Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I was wondering if I could get unanimous consent of the House to revert to reports from interparliamentary delegations.
Lost his last election, in 2011, with 25% of the vote.
Committees Of The House October 28th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I was wondering if I could get unanimous consent of the House to revert to reports from interparliamentary delegations.
Taxation October 2nd, 1998
Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is well aware that the state of Michigan has revised its single business tax. I want to thank him and particularly the deputy prime minister for working hard on this issue.
The Minister for International Trade has instructed our consulate in Detroit to meet with the Michigan treasury department to express to them in the strongest of terms our concern with this issue.
We will continue to work with the province of Ontario and all affected businesses to help resolve this dispute.
Special Import Measures Act September 25th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his remarks earlier today.
As I listened to the concerns of the hon. member regarding certain issues on this debate, the hon. member questioned the issue of our trading situation with the cross-border crisis with North Dakota and some of the other states in the United States in terms of stopping our trucking operations going across with agricultural products.
On the one hand, one of the hon. members said that we should be taking very strong, very tough action. I sat on the SIMA committee in the past. The dissenting report said that we were going too strong with SIMA, that we should not be taking the tough action.
Could the hon. member explain to this House the differences in approaches by two different members in his party?
Trade September 25th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, it is about time we got this question.
As the minister of trade indicated in the House yesterday, he along with the minister responsible for the wheat board, the minister of foreign affairs and the minister of agriculture have been working with our Canadian embassy in Washington and our consulate in co-operation with the provinces, farm organizations and the industry to pressure the United States to bring them in line with their international trade obligations.
Yesterday we took unprecedented action at both the WTO and the NAFTA. We continue to work with these colleagues to make sure that the United States keeps to its trade obligations.
Interparliamentary Delegations June 2nd, 1998
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34, I have the honour to present to the House a report from the Canadian Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association concerning the 47th Commonwealth parliamentary seminar which took place March 3 to 14, 1998 in the United Kingdom.
As you know, Mr. Speaker, it was attended by a very able opposition member of the Reform Party who is sitting in the Chair.
Canada Labour Code May 7th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to the hon. member's comments. I want him to know that we were sitting in the foreign committee with the minister there. Votes were to be held so we had to have a full contingent in that committee. As a result of his quorum call, the opposition parties did not have the full opportunity to question the minister.
So I would caution him in using his quorum call in the House all the time. The hon. member knows we have many committees, in particular on Thursdays. We are getting near the end of the session. Many ministers are coming forward to committees. Surely it would not be in the member's best interest to make a quorum call in the House when there is very important work going on in these committees with ministers.
Commonwealth Day March 9th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise in this House as chair of the Canadian branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association to draw the attention of my hon. colleagues that today is Commonwealth Day. This important event is celebrated annually on the second Monday in March to mark the establishment of the modern Commonwealth.
Our nation has benefited greatly from its membership in the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth stands as a symbol of international co-operation and it is a model for all nations to work together in friendship.
The theme of Her Majesty's Commonwealth Day message is “Sport Bringing Us Together”. Apart from more formal contacts between governments, the Commonwealth provides many special links between its members, one of those being through sport.
The Commonwealth Games which are being held in September in Malaysia are indeed known as the friendly games and for good reason. This great sporting event will bring together people from every background proudly representing their countries, competing for the love of their sport and with only one goal, to be the best that they can be.
I hope all members and Canadians will join with me in wishing our Commonwealth friends peace and happiness.
The Budget February 25th, 1998
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Certainly the hon. member knows that when that commitment was made it said over the course of a mandate.
The Budget February 25th, 1998
Madam Speaker, I listened with interest to the hon. member's criticism of the government's budget. She criticized us for not spending money here, there and everywhere. However she must admit that even Tommy Douglas and Bob Rae understood that in order to get the bankers off our back we needed to deal dramatically with the deficit and the debt, as has been pointed out in the House.
The hon. member also must admit that through the last couple of budgets the government specifically centred money and tax breaks on families and students wanting to get an education. It is recognized that those who have post-secondary education have a better chance of getting a job.
The government simply cannot throw money out there and hope that it will create jobs. It just does not work that way. We need Canadians with an education in jobs in the high tech area. The best way for us to help with this terrible situation is to help families and to help students get an education.
Is the hon. member aware of that? What is her answer to getting rid of the close to $600 billion debt we now have?
Supply February 23rd, 1998
I thank the hon. member's party for supporting the government on this initiative in terms of our commitment to make sure that our governments both federally and provincially still have the powers they need to make sure that Canadians are protected in all these different areas.
In terms of who is going to control it, as I said earlier, it is not a question of these big monolith companies versus the government. Most of the people that are investing abroad are small and medium size enterprises. They are the ones that need the protection certainly from the government.