Mr. Speaker, for the interest of the House I would like to provide the reasons for bringing forward the subamendment that was presented yesterday.
The issues in the reorganization of this department are complex. We are seeing five ministries becoming one. It consolidates several subcabinet departments: the Secretary of State; the Department of Multiculturalism and Citizenship; the Department of Fitness and Amateur Sport; Parks Canada; components of Environment Canada; and the heritage component of the Department of Communications.
The government has talked a great deal about meeting its deficit target. I was really quite astounded to hear that this reorganization is going to save the huge figure of $7.3 million. Our debt today is over $536 billion. We have a deficit of $40 billion. Yet this reshuffling and this reorganization is going to save $7.3 million. Not a single person-year is lost; everybody has been reshuffled and moved off to other departments. Therefore I am not quite certain where the savings are.
The other side of the House, the government side, has often challenged the Reform Party MPs to come forward with some good ideas. We certainly want to ensure that the finance minister indeed does have access to this report by June 23, 1995 to help him with his short term deficit targets that he puts and that he wants to reach.
I also felt it was important to express one last time for the record and for Canadians generally exactly what we mean by special interest funding. This really is a ministry of special interest.
I have with me a number of items I would like to read into the record which come from a 703 page document listing all of the special interest funding that is available to Canadians today. It is important for us to look at these particular elements because they clearly describe special interests in Canada.
In the 1993-94 fiscal year $17,200 was given to something called "The Hidden Advantage". It was a series of round table discussions to be held in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Saskatoon on the relationship between diversity and international trade with a particular focus on the Pacific rim. Participants would include opinion leaders in the Asian Canadian community.
A staggering $85,000 was committed to the Canadian Advertising Foundation. It was for "Minorities in advertising; we are all Canadians". This is a communications outreach. It was for the dissemination of the findings of the research done by Goldfarb Consultants for the Race Relations Advisory Council on advertising and the provision of suggestions on how to include and portray visible minorities in advertising. Once again, $85,000 for that particular activity.
The 1993-94 program funding for the Canadian Council for Multicultural and Intercultural Education was $198,000. This was to provide program and project support for the following activities: operations of the national office, co-ordination of CCMIE activities, the board, executive, meetings, ECE and Race Relations Resource Advisory Committee workshops at the CCMIE national conference that is held every year. That was almost $200,000 to that group.
There is also the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Culture, Community and Health Studies. It received $5,000 for a national symposium titled "Models of Health Care in a Pluralistic Canada". It was a two and a half day national symposium on models of health care appropriate for a pluralistic Canada, whatever that means. It was held in Toronto and was for research workers, health care providers, health educators, public health agency staff, policymakers and consumers.
The Conference Board of Canada received $86,635 on "Dimensions of Diversity in Canadian Business". This was a two-year research and information dissemination project on the importance of diversity to Canadian economic prosperity, with a particular focus on managing and valuing diversity in the Canadian private sector.
There was $15,000 committed to the public service announcement campaign on violence in society and the development of a public service announcement, a PSA. This campaign was going to focus on violence in the community and the media.
The Ethnocultural Business Advisory Committee of metro Toronto received $20,000 for its small business week on ethnocultural business activities. This is a co-ordination of events to be held during small business week by eight Ethnocultural Business Advisory Committees across Canada. These events include trade shows, workshops, business awards and networking events. This is part of an annual national event for small business.
The next thing I want to bring into focus is the $40,000 that was given to the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto Chief Administrative Officers department. It is for municipal procurement strategies and minority economic development. The municipal government will adjust its procedures for bidding on contracts to ensure they do not present barriers to minority owned businesses and it will train its managers on the implementation of those procedures.
Mr. Speaker, you will be pleased to hear that the National Association of Friendship Centres received $15,000 for phase three of its national race relations strategy. This project will develop resources and tools that will be used to train race relations workers from friendship centres across Canada.
The Steering Committee Forum for Central and Eastern European Canadians on Business Development in 1993 received $10,000. This was a forum for central and eastern European Canadians on business development. This two-day national forum was to be held in Toronto. It was on how the Ukrainians, German and Polish Canadian communities in Canada could utilize the business expertise within their respective communities to become more involved in business activity.
The next one I want to raise is on drama and education to foster understanding. Easin Productions received $10,000. This project will introduce students and community groups to race relations and cross-cultural issues through the medium of live theatre and workshops. There will be at least 174 presentations in schools and community groups.
I really wonder how unifying all of these different activities are in Canada today. We are seeing so many of these projects and workshops unfolding that highlight more and more of our differences. They are not bringing us together or unifying us on how we are the same.
The Black Educators Association of Nova Scotia received $34,442. This was for program funding to address educational concerns and deliver workshops in black communities to increase parental involvement in education issues.
The Dartmouth Police Department received $3,526 for a 14-week employment project for two visible minority students.
The Eye Level Gallery received $1,507 for workshops presented on key video works by a black artist and a cultural skill development workshop.
The International Education Centre received $34,160 to conduct a series of multicultural and race relations programs for teachers, education administrators, students and community groups.
The Parents for a Model School Committee of the St. Joseph A. McKay Home and School Association received $11,970. This was for a proposal for phase one of a model school project for this particular association. It was for the development of the infrastructure and support system for an anti-racism and anti-poverty project for an inner city school in Halifax.
Shelburne County Cultural Awareness Society received $25,645. This project is researching data and conducting an archaeological survey on a site of historic significance to the Nova Scotia black community which has been selected for a regional landfill.
In closing I want to state for the record once again that the reorganization of the Department of Canadian Heritage is really a ministry of special interests. The government is creating a new superministry of cultural identity that will legislatively entrench grants to feminist, multicultural, linguistic and environmental groups. I submit that it denies us an opportunity to define ourselves as Canadians.