John Murphy

[Show Off East Hants, June 1st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to extend my congratulations to the organizers and those who participated in Show Off East Hants. It was a two-day trade fair which was recently held in Lantz in my riding of Annapolis Valley-Hants.

The trade fair drew 3,500 people from throughout the riding and other parts of the province. People came to see over 100 local businesses show off their first class products and services.

The bringing together of these local businesses to achieve a common goal provides an important link between economic development and job creation. All participants should be proud of their efforts in promoting East Hants as an excellent place to do business.

I ask all members of the House to join me in congratulating those who added to the overwhelming success of Show Off East Hants.

[Canada Student Financial Assistance Act, May 24th, 1994]

Madam Speaker, I take great exception to the remarks of the member across the way. He used language to suggest that the government was devious and underhanded. If the member does not agree with the federal government's being involved in training programs, what is new? Let us call a spade a spade. Let us not use deceptive language to try to put down someone else because we hold a different view. I find that very difficult to accept. We are working as a House of Commons, as a body, to try to pursue a better Canada for all Canadians.

I take note that the member did not touch on the bill; he had another agenda. I have a question to put to him. Does he or his party find anything worthwhile in the bill? Or, is he only interested in the issue he talked about, that is Quebec and Quebec independence? I would like the hon. member to respond.

[Canada Student Financial Assistance Act, May 24th, 1994]

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I thank the member for his non-question. I know he was trying to get where he was trying to get from.

I believe the program that we are putting forward combines three things. It combines our whole program, not just the educational program here. Deficit cutting, economic development and the other aspect of our total program in the red book talk about education and getting a better educated society to meet the growing economic development that we say is going to happen in this country and I believe will happen.

We cannot take on too much of the responsibilities that he is talking about because we do not want to increase that debt that he and we are concerned about. I think we have made a fair program that will access the availability for all students.

[Canada Student Financial Assistance Act, May 24th, 1994]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased this morning to have the opportunity to speak on this very important bill. I commend the parliamentary secretary for his remarks and his fine ability in bringing forward many of the points. This bill will enhance our student loan program. I may well repeat some of these issues as they are important.

The issue of accessibility to student loans is one of particular interest to me. In my riding of Annapolis Valley-Hants I have the honour of representing students from Acadia University, Hants Community College and King's Tech Community College. I have also had the pleasure of teaching at Acadia University for the past 25 years.

I know from personal experience that providing greater accessibility to finances for students is one of the most important commitments we as a government can make. The purpose of the student assistance program is to enable people who wish to pursue higher education to do so without encountering restrictive financial barriers or incurring an unreasonably heavy burden of debt.

Over the past 30 years successive federal governments have played a leading role in financing post-secondary education. The federal commitment to the Canada student loans program has been crucial in the overall economic and social development of our country.

As the Minister of Human Resources Development stated in his remarks, Bill C-28 delivers on a commitment made by the government in our youth and learning strategy. I believe that this legislation will ensure that students assistance will better serve the needs of the present and future generations of students.

Our efforts to amend the current Canada student loans program are based on two key principles. First of all we realize that having a well educated, highly trained population is essential for our future economic and social well-being. Second, this bill reaffirms our commitment to ensure that the federal assistance is distributed in a fair and accessible manner. A person should not be denied access to higher education on the basis of not having adequate financing. An increased investment in our student loans program is vital in order for our government to fulfil the main commitments it made in the red book. Whether we are discussing job creation, the information highway, the promotion of environmentally sustainable technology or the fostering of international trade agreements, our future economic success hinges on having a highly educated and well trained workforce.

Canada cannot afford to maintain a system which excludes groups of people from full participation. When we deny access to social benefits such as higher education, we cheat our citizens and we deprive our country of future wealth.

The Canadian labour market and the world economy have changed and our social programs must also change as we move toward these challenges. When people become unemployed these days they may be out of work longer. Often they need retraining for a new kind of work. Higher education and training is one pathway out of the unemployment maze.

Education is one of the best guarantees anyone can have in terms of finding meaningful long term employment. Yet, despite the obvious spinoffs of a well educated population, long term economic stability, less reliance on a social safety net, a skilled labour pool and an increased tax base for government, the old student assistance program is not meeting the needs of a changing society.

While the Canada student loans program remains a major source of financial aid, student loans have been frozen since 1984. At the present time steadily increasing tuition fees are adversely affecting those who want access to higher education in Canada.

This problem is a particular concern in the province of Nova Scotia. Recently the student union executive at Acadia University forwarded to me information regarding education in Nova Scotia. I would like to share with my colleagues in the House some of the details of the information package.

At a time when the fishery and resource industries are in transition, we risk leaving a whole generation of young people behind. In many cases their parents cannot afford to help them finance post-secondary education. Furthermore, many communities can no longer offer stable employment which does not require a post-secondary credential.

Under the old program most students qualified for $3,360 of assistance per year. Since the loan limits have been frozen tuition fees in Nova Scotia schools alone have risen by 11 per cent. This is 5 per cent higher than the national average. The call for substantially increased student loans, non-repayable grants for those with special needs and deferred grants to keep debt loads manageable have been unanimous. Hard pressed students and parents along with educators have long pushed for increases in these areas. The bill demonstrates that our government is listening.

In order to address this serious problem we have put forth a series of concrete and rational solutions. These include the increasing of loan limits for students up to 57 per cent to $165 per week, raising the ceiling on part time loans to $4,000 from a current level of $2,500 and allowing students to pay only the interest during their studies.

We have made a commitment to offer deferred grants to high need students in order to reduce their debt load to reasonable levels while expanding interest relief to low income borrowers experiencing temporary repayment problems. We are further promoting greater fairness and accessibility through the creation of a program of special opportunity grants to meet the education costs for students with disabilities, high need part time students and women in doctoral studies.

I have already received positive feedback from students' organizations in my riding over the increases in student loans. It is clearly an initiative that is long overdue.

One area that I would like to touch on in my remaining time is that of the new financing arrangements proposed in this bill.

As a result of discussions with interest groups, our government realizes that we must find newer and more efficient methods of providing financing for student loans. For instance, the government will proceed with an income contingent repayment loan program on a trial basis. I understand that this type of program has been the subject of much debate and a certain amount of controversy.

In my discussions with various educational organizations I have learned that support for this program is mixed. Concerns mainly exist around the fear that over a period of time block funding through established programs funding will decline, thereby shifting a greater financial burden on to students who would then require further increases in their student loans.

As my colleagues and I have outlined today, our government recognizes the importance of having a well educated population. We also realize that the federal government has an opportune role to play in ensuring access to education and training. Our interest in the program reflects a greater commitment to making the entire student loans program more efficient and more effective in offering students income sensitive solutions to repaying loans. In no way does our willingness to look at these new methods of financing detract from this government's commitment to post-secondary education.

Private lenders have often been reluctant to lend funds to students with poor and non-existent credit histories. That is why our government will continue to have an important role to play in the area of student assistance.

Finally, the new financing arrangements will enable us to significantly reduce payments for default loans.

In closing, the changes we are proposing in this bill will enhance the program's objective. While we wish to update and modernize the program, we will fully share the goals of those established by the student loans programs: a strong and prosperous Canada, a country where everyone can make a contribution.

I believe that the implementation of this bill will help greatly as we attempt to achieve these objectives.

[Agriculture, May 10th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question.

I do share this concern. In my riding of Annapolis Valley-Hants we produce 78 per cent of all the poultry in Nova Scotia. What is happening with regard to the quota system, the lack of working together by the provinces to live up to the rules and regulations of our system is of major concern.

As we know, there is an overproduction in two of the provinces and the overflow is coming to the east coast. Consequently the price of chicken in our area is going down and that is a real threat to the small business farms that are running the poultry industry.

I share with the member the concern that we as a country are not now inundated with external problems, we have internal problems. The internal problems need to be worked out between the provinces. We need to sit down. We have to remember that we are a generous country that wants to survive from coast to coast. The poultry industry needs to survive but it will only survive if all of the provinces play by the rules and we find a consensus to work out our difficulties.

[Agriculture, May 10th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased this evening to have the opportunity to add something to this important debate.

Annapolis Valley-Hants is home to a large and diverse agricultural and agri-food sector. I am committed to working closely with this sector and I am honoured to have the opportunity to bring its views to this place.

In order to help me effectively gain local input on agricultural issues I have set up an advisory committee made up of individuals from the local farming and processing sector. Meeting with this group has been of tremendous assistance to me in not only identifying local concerns but also highlighting workable solutions.

Most recently I received some very positive feedback from this group regarding the position of the minister of agriculture on our current dispute with the United States over wheat.

I would like to share with hon. members one particular response I received just yesterday: "Please continue to fight. Americans are tough traders but we must learn that our strengths and policies need to stay in place. So from my past business experience, hang tough".

That is precisely what we intend to do.

In contributing to this debate I would like to focus my comments on how we are assisting family farms. I would like to make it very clear that we must retain the family farm as a business unit. In my riding and the constituencies across this country, small and medium sized farms are the backbone of the local and regional economies. Through our commitment to enhance value added production, provide better access to capital and financing, and work with all of the stakeholders to redesign our supply management system, I believe that our policies are on the right track.

Our platform for the election last fall emphasized jobs and economic growth. The agri-food sector represents 8 per cent of our GDP and 15 per cent of all the jobs in this country. It is key to our success in achieving that growth and creating those jobs.

World markets are changing. Canadian consumers' tastes and needs are changing. Technology is giving farmers and food companies new ways to produce, market and manage to meet consumer demands. This is the sector where government support for innovation is vital.

Our platform, commitment to innovation and value added production, is particularly important to our government's focus on trade in agri-food. It is a high tech industry in which market share can only be maintained by being at the cutting edge of new technology.

Our government believes in innovation. As we stated in our red book: "For Canada comparative advantage now hinges not just on our natural resources, but on our technological prowess, our ability to be innovative".

One of the keys to this depends on a commitment to research. Better focused R and D is critical to our global competitiveness and economic growth. It is important for us to develop low cost processes and the new products we need to capture new markets.

Just yesterday the minister announced that the Department of Agriculture and Agri-food is launching a $500,000 pilot project for a new program called the agri-food R and D matching investment initiative. The goal of this initiative is to encourage further industry investment in research, especially where increased market potential exists. This innovative way will provide up to $25 million over the next four years.

In my riding I am proud to say that there are many examples of successful value added, community based initiatives. For example, the processing of hogs, chickens and fruits and vegetables can be found in communities throughout my riding.

Furthermore, a biotechnology firm located in my riding, the Efamol Research Institute, is making great gains in the area of value added non-food products. The Efamol Research Institute is a world leader in the research of the medical benefits derived from the oil of evening primrose plants.

I believe that as a government we must look to and work with the private sector to ensure that these companies are on the cutting edge of value added production.

Closely related to our focus on value added production is our commitment to provide comprehensive support for farmers through improved access to capital and financing. Time and time again farmers in my riding have said that in the past they have felt shut out by governments. Income support programs have often been passive in nature and put together on a piecemeal basis.

Statistics clearly show that most family farm operations would not be financially viable unless there was off-farm income coming into the household. However farmers in my riding and across Canada have also said that they do not want to rely on government handouts. Instead, they want the security of stable markets and the knowledge that the government will support them in their efforts to take advantage of new market opportunities.

Given these realities, we are redirecting our focus from providing merely a passive safety net to looking at comprehensive long term programs. We must ensure that these farms have access to the capital necessary to grow and to be competitive over the long term.

In order to improve access to capital for farms, we will focus on providing long term stability through established bodies such as the Farm Credit Corporation. Initiatives that we are committed to include are a long term mortgage program that would transfer some of the risk of interest rate fluctuations from the borrower to the Farm Credit Corporation, a vendor loan guarantee aimed at improving the availability of reasonably priced long term capital, and the agricultural equity development program which would allow the FCC to lease land acquired by foreclosures. This would allow the FCC to assist in getting foreclosed farmers back on their feet.

It is clear that farmers do not want us to repeat the policies of the past. They want to be masters of their own fate. They want government to help them with the tools that they need to be successful.

I would like to turn briefly to the critical issue of supply management and orderly marketing. In the past, supply management has worked to stabilize farmers' revenues while ensuring the supply of top quality and healthy food products. However many farmers have expressed concern over how the GATT agreement will affect their ability to remain competitive.

While we were not able to secure article XI during the GATT negotiations, we were able to ensure that a system of high tariffs will be put in place as a replacement to import quotas. In achieving this, we will be able to provide the necessary security for Canada's small farms and processors to remain competitive while they adjust to the new trade rules.

In the meantime, the GATT also opens new markets for these same products. The minister has stated on many occasions that it is his goal to see our agriculture exports almost double to $20 billion annually. In pursuing new international markets in such an aggressive manner, the government can ensure that Canada's rural communities will play an important role in generating economic growth.

The Financial Post reported this morning that according to a study by the Agri-Food Competitiveness Council, Canadian producers have nothing to fear from worldwide trade. I believe that the agri-food sector in my riding and across Canada can be the best in the world. I am committed to working with them to ensure that they have every opportunity to reach their potential.

With the GATT negotiations behind us, one of the biggest challenges facing our system of supply management is in the area of internal competition. More than ever there is a clear need for national and regional co-operation. In order to address this and other immediate challenges facing us, the parliamentary secretary has been working with a small task force.

The mandate of this group is to determine how to make the necessary changes to Canada's orderly marketing system by making it flexible and viable over the long term. The task force has to this point consulted widely with all of the stakeholders. These groups must have a direct role to play in mapping out the future of supply management and orderly marketing in Canada.

There is no question that we face many challenges. There are no easy solutions, no quick fixes to the issues I have raised here today. As a government we have shown that we are up to the challenge before us: working with industry to set priorities, encouraging industry investment in technological development, investing in the skills of our people, and providing security and stability for small and medium sized farms and producers. These are the ways to keep the Canadian agri-food products competitive.

[Mental Health Week, May 6th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, for the past 27 years I have worked in the psychiatric mental health field. It gives me great pleasure to rise today to inform my colleagues that this past week was National Mental Health Week.

I had the opportunity to attend the kick-off events earlier this week in my riding of Annapolis Valley-Hants. The focus of the week has been on the need to place greater emphasis on the integration of physical and mental health in our society.

Groups and individuals must work together to promote greater awareness of the mental health issues and to decrease the stigma often involved with mental health care.

I ask all members of this House to join me in praising the work of the thousands of professionals and volunteers in the field. Let none of us leave this important work to someone else, but rather join all Canadians in promoting active and healthy lives.

[Efamol Research Institute, April 26th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to raise awareness of some exciting research and development that is currently under way at the EFAMOL Research Institute in my riding of Annapolis Valley-Hants.

The institute is a world leader in the research of medical benefits derived from the oil of evening primrose plants. Research is focused on new treatments for cancer, AIDS, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and arthritis.

EFAMOL is the evening primrose oil used in over 95 per cent of all published medical trials. It is widely considered the best researched primrose oil on the market.

On Wednesday, May 4, EFAMOL Research Incorporated is hosting the grand opening of its new research and development laboratory. I would ask all members of the House to join me in extending my congratulations to the members of the EFAMOL Research Institute for their world class work in this field.

[Crime Prevention, April 13th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, as we have seen in recent weeks there is a growing concern that our safe and peaceful communities are being threatened by crime.

To properly address this issue, I believe that we must examine the root causes of crime. Poverty, child abuse, underfunded social services and low levels of education are all issues on which we as a government must focus our attention.

Many of us have groups in our ridings which work toward crime prevention through public education. We must offer our support to these organizations and their efforts to prevent crime in our communities.

The Minister of Justice has stated that we will create a national crime prevention council as part of our integrated strategy for crime prevention.

I urge all members of this House to support this action. Only by addressing the underlying causes can we effectively deal with crime in our communities.

[Hockey, March 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to resolve an ongoing controversy over the birthplace of hockey in this great country.

As documented by the Windsor Hockey Heritage Society, the game of hockey had its origins in Windsor, Nova Scotia in the early 1800s. It was first played by the students of Kings College School where it evolved from hurley, an Irish field game. In fact, hockey was played in Windsor for nearly a century before it was played in most other Canadian towns.

I am proud that in my riding of Annapolis Valley-Hants the Windsor Hockey Heritage Society continues to promote the history of this great game, both locally and across Canada. I would like to congratulate this organization for its dedication in preserving such an important part of our heritage.