Mr. Speaker, yesterday a Senate committee proposed an amendment to Bill C-103 that would grandfather the Canadian version of Sports Illustrated . In so doing, it joined the Reform Party, the task force on the Canadian magazine industry and the current Minister for International Trade in making this recommendation.
Unbelievably the Minister of Canadian Heritage is compromising our international reputation by insisting that Sports Illustrated be banned retroactively as of March 1993. If the Senate, a special task force on split runs and the Minister for International Trade all
recognize the legitimate rights of Sports Illustrated to run a split run in Canada, why does not the Minister of Canadian Heritage?
Maybe the answer is that he clearly does not know what he is doing. Yesterday he said: "What we are trying to do is make sure our Canadian industries remain Canadian, are able to grow and export, because export is part of their ability to mature". But get this: Bill C-103 will impose a Canadian 80 per cent excise tax on our magazine exports. Unbelievable.