Debates of June 13th, 2000

Jason Arnott

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

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute a great Canadian, Jason Arnott. Jason, who needs no introduction to hockey fans across the country, happens to be a local boy from Wasaga Beach where he began his hockey career in the minor hockey system. He then went on to play for the Stayner Siskins as well as teams from Lindsay and Oshawa where he was a member of the 1990 Memorial Cup champions.

Following this he played for the Edmonton Oilers until 1997 when he joined the New Jersey Devils. Then on June 10, Jason scored the winning goal during the second period of overtime against the Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup finals.

Throughout his incredible career Jason has never lost sight of his roots. He continues to be a huge supporter of local charities in Wasaga Beach including minor hockey.

I know I speak on behalf of his parents, Bill and Eileen, the town of Wasaga Beach, the Parliament of Canada and all Canadians when I extend congratulation and thanks to Jason Arnott. Today Canada recognizes him as one of its finest hockey sons. By the way, Lord Stanley's Cup will soon visit Wasaga Beach. I say congratulations to Jason.

Note Festival

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

Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, a unique musical event, the Note Festival, will be held in my riding. Music students aged 2 to 97, from all regions of Quebec, may take part in this friendly competition.

For the ninth year, on June 17, over 300 participants will entertain 3,000 spectators who will let themselves be carried by the sound of music.

The purpose of Note Festival is to discover talents and to provide an opportunity for artists to meet and, more importantly, to improve, since each participant is evaluated.

It is a great musical party organized with dedication and competence by an army of volunteers, with the financial support of socioeconomic and sociocultural partners from the Granby region.

This great event is the brainchild of Aline Couture Paré, who has an unconditional love for music and who has been in charge of the festival since the beginning. That musical event helps her transmit this love that is carried by each note during this wonderful festival.

I wish the best of success to the ninth edition of Note Festival.

Bill C-20

[Daniel Turp, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-20 has yet to be adopted, but it continues to draw serious criticism.

Yesterday, Claude Ryan strongly criticized the bill when he said:

Because it reduces the National Assembly to the rank of an inferior parliament, because it reflects a deep distrust of the Quebec democracy, because it suggests that Quebec sovereignists are seditious people who must be kept under surveillance, this bill is humiliating for the parliamentarians who sit in Quebec City and for the people whom they represent.

Even if Bill C-20 is passed by the current Liberal senators and those whom the Prime Minister will have to appoint to ensure that it is indeed passed, that will not give it the legitimacy it lacked when passed by this House.

This gag law will never deprive Quebecers of their right to choose their destiny, because Quebec is free, and the Quebec nation is sovereign.

Canadian Nurses Association

[Rey D. Pagtakhan, Liberal, Winnipeg North—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Nurses Association begins this weekend in Vancouver its biennial convention with the federal Minister of Health as keynote speaker. Its theme “Nursing in the 21st Century: Challenge and Change” is timely not only for the nursing profession but also for Canada's health care system.

Canadians know that when they come face to face with their health needs, whether in the ER or ICU, the acute or convalescent ward, the outpatient clinic, community centre or at home, they come with the reality of availability of access. Nurses play a critical role as health care providers. We cannot allow as a nation that their leading role be compromised. Caring and competence are non-negotiable attributes. Therefore governments have a duty to provide the needed resources.

Even as the Government of Canada shares a partnership in commitment to see our health care system attuned to the realities of the new century, I am confident that the Canadian Nurses Association will share with all Canadians the wisdom of its collective experience. Let us wish our nurses success during their weekend convention.

Canadian Executive Service Organization

[John Herron, Progressive Conservative, Fundy Royal, NB]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Executive Service Organization or CESO is a Canadian volunteer based not for profit organization founded in 1967. Its mission is to supply Canadian advisers and trainers to emerging businesses and organizations in Canada and worldwide that cannot access paid consulting services.

My constituent, Mr. Cornelis Hoogveen, from Rothesay, New Brunswick, was a CESO volunteer. He went to Slovakia to assist in the management of a dairy company in need of help. Cornelis was asked to assess the dairy's operations and marketing and the co-operation between dairy farmers and processors.

While Cornelis was on site the final stages of privatization were taking place and his first task involved putting in place a new company structure. He recommended reducing distribution costs by streamlining the order department and hiring a distribution supervisor. A wage increase system was also put in place and an organizational chart developed.

Cornelis expects that the implementation of his recommendations and staff training will result in a reduction in duplication and waste as well as an increase in sales and profits. I thank Mr. Hoogveen.

Government Spending

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, today StatsCan confirmed what Canadians have known for years, that the government is swallowing up more of their income in taxes than ever before. What does the government spend it on? Boondoggles, fountains, canoe museums, hotels, golf courses, and that is just in the Prime Minister's riding.

What right does the finance minister have to take so much of what Canadians earn and then squander it away?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the reason the government's revenues are up is that things are going very well in Canada. There are more people who are working. There is more economic activity. People's salaries are up. I hate to say this to the leader of the Canadian Alliance, but that is good news for Canadians.

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it is for sure that incomes had to rise. It is the only way they could afford the taxes really.

The government is spending $15 billion on transfers to health and $17 billion on grants and contributions. Canadian families have been forced to finance for example the history of strippers, a display of French prostitutes, and the porn flick Bubbles Galore . That is not to everyone's taste.

Why is the finance minister against Canadian families keeping more of what they earn?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, two-thirds of all of our new spending is in health care, education and basic research. The issue really is, why did the Canadian Alliance vote against the increases in the national child benefit? Why did the Canadian Alliance vote against increases in preschool child nutrition? Why did the Canadian Alliance vote against every single measure the government has brought in to help the middle class in the country and to help Canadian families?

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, because we do not believe it for some funny reason. Maybe it is just a drop in the sea to a shipping magnate but to the average family, $12,000—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. Please address each other by our proper titles.

[Deborah Grey, Reform, Edmonton North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister, his highness, maybe does not realize that $12,500 is a lot of money to the average Canadian family.

If the finance minister could convince Canadians that he is buying better health care or improving the education system, Canadians might not mind so much, but he has not. He knows that he has not restored the health funding even to 1993 levels and the government is running a $5 billion surplus.

Why is the government plundering Canadian families to pay for bungles, bubbles and boondoggles?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Canadian Alliance would have us believe that her party is interested in health care. Let me say that we were surfing the web the other day and we found the Canadian Alliance website. We looked under health and I will read what it has under health, “There are no current articles for this category or department”. The page is blank.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. I remind members to please not use props either in questions or answers.

[Val Meredith, Reform, South Surrey—White Rock—Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister needs to remember that it is Canadian entrepreneurs and Canadian businesses that fuel the economy. It is the hard work of individual Canadians that provides not only family income but the government's income. There is a limit to their generosity. Government is confiscating more and delivering less. Worse, the Liberals do not even blink at a billion dollar bungle.

Perhaps the finance minister could tell Canadian families why he needs so much of their money.

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the last budget brought in personal income tax reductions and unemployment insurance reductions of $54 billion out of a total of $58 billion.

I would be prepared to defend on any podium in the country our tax proposals against the flat tax of the Reform Party, which is a tax designed to do only one thing and that is to flatten the middle class.

[Val Meredith, Reform, South Surrey—White Rock—Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister is certainly an equal opportunity tax man. It does not matter whether people are rich or poor as long as he gets his money. Robin Hood used to take money from the rich to give to the poor. The finance minister takes money from the rich and the poor to give to the human resources minister.

Why should Canadian families give the government so much of their money so the finance minister can give it to the human resources minister for boondoggles?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, on July 1 of this year, within a couple of weeks, the middle income tax rate will drop from 26% to 24%. The full benefits of indexation will come into play. Let us look at what that party would offer. According to Catherine Ford of the Calgary Herald :

I first encountered the snake oil selling tactics promoting a flat tax years ago in the U.S. It was flawed, a tired, discredited and inherently unfair tax scheme that even the powerful right wing—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. The hon. leader of the Bloc Quebecois.

Parental Leave

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

Mr. Speaker, about ten days ago, the Prime Minister jumped up in the House to reject a parental insurance program proposed by Quebec. Clearly, he wants all the visibility for this project.

We have now learned of the existence of a legal opinion dated March 2 advising that he should negotiate with Quebec.

Will the Prime Minister tell us whether or not he was aware of the existence of this legal opinion when he rose in the House to reject negotiations with Quebec?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, three years ago, we held negotiations on this topic which produced nothing. The government decided, and it announced very clearly in the throne speech and in the February budget, that it would extend benefits from six months to twelve in order to help people on parental leave.

That was very clearly established. What I wonder today is why the Government of Quebec is speaking up after the decisions have been made. If it thinks it can help people who need more than we are offering, if it has the money to do that, it is welcome to do so. That will be just fine with us.

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

Mr. Speaker, there was a legal opinion; that was the question. There are also other legal opinions.

Will the Prime Minister respect his own legislation, including section 69? Will he negotiate with Quebec, or is the law no longer of interest in this place? What the Prime Minister is telling us is that he is the law.