Debates of March 25th, 1998

[The Speaker]

As is our practice on Wednesdays, we will now sing O Canada, and we will be led by the hon. member for Wentworth—Burlington.

Greek Independence Day

[John Cannis, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, for Canadians of Hellenic decent March 25 signifies one of the most important days of the Hellenic heritage. On March 25, 1821 the revolutionary trend for national independence burst out in a massive revolution that swept away the Ottoman empire which had occupied Greece for well over 400 years.

With the support of the allied forces of Europe, Great Britain, France and Russia, Greece was recognized as an independent state. For most people the struggle for independence represents a triumph of justice and liberal values against slavery and brutality. For others the massive Greek revolution exemplified the values of classical Greece and Christianity against the darkness of occupation.

Nevertheless, the contributions of people like Lord Byron of England, George Jarvis, Edward Everett and an array of scholars and ordinary people made the supreme sacrifice in the name of independence, liberalism, justice and, most of all, freedom.

Knowing very well how we Canadians value our rights and freedoms, let us join together in celebrating Greek Independence Day, March 25, 1821.

National Unity

[Peter Goldring, Reform, Edmonton East, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Pierre Cote held hearings in Quebec City to limit referendum funding to discourage a repeat of the Montreal rally. He is so very wrong. Canada's unity spirit is not bought with cheap flights. He cannot stop the Canadian will by limiting mere dollars. He cannot abate our support for Canada by writing new laws.

Canadians together celebrate our solidarity with Quebeckers. Canadians are there for floods, ice storms and for unity. Canadians will travel again and again when called. No mere man, no sum of money, no written law will sever our Canadian bonds. We will come by plane, by bus, by train. We will be there in thought. We will not fail in our task to give support to our fellow citizens in Quebec, to give support to a Canada in need.

That is our promise to Mr. Cote. He must know where reality lies. He will never extinguish our will.

Seniors

[Hec Clouthier, Liberal, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to have the opportunity to talk today about our outstanding seniors.

These august men and women have built this great country at considerable cost to themselves. The United Nations has recognized the contribution of seniors and has declared 1999 the International Year of Older Persons.

I am proud to have a large number of very active seniors in the great riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke and I am honoured to say that the Arnprior 707 seniors group is among the very best. Seniors have adapted to our rapidly changing world in the same determined manner that they have demonstrated throughout their lives.

It was Socrates who said we should regard the aged as travellers who have gone on a journey on which we too may have to go and of whom we should inquire whether the road be smooth and easy or rugged and difficult. Our path through life has been made easier because of our sterling seniors.

Road Transport

[Guy St-Julien, Liberal, Abitibi, QC]

Mr. Speaker, for several weeks, since before Minister Brassard made his decision known, people from the regions of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Haut-Saint-Maurice and Abitibi-Témiscamingue and myself have been calling for a public debate on the impact of increased tractor trailer loads on secondary roads in these regions.

Jacques Brassard refused to provide CRD stakeholders in these regions with a 1991 study on a basic rail network for Quebec.

The stakeholders in these regions are concerned after we learned last week that Raymond Bréard, a former vice-president of l'Association du camionnage du Québec and current executive assistant to Quebec finance minister Bernard Landry, had spoken to Minister Brassard himself and to political officials in his department in support of large trucking companies in Quebec and Ontario, at the expense of Quebec rail workers.

That is a major conflict of interest.

Matthew Da Costa Development Corporation

[Sheila Finestone, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, March 16, I had the pleasure of participating in a concrete action in support of the economic life of Montreal's Black community.

On that occasion, the hon. secretary of state responsible for economic development for Quebec announced a $1.25 million investment in the Matthew Da Costa development corporation, providing it with the necessary tools to continue to ensure the economic development of the Black community and at the same time make a contribution to the entire Montreal region.

Job creation is a concern shared by all Canadians, and this program shows how our government is committed to helping small and medium size businesses through innovative solutions.

I am delighted that the Matthew Da Costa fund has received $125 million from the Government of Canada, along with money from Quebec as well as the FTQ foundation.

Health Care

[Keith Martin, Reform, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, if it is the slow bleed that kills, then our health care system, which has been hemorrhaging for some time, is in critical shape.

Sick Canadians lined up in emergency rooms wait for a vacant hospital bed while whole wards remain closed due to a lack of funds. Injured people wait one and a half years just to see a specialist and another year to get treatment. Some even die waiting to get medical care, the medical care they were led to believe would be there during their time of greatest need.

Yet the government allows, on the one hand, violations to the Canada Health Act, but on the other pretends to uphold the act in order to look like a white knight.

The government uses health care as a political football to make itself look good while patients are sacrificed on the altar of political expediency.

Is this what the government means by putting health care first? Is this what it calls its number one priority? The government must put patients first and give politics a back seat.

Patients are dying.

Domus Trophy Awarded To City Of Lachenaie

[Benoît Sauvageau, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to announce that the city of Lachenaie has been awarded the Domus trophy for municipality of the year, residential sector, by the Association provinciale des constructeurs d'habitations du Québec, known as the APCHQ.

The population of this municipality, in the riding of Repentigny, has expanded from 7,000 in 1976 to its present 19,000. The Domus trophy attests to the dynamism and quality of residential development in the municipality of Lachenaie.

I wish to congratulate Mayor Marcel Therrien, the municipal councillors and the urban planning office under the direction of Guy Daoust for ensuring that their municipality develops in full harmony and with respect for the quality of life of its residents.

Reform Party Of Canada

[Paul Bonwick, Liberal, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it never seems to amaze Canadians just how low the Reform leader and his band of merry jokers will go to grab a headline.

Take for example the Reform leader's shameful and inaccurate statements yesterday about government appointments which, by the way, are undeniably necessary.

Yesterday the Reform Party released a list of appointees, dubbing them “loyal Liberals” and also citing that“membership has its privileges”.

The Reform must have forgotten about people like Judd Buchanan for his supposed plum appointment as chairman of the National Tourism Board. This position garners a whopping $1 per year.

What about other so-called loyal Liberals such as Perrin Beatty, the Tory cabinet minister? Or better still, Jack Fraser was appointed to the Veterans Affairs and Appeals Board. By the way, he is a former Reform MP.

The Liberal government appoints people based on qualification, not party. The leader of the Reform Party and his band of jokers have it wrong again.

I think they owe their western supporters more than this. Shame on them.

World Water Day And World Meteorological Day

[Pierre De Savoye, Bloc, Portneuf, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we all know that water, air and climate are the keys to life on this planet Earth.

Since we have just celebrated World Water Day and World Meteorological Day, there is no better occasion for reminding all the people of Canada and of Quebec of the importance of protecting our water and our air in order to protect our climate and our lives.

Everything in the air ends up in the water eventually: acid rain, carbon dioxide, heat. Everything in the air affects climate as well. Our factories, our automobiles, our waste disposal sites all emit heat-retaining gases which are turning our planet into a giant greenhouse. This appears to result in such things as floods and ice storms.

It is therefore the responsibility of governments, as well as each and every one of us, to do their part to reduce atmospheric gases. Our lives are at stake.

The Economy

[Ted McWhinney, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Speaker, people like Lou Sekora in Port Moody—Coquitlam understand the meaning of effective representation. Leadership means working for policies that help people in their everyday lives: eliminating the deficit, lowering the tax burden, reducing the debt.

It also means making direct connections with people, as with the millennium scholarship program and student loans where the federal government has provided an annual grant of up to $400 to parents who are saving for their children's education through RESPs.

Our last budget provided tax relief to over 1.8 million British Columbians. That is 92.5% of all B.C. taxpayers. After getting the nation's fiscal house in order, we reinvested in quality health care by increasing the cash floor in transfers to the provinces by $1.5 billion. We have direct contacts between the federal government and municipalities in infrastructure programs that develop new and more cohesive community relations.

That is the new federalism emerging under federal government leadership.

Liberal Party Of Canada

[Dave Chatters, Reform, Athabasca, AB]

Mr. Speaker, this government endlessly talks with great arrogance about holding itself to a higher ethical standard, but its actions show a different story.

In Liberal opinion, part time farmers in western Canada who were affected by natural disaster do not deserve the same compensation as farmers in Ontario and Quebec.

They label us as anti-Canadian because we did not give a speech at the rally in Montreal just before the last referendum. Reformers were there, Mr. Speaker, but the reason you did not see our leader on the podium is because the Liberals did not allow him to be on the podium.

Then there was the Liberal rejection of the Canadian flag on our desks. I thought nothing could top this. But yesterday the Prime Minister took this honour. During question period yesterday the Prime Minister said that my colleague from Peace River was a beggar and was not worthy to sit in the Senate. Is that because my colleague does not golf or have a financial connection with the Prime Minister?

Actions speak louder than words. Liberal actions show their arrogance. Is this the politics of division that the Liberals speak of so often?

Nova Scotia Election

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday Nova Scotians voted NDP in historic numbers, demonstrating that last June's wake-up call to Liberals was no one time occurrence.

Nova Scotians have again sent a message to this federal Liberal government: health care matters.

But are Liberals listening? Canadians urged the federal Liberals to reinvest in health care, yet the budget produced not one new dollar for health transfers.

Nova Scotia Liberals did not listen either. Today they are not quite so smug. Atlantic Canadians face the lowest level of health care spending in the country despite the fact health care makes up the largest proportion of provincial budgets.

The problem: federal Liberal cuts; federal Liberal indifference. Liberals have not listened. Perhaps they will now.

[The Speaker]

I will now recognize the hon. member for Labrador, whom I want to welcome back to the House.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear.

Member For Labrador

[Lawrence O'Brien, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate the round of applause. It is great to be back.

I rise today to thank the many people, both in this place and beyond, who were with me in spirit and prayer during my medical absence from this honourable House.

I say thanks to my many friends in Labrador, in Ottawa, across the province and indeed the whole country, and throughout North America for their kind words of encouragement. My wife Alice, my son Michael, my daughter Amanda and I draw strength from knowing we were in their thoughts and prayers.

Their cards, letters and phone calls were a source of comfort and support and have helped me to get back on the mend. I want to let them all know that I feel better than ever and I look forward to continuing to work for my riding for a long time to come.

Annual Mérite Des Gens D'Ici Gala

[Diane St-Jacques, Progressive Conservative, Shefford, QC]

Mr. Speaker, next weekend, the annual Mérite des gens d'ici gala will be held in my riding. It is held to honour the accomplishments of various individuals in the community. I would like to pay tribute to them.

Generosity, commitment and devotion are the words that spring to mind when we think of those exceptional people who realize the hopes of our community.

They all contribute to improving the well-being of the community and provide us with the finest examples of achievement.

My thanks to the Mérite des gens d'ici committee for making known and more importantly recognizing the worth of the people in the community.

Fisheries

[Preston Manning, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday when we asked the Prime Minister about the 5,000 latest job losses in the B.C. salmon industry he did not have an answer. Instead he talked about east coast cod crisis and blamed it on the Tories.

The B.C. salmon crisis is a recent problem. It was not inherited from the Tories. The Prime Minister might try to point fingers at others for the east coast fishery crisis, but who will he blame for the B.C. salmon crisis: the department, the fisheries minister or himself?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, a number of factors are involved in the west coast problem we are facing at the present time.

First is the cyclical nature of salmon in any event and it was predicted that this would be a low cycle year.

Second is El Nino which has played hob with predictions on the west coast and indeed with salmon returns. We have problems with prices which are now one-third of what they were nine years ago.

I appreciate the hon. member's question because this is an historic day. For two days in a row in his first two questions he has asked about British Columbia salmon for the first time in his entire time in the House. I am delighted to see we are at last getting attention, that the byelection is getting the attention of the Reform Party.

[Preston Manning, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, if Ontario were in an economic nosedive and heading into a recession, the Liberals would declare a national emergency. If central Canada's unemployment rate had jumped one-half of 1% in a month, the Liberal cabinet would be in an emergency session.

Those nightmares are coming true in B.C. and the Prime Minister does not even have a briefing note on British Columbia. All he can say is “we gave you the APEC conference instead of giving it to Toronto”. Thank you very little.

Why is it that the government never treats British Columbia issues as genuine national issues?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, one thing is very clear. The tactics of the Reform Party do not create one job in B.C.

I would like to indicate that there was a contract of $225 million to MacDonald Dettwiler of Richmond, B.C., a few days ago; a $30 million investment in Ballard a few months ago; and $70 million to support the TRIUMF Particle Physics Research Laboratory at the University of British Columbia.

Do you want more?

[Some hon. members]

More, more.

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

I could go on but I will get up again.

[Preston Manning, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, when the east coast fishery collapsed the government treated it as a national issue, and rightly so. When the west coast salmon fishery is threatened the government dismisses it as a regional problem.

If the supreme court renders a decision prejudicial to Quebec it is treated as a national unity issue. When the supreme court renders a decision prejudicial to B.C. like the Delgamuukw case it is ignored.

British Columbia is on the way to becoming the second largest province in the country. How long will it be until British Columbia issues are treated as national issues?

[David Anderson, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Reform Party, a party which has had more British Columbia members than any other in the history of the House, has finally discovered that British Columbia exists. I congratulate him. Finally we are getting questions from them. I thank them for their interest.

With respect to the fishery that he talked about, $136 million was put into the revitalization of the west coast fleet. We had retirement of licences. We had programs for displaced fisheries. Last year in terms of fish we had a better than average year.

The hon. member forgets that the price is one-third of what it was nine years ago. In addition we have El Nino.