Mr. Speaker, I do not know where the member got his information.
I will say, though, that I find his questions increasingly personal and uninteresting.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 62% of the vote.
Social Union November 27th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, I do not know where the member got his information.
I will say, though, that I find his questions increasingly personal and uninteresting.
Social Union November 27th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, the member should listen to the answers before he asks his questions. I have said who was holding things up in the past: the Parti Quebecois government. Its reasons for doing so are fairly obvious. Its reasons for getting involved now are also fairly obvious because the number one item on its agenda, unlike the agenda of the other premiers, is the destruction of the country.
It is very difficult to work credibly at improving a country one wishes to tear apart. There is a fundamental contradiction because the member does not even appear to know what social union means. It means Canadians helping Canadians, coming to each other's assistance more often, something this country is very good at.
Social Union November 27th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, we have the deepest respect for the Constitution. The Government of Canada has always provided assistance to students, but does so without any direct involvement in education. We help ensure Canadians have access to education.
I might remind the hon. member that, in the United States, 75% of public funding for students is provided by the federal government. In Germany, it is 65%. That is how federalism should work, except in the minds of some separatist leaders, who never understood what the Canadian federation was all about.
Social Union November 27th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, the premiers launched this initiative in December 1997. The provinces submitted their proposals in June 1998. The federal government responded with a counter-proposal in July 1998. Since then, work has been progressing well.
The PQ government stayed away from these negotiations until the very end. Yesterday, Mr. Parizeau explained why the PQ is in now: they hope to make the negotiations fail so as to create winning conditions. Winning conditions for Lucien Bouchard are losing conditions for Quebeckers.
Social Union November 26th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the former PQ leader, Jacques Parizeau, said that, for Quebec, social union consists in getting its loot.
During the ice storm, the other Canadians did not give their loot to Quebeckers. They gave their heart and generosity. In Manitoba, we did not give our loot; we gave our heart and generosity.
The Canadian social union is about the heart and generosity of all Canadians. It is about a country that Quebeckers have built with the other Canadians, and they will not give control to people who want to destroy it.
Social Union November 26th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, this is a false allegation. I never said there was no urgency. I said we were negotiating and good progress was being made.
Quebeckers do not want to separate. It would be better if they did not elect a separatist government. Quebeckers are confident. It would be better if they did not elect a party that relies on mistrust.
The Canadian social union is about all Canadians helping one another, something which the member does not seem to be able to grasp.
Social Union November 23rd, 1998
Mr. Speaker, it is definitely in the federal government's interest to co-operate with the provincial governments to improve one of the world's best social unions, a union that the member, his party and his leader in Quebec City seek to destroy.
Intergovernmental Affairs November 20th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, one thing must be made clear. It is not traditional for the Government of Canada to send its Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs out to negotiate with the provinces on anything but strictly constitutional matters.
If the matter is a social one, a minister with a social mandate is sent. If the matter is economic, a minister with an economic mandate is sent, because what is of primary importance to us is to serve the people.
The Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs is there simply to help out his federal and provincial colleagues, and I am performing my duties to the satisfaction of the Prime Minister.
Intergovernmental Affairs November 20th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member very much for showing such an interest in my political career. I would like to take this opportunity to explain further what social union is.
Quebeckers' view of it may be an abstract one. I shall define it very simply. Social union is Canadians helping Canadians, one of the most admirable forms of mutual assistance ever invented. We invented it, along with our fellow Canadians.
The difficult situation in which the province of Quebec finds itself, in large part because of the political uncertainty and the threat of secession, costs our provincial government $4.5 billion in revenue year after year, according to Georges Mathews, an economist with close ties to the Bloc Quebecois. Are we going to give responsibility for this social union to a premier who wants to destroy Canada, or to a Prime Minister who wants to—
Intergovernmental Affairs November 19th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, we are in the process of negotiating something very important, the enhancement of federation as it affects social programs for the people. We have one of the best social unions in the world and we are going to improve it still further. That improvement will be a lot easier when we have a government in Quebec which wants a stronger Quebec within a united Canada.