Income Tax Act  I wish to take this opportunity to draw a parallel with a tax matter on which the government made a rather clear commitment, namely to do away with the goods and services tax. If you think back a little, originally, when this legislation was first passed, it was fiercely opposed by the Liberals in this place, the other place and everywhere.

Income Tax Act  The people of Canada in their taxpayer rallies and even in their presentations to the finance committee of the House made it abundantly clear they preferred spending cuts over tax increases to eliminate the deficit. Reformers agreed. The Minister of Finance thought he could raise taxes on what he considered to be a relatively small group of professionals by justifying the tax grab to the general public as a measure of increasing equity.

Child Support  Since the budget of 1994, and indeed since the judgment of the Federal Court of Appeal in Thibaudeau a year ago, that has been a matter of both public consultation and careful consideration. We will be making the position of the government clear on the issue in the weeks ahead. The third has to do with enforcement because the proper amount with the appropriate tax calculation is meaningless unless the order is actually paid.

Trade  We have, therefore, protested most strongly to the United States. As my colleague, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, has made abundantly clear, we have no intention of accepting the United States' attempts to impose on third countries its embargo on Cuba. Finally, Canada, along with countries of the European Union and in the western hemisphere, have protested most strongly to the United States, to the state department, to the administration, and in my own case to the U.S. trade representative, to register our strong opposition to the present bill.

Quebec  Speaker, as the Prime Minister knows, one of the most effective democratic mechanisms for registering and communicating Canadian public opinion on a constitutional question is a formally conducted referendum. Does the Prime Minister see any place for a national clear the air referendum on these issues, particularly if the Government of Quebec continues to delay its referendum and to shift away from outright separation toward some fuzzier option?

Quebec  I just hope that the Parti Quebecois and the Bloc Quebecois will have the courage to ask the very clear question: Do you want to separate from Canada? The answer is going to be no, and there will be no need for any other referendum.

Quebec  Obviously, it is important that Quebecers know how the rest of Canada feels about so-called sovereignty association before any Quebec referendum this fall. It is also quite evident that Quebecers will not get a clear view of Canadian public opinion on that subject through the BQ or the PQ. How does the Prime Minister plan to ensure that Canadian public opinion on sovereignty association is clearly registered and communicated to Quebecers?

Telecommunications  Speaker, it is very unfortunate that the Leader of the Opposition seems to think that he has to get down to the level of personal attacks on the Prime Minister in order to deal with an issue of policy. It is very clear on this issue that in the face of concerns expressed in the broadcasting sector by groups such as the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, ACTRA, the Canadian Conference of the Arts and many newspaper editorials, they are all urging the government to act.

Lobbyists Registration Act  I cannot understand why the government is opposed to this type of motion. It seems perfectly clear to me and to the Reform caucus that we want to know who is being lobbied by these high priced lobbyists. They have unlimited expense accounts. They can wine, they can dine and they can go on trips.

Lobbyists Registration Act  However, if we look a little closer at MATRAC, we realize that it was 100 per cent financed by the cigarette manufacturers in order to get taxes down. This is a clear instance of trying to influence the government on an important matter, tax revenues. Why have a separate tier for such a group? I am of the opinion that the act should deal with that by allowing a single tier of lobbyists.

Lobbyists Registration Act  This was clear negotiation. No lobbying was involved here. One of the things we need to do is to make sure that there is no means of hiding the lobbying process. Right now what we are doing with the intent of this bill-the Lobbyists Registration Act started it, this bill amends it and its intent is to strengthen it.

Lobbyists Registration Act  They stopped listening to reason and suddenly it was orchestrated from the back rooms. When the motion simply says to delete some lines and introduce new ones, it is not really clear to the average person or even to some members exactly what this motion proposes. Presently the bill exempts from registration requirements any meetings initiated by public office holders.

Income Tax Act  Perhaps because of the size of the machine and of the task, but it is immovable primarily because the government is defending interests other than those of Canadians and Quebeckers, I believe. The lack of a clear stand in favour of fairness in the tax system, in favour of a complete review of taxation and in favour of the establishment of a parliamentary committee to review the whole matter tells us it is time to "get the heck out", as the current expression has it, and I am talking to Quebeckers here, it is time to get out before choices are made for us.

Farm Improvement And Marketing Cooperatives Loans Act  The objective then must be to put more capital into the system to assist farmers who otherwise might have difficulty in acquiring loans to get them from the lending community. The improvements the moneys can be used for include the purchase of farm machinery, clearing land, installing irrigation or drainage systems, fences, construction or renovation of farm buildings and the purchase of livestock or farmland. The loans can also be used by co-operative associations for investing in value added production.

Farm Improvement And Marketing Cooperatives Loans Act  Speaker, before this problem gets worse, might this Parliament not be the one that recognizes the importance of a clear and better division of responsibilities between the private and the public sectors, between paying by taxes or by dollars. Surely, we should not simply approve this bill or any other like it before asking how much it will cost, how are we going to pay, and is there a better way to do this.