Pauline Picard

[World No Tobacco Day, May 31st, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, today is World No Tobacco Day.

While we must all delight at the passage of strong legislation to counteract the ill effects of smoking, we must be able to implement the laws we pass. On the weekend, Health Canada acknowledged that it was having difficulty ensuring compliance with its anti-smoking legislation, because of a lack of inspectors. In Quebec, one corner store in two complies with the law by refusing to sell cigarettes to minors.

At home, as in the rest of Canada, the job is not easy. While the federal government is currently carrying out consultations on the various options open to it on regulations concerning the promotion of tobacco products, it must ensure that the measures are realistic and that it can properly put them into effect. Otherwise, the legislator's efforts to reduce the ill effects of smoking will be for naught. They will be fruitless.

[Tainted Blood, May 27th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, between 1981 and 1986, the Minister of Finance was a board member of the parent company of Connaught, which was involved in the tainted blood scandal.

My question is for the Deputy Prime Minister. Is this responsibility as a board member not, by itself, sufficiently compromising to require the Minister of Finance not to be involved in determining the rights of the tainted blood victims?

[Petitions, May 26th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure of tabling in this House a petition bearing the signatures of 155 people from the riding of Drummond.

This petition reads as follows: “We, the undersigned, residents of the Province of Quebec, call the following to the attention of the House:

“Whereas the elimination of taxes on sports millionaires is of considerable concern to us; whereas our representatives in the House of Commons have both the responsibility and the duty to pass legislation that will maintain fiscal balance among all Canadians and ensure, first and foremost, a basic income to the most disadvantaged;

“Therefore, we present to parliament a petition entitled `No to the abolition of taxes on sports millionaires' and request that members of parliament pass the measures needed to ensure greater fairness in Canada for taxpayers.”

[Canada Development Corporation, May 26th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to maritime shipping, we are told that the Minister of Finance withdrew from discussions in order to not be in a conflict of interest.

In the matter of the tainted blood, why did the minister not withdraw from cabinet discussions? Is the code of ethics different when tainted blood is concerned rather than shipping?

[Canada Development Corporation, May 26th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of Finance has explained, he was a member of the board of the Canada Development Corporation in the early 1980s. This corporation owned Connaught, which was heavily implicated in the tainted blood scandal.

When the minister was involved in the cabinet's decision not to recognize any responsibility to victims prior to 1986, was he aware that he was putting himself in a delicate position?

[Tainted Blood, May 25th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, did the Minister of Finance not have a hand in a decision that was very much in his interest, by denying all government responsibility toward victims of tainted blood prior to 1986, when he himself was—

[Tainted Blood, May 25th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, from 1981 to 1986, the present Minister of Finance was on the board of the Canada Development Corporation. It owned Connaught, the company responsible for importing and distributing blood products, at the time of the tainted blood scandal.

We know that the government has made a decision to compensate only those who received tainted blood after 1986. Did the Minister of Finance abstain when this question was decided in cabinet?

[Drummondville's, May 13th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, last Friday evening at the annual Quebec tourism award gala where the Grands Prix du tourisme québécois were handed out, the gold Lauréat national award in the category of tourist development and innovation went to Drummondville's Légendes fantastiques .

In its first season, this production involved the efforts of 300 volunteers, 150 of them as extras, and entertained a total audience of 43,000. This is one more example of the artistic contribution to the already exceptional economic boom in our region.

On behalf of my fellow citizens, I would like to thank all those who took part in this outstanding production, whether behind the scenes or in the spotlight. I would invite everyone to drop by Drummondville this summer and enjoy Légendes fantastiques in its second season.

My congratulations to its directors, and best wishes for a good summer.

[Nursing Week, May 11th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, May 10 to 16 is Nursing Week. This is a time to stop and pay tribute to the work done by the women and men working on the front line in the health care sector.

In 1999, the Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec has chosen a topical theme focussing on the ways that nurses improve care and the beacon of hope that they provide.

Whether it be hospital care, home care, instruction, or self care, nurses are constantly innovating and coming up with ways to improve the quality of services.

Their skills, their expertise, and their talent for sharing their knowledge have always made them top-notch professionals.

This week, and especially tomorrow, International Nurses Day, I urge parliamentarians and all members of the public to pay tribute to the work that nurses do and to thank them in some tangible way.

[Poverty, May 10th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, on November 24, 1989, the House of Commons unanimously passed a resolution to eliminate child poverty in Canada by the year 2000.

Since then, the Liberals have done everything in their power to increase poverty. They have drastically reformed employment insurance, which hits women and young people the hardest, refused to index tax benefits for children, cut $33 billion in the Canada social transfers, and so on.

What are the effects of this policy on the eve of the year 2000? The response is overpowering. The number of poor children has increased by 60% since 1989, and, surprise, the minister has announced in excited tones new consultations on the subject.

We know what the solutions are. It is time to act and to put the elimination of child poverty at the top of his list of priorities.