco Products, February 4th, 1994]

First of all, Mr. Speaker, I should have congratulated the member on her first question.

Second, I hope that every member of this House has a conscience and when it comes to making decisions around cabinet, caucus, party or government policy that we do not park our consciences at the door.

The Prime Minister has made it very clear that when it comes to matters involving taxation, the government must have the confidence of the House of Commons to proceed with initiatives.

It is not simply a case of saying on every tough issue that it is a matter for an individual; on a tough issue which involves several departmental initiatives, such as health issues, criminal and enforcement issues, or tax issues, obviously we intend and need to have a united front as the Government of Canada.

[Tobacco Products, February 4th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has made it quite clear that on issues that involve the spending of taxpayers' dollars, the government has to have the confidence of the House to be able to carry out those measures.

When the question relates to the budget or major initiatives on excise taxes, the government needs the confidence of its members to be able to proceed with money measures.

[Elections Act, February 4th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, nobody is denying Canadians the right to free expression during an election.

The fact is that the Canada Elections Act requires that paid advertising by political parties be restricted. Indeed official agents of political parties are subject to fines and even jail terms of up to five years if they do not respect the advertising limitations.

All that the Liberal Party and the Government of Canada are asking is that when it comes to paid advertising the level playing field be preserved so that democracy can be preserved and no single big money private interest can buy its way into influencing the election process.

[Elections Act, February 4th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada welcomes participation by every Canadian in the political process. The Government of Canada is concerned about the issue of paid advertising and paid activity which is a direct attempt to influence the electoral process.

In 1976 when the Government of Canada amended the Elections Act to put all political parties on a level playing field, it did so because it recognized that money should not be the tool to influence democracy.

The federal government believes that everybody should be on a level playing field. The level playing field should not simply restrict spending by political parties but there should be an open opportunity for everybody to participate, not to buy their way into influencing the election.

[Cigarette Smuggling, February 4th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, our plan has not been finalized yet and, therefore, it is very difficult at this point in time to discuss the details. We want the Canadian people to understand that it is not a problem unique to Indian reserves. Those who buy smuggled cigarettes, one pack out of three in Quebec and one pack out of five in Ontario, are all Canadians. It is wrong to say that the problem is unique to reserves. It is a smuggling problem, something which involves organized crime, and we will propose next week a plan which will deal with health and taxes, but especially with fair and equal law enforcement for all Canadians.