Claudette Bradshaw

[Points Of Order, March 27th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. It is Friday and we have a staff person upstairs, Big Bob, who is retiring today. I thought it would be nice for the Chamber to wish him good luck. He has been excellent to us and to the staff. I thought, since it is Friday, we might want to wish him all the best.

[Foreign Affairs, March 24th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, over the past year we have contributed over $10 million for food to help the people in North Korea. Unfortunately the food shortage continues. I am pleased to inform the House that a further $5 million worth of Canadian wheat will be sent to North Korea by the Canadian food grain bank.

What must be remembered is that $1 million was donated by Canadians and $4 million was donated by the government. Canada will also contribute three quarters of a million dollars to UNICEF to provide for the basic health needs of those people.

[Immigration, March 24th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I met Gabriel and Delila Grey, two very special constituents at the Ottawa airport.

The Greys, originally from Guatemala, arrived in Canada with their landed immigrant status. I cannot say how thrilled I was to finally see them.

Many of their supporters were at the Moncton airport to welcome them back to their homes. The Greys have waited almost two years for this moment.

The Greys lived in a church basement in Dieppe for nearly 18 months. On November 7, Gabriel and Delila left Canada for a temporary host country.

This was not an easy decision for Gabriel and Delila, but the people of Moncton rallied behind them and looked after them. I am very proud of the spirit of co-operation and generosity displayed by the people of Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe.

Delila and Gabriel can now resume their lives in Moncton. I wish them the best of luck.

[Francophonie In Acadia, March 18th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, this week is National Francophonie Week.

I am therefore inviting everyone on Parliament Hill to La Francophonie en Acadie, an Acadian festival being held as part of the week's celebrations.

Participants will have an opportunity to taste such typical fare as poutine râpée, pets-de-soeur, fricot au poulet and poutine à trou, and to hear two well-known Acadian musical groups, the Quigley Ensemble and Les Méchants Maquereaux, perform.

This event will take place this evening, March 18, 1998, from 5 to 10 p.m. in room 237-C. I would like to thank all the volunteers in Moncton and on the Hill, my staff, and the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

I hope that everyone on Parliament Hill will join us to experience our lively Acadian culture.

[Infrastructure, March 10th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to see that the member from the fifth party representing Tobique—Mactaquac is now embracing the infrastructure program after his party refused to support it.

The infrastructure program is not a Mulroney program where members' staff would have been imposed on their communities. Instead, this program is designed to ensure that local communities determine their needs themselves and set their own priorities.

The decision making process of the infrastructure program has always reflected the needs and priorities set by local communities and will continue to do so as long as this government remains in power.

Due to the previous success of the initial infrastructure program, this government decided to introduce a second infrastructure program which is now enjoying the same measure of success.

[Petitions, March 10th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to present a petition on behalf of Rudi Saueracker, a constituent who resides in Dieppe, New Brunswick.

This petition urges the federal government to officially recognize the efforts of Canada's approximately 4,000 military members who served in the war and the gulf war instead of special duty area, Persian Gulf.

[Francophone Games, March 9th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, we just finished the games in Nagano. We did very well and we are quite proud of our Canadian athletes, as we will be quite proud when we hold the games in our country. Let us do it the Canadian way by making sure that everyone will participate.

[Francophone Games, March 9th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, first I congratulate our minister for getting the games to Canada.

Yes, we are negotiating how many young people we will be bringing to our country so they can participate. As we take care of children and youth here in our country, we will do the same for the other countries when they come here.

[New Brunswick, February 24th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, last week this House recognized the 33rd anniversary of the Canadian flag. But today I rise to mark the 33rd anniversary of the flag of the great province of New Brunswick.

Our flag was approved by royal proclamation on February 24, 1965, just days after the Canadian flag was proclaimed.

As New Brunswickers, we are proud of our province's flag, and of our national flag. It was therefore with pride that, in the same week in 1965, we saw not one, but two flags flying side by side.

The New Brunswick flag is modelled on our coat of arms adopted in 1868. The ship is a symbol of our past and also a source of inspiration for our future.

This flag shows that New Brunswick is open to the world and increasingly connected to the global economy.

I ask all members to join me in paying tribute to New Brunswick—

[Pay Equity, February 12th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to address the issue of pay equity. On January 23, 1998 I a met for the second time with the local representatives of the Public Service Alliance of Canada regarding pay equity. They have made me aware of their views and are quite concerned about this issue.

This past fall I met with the President of the Treasury Board to make him aware of the concerns of the PSAC representatives in the greater Moncton area.

I can assure you that wage parity is of great concern, not only to the Public Service Alliance, but also to the Government of Canada.

The government has always given precedence to the option of a negotiated settlement. That is why Treasury Board took the initiative with the negotiations which began on April 15, 1997.

I would like to assure the Alliance and the government of my interest in finding a prompt solution to this impasse.