Paul Steckle

[Communities in Bloom, October 2nd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be before my colleagues today in this place to congratulate the village of Blyth for being awarded the five blooms as the winner of the 2001 national edition of Communities in Bloom.

What this means is simple. When compared to numerous communities with a population of less than 1,000 people from across Canada, the village of Blyth was hands down the prettiest village in Canada.

I make special mention of the local organizing committee including the five members who were in New Brunswick for the September 22 decision. They are Bev Elliott, Eleanor Babcock, Anne Elliott, Elaine Scrimgeour and Nancy Snell.

I offer my personal congratulations to these ladies and to all who were involved with making this victory possible. Their efforts and hard work have again placed Blyth on the map. This success is yet another example of why Huron--Bruce is, bar none, the best and prettiest riding in all of Canada.

[Nato, September 19th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, 52 years ago this week the Right Hon. Lester B. Pearson represented Canada at the first NATO meeting in Washington. This is the same man who was honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize for his unwaivering commitment to global peace.

I submit that former Prime Minister Pearson would not have endorsed a body such as NATO unless he believed it could be an instrument of peace. With this in mind, and in light of the horrific events that took place in New York and Washington last Tuesday, I applaud the government for its support of article 5 of the NATO charter.

Deliberate acts of terror directed against innocent civilians cannot be permitted to go unchallenged. That being said, let us heed the intentions of our former prime minister and use global organizations such as NATO to support peace and not to wage war.

In the coming weeks we will begin to see the changes that the western world faces, the stark realities brought about by the actions of madmen. I pray that we will keep our focus on the re-establishment of confidence and not on sponsoring vengeance. We must remember that our actions today will set the foundation for the world we will pass to our children.

[4-H Council, April 3rd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome to our nation's capital the 55 delegates and their chaperons from the 4-H Council who are here for the National 4-H Citizenship Seminar.

The 4-H Council is an international youth organization involving more than seven million members in 80 countries around the world. The historical roots of the 4-H are solidly grounded in rural Canada. The program originated for the purposes of improving agriculture, increasing production and enriching rural life.

The group here today comes from all different parts of Canada. This week, in between seminars, they will be touring the House of Commons and the supreme court and attending a parliamentary luncheon, as well as participating in a mock debate at the House of Commons.

The 4-H Council is an excellent organization, dedicated to the growth and development of all rural youth.

I had the pleasure this morning of visiting with these young students and I have to say that the 4-H certainly does focus on developing well-rounded, responsible and independent citizens. These youth are the leaders of our future.

[Petitions, March 15th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I have before me a petition put forward by petitioners from the Timmins area.

They allege that rural mail couriers often earn less than minimum wage and have working conditions reminiscent of another era. They also allege that our RRMCs have not been allowed to bargain collectively to improve their wages and working conditions like all other workers. They also allege that subsection 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act prohibits RRMCs from having collective bargaining rights.

They are petitioning the Parliament of Canada to repeal subsection 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act.

[Fisheries, March 14th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, last Saturday the Ottawa Citizen reported yet another threat to the commercial fisheries in the Great Lakes. It appears that a small yet vitally important crustacean is disappearing from the lakes at an alarming rate. This shrimp-like bottom feeder called the diporeia is the primary food source for numerous young fish species. At this point the creature has not been seen in Lake Erie for over three years and is on a steady decline in the other four lakes.

Scientists are unclear as to the impact that these waning numbers will have on populations such as smelt, whitefish, trout and salmon. However I strongly feel that we must act quickly. As is the case with sea lamprey scourge, it is suspected that the root problem of this situation is a biological foreign invader. I regret that control of a problem is needed because efforts to prevent the attack were not taken. We need to start tackling these issues head on or we risk disaster for the entire Ontario freshwater fishery.

I would encourage the government to strive to resolve these matters through increased R and D funding, more stringent control of ballast water exchange and by adding sea lamprey control to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans a-base funding at the $8 million level requested by the standing committee.

[Agriculture, February 27th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I am on my feet again today to remind each member of the House that we are less than three months from this spring's planting and our farmers are in trouble. In many cases, without immediate and substantial help there will be no seeds planted in the soil this year.

At the risk of sounding repetitive, I would again point out that years of unfair subsidies from the United States and Europe have placed Canada's agricultural sector at a severe economic disadvantage. When we couple that reality with an increasingly high cost of production and ever shrinking commodity prices, our once flourishing industry is failing fast.

Canada is a nation that was and is built firmly upon our rural and agricultural sectors. Farming is our foundation and that foundation is crumbling around us.

A temporary fix is no longer an option. We need to act immediately to repair the existing damage and to take the steps necessary to ensure a prosperous tomorrow for our farmers. Support delayed is support denied.

[Employment Insurance Act, February 13th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, let it be recorded that I am voting with the government on the motion.

[Food Freedom Day, February 6th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, happy Food Freedom Day. It is like Tax Freedom Day except that it pertains to food. It is true that if we put 100% of our income toward our basic food requirements, today is the day that we would have our bill paid in full.

Oh happy day, unless one is a farmer. The portion of this bill that is paid to the farmers was paid way back on January 9. It is sad, is it not, that it takes us 37 days to pay our entire food bill and only 9 days to pay our farmers?

In last week's throne speech the Governor General stated that the government would help Canada's agriculture sector move beyond crisis management. I applaud her for that. I also applaud the Prime Minister for promising that the matter of high U.S. agricultural subsidies would be the first order of business when he meets with the U.S. president this month.

In the meantime our farmers need support that they can take to the bank. I am calling upon every member to support our primary producers with a lobby for cash. Let us make Food Freedom Day a celebration for everyone.

[Speech From The Throne, February 6th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I have come to enjoy working with the hon. member from Nova Scotia on the fishery committee. Not only will I take the message to the ministers to whom he referred, but I have already done so.

Tomorrow I will deliver to anyone in the House who wishes one a copy of the farmer's financial statement I spoke of earlier. All the member needs to do is ask and he will have delivered to him a copy of that statement. The message must get out and we must do it as quickly as we can. We have no time to lose. I would be more than delighted to provide you with that document.

[Speech From The Throne, February 6th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I am indebted to the hon. member, who is a good friend of mine, for asking that question. It is not that we have not delivered to farmers. It is a case of mixed messages being sent to our farmers. Right now farmers are more interested in money than in another message.

When we began this process some two and a half years ago, we were looking at a request of $600 million. We came in at $900 million and raised that to $1.1 billion. We have committed to three years at $1.1 billion and are now asking for another $900 million of federal money.

The member is speaking about the 20% that has not been delivered on the AIDA program, and he is absolutely correct. If we have not delivered that money we ought to be delivering it. It is not because I have not put forward the argument to deliver that money. I will continue to do that, but there are mitigating circumstances which have for one reason or another not allowed it to happen.