House of Commons Hansard #129 of the 35th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was via.

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Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:15 p.m.

The Speaker

Question, please.

Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:15 p.m.

Bloc

Michel Gauthier Bloc Roberval, QC

Yes, I am getting to my question. We will see how far this optimism goes. The Prime Minister was silent about the Somalia inquiry. Not a word passed his lips about the Airbus scandal. He had nothing to say about the Pearson deal, nor did he mention the broken GST promise, or the Canadian armed forces.

My question, for any one of my colleagues across the way who can reply on behalf of the government, is as follows; Why is the Prime Minister so silent when it comes to matters concerning his government's morality?

Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:15 p.m.

Windsor West Ontario

Liberal

Herb Gray LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Solicitor General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, it is really touching that the leader of the separatist party is concerned about the future of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Be that as it may, his litany of unjustified complaints shows something very important: he has nothing to complain about when it comes to the achievements of this government in restoring the Canadian economy, bringing down interest rates and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:15 p.m.

Roberval Québec

Bloc

Michel Gauthier BlocLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, if the Prime Minister wants to test the waters, he would do better to answer his own questions during the election campaign.

In 1993, the red book lamented the 1.6 million unemployed in Canada, the millions on welfare, the one million children living in poverty and the high level of bankruptcy. Three and a half years after being elected to office, this government has captured the all time record of 1.5 million unemployed, three million welfare recipients, 1.5 million children living in poverty, and 86,000 bankruptcies in Canada.

My question, for any government member brave enough to answer, is this: When it comes to real problems, what does this government have to be proud of?

Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:15 p.m.

Windsor West Ontario

Liberal

Herb Gray LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Solicitor General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, I think the best answer to my hon. friend's question is to quote from the Prime Minister's speech to the board of trade this morning. He said that forecasters in the private sector are predicting that 1997 and 1998 will be years of strong growth. They say we will lead most of the industrialized world in economic growth. They say the economy will create an additional 300,000 jobs a year for the next two years, on top of the more than 700,000 created since we formed the government.

Finally, one more sentence. "I know", said the Prime Minister, "that for someone without a job these statistics may not be much comfort, but I want them and all Canadians to understand what we are doing to combat unemployment and how I believe our actions will create a stronger economy and more jobs for all Canadians".

Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Roberval Québec

Bloc

Michel Gauthier BlocLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have been listening to this line for three and a half years. The government members sound like broken records.

The Prime Minister of Canada-

Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

An hon. member

We will miss you.

Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

The Speaker

The Leader of the Opposition has the floor.

Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Bloc

Michel Gauthier Bloc Roberval, QC

Mr. Speaker, some members across the way think they will miss me. Let them come to Roberval and defeat me, if they can. They can run any candidate-

Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Some hon. members

Hear, hear.

Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Bloc

Michel Gauthier Bloc Roberval, QC

Even the minister of defence.

On a more serious and much sadder note, the Prime Minister, in his interminable speech, gave as examples of how well the Canadian federal system works the manpower training agreement, the infrastructure, the youth programs, the right of veto and distinct society-

Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Some hon. members

Hear, hear.

Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Bloc

Michel Gauthier Bloc Roberval, QC

Yes, Mr. Speaker. They are so blind they applaud. Let us look at the results. But let us look at the facts. With regard to manpower, nothing has been settled with Quebec. As for the infrastructure-

Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Some hon. members

Question.

Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

The Speaker

I would ask the Leader of the Opposition to kindly put his question.

Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Bloc

Michel Gauthier Bloc Roberval, QC

Mr. Speaker, I am coming to my question, because whether it is youth programs, the right of veto or distinct society, it all boils down to a big zero for Quebec.

How can the Prime Minister, how can the government, hold up these examples of how well Canadian federalism works and still keep a straight face?

Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Papineau—Saint-Michel Québec

Liberal

Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development

Mr. Speaker, we can reply with great confidence to the questions from the Leader of the Opposition because I think that people across Canada have noticed the renewed effort by cabinet in our integrated approach with the provinces for the benefit of children; we have made an integrated national child benefit a priority.

Manpower has been mentioned. I would like to explain to our colleagues across the way that the Government of Canada has offered publicly-my predecessor made this offer last May 30-to transfer responsibility to the provinces. We have already signed agreements, which is a clear indication of our good faith, with two provinces, Alberta and New Brunswick, and we are continuing to negotiate very actively with the Government of Quebec.

I can assure the Leader of the Official Opposition that many of these issues are well on the way to being settled.

Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Bloc

Yvan Loubier Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC

Mr. Speaker, at noon the Prime Minister, who is ashamed to show his face, bragged that he put the federal government's financial house in order by reducing the deficit. He was also full of compassion for the unemployed and children living in poverty.

My question is directed to the Prime Minister or to the person who will answer on his behalf. Does the Prime Minister agree that this deficit reduction is mainly due to tax increases totalling $18 billion since 1994, a five billion dollar surplus snatched from the unemployment insurance fund, and a shocking $4.5 billion cut in our social programs?

In other words, this government's outstanding performance comes at the expense of the provinces, the unemployed and the poor.

Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Hull—Aylmer Québec

Liberal

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

Mr. Speaker, our achievements are there for all to see. In international forums, whether we are talking about the International Monetary Fund or the OECD, all reports have indicated that Canada's economic performance was the best of any industrialized country.

Newspapers in France refer to the Canadian miracle, and Japanese investors are now prepared to invest at rates which are 5 per cent lower than before. We cleaned up our tax system; we have again become fiscally responsible; we created 700,000 jobs; we brought the inflation rate down to 1.5 per cent and in 1996, our current trade balance will show a surplus.

These are our achievements, and the opposition cannot deny this.

Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Bloc

Yvan Loubier Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC

Mr. Speaker, this so-called Canadian miracle means 500,000 more children are living in poverty since they came to power.

Will the one who speaks for the government agree that by cutting 4.5 billion in our social programs, the government has had a devastating impact on the poverty rate? In other words, the wonderful compassion shown by the Prime Minister at noon is an admission of a guilt. He is the guilty party.

Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Liberal

Douglas Young Liberal Acadie—Bathurst, NB

It came from the heart.

Canadian GovernmentOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Hull—Aylmer Québec

Liberal

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

Mr. Speaker, the opposition is so overcome by the truth that it no longer considers asking questions.

But even if the hon. member did not ask a question, I think it is clear that our program spending, will have gone down from $120 billion to $103 billion next year, which means that our departments have had to absorb the majority of our spending cuts. We cut administrative spending more than we cut transfer payments. In fact, the government cut its own spending by 22 per cent, so as to restore its fiscal responsibility.

And I must say that if there had been no separatists on the other side, the results would have been even better.

Somalia InquiryOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Reform

Bob Mills Reform Red Deer, AB

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Somalia commissioners accused the government of political interference in an investigation of a murder cover-up.

Commissioners Létourneau and Desbarats made it quite clear that the government knew full well that by shutting down the inquiry Canadians would never know the truth about a cover-up at the highest levels.

I would like to ask the Prime Minister the one question the government refused to answer yesterday. Why do the Liberals not want the Somalia inquiry to get to the bottom of this high level murder cover-up?

Somalia InquiryOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Acadie—Bathurst New Brunswick

Liberal

Douglas Young LiberalMinister of National Defence and Minister of Veterans Affairs

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is totally irresponsible. There is no one in Canada who believes that there was or there is today a cover-up of the murder.

The government has said and I as the minister has acknowledged that there were many mistakes made in how the military institution responded to the absolutely intolerable events that occurred in Somalia which resulted in the killing of Somali citizens. There is no question about that.

As I said and as the hon. member knows, every Canadian who really wants to get a clear understanding of what took place in Somalia knows who pulled the trigger. Everybody in Canada knows exactly what happened on the ground in Somalia to the extent that it can be determined after two years of work by the commission, the military investigations, the courts martial and everything else that took place.

The hon. member is trying to continue to pursue an opportunity that he thinks his party has, that his own leader totally disagreed with when in September 1996 he stood in his place in the House and asked the Prime Minister of Canada for a guarantee that the Somalia inquiry would end before the election. He did not have a word to say about the truth or about the facts. He simply wanted it ended.