Debates of Feb. 24th, 1994

Indian Affairs

[The Speaker]

It is the practice in making these statements under Standing Order 31 that no member be directly attacked in this way.

Perhaps the hon. member could rephrase his statement so that it would not be a direct attack.

Veterans Affairs

[John Harvard, Liberal, Winnipeg—St. James, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of a special war medal for Dieppe veterans.

For 30 years or more the issue has been in the hands of the federal government. Almost everyone seems to support the idea of special recognition for these very deserving war veterans. Politicians make positive statements, officials meet and promises are made, but nothing really happens. If the country waits much longer all these men will be dead.

I am given to understand that the federal government is now studying proposals on how special recognition might best be provided and that when that is done the government will have several concrete options for veterans' groups to review. Moreover the secretary of state says he sees merit in a war medal for these courageous men.

Let us hope we are near the end of this saga. The gallant veterans of Dieppe have waited long enough. I urge the government to act and act now for a group of fine men.

Child Poverty

[Paddy Torsney, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there are just two days left and tickets are going quickly for the second annual gala for child poverty.

The successful event benefits needy children in the Ottawa-Carleton region. It is sponsored by the Fund for a New Generation, a group of active young people who represent all parties in the House as well as the public, private and university sectors. These young people strongly believe in grass roots community support.

I take this opportunity to thank the 100 local merchants and retailers and national sponsors Sun Life Canada, Merck Frosst and the Rider Travel Group. They have made the event possible but they cannot do it alone. Future generations need us now.

I ask members, visitors and pages to stick tapes in their VCRs to catch the Olympics and go to the Museum of Nature this Saturday night. Many children in the Ottawa-Carleton region

need our support. Tickets are available from any of the whips' offices. They should call now. Operators are standing by to take their calls.

Employment

[John Solomon, NDP, Regina—Lumsden, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are making it more difficult to be a young person with hope. In Regina-Lumsden more and more unemployment insurance claimants are rejected because of the unfair changes to UI.

These individuals cannot find full-time work and are forced to take seasonal or part-time jobs. When these jobs dry up they do not qualify for UI; they go on the province's welfare rolls instead. They are not lazy. They are underemployed because there are simply not enough full-time jobs to go around.

The Government of Saskatchewan addressed the issue of unemployment in its recent budget with a job creation program. Unfortunately the federal budget will mean more unemployment for Saskatchewan and more people dependent on welfare.

The changes to UI simply offload federal costs to the provinces and continue the Tory tradition of disguising how many unemployed people there really are by shifting them to welfare.

The Liberal government does not get it. The unemployed do not want to be unemployed. They only wanted one thing from this government: real jobs. Instead they got snow jobs.

Collège Militaire Royal De Saint-Jean

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.

Unexpectedly, to the dismay of francophones in Quebec and Canada, the government wants to close the military college in Saint-Jean. It is the only French-language military college in Canada and enables francophones to advance in the armed forces in their own language. Since it was founded, this college has trained several generations of brilliant French-speaking officers.

I ask the Prime Minister if he does not admit that by closing the Saint-Jean college in an arbitrary and underhanded way, he is sending a message that there is no more room for francophones who want to become officers in the Canadian armed forces in their own language and environment.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the government does not take such action on a whim. We had a recommendation to close the Royal Roads Military College in Victoria and the one in Saint-Jean, Quebec.

Royal Roads was established in 1942 and Saint-Jean in 1952. We decided to close them both and to keep the one in Kingston, Ontario, where both official languages of the country will be taught. There are many French-language institutions that work very well in Ontario.

I would remind the Leader of the Opposition that many times he recommended cutting military spending by 25 per cent. If we had followed his recommendations, not only would we have closed the military college in Saint-Jean but we would also have had to shut down the facility in Bagotville, in his region.

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

I have trouble understanding how one can say such things when the Canadian armed forces already spend only 13 per cent of their capital budget in Quebec.

But, Mr. Speaker, if you allow me, I would remind the Prime Minister that the college in Saint-Jean was founded to end the scandal of an army that resisted the French fact and that the college in Kingston was indeed one of the bastions of that hostile attitude.

I want to ask the Prime Minister if he does not admit that his government's decision is taking us back 40 years and wiping out a symbol of success for the French fact in Canada.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry, perhaps that was the problem in 1952, but since then, we passed the Official Languages Act. The best example I can give the House now is that the chief of Canada's armed forces, John de Chastelain, is a perfectly bilingual anglophone, which proves that the Canadian armed forces have changed a lot since 1952.

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we all noted with interest that the Prime Minister admitted that until 1952, it was a problem. Indeed, the problem was that the French fact was not recognized and was snubbed by the Canadian armed forces and that Kingston was a prime example of such rejection.

Can the Prime Minister confirm that closing the college in Saint-Jean is the result of last-minute pressure from the Liberal caucus to help the closure of military bases go down better in the rest of Canada?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, that statement is totally false. The problem was not even raised in the Liberal caucus.

I would say to the hon. member that he should think twice before making statements like that. If we had cut 25 per cent as he asked and as he called for dozens of times in the election campaign, not only would we have closed Saint-Jean, but we would have closed the military base in Bagotville at the same

time. Furthermore, I think that the new Canada can have a completely bilingual institution in Kingston, Ontario, where they have one of the best universities in Canada.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in an article published this morning and entitled "Kingston, a choice made for reasons of economy and national unity", the Minister of National Defence says, and I quote: "I am tired of those Quebecers who claim to be the only ones protecting the French fact in Canada". The minister goes on to say: "In Canada, francophones must feel comfortable everywhere. That was the dream of Mr. Trudeau and the Liberals of old".

Mr. Speaker, given those comments, are we to understand that, to get rid of those Quebecers he is tired of, the minister intends to give to Kingston the responsibility of training French-speaking officers?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I stand by what the Minister of National Defence said. There is a possibility.

I once was the member for Beauséjour. When I was there, I attended the University of Moncton, where some law classes are taught only in French. I visited the University of Sudbury and the University of Ottawa. I was also invited to Glendon College, in Toronto. It is possible to find institutions in Canada, outside Quebec, which provide first-class education in French, and that is what Canada is all about: ensuring the preservation of French all across the country.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, how can the Prime Minister, who supports the comments made by his minister to the effect that he is tired of Quebecers who try to protect the French fact in Canada, believe that they will trust him when it comes to protecting the interests of the French language, while he and his government are about to close the only institution for the training of francophone officers in the Canadian Forces?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to see the hon. member defending federal institutions in Quebec. I am really very happy to see that. I hope that the hon. member will now start saying that he knows more than his small region.

[Some hon. members]

Oh,oh!

[Lucien Bouchard, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

The small region of Lac-Saint-Jean, is that it?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Saint-Maurice, QC]

I want to say something to the leader of the opposition. If, some day, he succeeds in leading Quebec to independence, his neighbour's children will not have the option of becoming American citizens. In an independent Quebec-

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Is he talking about my children?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Saint-Maurice, QC]

It is true. We, on this side, believe that there are federal institutions in Quebec and that one can be a proud Quebecer, a proud Canadian and a proud francophone everywhere in this country.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

[Some hon. members]

More, more.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. I am starting to feel like the Maytag repairman. With my colleagues' kind permission we will hear from the member for Calgary Southwest.

Employment

[Preston Manning, Reform, Calgary Southwest, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am wondering what happened to our resolve to conduct ourselves a little differently than in the past.

My question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development. The premier of Quebec announced that it was the objective of his government to reduce unemployment in that province by 1 per cent this year.

Does the federal government have an unemployment reduction target for the country as a whole and, if so, what is it?