Rey D. Pagtakhan

[Racial Discrimination, March 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, today is the United Nations International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which persists whenever the principle of merit is undermined by prejudice.

We must safeguard against reverse discrimination, the antithesis of the principle being defended, as we work to meet our hiring targets for qualified minorities and tearing down the barriers to their full participation.

Tolerance and respect are put to a greater test during harsh economic times. Witness the views of those who see immigrants as stealing jobs from other Canadians, who see only their difficulties, forgetting that there are others who are worse off.

Today we are challenged to work together to foster economic growth and rededicate ourselves to our nation's reality.

Canadians are a people of many colours and races, all of whom heighten the intellectual, social, cultural and economic standing of Canada in the eyes of the world.

[North American Commission For Environmental Co-Operation, March 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the government will soon determine the site for the headquarters of the North American Commission for Environmental Co-operation.

Winnipeg would be the most appropriate location as the city is already home to the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the Secretariat for the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment.

Aside from the certain benefits that will result from the proximity of these offices with closely related functions, Winnipeg provides easy access to transportation.

Winnipeg's rails run through the United States to Mexico and it is linked directly to Mexico via the most heavily used trucking route into that country.

As well, there are a number of direct and frequent air flights to Ottawa, Washington, D.C., and Mexico, the three capitals of the three signatories to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

I urge the government to choose Winnipeg, which has long stood at the forefront of promoting sustainable development, as the natural site for the North American Commission for Environmental Co-Operation.

[Borrowing Authority Act, 1994-95, March 7th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, on February 16 I posed two questions to the Minister of Health, essentially asking what steps the department will take to ensure that the network of health care volunteers, professionals and organizations will be involved in the design, implementation and monitoring of any blueprint to ensure that the anti-smoking education campaign is successful.

Since that question, we had a report last week of a survey indicating that the anti-smoking campaign has not had much influence on the habits of young smokers. Therefore, I ask the minister again, what specific steps will she take to ensure that any anti-smoking education campaign will have the input of health care professionals. By using their expertise and skills we will ensure greater success for any such campaign.

A second point relates to what specific new regulatory framework the government envisions taking to ensure that the Government of Canada has greater control over tobacco manufacturers and to ensure again that we prevent young Canadians from starting the habit of smoking.

What a turn of events. Only last week we heard the report that tobacco manufacturers might have added nicotine deliberately during the manufacturing of cigarettes. That almost strengthens

the urgency of the need to move with a new regulatory framework.

Today the regulation allows manufacturers greater latitude and freedom to do things other than those prohibited by law. The focus must be changed. When tobacco manufacturers envision doing something new or something unknown to us as yet, they should submit their proposals and then the government will say yes, it is okay or no, it is unhealthy for Canadians. We need that kind of new regulatory framework to ensure that we truly take to heart the health of Canadians foremost.

On that note I would beg the minister and his parliamentary secretary to bear before Parliament the steps they will take to ensure that health care network of the country will be involved in the design, implementation and monitoring of any new blueprint to combat smoking in the country and at the same time indicate the new regulatory framework the government is prepared to take to ensure that the health of Canadians is foremost and that we prevent the smoking habit that only creates illness, disability and ultimately death.

[Vision Awareness Week, March 7th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, March 6 to 12 is Vision Awareness Week in Canada. Its theme, "Good Vision and Literacy: There is a Clear Connection", is timely. Canada faces a staggering 25 per cent rate of illiteracy.

One of the major roadblocks standing between citizens and their ability to read is poor vision. Since one in six children has a vision problem and since at least 80 per cent of learning is visual, early detection of vision problems becomes an important part of preventing illiteracy.

Let us work to make certain all of Canada's citizens are literate for this wondrous information age.

With literacy comes access to information, employment and prosperity. If Canada is to realize its vision of a prosperous future it must ensure that in the future its people have good vision.

[Defence Policy, February 23rd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, for the same reason I would have voted as well with the government.

[Heritage Day, February 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, Heritage Day holds great significance for our country. Today we reflect on the many faces of Canada and celebrate diversity and unity.

I am reminded of my own immigration and of how my wife and I have been blessed with four sons born and raised in this great nation. I am privileged to live in Canada, honoured to serve the constituents of Winnipeg North and proud to be part of the beautiful diversity that is the Canadian mosaic.

Heritage Day is also about our national institutions, our railways, schools, parks and system of government. It is about the building of our nation which touched generations of Canadians' lives in numerous ways, politically, economically and socially.

It is also about governments playing a major role in preserving our cultural landscape, fostering closer relationships with our First Nations peoples and sustaining official bilingualism in a multicultural framework.

The sum of all defines our national values-democracy, freedom, social justice and peace.

[Supply, February 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I have a brief comment and question for the hon. member. He mentioned toward the end of his speech that special interest groups had kidnapped the national agenda. The word kidnapped of course is pejorative and connotes a very negative meaning.

I would like to ask the member who these special interest groups are that he had in mind, that have kidnapped the national agenda in a negative way.

[Tobacco, February 16th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health.

The key to a successful anti-smoking education campaign will be a blueprint developed by the government in partnership with the health community.

What steps will the minister take to ensure that a nation-wide network of health volunteers, professionals and organizations are actively utilized in the design, implementation and monitoring of such a campaign? What new regulatory framework does the minister envision to give the Government of Canada greater control over cigarette manufacturers and thereby safeguard the health of Canadians at all times?

[Immigration, February 4th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.

The recently announced government immigration policy which will allow for the entry of nearly 200,000 immigrants this year under the family and independent class is commendable. These expected new arrivals, in addition to further enriching the multicultural fabric of our nation, will contribute greatly to economic growth according to the Economic Council of Canada.

To give success to this policy, will the minister take steps to ensure that visa offices and certified medical examination centres in countries such as Ukraine, India, the Philippines and others, will be sufficiently staffed and strategically located to ensure that the application process is as convenient and as speedy as possible.

[Social Security System, February 2nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to address the motion on the modernization and restructuring of our social security system which costs Canada at all levels of government $130 billion a year.

We in this House are keenly aware of the dual mandate we have been given by the Canadian people. On one hand we are told to live within our means and cut the cost of government so as to reduce and ultimately eliminate our national fiscal deficit.

On the other hand we all know well that we must continue to provide the kinds of opportunities and services Canadians expect from their government to reduce or prevent the human deficit. I believe we can follow through on both orders. The two are interdependent.

What are the objectives of the review? We would like to find out what really works, to eliminate disincentives to work and training, to head off the alienation of youth and perhaps transform unemployment insurance as an instrument of re-education. We must synchronize our social security system, definitely not to reduce the spending per se but put more people back to work. The objective of the process is to allow a partnership among all of us in the review of the system and to seek the agreement of the provinces and thereby achieve a truly participatory process.

Why the need for this review? The realities are there. We have seen the increasing numbers of users of the system, the difficult transition to work, the duplication of government programs that we feel are no longer responsive to the needs of the day. We have noticed that there have been too many disincentives to work and so we would like to modernize the system.

The ultimate objective at the end of the review is to have a modern social security system that sustains the ethic of work through its incentives and at the same time guarantees the security of citizens in their hour of most need.

I said earlier that the twin challenges of reducing the fiscal deficit and reducing the human deficit are interdependent. We cannot cut the fiscal deficit in isolation without due regard for the anguish of the unemployed, for the pain of the poor and their children, for the fear of the student facing escalating tuition fees, for the anxiety of seniors about their pensions. We should not betray the seniors who trusted their governments during

their working years. Nor can we disregard the decay of our cities and municipalities which help secure our streets and our homes.

Cutting the fiscal deficit without taking heed of the human dimensions of cost cutting would be utter insensitivity and would constitute inept governance. At the same time, spending on economic and social programs for our citizens without attention to their efficiency and effectiveness, even in times of plenty, is poor stewardship and particularly in times of fiscal restraint would also constitute inept governance.

Our social assistance programs which include old age pensions, aid to education such as student loans, the Canada Assistance Plan, unemployment insurance, training grants and medicare ensure that there exists a form of social justice in Canada. Very often there is unfairness.

It is not fair when you have skills, education and qualifications and are denied employment opportunity due to a lack of available jobs or to discrimination, be it traditional or reverse, or to the inability to have one's credentials recognized in another province.

It is also unfair when immigrants and new citizens find no orderly process for accreditation of their foreign obtained credentials. It is unfair when you are unable to work because of an illness, injury or physical disability and are not provided with a means of overcoming it. It is unfair when after 65 years of paying into a pension plan your monthly cheques do not reflect the many years of hard work to earn your retirement.

The social justice contract under which this nation operates dictates that Canadians share their privileges and benefits so that no one is left stranded in times of great need.

Unemployment insurance is similarly designed for periods of crisis, to ensure that basic necessities continue to be provided for those who lose their pay cheques.

The idea is to see to it that misfortune, in and of itself, does not result in a loss of personal dignity. Social programs are not a haven for dependency. They exist to serve our fellow Canadians in their acute and genuine continuing needs.

This is the commitment of people and therefore of government, which makes such privileges possible. It is to people and to government that we must turn to fix our distressed social security system.

The numerous privileges our social security system offers are accompanied by a number of equally important obligations. It is incumbent on all members of society to use the system only when needed. Abuse of the security net ultimately results in the funding hardship we now face.

We must remind those who are inclined to abuse the system through a public information program that the people footing the bills for their actions are their neighbours, their families, their parents and their friends. We must appeal to Canadians' innate sense of good citizenry.

It is crucial that people come to view social assistance as a treatment for the symptoms that ail them, and not as a definitive cure. Permanent relief can only come about after we have attacked the root causes of financial difficulties.

How can this be accomplished? A Canada-made modernization of our social security system should reflect our values, our priorities and our interests, thereby fostering pride in our citizens, who will then be loathe to abuse it.

The system might include measures such as the income supplement program being considered today in Newfoundland and which has been piloted in New Brunswick.

It could also include provisions for an income contingency repayment plan for student loans and other programs such as the guaranteed annual income supplement. Let me reiterate that the key to achieving a successful betterment of our current social security system lies in our willingness to seek the input of Canadians.

As people on social assistance take on jobs not only will their self-esteem be restored but they would then begin to contribute to the growth of the economy as consumers and to government revenues through the taxes they would pay.

In conclusion, I would like to convey a message to my constituents and to all Canadians that we on the government side can achieve the dual mandate issued to us by voters. We can eliminate our national fiscal deficit while at the same time ensuring opportunities and services for Canadians in their hour of need. Citizens and government can work as partners to defend and strengthen our shared social values of equity, fairness, co-operation and generosity.

Then and only then can we help ensure the security and sensitivity of Canada's social programs for the present and for the 21st century.