Michel Gauthier

[Broadcasting And Telecommunications, March 27th, 1996]

No, no.

[Fees For Marine Services, March 27th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to see that the Minister of Transport is more reasonable than his fisheries colleague, who has been the one responding in this matter until now.

I will ask the Minister of Transport to give us some hope for the future by bringing his fisheries colleague around to see reason and ensuring that no decision is made on charges for navigational aids, icebreaking and dredging operations.

Can he commit to no decision being made by the government until the period of consultation is completely over and the report tabled, so that an informed decision can be made, rather than a half-informed one, as his colleague in fisheries wishes to do?

[Fees For Marine Services, March 27th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, my supplementary question is for the same minister.

By isolating the St. Lawrence region, if the minister were to decide to do so, does he not acknowledge that the St. Lawrence ports are at risk of being extremely ill served by the new fee schedule he is planning to implement, particularly the charges for icebreaking and dredging?

[Fees For Marine Services, March 27th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, over the years the federal government has made a number of decisions that have had a negative impact on the economic

development of Quebec. I would remind you, if I may, of the Borden line, which in the early 1960s literally killed the petrochemical industry in east Montreal, and the more recent decision to build Mirabel airport, which did considerable harm to Montreal's air traffic and is currently causing problems the federal government is washing its hands of. Now, once again, the federal government is getting ready to impose a unilateral decision with the potential of disastrous consequences for all of the ports along the St. Lawrence.

My question for the Prime Minister is as follows: Are the federal government's proposals to first of all divide Canada into two main maritime regions, east and west, and then to subdivide the east into three parts-the Atlantic ports, the St. Lawrence ports and the Great Lakes ports-not likely to isolate the St. Lawrence ports and to place them in a delicate situation with respect to the new fee structure the government wishes to implement?

[Statistics Canada, March 26th, 1996]

How can the minister give us such firm assurances, when we know full well that the priority lists were provided by the Liberals, identified by Cabinet, and that they take priority over ability, as the note says?

[Statistics Canada, March 26th, 1996]

I will read the whole thing, at the general request of the Liberal Party. Understandably, it will take a little longer, if you insist that I read it all.

The big news is that you may go to other sources to recruit enumerators, CECs, the Bloc Quebecois, students, Statistics Canada lists. However,

You asked and now you shall have the answer.

please inform these candidates that, even if they pass the test, there is no guarantee that they will be called to an interview. It all depends on the number of positions remaining that have not been filled from the priority list.

[Statistics Canada, March 26th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, it is obvious that this is a minister with problems. How can the minister make the sort of statements he has just made, when a note on Statistics Canada letterhead says, and I quote: "The big news is that you may go to other sources to recruit enumerators-" and the memo mentions the Bloc Quebecois, students-

[Statistics Canada, March 26th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, from the way the Minister of Industry has been answering our questions for the last while, he obviously seems to think that there is nothing unusual in the census being prepared by Statistics Canada. I would therefore like to hear what he has to say about other information we have obtained.

In an information note from Statistics Canada, Census 96 , we read the following:

The priority given priority lists remains unchanged. Please note that a sticker will identify these lists as priority.

However, representatives of the Liberal Party have until March 29 to provide us with additional names and to follow up on your request. It is also possible that the Liberals will provide us with other priority lists of candidates in federal ridings not held by Liberals.

Are the minister's firm assurances based on his complete ignorance of what is going on in his department or do they simply indicate that he is trying to cover up the rather unorthodox treatment reserved for us by these people?

[Statistics Canada, March 26th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I accept the Minister's explanations but I would like to ask whether he will confirm that, under the system set up by his office, by his department, there appears to be two kinds of lists, a regular list and a priority list?

[Statistics Canada, March 26th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to find out from the Minister of Industry why his office, or Statistics Canada, seems to be asking for additional lists in ridings represented by opposition members far more often than in ridings represented by Liberals.