Debates of March 19th, 1998

Conseil Du Statut De La Femme

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands.

British Columbia

[Gary Lunn, Reform, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on March 30 the voters of Port Moody—Coquitlam will have an opportunity to send a voice to Ottawa that will represent them. They will say “no” to this Liberal government that refuses to listen and continually ignores British Columbians.

Let us talk about the facts. Let us talk about this Liberal dismal record.

The B.C. Minister of Fisheries and Oceans has not only failed to move forward in the Pacific salmon dispute, but he has put us in a worse position than we were five years ago. He knows he is about to close the lighthouse on Vancouver Island, the very lighthouse which talked him to safety some 20 years ago. They closed CFB Chilliwack, the only armed forces base in B.C. This Liberal government raised taxes to the highest level since Confederation and cut millions from B.C. health care and education.

B.C. residents are sick and tired of being told by this government what is good for them. They want someone who will stand up and listen, someone who will fight for them. The Reform Party is the only party that will listen and stand up for B.C.

Leader Of The Opposition

[Steve Mahoney, Liberal, Mississauga West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, for the second time this week I am compelled to rise and address the disgraceful antics of the official opposition.

I have served in municipal, provincial and federal legislatures since 1978. In all those years I have never seen a leader of the opposition so shamelessly hide behind the veil of parliamentary immunity like the leader of the Reform Party.

He has made slanderous accusations against the Prime Minister in the House, yet he does not have the courage to make those same allegations outside the House. Why? Because he knows they are unfounded.

Reform campaigned on a promise to rise above this level. Its antics have shown otherwise. This is the true face of Reform. Canadians deserve honest and responsible representation. Not shameful antics designed to disrupt Parliament.

Ottawa Sun

[Odina Desrochers, Bloc, Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Conrad Black owns half the newspapers in Canada, including two French-language papers in Quebec.

But it is only in his English-language newspapers that can be found all the substance, content, and depth of the federalist arguments for Canadian unity.

This morning's Ottawa Sun carried two columns that are real gems. Earl McRae has all kinds of nice words to describe sovereignists: seditious rats, dumbs, loud-mouths, devious, anti-Canada, treacherous turncoats.

As for Linda Williamson, she compares the sovereignist movement in Quebec to ethnic nationalism in Yugoslavia.

These brilliant columnists want the Bloc Quebecois out of the House of Commons. That is exactly what we want too. In case they did not realize, we are working toward an independent Quebec. Conrad Black should publish editorials such as these in his French-language papers in Quebec. Their wish to do away with sovereignists in Ottawa would be fulfilled even sooner.

Banks

[Bev Desjarlais, NDP, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the town of Lynn Lake is the latest victim of the Liberal government position: Let the banks decide.

The banks say bigger is better. They talk about providing better service at a better price.

Mayor Audie Dulewich of Lynn Lake and many in the community tried to keep services there. The bank, in spite of giving assurances to myself and the community, is not able to provide minimal service let alone better service.

Bank mergers, job loss, intimidation tactics, excessive surcharges, bank closures; what more does this government need? How many more communities will have to suffer the fate of the people of Lynn Lake before this government takes action and ensures that banks, in their privileged positions, have a responsibility to provide the service Canadians want?

Leader Of Reform Party

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about Reform, but they will understand only half my statement because I will use both languages.

Over the last two days, the leader of the Reform Party has shown his true colours by refusing to repeat outside the House the serious accusation he has made here.

He is accusing a senator of buying a seat in the Senate, and the Prime Minister of receiving financial gains in exchange for this appointment. But he would not say a word about this outside the House.

Shame on the Leader of the Reform Party.

Yesterday, we saw the true face of the Leader of the Opposition. He stood in this place and accused the Prime Minister of allowing a senator to buy his seat. This is a very serious accusation against the Prime Minister, an accusation that the Leader of the Opposition does not have the courage to make outside of the House.

Trans-Canada Highway

[Norman E. Doyle, Progressive Conservative, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, businesses on the island of Newfoundland receiving goods from or exporting goods to Canada must run a gauntlet of toll gates on the Trans-Canada Highway in the maritimes. The one-way toll in Nova Scotia is $10 per truck and the one-way toll in New Brunswick will soon be $27.50 per truck.

Therefore, a truck making one round trip a day every day for a year would have to pay over $27,000 a year in tolls. This will drive up the cost of doing business in Newfoundland and will cause us to lose jobs and economic development.

I call on the federal government to exercise its constitutional responsibility and take action to ensure the free flow of goods and services in Canada. We do not have a railway in Newfoundland, so it is up to the federal government to allow us to keep on trucking.

Simcoe North Francophone Community

[Paul Devillers, Liberal, Simcoe North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Semaine de la francophonie gives all Canadians the chance to celebrate French-speaking communities throughout Canada. My riding has a proud French-speaking community that is not afraid to take its future into its own hands.

Through perseverance and solidarity with other French-speaking communities and successive governments, this community in Simcoe North has been able to get the means and resources to secure its collective development and well-being. For example, the French-speaking people of Simcoe North have their own community radio station, literacy centre, schools, community centre and newspaper.

This community is always facing new challenges, but I am sure it will be up to the task thanks to the solidarity that exists among its members and among all of Canada's French-speaking communities.

Long live the French-speaking community in Simcoe North and long live the Canadian francophonie.

Gun Control

[Allan Kerpan, Reform, Blackstrap, SK]

Mr. Speaker, we can surely tell there is a Liberal convention in town judging by the antics of the Liberal last row members of Parliament on the other side today.

I want to quote from an article by Sean Durkan dated March 18, 1998. It states: “Did you know the Department of Justice completely misreported RCMP statistics on criminal use of firearms to make them look far worse than they were and bolster the argument for gun control. I agree with gun control but having the department alter figures to suit its purposes is outrageous”.

I for one would like to know what else the justice department misreported. If justice officials deliberately misrepresented RCMP crime statistics on gun use and violent crime, how do we know they did not mislead the public in other evidence?

This is just one more example of the Liberal way of ramming through distasteful legislation by concocting their own evidence.

The Senate

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the government about the Senate and please do not sue me.

The Liberals are being a touch sensitive about the lucky lackey in the Senate. David Black served on Viceroy's board of directors with the Prime Minister. He says that Viceroy rewarded the Prime Minister with shares. That is fine. It is even legal.

Why did the Prime Minister tell the House last week that he received no remuneration for his work at Viceroy? Why did he say it?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the important question is why did the Reform Party assert wrongdoing when protected by the privilege of the House of Commons in the House and not have the guts or the integrity to repeat the charges outside the House.

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, if there is to be a lawsuit I expect the Prime Minister should be sued for false advertising. He broke his promise to end Senate patronage.

It is unbelievable the upset these Liberals are feigning. Yesterday the Prime Minister was so upset that he did something he has not done in years. He actually stepped outside and talked to reporters. Too bad he did not stay to answer their requests.

The Prime Minister said he received no remuneration. This is a simple question. David Black admitted that the Prime Minister was rewarded. Why is the Prime Minister still claiming he was not given remuneration for his work at Viceroy? Why is he still saying that?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, again I return to the real issue. Why, when the Leader of the Opposition stepped outside the House, did he not have the integrity, the dignity and the class to repeat these allegations if he thought they were true?

This proves they are not true and the members of the Reform Party are abusing the process and privileges of the House. They ought to be ashamed of themselves.

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I think we can get third time lucky here. The reason Canadians are asking these questions is that the Liberals are breaking their election promises on integrity in government.

In 1990 the Prime Minister told Canadians “I am not interested in patronage because I am a Liberal. I know if I make my friend a millionaire he will become a Tory”. This latest millionaire appointment is Liberal to the core.

Why did the Prime Minister promise to end patronage appointments and then continue to give his friends jobs in high places? Why?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, why has the Reform Party broken the pledge of the Leader of the Opposition made in the Winnipeg Free Press on January 16, 1994 “to do away with political cheap shots, personal remarks, booing, desk thumping and rude noises”.

That promise has been broken and the question of the hon. member is nothing more than a rude noise which does not belong in the House of Commons.

[Bill Gilmour, Reform, Nanaimo—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Alberta is having Senate elections this fall because they are sick of the Prime Minister's patronage appointments and they simply refuse to accept another Ross Fitzpatrick.

Day after day the Prime Minister has told the House he will ignore Alberta's wishes and will appoint his friends instead. Albertans are doing what the Charlottetown accord never would have allowed them to do, that is holding a province-wide election on senators.

Why does the Prime Minister think that his patronage appointments are more honourable than a democratic Alberta election?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, why did the Reform Party vote against the Charlottetown accord?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

The Deputy Prime Minister.

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if the Reform Party had voted for the Charlottetown accord the last paragraph of clause 7 of the accord would have gone into effect which states “Matters should be expedited in order that Senate elections be held as soon as possible and if feasible at the same time as the next federal general election for the House of Commons”.

If they had not voted against the accord, there could have been an elected Senate as far back as the elections of 1993.

[Bill Gilmour, Reform, Nanaimo—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the arrogance of the government has no bounds. It simply refuses to listen to Canadians.

How could any prime minister ignore what has gone on with Senator Thompson in his absenteeism? This Prime Minister did. How could any government ignore the wishes of Albertans who want to elect senators, not appoint them? This government is. How could the Prime Minister and the government so misread the mood of Canadians when it comes to Senate reform?

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, if the Prime Minister had misread the mood of Canadians, why is it that he won a second back to back majority victory for only the sixth time in Canadian history?

Option Canada

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, when I asked the heritage minister about Option Canada, she only managed to reply that she was not the minister at the time. Yet, to my knowledge, the principle of cabinet solidarity still exists.

Are we to understand from the minister's comments that she is beginning to distance herself from the decisions made by her predecessor, who authorized a $2 million grant to Option Canada, 12 days before the application was submitted?

[Sheila Copps, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I already said that the comments made by the hon. member, and by the member for Rimouski—Mitis who keeps repeating them, are false.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, with replies such as this one, it is not surprising that the minister is no longer the Deputy Prime Minister.

But let us go back to the issue. The minister said that, following the auditor general's request, she asked the president of Option Canada to submit a report on the use made of the funds given to that organization.

Can the minister release the letter she claims to have sent to the president of Option Canada?