Georgette Sheridan

[Health Care, April 17th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, April 17 is international hemophilia day.

In this year's budget the finance minister affirmed: "Our commitment to the principles contained in the Canada Health Act is unequivocal. These principles will be maintained". This echoed the Prime Minister's promise in the throne speech to ensure the future of our publicly financed health care system.

Since then the opposition parties have been tripping over each other to pay lip service to health care. It is one thing to make grand statements about the importance of medicare but what really matters is making sure we have the plan to pay for it.

Through good money management our government has provided the means to preserve and strengthen our social programs. By meeting and beating our deficit targets every year since taking office we have been able to put words into practice, committing some $300 million over the next three years to promote health care in Canada.

Health Canada supports the outstanding work of the Canadian Hemophilia Society in improving treatment for bleeding disorders and ensuring a safe blood supply for all Canadians. Happy international hemophilia day.

[Member For Beaver River, March 21st, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I commend the member for Beaver River for bringing gender equity to a sexist remark. I would have thought that as one who describes herself as a woman, the member would avoid using cheap sexist jokes to score a few points in her bid for re-election.

Women in all professions have long struggled against the misconception that they are biologically incapable of performing well in traditionally male dominated occupations, accused of being victims of their hormones or too emotional for serious jobs.

Here we have the House leader for the Reform Party perpetuating this myth with her crude remarks about PMS making women unfit for the House of Commons.

My Reform Party colleagues find this wildly amusing. I hope they find their dismal electoral results equally funny.

[Crystal Springs United Church Women, March 18th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Crystal Springs United Church Women on their support for the ban of the manufacture, use, exportation or stockpiling of land mines.

In January I received a letter from Daisy Reid, secretary-treasurer of the UCW, in which she urged the government to take a leadership role on this issue, especially in the eradication of anti-personnel mines which are truly nefarious devices that are designed, as Daisy explains in her letter, to injure and maim but not to kill.

Mrs. Reid writes on behalf of the UCW that they wish to join the international campaign to ban land mines: "We feel that Canada should give leadership to the world in this terrible way of using our fellow man".

I am pleased to inform the UCW that our foreign affairs minister has recently been nominated for a Nobel peace prize in recognition of his efforts to rid the world of land mines. Also worthy of recognition are the thousands of individual Canadians like Daisy Reid, Bernice Bird, Evelyn Reid, Maxine MacLeod and Fern Horley of the Crystal Springs UCW who take the time to support these important efforts and to prove that one person can make a difference.

[International Women's Week, March 3rd, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, today marks the beginning of International Women's Week, a global celebration of women's accomplishments in seeking gender equality.

Since women's struggles were officially recognized through the first International Women's Day in 1911 great strides have been made but much remains to be done.

In Canadian politics, for example, less than 20 per cent of the members of the House are female compared to 52 per cent of the general population.

A more shocking imbalance occurs in science where less than 5 per cent of faculty and engineering are female, a statistic women like Dr. Lillian Dyck are working hard to correct. A biochemist at the University of Saskatchewan, Dr. Dyck takes very seriously her duties as a role model for girls and women in science.

Having completed her own chemistry degree without ever encountering a female professor, Dr. Dyck hopes to encourage more female students to seek careers in science and engineering. The supportive atmosphere and changing stereotypical attitudes are crucial if the imbalance in this male dominated field is to be corrected.

Just as in politics, women in science need to see other women in the jobs to which they aspire. Scientists like Dr. Lillian Dyck are making sure this happens.

[Agriculture, December 10th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, Saskatchewan is vitally interested in the future of agricultural research. Farmers, food processors, marketers and the academic community are all working in partnership with Agriculture Canada for the national good.

Through Agriculture Canada research labs, important work is being conducted to ensure the safety of the national food supply, to develop new crops, to investigate environmentally friendly and economical herbicides and pesticides to improve crop production and to identify new markets for Canadian produce and agri-food products.

Leading the way in the area of research and development, especially in biotechnology, the research labs have developed better methods for growing and storing Saskatchewan produce. Innovation Place, through its harnessing of government, academic and private sector resources, is an excellent model for the effective partnerships that ensure the successes we have seen in research and development.

They underscore the continued importance of the federal government's leadership role in the area of research and development in western Canada, a role to which my Liberal colleagues and I remain committed.

[Violence Against Women, December 6th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak out against violence against women. Less than a decade ago this act was met with snickers in this House.

It is not so today, in part because of the greater number of women who now are represented in Parliament. But it is also because of the many women who refuse to remain silent any longer; groups like Saskatoon's December Memorial Committee, a collective of concerned women and women's groups who recognize that silence allows the violence to continue and who organized "Speaking Out: A Portrait Violence", a two-week awareness program designed to educate and increase public awareness through community events.

I commend the committee for its "Speaking Out" event, a memorial to the tragedy at École Polytechnique, but also a public forum in a safe environment for the survivors of violence to speak out their stories through art, music and words.

The power of their creative works and words brings our society one step closer to zero tolerance of violence against Canada's women and children.

[Lupus, December 3rd, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the many Canadians suffering from lupus. Lupus is an auto-immune disease which attacks the body's healthy cells. All parts of the body, including major organs, can be involved. While lupus knows no age or gender barriers, it is more prevalent among women in their child bearing years.

An insidious chronic ailment, lupus is characterized by unpredictable flare-ups of acute disease activity causing pain, inflammation of body tissues and organs.

Its erratic nature brings with it emotional turmoil and economic loss.

To date there is no cure for lupus. Though medication provides some measure of control, its efficacy varies in each case and is not without long range debilitating side effects.

Given the physical and economic consequences of lupus, persons severely afflicted by this disease who have a prolonged functional impairment and who have been assessed as disabled by qualified physicians call on this government to allow eligibility for disability tax credits without further investigation by Revenue Canada.

[Tri Media Productions, November 26th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Tony Towstey and Tri Media Productions of Saskatoon.

Thanks to Tony's determination, corporate communication skills and a lot of hard work, Saskatoon can now boast its first ever feature film to be shot entirely in the city. The movie is called "Dead End". While that may be a good title for the film it is a poor description of many positive spin-offs its production means to Saskatoon.

The video post-production will be done on Tri Media's digital editing equipment, crucial for high quality projects in the future. Production will increase business for Saskatoon's hotels, restaurants and support industries. Local people will be employed on both sides of the camera developing a talent pool for future projects.

Tri Media Productions is another small business success story.

[Petitions, November 25th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have the honour to present a petition signed by several hundred people in my constituency.

It urges the government to do what it has done in the recent announcement of the minister of public works to restrict the delivery of junk mail to their homes.

[Dr. Gerald Rooney, November 1st, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one of my constituents, Dr. Gerald Rooney, who has been inducted into the Humboldt and District Sports Hall of Fame. Dr. Rooney was born on Christmas Eve in Estevan and then had the good sense to move to Humboldt, Saskatchewan in January 1958 to raise his family and practise optometry.

Dr. Rooney's sports involvement in Humboldt started in 1959 coaching a bantam hockey team. Throughout the sixties, seventies and eighties he coached hockey, baseball, served on many community sport committees as well as on provincial bodies. In 1973 and 1974 he served on a five-person special government appointed task force on hockey in Saskatchewan.

In a special ceremony last week Gerry was honoured by the community for his longstanding commitment to the Humboldt Bronco's Junior Hockey Club. He has also managed and coached provincial and western Canadian championship hockey teams.

Sports are an integral part of prairie community life. We are fortunate to have people like Dr. Gerald Rooney who are willing to volunteer so much time and energy for the good of all.