Lost his last election, in 2006, with 38% of the vote.
Rcmp Investigations October 8th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I will avail myself of your kind invitation to clarify what I said a bit earlier. It was not lists but proposals that I forwarded to ministers and individual members. The consultations are about proposals, not lists. They are based on proposals.
Rcmp Investigations October 8th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, we check with people well informed about their ridings. I assume members know their ridings, and the businesses in them, well.
We check out the reliability of businesses. We want to find out whether they are businesses that will create jobs meeting the riding's socio-economic needs. If I consult the Government of Quebec, I can certainly consult the Government of Canada's minister responsible for the region.
Rcmp Investigations October 8th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I am extremely pleased to remind the House that the very strength of this system of consultations in connection with the transitional job creation fund is that my department checks with Ms. Harel, based on our government's spending commitments to the Société québécoise de la main-d'oeuvre, the regional minister and socio-economic organizations. Opposition members are consulted in their own ridings about each of the proposals.
I think that this kind of checking is what makes our system so strong.
Political Contributions October 6th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, to me it is absolutely elementary that when allegations have been brought to your attention that you have actually written to the police and reported them to the police, that after you have made your decision and taken action upon them, you do inform your colleagues who are responsible for the organizations touched by the allegations.
Rcmp Investigations October 6th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, what I am trying to explain right now is very simple. I am trying to explain that there were a very large number of stakeholders as part of this broad, open and transparent consultation.
Many stakeholders were consulted, the very strength of our system being the broad and open process of consultations, which includes the Government of Quebec, Ms. Harel's department, members throughout Quebec, as wwll as the Société québécoise de la main-d'oeuvre. The information in these files is obviously not confidential from a commercial point of view.
Rcmp Investigations October 6th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I would like to reassure the opposition about this very important matter.
Immediately I got wind of the allegations in March, I turned to my officials and asked my deputy minister to assure me that the entire consultation process, a very broad and open process involving several stakeholders, such as the Government of Quebec, Ms. Harel, and government opposition members, as you know, in every riding across Canada, including those in Quebec, was fine. My officials confirmed to me that the process was transparent. We therefore went ahead with it.
Government Grants October 6th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I would like to clarify the issue here.
The grant awarded the Auberge des Gouverneurs in the riding of Saint-Maurice comes not from the transitional job creation fund, the subject of my letter to the RCMP, but rather targeted salary grants. Therefore, the money does not from the transitional job creation fund.
Speech From The Throne October 2nd, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I will take great pleasure in addressing you. You are a gentleman and I should have congratulated you on your appointment to the Chair when we began. You know that I was very pleased by your nomination. I must congratulate you.
I would like to clarify one thing that I said. The gentleman does see a contradiction between two of my paragraphs. I did say that this generation of Canadians is the best educated one. It is the one that has developed the most skills in computers, in so many other technical aspects that were not available to us and they are doing well. I am extremely proud of Canadian youth. They are doing well.
That does not stop us from recognizing across the land that some youth unfortunately have not been well served in school or did not find in their families or in their societies the support that allowed them to go far enough in school. Indeed there are problems related to illiteracy. The government is committed to giving these youth a second chance.
Speech From The Throne October 2nd, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his very generous words about the work I am trying to do in favour of renewing Canadian federalism. It is very generous of him.
My job in the government is to provide programs and services to a number of people who are most vulnerable. The Department of Human Resources Development has about six million Canadian clients to whom we are trying to give a break which will allow them to have a better quality of life.
There could be a number of other measures that he can certainly discuss with the finance minister but my job in the government is to provide certain programs and services. I am glad that the member does actually recognize the benefit of the Canada child tax benefit. I was extremely sensitive to his remark about this maybe not being enough. Maybe we could get the support of the Reform Party in order to do more with the Canada child tax benefit.
Speech From The Throne October 2nd, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I find it very interesting that my colleague opposite, a member of the Bloc Quebecois, is telling us what to make of the election results.
I would like to point out to him that our political party made gains in Quebec, while his lost 11 seats, dropping from 49 to 38, is in disarray, is rejected by our fellow Quebeckers, and now represents only a part of the province. I think the member should be a great deal more modest in his analysis of the election results.
I must, however, thank him for his very kind comments about my speech. He found that it was harmonious and elevated and had vision. I must tell him I am deeply touched by his kind words.
I am very happy that my work follows in the great footsteps of the likes of Lesage and Bourassa. I draw his attention to the magnificent passage written by Claude Castonguay recently, taking Quebec's premier to task for breaking with Quebeckers' great tradition of pragmatism in matters of social union, for not following in the steps of people like Jean Lesage and Robert Bourassa, who worked for the well-being of Quebeckers.
But I can reassure the member that, when it comes to current events, he has before him a minister who did his duty by informing the RCMP minutes after learning of certain allegations.