Yvan Loubier

[Speech From The Throne, September 24th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the axeman seldom woos his victims, but that is what the Minister of Finance is doing, since he is responsible for poverty in Canada.

By the way, will the minister admit that his solution to health, education and poverty problems is to cut $42 billion instead of $48 billion as initially planned? In other words, all he has to offer as a solution is to cut $6 billion less than he had planned.

[Speech From The Throne, September 24th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, in the throne speech, the government claims to be sensitive to the problems of low income families with children and the problems in the education and health case systems.

My question is for the Minister of Finance. Does the Minister of Finance admit that the problems the government has identified in these areas are basically due to the cuts of over $40 billion it made during its first mandate and intends to keep on making during this mandate?

[Insurance Companies Act, April 24th, 1997]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-438, an act to amend the Insurance Companies Act.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table this bill, seconded by my colleague from Portneuf. The bill aims at essentially one thing: to eliminate the discrimination against provincially chartered insurance companies in Quebec, which prevents them from acquiring blocks of insurance from federally chartered insurance companies in order to strengthen the industry and meet the challenge of domestic and foreign competition.

It is truly a case of discrimination against Quebec, since, barely two weeks ago, two Toronto companies, one a British, the other a German subsidiary, were able to arrange a deal between themselves involving 12 billion blocks of insurance without a peep or the batting of an eye from the federal government.

A Quebec company, L'Entraide Compagnie d'assurances, since we are talking specifics, lost out on a transaction involving 1.3 million insurance policies because of this government and the Minister of Finance's inertia and lack of political will when it comes to defending Quebec's interests. This transaction would have allowed this company to compete with the four major players in Toronto.

We deplore the decision by the Minister of Finance, who has arranged it so the four Toronto insurance companies will dominate the Canadian market and part of the North American market, while the Quebec companies are left high and dry thanks to the Minister of Finance and the Liberal Party of Canada. We will remember this in the election campaign.

(Motion agreed to, bill read the first time and ordered to be printed.)

[Goods And Services Tax, April 23rd, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I would invite the Prime Minister to read the ten pages of Mr. Landry's budget, and he will gain some understanding of the matter; at the moment, he understands absolutely nothing.

I am now asking my question of the Minister of Finance. Will the Minister of Finance acknowledge this legitimate claim and reimburse Quebec?

[Goods And Services Tax, April 23rd, 1997]

Let us talk GST, Mr. Speaker.

Since April 1996, the Minister of Finance has defended the $1 billion in compensation paid to the maritime provinces, through a pseudo-program of adaptation assistance, one which, when applied to Quebec, entitled it to no compensation whatsoever. Such was the minister's position for eight or ten months, the time Ottawa took to provide Quebec with the figures and information on how they were reached. Since then, Quebec has proven that the federal government cheated in its calculations and that, in reality, Ottawa owes it two billion dollars.

My question is for the Minister of Finance. Can the Minister of Finance, who generally admits to his mistakes, tell us why he is not giving Quebec the compensation to which it is entitled?

[Goods And Services Tax, April 23rd, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, what the Prime Minister neglects to mention is that, while a few million dollars will be forthcoming, but only in 1998, to combat poverty, he has cut $4.5 billion from social programs.

[Le Courrier Of Saint-Hyacinthe, April 23rd, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, Le Courrier , the Saint-Hyacinthe newspaper, is celebrating its 145th anniversary. Founded in 1853, it is the oldest French newspaper in North America and a veritable institution.

Throughout its history, Le Courrier has covered political news and the men and women that make it. Honoré Mercier served as editor of Le Courrier , then member for Saint-Hyacinthe and then premier of Quebec. Henri Bourassa and T.-D. Bouchard were both residents of Saint-Hyacinthe famous at different times nationally for their political activities.

Despite its venerable age, Le Courrier remains a quality and dynamic weekly respected even today by the weekly press, which awarded it three years running-1994, 1995, and 1996-the prestigious title of weekly of the year.

I would therefore like to congratulate the current employees of Le Courrier of Saint-Hyacinthe and draw attention to the invaluable contribution made by this monument of the Quebec press.

[The Constitution, April 15th, 1997]

A people.

[An Act To Amend Certain Laws Relating To Financial Institutions, April 15th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I was saying that it is a sad thing to have to face the music, but I hope that the government will listen to common sense and that, starting Thursday, provincially chartered insurance companies will be allowed to do exactly the same as other insurance companies, that is to have a certain latitude in their areas of jurisdiction and to be able to hold their own in an increasingly competitive field.

[An Act To Amend Certain Laws Relating To Financial Institutions, April 15th, 1997]

I was just winding up, Mr. Speaker.