Francis Leblanc

[Employment, April 25th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Canada-Nova Scotia Labour Market Development agreement announced in Halifax yesterday.

This historic agreement is proof that the Government of Canada is committed to helping unemployed Canadians get back to work.

It is a made in Nova Scotia agreement. The province will assume full responsibility for benefits and employment measures designed to meet the needs of Nova Scotia workers and employers.

The Government of Canada will provide more than $200 million over the next three years for these measures from the employment insurance account.

This agreement is also proof of a new approach to renewing Canadian federalism. It delivers on the Prime Minister's promise to

withdraw from labour market training and negotiate new partnerships with the provinces and territories.

Similar agreements have been signed with Alberta, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Manitoba and Quebec. The Government of Canada is continuing to negotiate with other provinces and territories.

In partnership, we will ensure together that the right things are done in our communities to achieve our common goal, getting Canadians back to work.

[Canada Endangered Species Protection Act, April 24th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, my understanding is it is until the next sitting day. Does that make sense to you?

[Canada Endangered Species Protection Act, April 24th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, you will have to bear with me. I am following instructions. They have been deemed to have been put and a recorded division requested and deferred once debate is completed for each of the groupings.

[Canada Endangered Species Protection Act, April 24th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I believe if you seek it you will find consent for the following:

That all motions at report stage of Bill C-65 be deemed to have been put and a recorded division requested and deferred once debate is completed for each grouping.

[Progressive Conservative Party, April 18th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the leader of the Tory party was in

Nova Scotia trying to resurrect support for a party the voters rightly repudiated in 1993.

He has a tough job ahead of him. The voters in Nova Scotia remember well the legacy of that last Tory government, a government of which he was a part: higher unemployment, higher taxes, government finances out of control, missed deficit targets, scandal after scandal. He hopes Nova Scotians will forget. They will not.

The election has not been called and the Tory platform has already been discredited. Their numbers do not add up. Nova Scotians know that a party fighting for the right wing Reform vote in the rest of Canada is not a party that can be trusted in Atlantic Canada.

The people in Nova Scotia know that the Liberals have delivered good government. We have cleaned up the fiscal mess of the Mulroney years. We have acted to protect and sustain our social programs and we have put the economy on the right track.

We are beginning to see the results with low interest rates, growing consumer confidence, a good climate for growth and jobs.

[Canadian Culture, April 17th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the objective of the Department of Foreign Affairs is to promote Canadian culture abroad, and in order to do so, we make use of the forms of culture available to Canadians, Quebecers included. This is one of our government's objectives.

[Questions On The Order Paper, April 14th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the parliamentary secretary to the government House leader, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.

[Archie Neil Chisholm, February 18th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, Cape Breton, indeed all of Canada, lost a living legend with the passing last Friday of Archie Neil Chisholm.

At 89, Archie Neil had become the embodiment of the cultural revival taking place across Cape Breton Island and was among its most eloquent and colourful exponents. He was a master teacher,

entertainer, broadcaster and story teller, and a devotee of Cape Breton music. He contributed his talents generously to causes and charities too numerous to mention. No one could emcee a concert with the same grace and good humour as Archie Neil.

Archie Neil's life was a triumph of spirit over adversity. Born in a large family of modest means in the community of Margaree Forks, he was crippled by polio at an early age. But he overcame the disadvantages of humble beginnings, physical disability and other challenges to transform his life into an example of contribution to others.

I am proud to have known Archie Neil Chisholm and to have grown up in Margaree under his inspiring influence. Like so many of his friends, I will miss his cheerful presence.

[Belgrade, December 4th, 1996]

They urged authorities to exercise constraint in dealing with peaceful demonstrations. Canada will continue to follow with great care developments in Serbia. We have made it clear to the government of the federal republic of Yugoslavia that its failure to respect the democratic process and ensure full media freedom could have an impact on the pace and content-

[Belgrade, December 4th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is deeply concerned that Belgrade has chosen to ignore accepted international norms for conducting democratic elections.

Today in London at the peace implementation conference for Bosnia, where Serbian leaders were present, the Minister of Foreign Affairs voiced Canada's concern that opposition candidates in Serbia have been deprived of their rightful places on local councils.

He also drew attention to the closure by the council of the federal republic of Yugoslavia of independent radio stations, an affront to democratic principles.

In Belgrade Canada's ambassadors conveyed to the government of the federal republic of Yugoslavia our serious concerns. Are you listening?