Madam Speaker, the third petition deals with Bell Canada rate increases.
Lost his last election, in 2006, with 33% of the vote.
Petitions March 6th, 1996
Madam Speaker, the third petition deals with Bell Canada rate increases.
Petitions March 6th, 1996
Madam Speaker, the second petition deals with amendments to the Canadian Human Rights Act.
Petitions March 6th, 1996
Madam Speaker, I would like to present to the House three petitions duly certified. The first deals with amendments to the Criminal Code for certain acts of violence.
Sports Fishery March 6th, 1996
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.
Last year the federal government received $60 million in GST revenues as a result of the spending of sports anglers on the Great Lakes. At the same time the exploding population of sea lamprey in the lakes has the potential to eliminate sports fishing.
Can the minister advise the House whether his department is proceeding to decrease, maintain or increase Canada's contribution to the binational Great Lakes Fisheries Commission which controls sea lamprey programs?
Broadcasting Act March 4th, 1996
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-216, an act to amend the Broadcasting Act (broadcasting policy).
Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to introduce this bill to amend the Broadcasting Act. As more players enter the marketplace to provide television programming services to Canadians, it is necessary that the CRTC understand that the consumer's interest is paramount.
To this end I am introducing this bill which will amend the broadcast policy section of the Broadcasting Act to direct the CRTC never again to permit negative option billing or other such practices.
Clearly the potential for this still exists, but in the interests of Canadian consumers the bill will level the playing field between supplier and consumer of services, something over which Canadians expressed strong opinions last year during the consumer revolt against cable companies.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)
Financial Institutions February 29th, 1996
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Secretary of State for Financial Institutions.
Bell Canada's supplemental pension plan was placed with Confederation Life Insurance. At least one Bell director was also a director of Confederation Life. When Confederation Life collapsed, the same director did not notify Bell of the difficulties.
Are the director's fiduciary obligations under such circumstances to protect the employees' pension funds or to remain silent?
Leader Of The Reform Party December 14th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, in the spirit of the season, the clarion call of the leader of the third party to His Excellency the Governor General of Canada, demanding the removal of the Prime Minister, no doubt will bring love and joy to the House.
Like elves and flying reindeer, surely the leader of the third party has had a vision. Canadians must be asking what is dancing in his head. Is the cause too much refined sugar or half-baked turkey?
This Christmas season we government members of the House are full of goodwill. Surely the recent actions of the leader of the third party can be described in the last words of the last line of the Polish "Carol of the Bells": Merry Christmas, ding, ding, ding, dong.
Fuel Additives December 1st, 1995
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment.
Next Monday, December 4, Ethyl Corporation in the United States is going to start shipping MMT to American refiners for use in gasoline. Having regard for the fact that the environment department has talked of the absolute necessity of uniform gasoline standards between Canada and the United States, can the parliamentary secretary tell us what uniform standards we are going to follow in Canada? Is it going to be with MMT or without MMT?
Lambton College November 29th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, Lambton College, which is located in my riding of Sarnia-Lambton, recently signed a formal partnership agreement with the Polytechnical University of Nicaragua. The agreement provides for faculty and student exchange programs, professional development and management linkages, sharing of educational development,
linkages with the private sector, and joint international ventures between our two countries.
Lambton College will work closely with its partners in Nicaragua on health care, sustainable development and entrepreneurship. The agreement represents a major accomplishment for the college's international program, an important social and economic contribution to the development of Nicaragua.
I ask the Canadian International Development Agency to join with the private sector sponsors in funding this important project.
Small Business Loans Act October 27th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak in support of Bill C-99, an act to amend the Small Business Loans Act.
I could start out by stating the obvious, that we are reminded daily that the future of jobs in Canada is to come from small business. We are reminded daily that it is the fastest growing sector with respect to job creation. In fact, it is that sector of our economy where there is opportunity for work. I have been reminded three times in the last six days of the importance of the small business sector.
Last Saturday I met with the chamber of commerce in my riding. In a brief which was submitted to me it was stated that there is nothing that can replace a job created by a small enterprise. We all agree with that.
On Wednesday night I was in the city of North York and had the opportunity to attend a small business fair which took place at the city hall. There was a large display by support agencies. There were all types of computer consultants and business consultants. It is important to note that the banks were also there in large numbers. There are groups within the communities which are willing to facilitate ongoing small business and are willing to work with people who want to create small businesses.
Last evening in my riding of Sarnia-Lambton the board of directors of Lambton College agreed to proceed with an innovative international trade centre. I am quite pleased to say I have been actively involved in this project. I started it with the college in conjunction with my neighbour across the river in the United States, Congressman David Bonior from the 10th congressional district of the state of Michigan.
We are working together on both sides of the border to facilitate small businesses in order that they can find markets on both sides of the border. We want to work in partnership so we have linked these two centres located at community colleges in Canada and in the United States by modem. Now a Canadian small business person can find a partner and can obtain the kind of information he or she needs to enter the American marketplace.
There are 40 million people living within an hour's drive of my riding. That is 40 million. There are 80 million people within an eight-hour drive. The marketplace is not just within Canada for small business. Indeed, for many of us it is in the United States. I am pleased to say that small businesses are awakening to this marketplace.
I know of one small business operator in my riding who employs 17 people. He was able to increase his business by some 35 per cent by working actively in the city of Port Huron in the state of Michigan, 400 yards away from Canada.
The marketplace out there is huge. I know of another gentleman who employs two other people making ice boats. His market is in the area surrounding the city of Detroit on Lake St. Clair. He is able to do that from Canada.
There is a huge marketplace out there for small business but there are two areas of specific need that must be addressed to assist small business people. First, small business needs access to capital. That is stating the obvious. We must remember that job creation in the private sector requires an investment. It can vary.
I am talking only about the private sector. In the high tech business, the cost of creating a job, if I can put it in such blunt terms, is $750,000. In other words, that corporation must, to add a person to it, often invest up to $750,000.
In manufacturing in a general sense that number is somewhere between $750,000 and $1 million. That means a corporation must have several million dollars of capital invested to employ people. For those that are specialized the numbers increase even more. I can speak firsthand of the petrochemical and refining industries where the investment required of the corporation can be anywhere from $1 million to $1.5 million.
Changes in the way large industry works are in fact changing that ratio. Across North America we are undergoing a phenomenon known as restructuring. Large corporations examine their workforces and they tend to remove those who are not tied directly to production so that the ratio of job to investment is increasing all the time.
It is because of this that we have to look to small business where we know jobs can be created when an entrepreneur invests anywhere from $3,000 to $25,000. It is because of numbers like those that tells us the future of the job market is in the small business sector.
We all know also that access to funds is the number one obstacle encountered by small business. The Small Business Loans Act is there to support lenders and in turn help small business obtain debt financing often otherwise inaccessible to them.
I state the obvious when I say that if one reads any number of newspapers one will note there is, across this country, often complaints of the lack of access to funds. Although this will not remove every obstacle, it is working toward it.
It is important to realize that the Small Business Loans Act program is delivered not by government agencies but by private sector lenders. We know the Small Business Loans Act has been around for some 34 years now and this bill simply reflects what the realities of today are from a fiscal perspective.
Organizations such as the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, which I should point out is a group which never is hesitant to express its opinion, have supported this bill. That is an important factor to point out. There is support for this bill not just in the House but where it really counts, within the business community and especially within the small business community, a great number of whose representatives are members of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
As a result it is important that the House support Bill C-99. It has, since 1961, resulted in a program which I suggest has been successful. We are told that there have been some $16 billion lent by banks under the Small Business Loans Act since 1961. In many people's opinions it is not enough when one considers that in other economies around the world much greater numbers are spent on an annual basis on small business expansion. However, it is important that this tool be there. It is there as an economic tool and it is there as an example of public sector and private sector co-operation and partnership. That is becoming in government at all levels more and more important.
It is also important to remember that government costs associated with this program have escalated quite dramatically in recent years to the point where its sustainability has been called into question. This, quite frankly, is the reality of government today.
As a result, the government has initiated a review of the program and extensive consultations were held over a year ago involving all concerned parties. It is not a unilateral consultation. It is a bilateral consultation involving the public and the private sectors. We are certainly aware of the valuable input that the industry committee provided on this subject.
It is safe to say that the overwhelming consensus from all the major stakeholders is that the government must act swiftly to transform the Small Business Loans Act program into a full cost recovery situation. It must be operated on a full cost recovery basis.
The bill accomplishes this objective and will grant authority respecting the release of security, as many other speakers before me have laid out the technical details of it. I believe that the changes contained in Bill C-99 will complete a transformation process to make the Small Business Loans Act sustainable and realistic and a program that has the support of small business and business associations across the country.