Caroline St-Hilaire

[Pay Equity, October 19th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, federal public servants have been waiting 15 years for pay equity.

In 1993, the Prime Minister promised to honour the decision of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. The government certainly has the money to pay its employees. Finally, today, the Treasury Board lost its fourth legal appeal. Enough is enough.

Will the President of the Treasury Board formally undertake today to stop using the courts and to pay public servants without further delay?

[Geneviève Jeanson, October 13th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, never before have the Espoirs de Laval so lived up to the hope expressed in their name.

Last week, one of the club members, Geneviève Jeanson, made the news with a marvelous accomplishment: two junior cycling championships within the same week. This is a first in road cycling in Quebec and in Canada. Geneviève's exceptional success is already being lauded as the sporting event of the year.

Geneviève has already set her sights high for the future. Starting next year, she will move up to the senior ranks and she has hopes of earning a spot on the Canadian team.

This 18-year old athlete's maturity, tenacity and discipline have made her a model for an entire generation of young people. Her comment on this was “If I can serve as an example to other young people, that's fine, but they need to know there are no shortcuts. It takes a huge amount of determination and hard work”.

Geneviève, has every right to those high hopes. The Sydney Olympics await her. We of the Bloc Quebecois tip our hats to her, and it is with the greatest of pride that we offer our congratulations and best wishes for continued success.

[Quebec's Fête Nationale, June 9th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I recently wrote to the Minister of Canadian Heritage to point out to her that her 1999 theme calendar neglected to mention two important dates: the Acadian fête nationale and the Quebec fête nationale. Her office agreed to add on the Acadian national festival, but not the Quebec one.

Since June 24 is the fête nationale of all Quebecers, why does the minister refuse to recognize this reality in her calendar, since she is doing so for the Acadians?

[Supply, June 7th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I have many questions for the parliamentary secretary, who is praising the minister's response and is proudly saying that the government will support 53 of the 69 recommendations.

I would like him to remind us how much the recommendations the minister agreed to implement will cost compared to the recommendation on professional sport. I would like him to tell us about it.

I would also like him to tell us what he knows about sport federations and associations. There are obvious and dangerous problems for athletes; discrimination and language problems, as well as coaching problems. Sport Canada has no training or incentive program to encourage coaches to speak French so that our athletes could at least understand what their coaches were saying.

What does the government intend to do in that regard? As far as the minister is concerned, in any case, it will be nothing at all. I would like to hear what the parliamentary secretary has to say about that. He says that all is fine and dandy in amateur sports and that the government believes in it, so much so that 22 sport federations no longer receive subsidies from the government. How can he explain that?

For my last question, it seems that the federal government is considering giving the Montreal Expos a piece of land in downtown Montreal for the sum of $1. How can the parliamentary secretary justify this? Would he consider giving a similar piece of land or the same kind of help to amateur sport that would indeed be interested in such a large piece of land for such a modest sum? Is this conceivable for the parliamentary secretary?

[Supply, June 7th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I wish to thank my colleague from Broadview—Greenwood. I also wish to acknowledge the work he has done throughout the entire subcommittee process. I feel that he has shown his interest in, and his passion for, amateur sport and he deserves praise for this. I share some of his points of view.

He has a lot to say about the recommendation on professional sport. I would like to point out to him that this recommendation, which the government has adopted, is going to cost more than $500 million, contrary to the measures on amateur sport, for which there is nothing.

There are some good recommendations on amateur sport, although there could be plenty more, but there is nothing new on the concrete measures to be undertaken shortly to help our athletes involved in amateur sport in Quebec and in Canada.

I have done a fair amount of research recently and have had many contacts with athletes and federations. I would like him to tell us a bit about how we as parliamentarians can help these sports federations and associations. There are a number of problems of discrimination, as well as those relating to language, to French, and to internal administration.

Sports Canada does not have control over these associations, yet there is a lot of money at Sports Canada. How can parliamentarians give a bit of help to these associations and these athletes?

[Supply, June 7th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for taking part in this debate on our opposition motion. It is good to hear a minister talk about amateur and professional sport.

The minister talks a lot about the money the federal government gives athletes through Sport Canada, but I would like him to put that in perspective, considering the fact that the money given to athletes by Sport Canada accounts for 8.3% of its total budget.

First, is the minister aware of the fact that this is not enough? Second, our athletes—and I will not get into the technicalities, but they have to be among the top eight in the world—receive about $800 a month. Is he aware of the fact that athletes are the poorest of the poor in our country?

I would like to hear what he has to say on another point. His colleague, the member for Bourassa, made an announcement last Friday, saying that the government would do the same for amateur sport and mass sport and would transfer some of its lands and parks to the provinces and municipalities so they would become accessible to all those who want to engage in sporting activities. This followed on the rumour that the federal government wanted to give some land to the Montreal Expos. What does the minister think of all that? Does he agree, yes or no?

[Status Of Women, June 7th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, this morning I met with the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, which is extremely disappointed and distressed by the government's lack of action in all areas of concern to women.

For months now they have been asking the government to reinstate funds in support of programs promoting women.

When will the Secretary of State for the Status of Women take a positive step in support of women's groups by asking the Minister of Finance for the money necessary to fund this program?

[Supply, June 7th, 1999]

Madam Speaker, I hope that simply rising in this House will not make the member for Bourassa feel persecuted.

I would like to remind him that he is the king of personal attacks. He has not stopped talking about members of the Bloc Quebecois. Maybe he has not heard my speech, so I will remind him that I said clearly that the Bloc Quebecois is not against professional sport. Far from it. We just want to remind the government opposite that it must place amateur sport at the heart of its concerns. I too made a little tour, as did the member for Bourassa. I know there is determination on the part of the athletes.

There is one thing I would like the member for Bourassa to explain to us. During the subcommittee hearings on October 29 the member for Bourassa expressed his indignation. Here is what he said “I will ask him (the Commissioner of Official Languages) to investigate and make sure that any problem of accessibility is settled, whether it has to do with documents, translation or services”. Can the member for Bourassa tell us if he followed through on that commitment made at the subcommittee hearings? He was talking about Jean-Guy Ouellet. Can he say a few good words about him?

I would also like to remind him that the colleague who worked with him for a year is from the riding of Broadview—Greenwood. It would be good for him to keep that in mind.

[Supply, June 7th, 1999]

Madam Speaker, I would first like to thank my colleague from Témiscamingue, who made a fine presentation.

However, with the little time he had at his disposal, I would have liked for him to speak more about the impact that Quebec having its own banner might have. Where did he get this idea and what would be the effect?

[Supply, June 7th, 1999]

—to meet with people in the sector. She wants to invest money, but does nothing for amateur sport.

I do not find this in the least reassuring, and I know that neither do the athletes of Quebec and of Canada. If the member wants to do something, I urge him to join the Bloc Quebecois, because he does indeed tend to think like us when he says that there has to be investment in amateur sport. He is welcome at any time.