Benoît Sauvageau

[Committees Of The House, February 9th, 2000]

—cutting off essential family income, in the maritimes, Quebec, or wherever, they were over 100% on target.

In my riding of Repentigny, the quota rate for people cut off EI hit 140%.

I would also like to hear what he has to say about another topic that is being discussed in the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, and that is financial information strategy. Wanting to better manage the taxpayers money, which is understandable, this government proposes new accounting procedures for managing public funds. A new accounting system, known as the Financial Information Strategy, is being introduced in all the departments and agencies.

We learned recently that this system should be in place in every department by April 1, 2001. This may come as a surprise to you but, if you ask Treasury Board Secretariat officials how much the system implementation will cost for all federal departments and agencies, they will tell you that they do not know.

They think it might cost $400 million, perhaps $500 million or even $1 billion. A system is being put in place to better manage money, but they cannot even tell how much its implementation will cost. We are not talking about $211 or $200,000, as the Prime minister suggested in the House, trying to hide the real figures.

We are talking about $400 million, $500 million, $1 billion or some indeterminate amount. We are talking about a financial and accounting system. I would like to hear what the Reform member has to say about this new evidence of fiscal profligacy on the part of the government. I would have many more questions for him, but I will first hear what he has to say.

[Committees Of The House, February 9th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully and with interest to the remarks of the Reform Party member, which were very justified, given the scandalous situation in which the federal government has placed us. We are talking about waste. Right now, the thinking is that $1 billion has been wasted, but it could be more.

A simple calculation shows that, if only 459 of the 30,000 cases were studied and 80% of them were problematic, then 24,000 of the 30,000 cases could be incomplete, fraudulent or otherwise come up short. I would like him to comment on this. How many billions of dollars could be involved overall?

I would also like to hear what he has to say about quotas. We know that this is not a case of mismanagement across the board because, when it came to administering quotas, i.e. cutting off EI benefits—

[Points Of Order, December 15th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I have here the speech the Prime Minister of Canada delivered in Hull on November 28, 1999, where he says that the referendum questions, both in 1980 and in 1995, were clear.

To clarify matters for the House, following the Prime Minister's announcement concerning the tabling of a bill denying the fundamental rights of Quebec, I ask for the unanimous consent of the House to table this speech.

[An Act To Give Effect To The Requirement For Clarity As Set Out In The Opinion Of The Supreme Court Of Canada In The Quebec Secession Reference, December 14th, 1999]

Madam Speaker, during his speech, the member repeatedly talked about a clear question, a clear question.

I would like to ask him a very clear and brief question. Does he recognize the existence of the people of Quebec?

[Points Of Order, December 14th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I have in my possession a statement made by Mario Dumont, the leader of the Action démocratique, according to which the bill presented today is an attack against the dignity and the pride of Quebecers.

I ask for the unanimous consent of the House to table this document that will enlighten parliament.

[Points Of Order, December 13th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, now that the Prime Minister has announced his intention to introduce a bill negating Quebec's fundamental rights, I would like to table a list of auto dealers for the benefit of the President of the Treasury Board, who will soon have to give up her limousine.

[Division No. 534, December 13th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, if the division bells had rung for 30 minutes, I would have been here to vote in support of the motion by my colleague from Berthier—Montcalm. I therefore want my vote to be recorded with the votes of the other members of my party.

[Employment Insurance, December 6th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, if the process is all that transparent, why is the auditor general repeating year after year that it lacks transparency?

Can the minister confirm, as I think he just has, that he has decided to ignore the auditor general's recommendations and to continue to accumulate surpluses in the fund, without being accountable for its administration?

[Employment Insurance, December 6th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the auditor general is asking the government to increase the transparency of the criteria used for determining contribution rates and that of the surplus in the employment insurance fund as well.

My question is for the Minister of Finance. In response to the repeated requests from the auditor general, what does the minister intend to do with respect to the employment insurance criteria, since the lack of transparency has reduced parliament and the public to having to speculate on what factors lie behind decisions made relating to the employment insurance program?

[Canadian Tourism Commission Act, December 1st, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps it would be advisable to check whether we have a quorum to continue the proceedings of the House.

And the count having been taken: