House of Commons Hansard #1 of the 35th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was chair.

Topics

Committee Of The WholeSecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

4:40 p.m.

Liberal

Len Hopkins Liberal Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON

Mr. Speaker, all I have to say to you is that I am certainly glad you do not have to be appointed today.

As I sit here and listen to the debate I am particularly concerned about the way it has been personalized. The hon. member for Madawaska-Victoria is a very intelligent young person who has had considerable experience. The government promised that when it got into office it would put responsible people into responsible positions.

The hon. member for Surrey North said that it is not a personalized matter, yet the hon. member for Lethbridge started the debate by saying that Reform members personally did not support the person who has been nominated. It was made a personalized matter by the Reform Party this afternoon.

I was interested in another comment made by the hon. member for Kindersley-Lloydminster who accused others of playing games in this House. The hon. member for Fraser Valley East talked about integrity. He said that they had nothing to learn from the Conservatives. They have learned too much from the Conservatives. Today we have heard about hypocrisy and so on.

The hon. member for Madawaska-Victoria has my total confidence. She has the total confidence of her constituents, the people in that region and right across Canada. If we are going to have confidence and trust in office-this is a very key point down the road-and this debate has made it a personal matter, what is going to happen when the hon. member for Madawaska-Victoria takes the chair?

Committee Of The WholeSecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

4:40 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh.

Committee Of The WholeSecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

4:40 p.m.

Liberal

Len Hopkins Liberal Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON

This is the very point.

Every member in the House has a right to take a responsible position but never in the history of Parliament or ever in the history of Parliaments to come should the Chair be condemned because of a personal battle. It has become that today. I heard one member go on at great length about how the member for Madawaska-Victoria handled the chair in a committee. When it comes to the chair of the House of Commons no member in this House should be thinking

about carrying personal grudges or old debts against the person sitting in the chair of the House of Commons.

I am very sorry this has been made a personal matter by the House leader of the Reform Party and others. They came into the House saying that they were going to lay down new conduct in the House of Commons. They cannot do that if they are going to attack people personally. We are here to debate but this chair here must have the confidence of all members in the House when a person is put in it.

Mr. Speaker, I say to you that we should let the vote go forward as long as we do not have a whole batch of other speakers to hold the House up today. Let us elect this person to the position of chair in a democratic fashion on the floor of this House.

The conduct of the Reform Party today has been to accuse others of hypocrisy. They have spent a lot of time talking about new ideas of being civil in the House of Commons and so on. One cannot accuse an individual of not being capable of taking the chair when one has the background the hon. member for Madawaska-Victoria has.

Today when the hon. member for Madawaska-Victoria is elected by a vote in the House of Commons as one of the chairpersons, it is up to the Reform Party to respect her when she is in the chair on future occasions and not carry the old grudges from Parliament or committees into the House. Let us run this in a civilized manner. However, the House can run in a civilized manner only if the people who say they came here to change the House run it in a civilized manner themselves. It is not up to just a few people to be civil; everybody must be civil.

In fairness, let us get on with the democratic vote and let the chips fall where they may. However, after this person is elected let us respect the Chair of the House of Commons of Canada.

Committee Of The WholeSecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

4:45 p.m.

Bloc

Francine Lalonde Bloc Mercier, QC

Mr. Speaker, this proposal from the committee was intended to eliminate partisanship from the management, if I may put it that way, of the debates in the House. Had the government implemented it, we would not have had this debate, which, far from eliminating partisanship, does the very opposite.

I regret the fact that, in their defence of their position, the members of the Reform Party are in fact helping to make it partisan. Had the government done what it ought to, our Reform colleagues would have proposed someone as deputy speaker, I hope it would have been a woman, and I would not criticize her, particularly on the basis of incidents that allegedly occurred in a committee where I was not present.

I think the spirit was to have each party participate in the management of the House and therefore each party believed that those it proposed were best suited to ensure that debates were appropriate to the institution.

Committee Of The WholeSecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

4:45 p.m.

Reform

Jake Hoeppner Reform Lisgar—Marquette, MB

Mr. Speaker, I have been listening to this debate and I bring forward a slogan taught to me as a child. It is something we have forgotten about today.

I was always taught that an ounce of prevention was worth a pound of cure. Today we heard a throne speech in which the government made commitments to bring unity to the country, to depend on provinces and negotiate with them under the circumstances of honour and trust. The government knew there were hard feelings on some of these issues. If it had wanted to prevent this it could have exercised an ounce of prevention. It could have been very easily done if it had consulted with all the House leaders and had put forward all of the people it wanted to put into the chair.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the way you have run the House. I know I am probably not one of your favourite constituents but I still respect and honour you for what you have done. However, what the government is trying to do right now is going against exhibits you have shown to the House such as fairness, respect and discipline. If we want to correct that we will have to put pounds of cure into the House to ever receive the trust of the Canadian people.

Committee Of The WholeSecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

4:45 p.m.

Liberal

Andrew Telegdi Liberal Waterloo, ON

Mr. Speaker, I guess it is politics as usual. I know when this 35th session of Parliament started we had promises of things being done differently from the Reform Party.

The opposition parties have referred to some appendices included in the red book. We hear the carping coming our way from the members of the third party. There were issues stated in the red book such as gun control which they very much wanted the government to oppose. We did not. We kept our promises.

They wanted us to reject the infrastructure program in the body of the red book. They wanted us to gut national health care. We had it in the red book. We kept those promises. They did not want us to keep our promise of reducing the deficit to 3 per cent of GDP in three years.

When they talk about some appendices of the red book, when they have done nothing but stand up and oppose what we have done in terms of keeping the commitments spelled out in the red book, it is a degree of hypocrisy in terms of the arguments. As far as personal attacks on the proposed junior officer, again I say to the Reform Party, shame.

Committee Of The WholeSecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

4:50 p.m.

The Speaker

Is the House ready for the question?

Committee Of The WholeSecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

4:50 p.m.

Some hon. members

Question.

Committee Of The WholeSecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

4:50 p.m.

The Speaker

The question is on the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

Committee Of The WholeSecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

4:50 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Committee Of The WholeSecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

4:50 p.m.

Some hon. members

No.

Committee Of The WholeSecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

4:50 p.m.

The Speaker

All those in favour of the motion will please say yea.

Committee Of The WholeSecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

4:50 p.m.

Some hon. members

Yea.

Committee Of The WholeSecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

4:50 p.m.

The Speaker

All those opposed will please say nay.

Committee Of The WholeSecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

4:50 p.m.

Some hon. members

Nay.

Committee Of The WholeSecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

4:50 p.m.

The Speaker

In my opinion the yeas have it.

And more than five members having risen:

Committee Of The WholeSecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

4:50 p.m.

The Speaker

Call in the members.

A recorded division on the proposed motion stands deferred until tomorrow at 6.30 p.m.

SupplySecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

4:50 p.m.

Hull—Aylmer Québec

Liberal

Marcel Massé LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure

Mr. Speaker, I move:

That this House at its next sitting consider the business of supply.

(Motion agreed to.)

SupplySecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

4:50 p.m.

The Speaker

It is my duty to inform the House that a total of four days will be allotted for the supply period ending March 26, 1996.

Points Of OrderSecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

4:50 p.m.

The Speaker

Before we proceed to the consideration of the speech of His Excellency the Governor General of Canada, I wish to address the matter of the designation of the official opposition. Members will recall that in the last session on December 14, 1995 the hon. member for Lethbridge raised a point of order and presented arguments supporting his contention that the Reform Party should be designated the official opposition.

As hon. members are aware, the Bloc Quebecois and the Reform Party are now tied with 52 seats each in the House. It is within this new context that I must address the House today. While prorogation terminates all outstanding business before the House including points of order, in this case there are mitigating circumstances that compel me to refer to arguments presented by hon. members last December.

Before doing so, I want to make a few remarks concerning the role of the Speaker in situations such as this. In some jurisdictions faced with similar questions, the laws or rules of those legislatures give the Speaker precise powers to designate the official opposition, or specify the criteria upon which the designation of official opposition is to be made. In such cases, the Speaker is left with no discretion in the matter. I would refer hon. members to the Ministerial and other Salaries Act, 1975, of the United Kingdom, and the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, of Saskatchewan as examples.

Here in the House of Commons, however, there are no such rules or guidelines. On December 14 several members who contributed to the discussion contended that it was up to me as Speaker to decide this question. The hon. member for Elk Island, after raising the idea that the official opposition may be considered as a government in waiting, went as far as to state on page 17677 of the debates:

I cannot emphasize strongly enough the importance of the decision you are about to make in the next six weeks. You are being called upon to decide who would form the Government of Canada in the event the Liberals resigned.

If you decide Canadians are best served by a party whose stated objective, which it has demonstrated in the last two years consistently, is to break the country into two pieces, you would err greatly.

I must respectfully differ with the hon. member. Your Speaker of the House has no role to play in the selection of a government. In our system the Speaker chooses neither the government nor the government in waiting. That prerogative belongs to the Governor General of Canada on the advice of his privy council.

To put the Speaker in a position in which he would be choosing not only the official opposition but perhaps the next government based not on any objective criteria such as numbers in the House but rather on a qualitative judgment about the performance of the current official opposition party seems to me an untenable proposition. It would also be an encroachment on the royal prerogative and a violation of our long established constitutional practices.

Unless the House wishes, either in the rules or in legislation, to give the Speaker precise powers and guidelines by which to designate the official opposition, I must state at the outset that I do not feel it is within my power to make such a decision, based on the argument advanced by the hon. member for Elk Island.

As I did when preparing my June 16, 1994 ruling on the designation of party status for members of the New Democratic Party, I have again looked to the rulings of my predecessors for

guidance in understanding my role in dealing with such unprecedented cases. In 1963, Speaker MacNaughton was asked to rule on the question of seating of opposition parties in the Chamber. At that time, he commented at length on what he perceived to be the role of the Speaker in such matters. This statement can be found at pages 385 to 388 of the Journals for September 30, 1963. I feel that much of what he said is relevant to the current circumstances and have used his words as a guide in examining the matter.

I would like to quote again certain sections of Speaker MacNaughton's statement:

The legal rights and duties of the Speaker are to be found in the Statutes of Canada, the Standing Orders of the House, in the Constitutional and Parliamentary authors and finally in the customs and precedents which have become constitutional conventions.

According to Campion, the Speaker is the representative of the House itself, in its powers, proceedings and dignity and the chief characteristics attaching to the office of Speaker of the House of Commons are authority and impartiality-.It is in consequence among the duties of the Speaker to see that the Standing Orders of the House are followed in the course of its procedures and that the privileges of the House, once they have been defined and recognized, are protected. It is also the duty of the Speaker to be impartial and removed from politics-.

Allow me to refer once more to the special traditions that surround the Office of the Speaker. While he is the servant of the House he is, at the same time, its spokesman and its symbol. His value to the House and its Members continues effectively only when the House assists him in every way to maintain his dignity and his impartiality-.

It seems to me that-a situation such as that now facing the House must be resolved by the House itself. It is not one where the Speaker ought by himself to take a position where any group of members might feel that their interests as a group or a party have been prejudiced. Nor should the Speaker be put in a position where he must decide, to the advantage or to the disadvantage of any group or party, matters affecting the character or existence of a party, for this surely would signify that the Speaker has taken what is almost a political decision, a decision where the question involves the rights and privileges of the House itself.

The designation of the official opposition has never been decided on the floor of the House of Commons. As Speaker, I am entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring the orderly conduct of business in the House. To do so, I must now determine, in light of the tie situation and the point of order raised, which party shall form the official opposition.

It is a cornerstone of our democratic tradition that government rests on the consent of the governed. This means that the minority accepts the right of the majority to make decisions provided that the right of the minority to be heard, to dissent, to air grievances and to promote alternative policies is respected.

The role of an opposition in our form of parliamentary government is therefore fundamental. Its leadership is equally important.

For this reason, Parliament has seen fit to acknowledge the importance of the individual holding the position of Leader of the Official Opposition by providing this person with support and allowances similar to those granted to the Prime Minister. As well, in its procedures the House recognizes the significance of this position, despite the lack of any official definition thereof.

The position of Leader of the Official Opposition is firmly anchored in our parliamentary system of government through practice and the implementation of various statutes and rules of procedure. The importance of the Official Opposition and its leader has been commented on both in Canada and in other countries with Westminister style Parliaments for well over a century.

The question of which party would assume the role of the official opposition, however, has never been an issue in our House of Commons until now. As the hon. member for Lethbridge pointed out, perhaps it is for this reason that there has never been any definition or method of designating the official opposition or the leader of the opposition in either our statutes or standing orders.

Without written rules detailing the procedures for the selection of the official opposition, the title has traditionally been assumed by the party which held the second highest number of seats in the House of Commons. The one exception occurred after the 1921 general election when the Progressive Party won the second highest number of seats but, because of their support of the government of the day, declined to assume the role of official opposition.

In his submission, the hon. member for Lethbridge cited three precedents to support his claim that the Reform Party should be designated the official opposition. The first precedent the hon. member cited illustrated his contention that, in the case of an equality of seats, popular vote and the range of interests represented by a party should determine which party is designated the official opposition. The other two precedents, he suggested, indicated that where doubt exists in the choice of the official opposition, members of the opposition have been allowed to select their leader; the Speaker has had a role to play in this process; and parties which have not had the second highest number of seats in the legislature have become the official opposition.

While all three precedents occurred in circumstances quite different from our present situation, for the benefit of hon. members I would like to comment on each.

The first precedent referred to by the hon. member was the ruling of Speaker Amerongen in Alberta in 1983. I have reviewed this ruling and the circumstances in which it was given.

As the hon. member knows, this matter was raised at the beginning of a new legislature following a general election. The opposition was composed of two New Democrats and two independent members. Both the leader of the NDP and the then member for Little Bow, who is currently the hon. member for Lethbridge in our House, had sought recognition as leader of the official opposition. As the hon. member pointed out, the Alberta speaker based his decision to grant official opposition status to the New Democratic Party, in part, on the popular vote received by the New Democratic Party.

However, in a ruling on the designation of the New Brunswick official opposition given by Speaker Dysart on December 16, 1994, a ruling referred to by the chief government whip, the Chair rejected the Alberta precedent based on popular vote as being unsound and as setting an undesirable precedent. I must concur with Speaker Dysart when she stated on page 3752 of Hansard of the Legislative Assembly:

Basing a decision on factors outside Parliament opens the door or invites future decisions with no basis in parliamentary precedents or practice. With the one noted exception,-

that of Alberta-

-the Official Opposition has been determined by the number of seats held by the party, not by their popular vote.

The second precedent referred to by hon. members concerns the outcome of the first post World War I general election in Great Britain. The situation was very complicated and I would like to describe the circumstances faced by the British Speaker at that time.

As the hon. member for Lethbridge noted, the government elected in December 1918 was a coalition of 383 Conservative-Unionists, 133 Coalition Liberals and 10 Coalition Labourites led by the Liberal Prime Minister David Lloyd George. The main opposition groups in descending order of seats were the Labour Party, a number of anti-coalition Liberals, and the Irish Nationalists. Members of the Sinn Fein, the largest party in opposition with 73 members, refused to take their seats at Westminster.

The anti-coalition Liberals under Herbert Asquith, had suffered a severe election defeat and Mr. Asquith himself had lost his seat. Until he could return to the House in a byelection, the Liberals chose Sir Donald Maclean, the former deputy speaker, as the party's parliamentary leader.

The Labour Party, whose defection from the wartime coalition government had in part precipitated the election, increased its representation in the House, but the party's leaders were defeated in their own seats. William Adamson, a returning member from Scotland, was selected as the Labour leader in the Commons since the majority of the Labour members were new members without parliamentary experience.

From my research, it would appear that the situation as described by the hon. member for Lethbridge was not completely accurate. In Volume II of A Speaker's Commentaries , the memoirs of the then British Speaker James Lowther, at pages 251 and 252, he describes the situation as follows:

Before the new parliament met I was confronted with the difficulty of having to decide which party constituted His Majesty's Opposition. The Liberals only mustered 26, whilst Labour numbered 59. The latter, therefore, claimed to have become the official Opposition. I was interviewed by Mr. Adamson, who was then the chairman of the Labour Party, and strongly urged their claims. He argued that there were 59 Labour Members representing a distinct and independent Party, that Labour candidates had received the support of more than 2 1/4 million voters at the recent Election, that the Liberals numbered only 26, and that even those 26 were only a minority of a Party which was identified with and formed part of the Coalition Government. On the other hand, some Members of the Liberal Party argued to me that their discomfiture was only temporary and that they were the real "Simon pure", with great historical traditions behind them, which should not be lightly set aside by reason of a passing failure at the polls. It was a difficult situation. I pointed out to Mr. Adamson that my share in determining the question of the leadership of His Majesty's Opposition was a very small one, and was limited to determining who on the front Opposition bench should, every Thursday, ask the formal question as to future business; that if the question of determining the official Opposition was to be solved by numbers, the Sinn Fein Party, who had not then decided whether they would come to Westminster or not, outnumbered the Labour Party by a dozen or more; and that the application of a strict arithmetical rule might lead to some embarrassment and might compel me, in the event of the Opposition parties becoming about equal in numbers, through the decision of by-elections, to resort to a weekly census. I therefore solved it in the usual British fashion by a compromise, in the nature of Solomon's judgment, suggesting that the leadership should be divided between Sir Donald Maclean and Mr. Adamson. This course was adopted, and during the duration of the Parliament Sir Donald and Mr. Adamson used in alternate weeks to exercise their privilege as leader, of asking the formal questions as to the future business of the House, the only Parliamentary act which by tradition is the prerogative of the leader of His Majesty's Opposition. In the matter of initiating or winding up debates on behalf of their parties, they both took part, dividing the honours between them so far as possible.

My understanding of the events and recollections of Speaker Lowther is that there was no formal decision rendered by the Speaker. Rather, he simply offered a suggestion which the two parties accepted. The consultations which occurred took place

outside the Chamber before the new Parliament met, and before Speaker Lowther was re-elected.

Nothing in the Debates indicates that Sir Donald Maclean of the anti-coalition Liberals was Leader of the Official Opposition. In fact an examination of the Debates in the House of Commons for that session of Parliament confirms that the two party leaders did alternate in asking the Thursday business question, but in debate Mr. Adamson was given precedence over Mr. Maclean. It should also be borne in mind that in Britain the leader of the opposition did not receive an additional allowance until 1937.

Thus even with much less serious consequences, Speaker Lowther was reluctant to play a role in determining the leader of the opposition and limited his role to suggesting a compromise. This precedent in my view does not support the position of the hon. member for Lethbridge.

The third precedent cited by the hon. member concerns events which occurred in Australia during the second world war. The situation in the House of Representatives at that time was as complex as that of Great Britain in 1918. The Australian government at that time was a coalition of the larger United Australia Party or UAP, under Mr. Robert Menzies, and the smaller United Country Party or UCP, under the leadership of Mr. Arthur Fadden. Mr. Fadden, however, was the Prime Minister. On October 7, 1941, the coalition was defeated in the House, the government resigned and a Labour Party government was sworn in.

The Australia and Country Parties remained a coalition going into opposition. As leader of the larger of the two parties, Mr. Menzies normally would be expected to become leader of the opposition. However, as the outgoing prime minister, Mr. Fadden also had a claim to the position.

The hon. member for Lethbridge stated that the United Australia Party settled its own leadership and then in a joint meeting, presided over by the Speaker, elected the leader of the United Country Party as leader of the opposition.

The events, however, were far more complicated. According to Australia's Commonwealth Parliament, 1901-1988 by G.S. Reid and Martyn Forrest, at pages 58 and 59, at a meeting of the Australia Party Mr. Menzies tried to convince his colleagues that the opposition leadership should not be left to Mr. Fadden. He also suggested the Speaker of the House, Walter Nairn, should preside over the joint meeting.

Mr. Menzies' motion concerning the opposition leadership was soundly defeated by his party colleagues and as a result Mr. Menzies declined to seek renomination for his party's leadership. The result of the joint meeting, convened immediately after the UAP meeting, saw the selection of Mr. Fadden as leader of the opposition supported by many Australia Party members. According to Reid and Forrest, press reports of the period stated that Mr. Fadden's election was unanimous.

It should be noted that where the number of seats in the Australian House did not clearly determine which party should be the official opposition, the opposition parties took it upon themselves to meet outside the chamber to try to resolve the difficulty.

With information obtained directly from the Australian House of Representatives, it cannot be confirmed that Speaker Nairn presided over the joint meeting. However, as Speaker Nairn was a member of the Australia Party, he would probably have been present at the meeting, as it was common practice then and still is the practice for the Australian Speaker to attend his party caucuses.

Since no records of these meetings have been published, I am unable to determine with any certainty who presided over this meeting. If Speaker Nairn had chaired the meeting he probably would have done so in a party role and not as an impartial Speaker of the House.

In the Canadian House of Commons, the election of the Speaker by secret ballot affects his or her political relationships. It places upon the Chair occupant an even greater obligation to set aside his or her parliamentary party connections while serving as the Speaker for all members of the House. Once elected, the Speaker therefore does not attend any caucus. If any group of members wished to meet outside the Chamber to deal with some matter, and indicated their wish for me to chair such a meeting, I would of course offer my services as an impartial, neutral facilitator. I am sure that no member of this House would want to see the Speaker involve himself in partisan matters.

Therefore the Australian precedent does not assist me in the matter currently before me. Having listened to the presentations by hon. members, having examined the precendents referred to by the hon. member for Lethbridge as well as others from provinces and other countries, and having taken into account our own traditions, I can find nothing which would have supported the contention of the hon. member for Lethbridge that the Speaker of the House of

Commons may decide to grant official opposition status to the second numerically important party in opposition.

By convention the number of seats held by a party in the House has been the determining factor.

I would now like to address the new reality which the House faces today, and that is the issue of the equality of seats of the Bloc Quebecois and the Reform Party.

At the beginning of this Parliament the Bloc Quebecois, the largest minority party in the House, assumed the role of the official opposition with their leader taking up the duties of the Leader of the Official Opposition. As a result of a byelection and the resignation of the hon. member for Lac-Saint-Jean on January 15, the Bloc Quebecois and the Reform Party now have the same number of seats in the House.

Just as Speaker Dysart of New Brunswick was required to do in 1994, I must answer the following question: is the existence of a tie sufficient to overthrow or displace the recognized official opposition? From my examination of the precedents from other Canadian jurisdictions, including the most recent precedent from New Brunswick, I must conclude, just as Speaker Dysart and other Speakers have, that in the case of a tie during the course of a Parliament incumbency should be the determining factor and the status quo should therefore be maintained.

An equality of seats in the two largest opposition parties should neither deny the members of the Bloc Quebecois their position today as the official opposition nor prevent them from choosing from among their members the leader of the official opposition. Thus the Bloc Quebecois will currently retain its status as the official opposition until a further review of this status is warranted.

I hope it is clear to all members that in this matter the role of the Speaker is to ensure the business of the House is conducted according to the standing orders and our practices. It is my duty to ensure that any matter which may be legitimately brought before the House meets the procedural requirements for the form in which it is presented.

As I noted earlier, the designation of the official opposition has never been decided on the floor of the House, and the House has never put in place a procedure for the selection of the official opposition. My comments are obviously made in relation to the present context of the number of seats on the opposition side of the House and in the absence of any statutory authority or rules or guidelines for the Speaker to act on if required to intervene in determining which party should at a certain point in time become the official opposition

I wish to thank the hon. member for Lethbridge for raising the point of order and all other members for their contributions, as well as their patience in listening to this lengthy but important statement.

The House proceeded to the consideration of the speech delivered by His Excellency the Governor General at the opening of the session.

Speech From The ThroneSecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

5:25 p.m.

Liberal

Georgette Sheridan Liberal Saskatoon—Humboldt, SK

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure and some relief that at last I rise to move the motion on the address and reply to the speech from the throne.

To you, Mr. Speaker, welcome back. Like you, I do look forward to the second session of this 35th Parliament. It is clearly a place for open debate.

Although it has now been some time since we heard the speech from the throne, at that time I was reflecting on all that has happened in the 28 months since the election brought us here to the Chamber. In the intervening period I have had time to consider it even more closely. Unlike what I have just heard from members opposite, my memories of the red book are quite different. I remember it as an ambitious plan, a plan taken to the people by our Prime Minister in 1993, a plan overwhelmingly endorsed by the Canadian electorate from coast to coast, a plan that has been put into action.

Only half way into our mandate the government has already delivered on the vast majority of commitments in the red book and in the first throne speech.

The two-fold objective to stimulate job creation and economic growth while reducing the debt and the deficit lay at the very heart of the action plan. The emphasis on jobs and the economy helped to create half a million new jobs and achieve a rate of economic growth that ranked among the highest in the world.

Having clearly set out fiscal targets in the first budget, we consistently met those targets. How did we do that? By sticking to

the economic fundamentals, keeping inflation low and reducing the deficit from over 6 per cent of GDP when we took office to a projected 2 per cent by 1997-98. The government has always believed in a balanced approach.

We have remained true to the words of my colleague the hon. member for Madawaska-Victoria who, though perhaps ill qualified as a defensive back, will make a very good Speaker upon the opening of the 35th Parliament. She said: "A Liberal government will have a social conscience while being fiscally responsible. A lean government does not have to be a mean government".

We are proud of our record in the first half of our mandate but this no time to grow complacent, and that is what brings us here today. Today's throne speech represents a reaffirmation of our initial goals. Its purpose is to set out our plan of action for how we will build on past accomplishments during the second half of our mandate.

The throne speech focused on three priority themes: jobs and growth, security for Canadians and modernizing the Canadian federation to ensure unity.

Canadians do not want nor do they expect government to do everything. Canadians expect government to make strategic choices. By forming partnerships with the provinces and the private sector we can succeed in helping Canadians achieve the dignity of work.

When I think of work I think of youth. What immediately comes to mind are my own 19-year old twin boys who happen to be here in Ottawa today. Their existence has a lot to do with my concerns for ensuring there are job opportunities for our youth. I do not suffer from any empty nest syndrome. These boys need to get out of the house. They need to get jobs.

The priority of this issue was brought home to me again last week. The University of Saskatchewan is in my riding in Saskatoon. USSU vice-president Robert Millard, to use our finance minister's expression, keeps my feet to the fire on this issue. He and students across the country will be happy with today's throne speech announcement that we will double the number of federal student jobs this summer.

I read in yesterday's newspaper that youth are exiting Saskatchewan in record numbers because there are no jobs. Last night I heard the same thing on a local Ottawa station in the hon. whip's riding of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell.

The announcements made in today's speech are directed at exactly that problem. The government has shown its commitment to our youth by announcing initiatives that will help them make the transition from school to work and find real jobs in the future, a good example of our reaffirmation of our commitment to be an innovative technology leader

By concentrating our efforts on science and technology, we will help Canadians take advantage of the creation of knowledge-based industries, which will generate more jobs, better jobs and durable jobs for Canadians young and old.

Jobs in areas such as agricultural biotechnology, the aerospace industry, environmental technologies are opportunities that currently exist in Innovation Place in my riding of Saskatoon-Humboldt and which will be further enhanced by today's announcement.

Another aspect mentioned in today's speech is the importance of trade. Last week we had the pleasure of a visit from the Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific in Saskatoon to discuss the importance of national trade in creating jobs and growth.

The tremendous success of the Team Canada trade missions led by the Prime Minister, most recently in Asia, has resulted in billions of dollars in business deals for Canadian companies and tens of thousands of new jobs. The government will continue to enhance export development and financing and encourage Canadians to be key players in world markets.

The next theme we discussed earlier today was security for Canadians. When I was in my riding during the January recess a consistent message I heard from my constituents was the value they place on the maintenance of our social programs. They and many other Canadians who share their concerns will be heartened by today's commitment to safeguard the principles of medicare, to reform and sustain the public pension system and to implement a new employment insurance program.

Perhaps nothing unites us as a nation like our belief in the need to preserve the fabric of the Canadian social safety net. It is one of the attributes that has earned us the status of the best country in the world. This is high praise to our modest Canadian way of thinking, making us far too prone to blush, to brush it aside, little realizing with what envy our nation is eyed by others around the globe.

This does not mean we can afford to take our federation for granted. The throne speech indicated the commitment of the government to keep Canada together. To remain strong and united we must be open to changing needs and circumstances, ready to be flexible and adapt to the needs of all parts of the country as we enter the next century.

This pledge is not lightly given. Like the other commitments in the throne speech, it is a promise to be kept. "The most important asset of government is the confidence it enjoys of the citizens to whom it is accountable". That quote appeared in chapter 6 of the red book under the heading "Governing with Integrity", from which, I was pleased to see, the hon. member from Kootenay East was quoting earlier this afternoon. I was pleased to see he has a

copy. I am equally pleased to see he has read it. I am pleased to see that he can read.

If members think back to the time of the next election, they will recall that no longer did Canadians perceive their elected officials as the trusted servants of the people. Again we heard the member for Kootenay East quoting from the red book to suggest that after years of scandal and patronage, by 1993 politicians did not enjoy the best of reputations. Perhaps after the comments from the member for Prince George-Bulkley Valley his leader may be distressed to learn this member pines for the days of Brian Mulroney.

The difficulty we faced at the time of the last election was that Canadians had lost faith in the political leadership to maintain the integrity of government institutions.

In the months leading up to the last election, I too was among the ranks of despairing Canadians who had lost faith. Like many other rookie members of the House, I would say from all parties, at that time I had finally reached the point at which action had become the only antidote for the cynicism and discontent tormenting me. Although I had not held political office before, I decided the time had come to get involved.

As I mentioned from chapter 6, restoring integrity to our political institutions, a personal priority for the Prime Minister, became one of the first orders of the day. As my boys will tell you, I say with annoying regularity actions speak louder than words. We have only to look to the example set by the Prime Minister, his own long political career, his unblemished record of honourable service to his country to find out what standard is required. Having regained the trust of the Canadian electorate in 1993, the Prime Minister received a mandate to begin the process of restoring the faith of Canadians.

I mentioned a few moments ago that I have the honour to represent the riding of Saskatoon-Humboldt. It is a long way from Ottawa. Canada is a big country. In spite of the convenience of air travel, what with the time change and connections required, it takes me a good six hours to get from door to door; back to the riding on Friday for the weekend and back on the plane Monday to work in Ottawa. Many Canadians perhaps do not realize that when the House is in session this is a weekly commute.

Before you get too choked up with this sad story, Mr. Speaker, let me say I am lucky. I live in the city of Saskatoon. When I get off the plane I am home. Many of my colleagues who live in rural Canada have yet another leg of the journey ahead, a long lonely drive usually in the dark after a gruelling week and a long flight.

I think in particular of my colleague from Saskatchewan, the member for Souris-Moose Mountain, a young lad of 27; clearly the driving has taken its toll.

Members from other geographically distant areas, the territories, the interior of British Columbia, northern Ontario, rural Quebec or Atlantic Canada, know exactly what I am talking about. Even when we are in our ridings, often in the rural areas declining populations are so scattered over such vast geographical areas that travelling is a real challenge. Even worse, it makes personal interaction between the MP and the constituent increasingly difficult.

Members representing urban ridings face the same outcome but for entirely different reasons. Though geographically manageable, ridings in large centres such as Vancouver or Toronto have undergone tremendous population increases. I think of my colleagues, the member for Mississauga West and the member for North York, whose ridings have populations of over 300,000.

We have shifting population patterns, the challenges presented by time and distance and the increased workload in Ottawa severely taxing the ability of the MP to maintain direct contact with the constituent.

Consider my own riding of Saskatoon-Humboldt. It is a rural-urban split. It is located virtually in the heart of the province of Saskatchewan. It includes one-third of the city of Saskatoon and large rural area to the north and east. It is bounded on the west by the South Saskatchewan River, putting to rest any popularly held misconceptions that there is no water in Saskatchewan.

If you were to accompany me on a tour of the riding, Mr. Speaker, first we would make our way through a well treed residential area. Myth number two debunked, we have trees. We would end up at the University of Saskatchewan, established just after we became a province in 1905. On that campus we would find a variety of colleges including law, engineering, fine arts, medicine and agriculture. We would find the Royal University Hospital. We would find the Saskatchewan Accelerator Laboratory and finally on the outer edges, Innovation Place with its thriving ag-biotech community.

Travelling beyond that we would end up at the edge of the city where in the interest of time we would have to transfer to a helicopter to view the hundreds of square miles that make up the rural portion of Saskatoon-Humboldt. Flying over this vast area we would see First Nations communities, grain farms, agricultural manufacturing, beef and pork operations, schools, churches, town halls, post offices, curling rinks and that prairie landmark, the grain elevator. Most important, we would see the people who live in that riding, the constituents.

Who are these people? We would see a young mother working on aboriginal justice initiatives; a first year engineering student who wonders where the money will come from for next year's tuition; a hospital cafeteria worker who is worried about special care for her diabetic preschooler; a particle physicist who does not want to have to leave Canada to continue her research; a new Canadian pumping gas who devotes his spare time to the jazz festival; a feedlot operator linked to the Internet for market prices who keeps a .22 in the corner to shoot gophers; a farm woman who drives a school bus, works at the credit union and who cannot find decent child care; a Roman Catholic priest with an aging flock; and finally, one of my favourites, an 86-year old francophone lady who cannot get out any more but who crochets like a demon and sends me Christmas cards.

There is not a member in the House who could not produce an equally lengthy, diverse or interesting profile of the Canadians in his or her own riding.

If we stitch all of those ridings together we end up with a map of Canada, a tapestry of rich and varied hue reflecting the myriad of constituents whose interests,both individual and collective we have been sent here to represent.

There are so many different strands of opinion. There are different strands of thought, religious belief, education, ethnic background, income brackets, age groups and loyalties.

Our challenge as parliamentarians, as Canadians, is to be the loom that will take those many strands, all those different colours, all those different fabrics and strengths, and weave them into a strong, beautiful, sheltering Canada.

As was stated in the throne speech, the government approaches the second half of its mandate confident that what unites us as Canadians is far greater than what divides us. The commitment made today is to find those precious threads that strengthen the national fabric without constricting those within its folds; to call upon our shared Canadian values; to build an independent nation, economically strong, socially just, proud of its diversity and characterized by its integrity, compassion and competence.

I have no doubt this challenge can be met and that the opportunity is there. As we head into a new session of Parliament I urge all members of the House to reflect on what we cherish about Canada, to recognize the privileged responsibility we share and the sacred duty we owe to the Canadians we represent to strengthen and preserve this country.

Long live Canada!

Speech From The ThroneSecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

5:40 p.m.

Some hon. members

Hear, hear.

Speech From The ThroneSecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

February 27th, 1996 / 5:40 p.m.

Liberal

Georgette Sheridan Liberal Saskatoon—Humboldt, SK

I now move, seconded by the hon. member for Ottawa-Vanier, that the following Address be presented to His Excellency the Governor General of Canada:

To His Excellency the Right Honourable Roméo A. LeBlanc, a Member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order of Canada, Chancellor and Commander of the Order of Military Merit, upon whom has been conferred the Canadian Forces' Decoration, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada.

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY:

We, Her Majesty's most loyal and dutiful subjects, the House of Commons of Canada, in Parliament assembled, beg leave to offer our humble thanks to your Excellency for the gracious Speech which Your Excellency has addressed to both Houses of Parliament.

Speech From The ThroneSecond Session-35Th Parliament-Opening

5:40 p.m.

Some hon. members

Hear, hear.