House of Commons Hansard #34 of the 38th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was federal.

Topics

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements ActGovernment Orders

1:20 p.m.

An hon. member

Cultural Quebec.

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements ActGovernment Orders

1:20 p.m.

Bloc

Yvan Loubier Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC

Yes, cultural Quebec, and rich Quebec—not a poor province getting equalization. That is not what we want.

There is an economic principle which says that a dollar invested in one sector is not the same as a dollar invested in a different sector. A dollar invested in the industrial sector has a multiplier effect. That is what has been happening in Ontario for many years. Ontario has the multiplier dollar; we have equalization and we are expected to shut up when they tell us, “You are doing fine; you get back most of the taxes you pay to Ottawa”.

That is a colonialist position. It lacks common sense and it is what we want to change.

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements ActGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

Yukon Yukon

Liberal

Larry Bagnell LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources

Mr. Speaker, that was a really disappointing discourse. It is really sad for this House of Commons when a person elected to assist Canadians throws disparity on Canadians and other parts of Canada. He is supposed to be helping Canadians all over Canada, including those living in Quebec. All he does is try to divide by throwing disparity on other Canadians. He brings up the weaknesses in Quebec instead of building up their strengths.

He keeps saying it has equal powers in comparison to other provinces and equal taxation powers in all sorts of areas but it cannot survive. It is really disappointing that his party constantly takes that attack of division. He is a very intelligent member of Parliament, so I know he would want to be fair.

I would like to ask him to list not only the parts of Canada that, for strategic reasons, can be helped out--and I am sure he would want them to be helped out--that received certain funding, but to provide us with a list, just to be fair and balanced, of instances where Quebec has received more funds from the federal government for certain strategic projects than other provinces or territories.

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements ActGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

Bloc

Yvan Loubier Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC

Mr. Speaker, it is not a question of a list, and I was not speaking against Canadians. I have friends throughout Canada. I have friends here in this House.

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements ActGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

An hon. member

Name them.

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements ActGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

Bloc

Yvan Loubier Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC

The hon. member wants names. I have friends throughout Canada. It is not a fight between one nation and another. It is not a fight between the Quebec nation and the Canadian nation. It is a very constructive and very positive plan whereby Quebec could stand on its own two feet. Quebec would have enough resources and would decide for itself what is best, like the rest of Canada does.

A Canada without Quebec could make decisions much more easily than it can now. Look at the endless federal-provincial conferences. Quebec always stands out as a distinct society—as a distinct people to us, but a distinct society at the very least.

We always talk about asymmetry and special agreements. If I were a Canadian living outside Quebec I would have been saying, “If you want to leave, then go” for a long time now. Canadians would be just as happy as we would. Considering all the disputes we have with the federal government and all the obstacles that prevent us from reaching our full potential, I think it would be in the best interest of Canadians and Quebeckers alike for Quebec to become sovereign.

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements ActGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

NDP

Alexa McDonough NDP Halifax, NS

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased today to have an opportunity to participate in the debate on Bill C-24, an act to amend the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act and to make consequential amendments to other acts that are impacted by the changes in the fiscal arrangements act.

All members of the House are aware that this is a bill that received first reading in late November. It essentially reflects the new equalization and territorial funding formula framework that was agreed to by the first ministers in late October.

I have been listening to the debate so far and there is no question that there is a certain amount of acrimony and a certain amount of frustration being expressed on behalf of a great many Canadians, not because of the provisions of the bill before the House but because of the context in which this bill is being introduced.

A tremendously acrimonious environment has been created by the tremendous hardship that was imposed by the massive unilateral measures, the massive cuts that were introduced by the Martin budgets of 1996 as well as those that followed.

Everyone knows it was a big job to get us back on a more constructive course. It is important, as we get into this debate, that we remind ourselves that equalization payments are not a handout from one province to another. Often that is the sense that is created. There is a sense that it is the wealthy provinces that give money to the have not provinces, either cheerfully or reluctantly and sometimes it is expressed as reluctant.

That is not what is meant by equalization payments. It is important for us to remind ourselves of that. Equalization payments are from taxes that are paid by people in all parts of Canada, not a payment from richer to poorer provinces. We are committed to the important concept that we should have equality of access to the important programs and services that make up the quality of life. It is to ensure that we have a floor below which Canadians cannot fall, given the immense resources of this nation as a whole. It is important that we think of it in those terms.

It is truly what creates a situation in this country where we do not have, or we have no excuse for having, the kind of growing gaps between haves and have nots that we have seen in recent years as a result of the massive unilateral cuts that were imposed in transfer payments and then the arbitrary cap that was set on equalization payments.

I had the privilege in the early nineties of being at the Constitution table. Some would say it was a questionable privilege because it was a very dragged out process, to say the least. However, at that table, one of the things that was established was that the equalization formula should in fact become part of our constitutional framework. It is extremely important that it now exists.

It would be easy to spend the short time available to go on at great length about the immense damage done as a result of the massive unilateral cuts at the federal level, the damage done to our health care system and education system. The cost of that is being borne more and more and being heaped onto the shoulders of our post-secondary education students.

It would be easy to dwell on what a setback this was for environmental remediation and environmental protection measures for public transit, in particular, the advancement of the cities agenda. The federal government turned its back on promising a national child care program and then said that it could not be afforded for now, even though Canada reached a level of 3% growth within a couple of years of the Liberal government taking office and it could indeed have been afforded.

I want to take a few minutes this afternoon to focus on a couple of positive developments that I see across the country and in particular in my own riding, which I think is typical of many of the areas that have been so hard hit by the federal arbitrariness in the cuts and constraints applied to our equalization payments and transfer payments.

I speak directly about a community consultation this weekend. Basically a chamber of commerce exercise has been conducted over the last couple of years addressing the whole question of the economic potential, in this case focused on what is called HRM. I have to say honestly, I am delighted to be the member of Parliament for Halifax, but to live in a city which now calls itself HRM and not Halifax I think raises the question of how a city called HRM can actually have a soul, because it is just such a nebulous, meaningless notion.

Looking at the greater Halifax-Dartmouth area and all that includes, there has been a wide consultation process conducted to look at the future potential for growth and, one hopes, meaningful development and genuine economic progress. It is not just growth for growth's sake, because growth can be positive or negative depending on how the benefits of that growth are redistributed and how the growth is achieved. On another day we will have more opportunities to talk about that.

The engagement in the community and the leadership shown by the chamber of commerce in bringing many different elements of the community together around these issues helps to focus on not just how much damage has been done as a result of the massive unilateral cuts of the federal government starting in the mid-1990s, but also to focus now on some of the solutions.

It is extremely instructive and I welcome this. We needed to turn the corner on this. I welcome the recognition that some of the greatest impediments to genuine economic progress in many parts of the country and in this instance on my community of Halifax have been the major erosion of funding to things as critically important as education.

It was highlighted over the weekend that we need to be very careful not to lose sight of the fact that the tremendous burden of debt heaped on our post-secondary education students sadly has also been mirrored and paralleled by a serious erosion, at least in the Nova Scotia context, of the quality of our public education system from primary through to grade 12. We have a repair job to do here. We know how incredibly important education is to the future economic growth of our communities and the future genuine progress of our communities.

In supporting the bill that is before the House, we acknowledge that this is a step forward from what we have experienced, the harsh effects of the inadequacy of the formulas. It is not perfect, but it is an improvement. It has been arrived at through the agreement reached with all provincial premiers.

What is now important is that we make sure the lessons of the past are acted upon, with the government turning the corner on its treatment of equalization and transfer payments. We need to make sure that we repair the damage done to the education and health care systems.

We are getting there. Important steps have been taken in that direction. The same kind of pan-Canadian context provided by the Canada Health Act is what is needed with respect to education as well, something that has standards and enforceability mechanisms. That work remains to be done. The bill before us with respect to fiscal arrangements does not get us to where we need to be in that regard.

It was very encouraging over the weekend at the economic potential consultation wrap-up held in Halifax when it was acknowledged that there is a critical central role for arts and culture. There is an economic impact of arts and culture on community. We must recognize that it is the kind of creativity which is stimulated by having a very solid commitment to funding of arts and culture that will allow us to make the kind of judgments that are needed and come up with creative solutions that are desperately needed in this very complex challenging world in which we live.

There are similar considerations with respect to the erosion of our public transportation system, and that applies especially to public transit in the urban context, but also more regionally. Tremendous damage has been done by the massive cuts and frankly, in many cases the blind embracing of purely market driven solutions with respect to an area such as transportation. It clearly does not work for the less prosperous areas and the less populous areas in the country. That certainly is the case for the Atlantic region in general and certainly for my own province of Nova Scotia.

It is important for us to recognize that a lot of damage has been done. Even in instances where it was clear that the government's cutting and slashing was going to heap burdens on the most vulnerable citizens, the government was not prepared to back off, even after it began to introduce surplus after surplus. After seven straight years of surplus budgets the government continued to resist repairing the damage and making the changes needed in the fiscal framework that would enable us to get on to a path of rebuilding.

One cannot speak about this subject without recognizing the massive gutting of employment insurance benefits to create a false impression about the size of the surplus. This has yet to be repaired. It seems so easy for the Liberal members to beat on their chests and talk about the great job they have done in generating this surplus. They conveniently ignore the fact that the surpluses have been achieved by heaping the burden on those who should least likely have been asked to bear the costs of the mismanagement of the Liberal government over the last decade.

The government has conveniently ignored the fact that a big chunk of that surplus has actually been generated by taking money directly out of--and I am going to say--the mouths of children in a lot of cases. This has happened in families where members of the workforce have found themselves without employment through no fault of their own. They have contributed in good faith to the employment insurance fund over the years and have built up that surplus. Then they have found that such restrictive eligibility measures have been introduced that they simply have never been able to draw from the employment insurance fund.

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements ActGovernment Orders

1:35 p.m.

An hon. member

No one qualifies anymore.

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements ActGovernment Orders

1:35 p.m.

NDP

Alexa McDonough NDP Halifax, NS

Mr. Speaker, qualifications, as my colleague has reminded us, have been made so restrictive that it is not rocket science to figure out why in 2004 we actually have to take note of an increase in child poverty in this country today.

It may seem like a big step from the discussion about the fiscal arrangements act to the increase in child poverty, for which we now suffer the embarrassment and low income families suffer the burden, but there is a connection. It has to do with the misplaced priorities. It has to do with the fact that the policies that have been consistently pursued by the Liberal government have enriched the wealthiest corporations and those in the higher income categories at the expense of those who most need to know that the community and their governments are there for them.

We hope this is the beginning of a repair job. It does not address at all the unfulfilled promise made by the Prime Minister during the last election. We have not yet seen any signs of the promise being honoured by the Prime Minister to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador with respect to the share that is owing to our provinces which needs to be invested in the future economic prosperity of our provinces from our natural resources.

It is important on this occasion to recognize that further legislation will be needed. We are not talking about an amendment to the bill before us. We are talking about a companion piece of legislation that would honour the commitment made, but not yet kept, by the Prime Minister to ensure that we become the beneficiaries of the offshore resources that currently overwhelmingly are going to the federal government.

That is not only the fair thing to do, but it is also the only honest course of action that can be pursued by the government. The Prime Minister so transparently came to Atlantic Canada desperate for votes. The Liberals were so desperate to hang on to those Liberal seats and to take the seats out from under the NDP everywhere they could possibly do so. A commitment was therefore made to allow us to invest the benefits from our offshore resources in order to build our own more solid, sustainable economic base for the future.

Let us not lose sight of the fact that needs to be done. This legislation does not address it. However, it is no less urgent than the changes that are proposed here in the fiscal arrangements which now ensure that Canadians can expect there will be some kind of floor below which nobody in this country should sink, starting with the over one million children who remain in poverty. Sadly, in the last set of statistics available from the previous year, that number looks as if it is on rise, not on the decline in the direction of the eradication of poverty as promised by this Parliament in an all party resolution a full 15 years ago.

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements ActGovernment Orders

1:45 p.m.

Scarborough—Guildwood Ontario

Liberal

John McKay LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, I am working on the assumption that the member and her party will be supporting Bill C-24, so I am somewhat hesitant to be critical of her somewhat wandering ways on a variety of issues.

As I said earlier, this has nothing to do with the offshore accords. The offshore accords are altogether separate and, as the member rightly points out, will require separate legislation.

The other point is that for this fiscal year, Nova Scotia will receive an additional $151 million to do with as it sees fit, in that we are bringing the threshold for this fiscal year up to $10 billion and Nova Scotia's share is an additional $151 million. That will translate into about $1,250 per person. Thereafter, Nova Scotia's share under the bill will be $1.343527 billion. That is something that the premier and the finance minister of Nova Scotia have spoken to us directly about. I assume the hon. member supports the representations made by her premier and finance minister.

I wonder if the hon. member would mind commenting on the fact that the Government of Canada has essentially bought down the risk of the equalization receiving provinces by implementing a formula that is $10.9 billion in the next fiscal year and a 3.5% escalator thereafter, which is a guaranteed floor to the equalization receiving provinces. Effectively, that means that if Ontario, which is the largest contributor to the federal revenues, were to have a bad year then the federal government would be forced to find revenues somewhere else while guaranteeing the equalization receiving provinces from the economic shocks of Ontario.

I wonder whether the hon. member in general thinks that is a good idea, or should some other way be introduced that would in effect be the current situation, which is that the equalization formula goes up and the equalization formula goes down largely in accordance with Ontario's economy. Which does she prefer, the guaranteed floor or the equalization variables that currently exist?

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements ActGovernment Orders

1:50 p.m.

NDP

Alexa McDonough NDP Halifax, NS

Mr. Speaker, it is a strange ritual that goes on with questions and answers when the parliamentary secretary spends the first half of his time seeking clarification as to whether we are supporting Bill C-24. As I said in my speech, yes, we are.

Secondly, he wanted to know whether we favoured the new formula that is contained within the bill. Yes, we do, which is why we are supporting it. However we can turn around a lot of figures, and to every single household, especially low and modest income households, it sounds like a pile of money to say that as a result of this new formula that Nova Scotia will get $151 million extra dollars. That is a large amount of money but it absolutely pales in comparison to the massive blows, and we are not just talking cutting and slashing, but almost death blows that have been dealt to a good many basic services that had to be cut back or eliminated in Nova Scotia over the last number of years.

I will cite one example. While I was in my riding on Friday, I met with a tremendous young woman who heads up an organization that works on behalf of persons living with disabilities. It is devastating what has happened to persons living with disabilities on their own and to the families working to support family members living with disabilities as a result of the combined impact of the cuts to education funding, the cuts to health care funding and the cuts to public transit. For persons living with disabilities to get to a doctor's appointment with three weeks' notice on accessible transportation is challenge enough, never mind the persons living with disabilities who are ready, willing, able and qualified to fill jobs in the community but cannot fill those jobs because they have no way to get to work.

If that does not demonstrate how pathetically short-sighted, never mind mean-spirited, the hacking and slashing has been over the last eight years, I do not know what else does. Yes, $151 million more into Nova Scotia's coffers will be welcomed, but they will not come close to repairing the damage.

I could cite a lot of other statistics about the size of the student debt load. The average debt load for a student graduating in Nova Scotia the year before last was $25,000, and we know that has been growing significantly. It is a disaster at the undergraduate level and an even bigger disaster at the graduate level.

I had representations over the last while from people in the health care field who said that high tuitions have made it virtually impossible for young people from low and modest income families to seek professional training and then to go back to the communities where they are desperately needed, communities ethnically and geographically, returning to rural areas where there is severe underrepresentation of trained health care personnel. The reason for that is that graduating students with debt loads are compelled to go to the bigger and more prosperous centres to try to get that debt load off their back but they end up not returning.

The tuition for students going into medicine rose 16.7% last year and for law it rose 19.4%, which is on top of previous massive increases. This simply means that we will not have representation on our health care professional teams from those lower income areas, from ethnic minority communities and from rural communities, because they simply cannot leap that gap. Nothing in the short term, even with the $151 million extra that would go to Nova Scotia under this new equalization formula, will begin to clear away those obstacles to accessibility that had been erected by the government's reckless short-sighted decisions over the last eight years.

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements ActGovernment Orders

1:55 p.m.

Yukon Yukon

Liberal

Larry Bagnell LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources

Mr. Speaker, the member said that there were no funds available to help train people in different groups to become part of the health care system or other professions. She should realize that the new health care deal struck with the provinces included $100 million for human resource strategy for aboriginal people.

In a copy of the New Democratic Party policy, which I was given at the beginning of the election, it states that it would eliminate the millennium scholarships which help a number of students get into professions. Could the member comment on what she might replace the biggest scholarship program in Canadian history and a major aid toward helping students in Canada?

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements ActGovernment Orders

1:55 p.m.

NDP

Alexa McDonough NDP Halifax, NS

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to answer that question because it illustrates the point I have been trying to make.

The millennium scholarship fund stands as one of the best examples of the most misguided policies the government has ever introduced on behalf of post-secondary education students today and tomorrow. Let us use Nova Scotia as an example. It is literally true that there was no net benefit to Nova Scotia from the millennium scholarship funds. With every dollar of millennium scholarship funds put forward, it was clawed back by the province, which brings me to the second point.

I am glad the parliamentary secretary brought this up, perhaps inadvertently, but if it was wilful I thank him for his sense of fairness and even-handedness. I made a note when the parliamentary secretary of finance said earlier that I would be delighted that an extra $151 million would be going to Nova Scotia for it to spend as it saw fit.

What is a serious problem is that when the government introduced the millennium scholarship fund it did nothing to protect the funds against a provincial government clawing them back. Clawbacks are happening with the child tax credit where dollars are needed by the most needy families. Clawbacks are happening with respect to education funds. Clawbacks are happening with respect to housing funds.

The government eliminated the best social housing program in the world. Canada was seen as an example of what a national housing strategy should look like. The budget of 1996 eliminated the national housing program. Canada is the only industrial nation in the world that I know of that does not have a national housing strategy to this day.

No, I do not agree that $151 million going to the provincial government, to use in whatever way it sees fit, is the way to go. We need national standards such as those that supposedly exist in the Canada Health Act, only the government will not actually implement the Canada Health Act by taking any measures when provincial governments violate it.

We need a pan-Canadian post-secondary education act that would establish standards and principles on which students could depend, wherever they happen to live in the country, so they will have access to post-secondary education. We need to do the same with respect to the other critically important elements of modern living that one should be able to depend upon wherever they happen to live in the country.

Kids for a CureStatements By Members

2 p.m.

Liberal

Navdeep Bains Liberal Mississauga—Brampton South, ON

Mr. Speaker, last week I met with two children from my riding. Both are living with juvenile type 1 diabetes. They were here with approximately 38 other children visiting various MPs to help promote Kids for a Cure--Mission Possible.

The mission of Kids for a Cure was to raise awareness among federal decision makers of the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes, share personal experiences and ask the federal government to commit to more research funding for juvenile type 1 diabetes.

Approximately 200,000 Canadians have juvenile type 1 diabetes. Diabetes kills more people than AIDS and breast cancer combined. It is the number one cause of death in Canada.

We all know that Canada was the nation that discovered insulin. Now we have the potential of being the nation that will help discard insulin for life. Cure therapies for juvenile type 1 diabetes are within reach. Let us act now, accept this mission and help find a cure.

Crohn's and ColitisStatements By Members

2 p.m.

Conservative

Loyola Hearn Conservative St. John's South, NL

Mr. Speaker, November is Crohn's and Colitis Month in Canada. November is now coming to an end, but unfortunately Crohn's and colitis are not.

These chronic intestinal disorders can strike anyone at any time. They cause a variety of symptoms, from mild to extremely severe, and flare-ups that can occur without warning, sometimes resulting in hospitalization and surgery.

There is currently no known cause or cure, a cure which 170,000 Canadian men, women and children await.

We in the House cannot find that cure, but we can make sure that the best hope, medical research, is well funded. This, along with the support of thousands of volunteers across Canada working constantly, will get us closer to our goal each day.

Hopefully in the not too distant future, not only will November come to an end--

Crohn's and ColitisStatements By Members

2 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Marcel Proulx)

The hon. member for Ottawa South.

BiotechnologyStatements By Members

2 p.m.

Liberal

David McGuinty Liberal Ottawa South, ON

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce that today is the opening day in Ottawa of the 11th annual BioNorth, Canada's international biotechnology and life sciences conference and exhibition. This year's theme is “Commercializing the Success Gene--The Business of Science and the Science of Business”.

The Ottawa life sciences sector is ranked third in employment in Canada, behind only Toronto and Montreal. The Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto biotechnology corridor is second in the world only to California's cluster.

By organizing BioNorth, the Ottawa Life Sciences Council showcases Ottawa and Canada's opportunities on the global stage and, through partnerships and investment, stimulates economic growth.

The Ottawa Life Sciences Council would like to acknowledge the Prime Minister's Office and the Canadian Biotechnology Secretariat as well as other Government of Canada departments for collaborating on BioNorth this year to deliver a biotechnology policy forum on Wednesday, December 1, forecasting opportunities in biotechnology while promoting understanding of the issues surrounding biotechnology and the growth of this sector in Ottawa and Canada.

I would encourage all members of the House and their staff to take part in BioNorth 2004.

Laval University Rouge et OrStatements By Members

November 29th, 2004 / 2 p.m.

Bloc

Christiane Gagnon Bloc Québec, QC

Mr. Speaker, by winning 7 to 1 against the Huskies of the University of Saskatchewan in Hamilton, Laval University's Rouge et Or won the Vanier Cup for the second year in a row and the third time in its short history.

As the member for Québec and chair of the Bloc Québécois caucus for the Quebec City area, I add my voice to that of the entire population in extending my most sincere congratulations to the Canadian university football champions.

The members of the Bloc Québécois from the Quebec City area want to pay tribute to the entire team of players, coaches and owners who, through hard work, talent and perseverance, have built a winning team, as well as the thousands of supporters regularly attending the team's local games, who also contribute to its success.

Passion for this strategy and contact sport brings them together; the hope of winning this coveted trophy is their motivation for wanting to excel and to do their best. Now they have their reward. Once again, congratulations.

JusticeStatements By Members

2:05 p.m.

Liberal

Tom Wappel Liberal Scarborough Southwest, ON

Mr. Speaker, in this statement, the third in my series examining whether the courts are protecting our children, I want to bring another case to the attention of the House.

Timothy Foley, a 43 year old teacher from North Vancouver, was recently convicted of the sexual exploitation of a 15 year old female student in one of his classes. The exploitation began with oral sex, intercourse and introduction to a lesbian sex act and then progressed to sadistic sex.

What did Judge Judith Gedye do? She gave Foley no jail time. She sentenced him to 12 months' house arrest, allowing him to work and also run errands four hours a day. In addition, he is required to complete 25 hours of community service, speaking to teachers about the dangers of crossing the line with students.

Instead of serving justified jail time, Foley is left to teach other teachers how not to follow his example. How does such a sentence protect our children and others from sex predators? It does not.

Teck ComincoStatements By Members

2:05 p.m.

Conservative

Jim Gouk Conservative Southern Interior, BC

Mr. Speaker, Teck Cominco operates a lead-zinc smelter that has been located at Trail, B.C. since 1896. It now finds itself a target of a U.S. government agency's lawsuit seeking to force it to comply with U.S. environmental law without any of the protections provided to U.S. companies.

If the U.S. action is successful, it will have serious ramifications on any Canadian company or community that discharges into a body of water that flows into the United States. Canadian environmental laws will become meaningless and all those companies and communities will be powerless to defend themselves.

Cominco sought to have the lawsuit dismissed and was denied. However, it has applied to appeal the decision.

To help ensure that the petition for appeal is accepted, it is essential that an amicus brief be filed by the Government of Canada. Canada is on record as supporting a bilaterally negotiated settlement of the problem and this position is supported in writing by the U.S. Ambassador to Canada.

Canada's sovereignty and the security of Canadian companies and communities are at stake. The Government of Canada must act quickly to protect both. Time is running out and it has not acted yet.

Fort Frances Citizen of the YearStatements By Members

2:05 p.m.

Liberal

Ken Boshcoff Liberal Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise today to congratulate Joyce Gosselin on being named Citizen of the Year of Fort Frances, Ontario.

Ms. Gosselin is truly deserving of this recognition. She was a participant in the 2004 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games and was chosen as a snowshoeing competitor for the World Games in Nagano, Japan, this coming winter. In October, she was declared Female Athlete of the Year by Special Olympics Ontario.

However, her athletic prowess is not the sole reason she deserves special mention. This lady is a tower of strength when it comes to supporting her community through volunteer efforts.

She has raised thousands of dollars for various charities and is a regular participant in events for the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cancer Society, as well as the Terry Fox Run and the OPP Special Olympics. In her spare time, she helps the Salvation Army, works at the Christmas Dinner and coaches children's basketball.

Our whole community sends her best wishes as our ambassador to the Olympics in Japan.

Gémeaux AwardsStatements By Members

2:05 p.m.

Bloc

Maka Kotto Bloc Saint-Lambert, QC

Mr. Speaker, last weekend, for the 19th year, Quebec's academy of cinema and television handed out its Gémeaux awards to television artists and craftspeople.

There are so many recipients that it would be presumptuous of me to try and name them all in the time allotted to me. I do, however, to that join with my colleagues from the Bloc Québécois in congratulating them.

As we know, the Québécois culture is alive and well. But, as a female sportscaster so aptly put it at one of the two galas, it is not just a matter of helping our publicly owned televisions survive, but rather of ensuring they are fully alive.

Artists and craftspeople need recognition. The cultural community relies on us, in this place, to have decent means of expression and development.

We can never overemphasize this point: culture is the soul , the psyche of nations. Without culture, our individuality, our distinctive collective identities are doomed to decay.

Marc-Olivier BissonStatements By Members

2:05 p.m.

Liberal

David Smith Liberal Pontiac, QC

Mr. Speaker, today, I am proud to tell the House about the great generosity of a very young man, Marc-Olivier Bisson, who is attending Saint-Jean-de-Brébeuf school in Masson-Angers.

After seeing the terrible situation in Haiti, this young pupil decided to organize a fundraising event for the people of that country.

“We are not alone on this planet, and this is why we must help others,” said Marc-Olivier. His attitude was enough to convince two teachers to organize the fundraising event and to participate in it. Seven other pupils also got involved. The outcome of this initiative was a great achievement and a real success.

Congratulations to the teachers of Saint-Jean-de-Brébeuf school, in Masson-Angers, for encouraging this humanitarian initiative. Above all, congratulations to the pupils who proved that it is not necessary to be a big person to achieve big things.

National Arts Centre OrchestraStatements By Members

2:10 p.m.

Conservative

Mark Warawa Conservative Langley, BC

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate and recognize the National Arts Centre Orchestra, led by Pinchas Zukerman, on its return from its triumphant tour of beautiful British Columbia. The two week tour consisted of four concerts, student matinees and over 80 educational events involving teaching of children and first nations communities across British Columbia.

Pinchas Zukerman is world renowned for his dedication to teaching and to the musical development of the next generation of young artists. He passionately believes that every child should have access to a musical education.

Bravo to the National Arts Centre Orchestra for taking its talent on the road and delighting audiences on the west coast. I also express thanks to the corporate sponsors that made the tour possible.

DystoniaStatements By Members

2:10 p.m.

Liberal

Yasmin Ratansi Liberal Don Valley East, ON

Mr. Speaker, dystonia is a neurological movement disorder that causes muscles in the body to pull or spasm.

Although it is the third most common movement disorder after Parkinson's disease and tremor, very few Canadians are familiar with the condition despite the fact that nearly 300,000 people in North America suffer from dystonia.

Dystonia is often misdiagnosed as another ailment like arthritis or stress. To date there is no known cause or cure, but efforts are being made to change that.

The Dystonia Medical Research Foundation offers support to sufferers through patient advocacy, public awareness, professional education and fundraising for research.

I invite my colleagues to join with me and the many volunteers of the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation to help search for a cure for this debilitating disease.