Budget Implementation Act, 1998  Mr. Speaker, I shall be splitting my time. I rise today not in my parliamentary secretarial capacity but in my backbench enthusiastic capacity, if I can put it that way. Our last budget was the first of the post-deficit era. It had a format which I found quite compelling. It was a format which basically dealt to some degree with debt reduction and to some degree with tax reduction.

Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1998  Mr. Speaker, it is indeed a pleasure. I would like to address the bill before the House on behalf of the member for Nanaimo—Alberni, the Reform environment critic. Reform's position on the environment is very clear. The Reform Party supports ensuring that all Canadians dwell in a clean and healthy environment.

Revenue  Mr. Speaker, first the minister of Indian affairs failed to tell the House how and why the contents of a confidential letter of complaint were released. Now five years of personal income tax returns of Mr. John Thiessen of Winnipeg were released to the Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation without authorization, contrary to section 241 of the Income Tax Act.

National Defence Act  Madam Speaker, it gives me pleasure to speak today to Bill C-25, an act to amend the National Defence Act and to make consequential amendments to other acts. The purpose of this act is to make substantial changes to the military justice system in the Canadian Armed Forces. Probably the impetus or a lot of this dates back to October 1995 when the Liberal government issued an order in council to establish what became known as the Somalia commission of inquiry.

Fisheries  Mr. Speaker, the fisheries minister and the foreign affairs minister do not know who is in charge for starters. The fisheries minister is always talking conservation, conservation, conservation. What about honesty, integrity and leadership on this issue? The priority of the fisheries minister has been to avoid upsetting the Americans.

Income Tax Amendments Act, 1997  Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak to Bill C-28 and to listen to the different approaches taken by the parties in the House. I am very pleased to be a member of a party that has talked about cutting taxes and reducing deficit over the last number of years. Certainly because of the pressure of the Reform Party the Minister of Finance has his deficit where he wants it today.

Canada Labour Code  Mr. Speaker, usually we can blame our colleagues, but I think in this instance the gallery is filling with people in expectation of the budget. I appreciate the circumstances. There is another very important aspect to what I did in the past in terms of the union environment I worked in.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to follow up on the question I raised in the House approximately a week ago. I asked the minister of Indian affairs about the problems of accountability on reserves and the fact that unfortunately many of the people were extremely destitute.

Points Of Order  O. 31s, the one minute statements that precede question period. In times past we have given a spot to his co-worker, the hon. member for Saint John, who has spoken in a traditionally Reform spot because we knew she had something to say and we let her say it. In times past, the Bloc Quebecois has substituted in the member for Yukon in the Indian affairs committee, another member of a minority party who was substituted in on a Bloc's schedule.

Fisheries Act  My colleague who is in the House was in Davis Inlet with me last week, as well as the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs. We signed an agreement to provide a better future for the people of Davis Inlet. In addition to the Innu culture is the Inuit culture. The Labrador Inuit Association is their parent body.

Supply  Well if it is true I would like to have that on the record. If that is the minister's number one priority I would be absolutely delighted to have him put that on the record. We have a window of four or five months this winter to get that resolved. Is the minister of fisheries the one who is primarily accountable or is it the minister of foreign affairs?

Supply  It is called democracy, but there are some democratic reforms which are necessary. The federal government has prime responsibility for one natural resource and that is fish. Without a doubt, it is the worst managed resource in Canada. It has a terrible track record. To quote my Liberal colleague from Huron—Bruce this week at the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, if fisheries were agriculture they would be managed properly.

Recall Act  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to respond in greater detail to the concerns raised by the hon. member for The Battlefords-Meadow Lake that aboriginal veterans have not been treated the same as other war veterans. When the National Aboriginal Veterans Association first raised allegations of unfair treatment in the early 1980s Veterans Affairs Canada asked it to bring forward any case in which a veteran believed that unfair discriminatory treatment had been received.

supply  Mr. Speaker, first of all I would like to say I welcome this opportunity to respond to several of the concerns that have been raised in today's opposition day motion, particularly with respect to the aboriginal economic development program. Although the motion refers this question to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development the aboriginal economic development program is administered by Industry Canada, formerly Industry, Science and Technology Canada.

Mining Exploration And Development  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to respond to the question raised by the hon. member for The Battlefords-Meadow Lake on September 27 regarding the 1994-95 report of the Indian Claims Commission and its first recommendation which called for the establishment of a new, independent land claims policy and process.