Lost her last election, in 2004, with 26% of the vote.
Social Program Reform October 20th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources Development.
The discussion paper on social security reform could have serious implications for seasonal workers. This is a critical issue in Atlantic Canada where many people have no choice but seasonal employment. What measures is the minister taking to ensure that the UI changes will be fair to seasonal workers?
Petitions October 20th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, the second petition is with regard to the Canadian Human Rights Act. The petitioners are requesting that we do not alter the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in any way which would tend to indicate societal approval of same sex relationships or of homosexuality, including amending the human rights code to include in the prohibitive grounds of discrimination the undefined phrase sexual orientation.
I am pleased to present both of these petitions on behalf of my constituents in Amherst, Nova Scotia.
Petitions October 20th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I wish to present two petitions this morning on behalf of my constituents in Cumberland-Colchester.
The first petition requests that this Parliament ensure that the present provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada prohibiting assisted suicide be enforced vigorously and that Parliament make no changes in the law which would sanction or allow the aiding or abetting of suicide or active or passive euthanasia.
Members Of Parliament October 17th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I address this House today in response to the statements by the hon. member for Beaver River asserting that some women are not legitimate members of this Parliament.
I was duly elected in the beautiful riding of Cumberland-Colchester with a solid majority of nearly 3,000 votes more than the next closest candidate. I thank my electorate for placing its confidence in me and this Liberal government.
I have reason to believe that every person of female gender was duly elected to this Parliament on the same day last October by the same process under the same rules of the Government of Canada's elections act.
Could it be the Reform women members were elected by some other process or could it be they are doubting the integrity of the electorate?
Transport October 3rd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport.
I know that all Canadians were shocked last week by the tragic sinking of the ferry Estonia and that they join me in extending our deepest sympathy to the families of those so tragically affected.
Could the minister give Canadians his assurance that our Canadian ferries are safe?
Department Of Public Works And Government Services Act September 30th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity to address the House on the subject of Bill C-52, the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act.
This bill is one of a growing list of initiatives aimed at renewing, restructuring and revitalizing our approach to government. Other legislation now before this House will reorganize and redirect many functions and organizations such as the Department of Natural Resources, industry, consumer affairs, communications, science, to name a few.
Bill C-52 also addresses the functions of what used to be several departments or agencies. These measures are part of a coherent plan to bring order, efficiency and effectiveness to government. By merging the functions of public works, supply and services, the government telecommunications agency and the translation bureau, Bill C-52 is another step in the direction of more streamlined, more responsive services to government operations at less cost.
We can take great satisfaction in the fact that this rationalization of resources will save the government in the order of $180 million by 1998.
In this era of fiscal constraint, effectiveness and efficiency are obviously of extreme importance to all Canadians. Canadians have a right to expect leadership and the example of the government to set that leadership and the direction for all economies.
This means getting our own house in order, getting our expenditures and deficits under control. Nevertheless, we should not think of Bill C-52 as mere housekeeping. To get Canada back on the prosperity path, to create jobs and well-being we need an innovative economic climate. Government must provide the leadership and the focus to create that environment.
In addition to its housekeeping functions Bill C-52 is part of a strategy to do just that. The strategy was first outlined in Creating Opportunity: The Liberal Plan for Canada , the so-called red book which continues to inspire the agenda of this government.
That document describes the innovative economy that we all strive to see to completion. It also describes the proper role of government to create the economic condition to permit entrepreneurs to succeed.
Specifically, the red book defines the crucial role of the government in such an innovative system as working with the private sector to identify strategic opportunities for the future, then redirecting its existing resources toward the fulfilment of those opportunities.
The potential impact of the resources we are talking about is nothing short of tremendous. The department created by this bill manages an annual cash flow of $1.4 trillion. It buys $10 billion worth of products and services a year. It lets out about 175,000 contracts for approximately 17,000 different categories of goods and services every year.
It is the largest property management agency in Canada, providing work space for 170,000 public servants involving ownership of $6.5 billion worth of real estate. In the business world that is called clout. It will be one of the roles of the Department of Public Works and Government Services to use that clout effectively. It will be used not only to effect savings for Canadian taxpayers but also to boost Canadian business. An organization that does business on the scale I just described necessarily deals with both big and small buyers and sellers. It deals with provinces, communities and other federal departments. It deals with foreign governments and foreign firms. Its purchasing power permits the public works and government services to strike alliances with Canadian governments and firms to achieve strategic objectives such as penetrating world markets by small Canadian firms that would otherwise never have this accessibility to them individually.
Bill C-52 in fact encourages strategic use of the vast purchasing power of the government. It encourages the department to adopt an innovative approach to providing goods and services to its clients. Equally it encourages a similar attitude on the part of its customers.
The wording of the legislation makes the bill clear. Where previous legislation stated that the department shall provide certain services, Bill C-52 says it may. There is no coercion here. In essence the bill says to both the department and its clients: "If it is efficient and effective let's make a deal".
Such an arrangement makes for sharp pencils on both sides of the bargain. If the Department of Public Works and Government Services wants to keep its customers it will have to be competitive. Government operations, Canadian businesses and Canadian taxpayers, everyone, will benefit.
Bill C-52 places in one organization all the tools necessary for efficient economical services to the federal government. We have one minister, one deputy minister and one departmental team dedicated to the task. At the same time the bill provides a single forum for expression of the interest of clients as well as suppliers, including businesses and other levels of government.
Flexibility rather than coercion is the spirit of the new department's mandate. Services provided to federal organizations would also be made available to provincial, territorial and local governments but only if they wish to use them.
Similarly the new legislation permits the department to provide service to community colleges, school boards and social service agencies. Federal and provincial governments combined spend some $50 billion annually on goods and services. A mere 1 per cent savings would add up to half a billion dollars a year. In addition to greater and more effective service to other governments and institutions, this flexibility has the potential to provide significant savings to all Canadians.
Yet a remarkable aspect of the legislation is the simplicity. It is based largely on existing legislation. No great new powers have been invented. In sum, it reduces the government machinery, eliminating overlap and duplication. It provides one-stop shopping for suppliers and contractors, making it easier to do business and easier to get information. It permits the Department of Public Works and Government Services to use its purchasing power strategically, not only to reduce costs to taxpayers but to enhance the effectiveness and competitiveness of all Canadian business.
The legislation is good for business in Canada. It is an instrument of responsive efficient government that will assist in creating the economic environment that all Canadian businesses need to get on with the task of creating jobs and economic well-being.
Canada Elections Act September 27th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I support my colleague from Don Valley North wholeheartedly in this most welcome legislative initiative, Bill C-229, a bill to amend the Canada Elections Act.
We did not have a mechanism like C-229 in place last October. Now we have a situation in this House where the Official Opposition party is dedicated to a proposition which can tear Canada asunder and whose agenda can monopolize this Parliament and eventually paralyse this government.
The Bloc members have been given all of the privileges and power that go with such a status. This party could constitutionally be called upon to govern the entire nation. How many nation states no matter how democratic or tolerant would accept as their official opposition, even as a legitimate national party, a party whose sole purpose is to rupture the country?
The answer of course is very few unless they have a collective national death wish. Surely it is not too much to ask that any party that aspires to represent Canadian citizens in this federal Parliament should reach out beyond the narrow parochial confines of its regional power base or of its own special interests.
My voters in Nova Scotia elected me to represent the interests of Cumberland-Colchester here in Canada's Parliament. They also expect me to bring a perspective to this job that extends far beyond the boundaries of my riding. After all, the voters of Cumberland-Colchester realize that my salary is paid by all taxpaying Canadians and that as their member of Parliament in this national capital I also have to serve the larger national interests.
In 1982 the former member of Parliament for Hull, Mr. Gaston Isabelle, with incredible foresight introduced Bill C-661 that would have required any party to receive registration in Canada to nominate at least 50 candidates in a majority of the provinces.
The purpose of this bill was to, as he put it and I quote: "remove any trace of ambiguity as to the national character of political parties desiring to operate at the federal level".
At second reading in March 1983 Mr. Isabelle noted:
It is easy to understand why a political party, if it wants to operate at the national level, should be obliged to field candidates in a majority of the provinces, that is in five out of six. These are candidates who will be working on the federal scene- Without this obligation, regional or provincial groups, which I prefer to qualify as local, will use Parliament as a platform for their own special interests.
Unfortunately Mr. Isabelle's bill disappeared and died inside a parliamentary committee and 11 years later what he prophesied has come to pass.
We have a chance once again to redress the great deficiencies he saw over a decade ago in the Canada Elections Act. The Bloc Quebecois got its present pre-eminence in this Parliament simply because it received 1.8 million votes that were distributed across the electoral landscape of Quebec only.
It won 54 seats in this Parliament, 54 seats of Quebec's 75, and yet the Bloc did not win the majority of the Quebec vote. There were over 3.7 million valid ballots cast in Quebec and the Bloc won less than 50 per cent, 49.3 per cent in one province only, yet they form the official opposition to the Government of Canada.
Compared to other parties in this House, the Reform Party received over 2.5 million ballots from Canadians in 9 out of 10 provinces and yet won two fewer seats. The Progressive Conservatives received more than 2.1 million votes across Canada yet won only two seats. The Bloc Quebecois based solely on the number of seats won has formed the official opposition of the Government of Canada.
It seems to me that the Bloc's claim to pride of place in the opposition benches based solely on the first past the post outcome is far from secure in terms of either ideal democratic practice or equitable electoral outcome.
No, I am not preaching for some kind of proportional representation to elect our MPs. Given our expansive geography and scattered population it is just not practical. Moreover it has been tried in various forms in various places in Canada in the past and each time has failed as too exotic a graft on the trunk of the Canadian body politic.
My daughter who is a master of political science tells me I must stress the importance of natural democracy rights. That is that we do have rights of the individual to mobilize parties in this country and to participate in government.
However, we must recognize the fact that Canada is very regionally diverse. Extensive country breeds regional political parties. At the last election we had 14 or 15 registered political
parties and our tendency is to divide and distinguish ourselves regionally.
This is not a trend we should encourage in a national Parliament. Yet we have as our official opposition the regional party the Bloc Quebecois whose sole purpose in being here is to take its one province out of this Canadian family.
I believe we should also have the humility as parliamentarians to recognize that many of us as individuals got to this place not as a result of any sweeping mandate from the voters but, given the multi-party nature of Canadian politics, through the grace of plurality.
During the Liberal sweep of Canada I got 42 per cent of the votes cast in Cumberland-Colchester and my next closest opponent took 36 per cent. In the Reform heartland a member from Calgary had a 44 per cent plurality. The list goes on across the country.
There are many of us in the same situation. We are not only a regionally diverse nation, our electorate is also very diverse. We mislead ourselves and do them and this country a disservice when we see our constituents as distinct little tribes.
There is no such thing as a homogenized Nova Scotian, nor is one in Quebec where one size fits all. I take great pride and satisfaction in knowing that there is unity, there is oneness in the diversity that identifies Canadians.
We should recognize our duty as parliamentarians to provide a focal point for Canada here in this House. We can best do that by ensuring those who enjoy this House's privileges do so as members of registered parties who reflect the entire Canadian spectrum and not narrow regional interests.
This bill in no way impedes the right of any member of any party to sit in this House now or in the future. What it does ensure, however, is that if they want to sit in this House as a member of a registered party enjoying the benefits that flow from registration their party must nominate candidates in at least seven provinces representing an aggregate of 50 per cent of the population.
That is not an onerous requirement for any party that aspires to run this country. As an Atlantic Canadian, I have a vested interest in regional special interests. However, I feel that this country and Atlantic Canada benefit from a strong national government.
We are best served by a strong national Parliament and this bill is intended to live up to the diversity and the multiculturalism of Canada. It is intended to represent the national character of Canada.
Port Of Quebec City September 21st, 1994
Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of Canadian Heritage. In 1985, UNESCO of the United Nations recognized the unsurpassed heritage value of the historic old port in Quebec City, placing it on the world list of heritage sites.
Will the government also recognize the heritage value of the old port of Quebec and monitor the encroachment of developers whose sole interests for prime real estate are for profit?
Heritage June 22nd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, in 1985 UNESCO, recognizing the unsurpassed heritage value of the historic area of the old port in Quebec City, placed it on the world heritage list of sites of great historical and cultural significance. Since then there has been a continuing incursion of construction projects in the very heart of the old port.
In 1986 the federal government built an eight-storey aluminum covered condominium which was later declared an insurmountable visual barrier from all angles. The federal government has also under construction a naval reserve training school in the old port. There is now proposed an IMAX theatre with an attached multilevel parking garage. Last night at a meeting in the city hall 12 of 14 papers submitted opposed this new project.
It is my hope that the Minister of Canadian Heritage will not allow the continued invasion by private and public developers of our priceless international heritage. It is in the best interest of all Canadians to protect the port of old Quebec.
Department Of Labour Act June 20th, 1994
Madam Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I listened to the comments of the hon. member from the Reform Party today. If he had spent very much time along those fishing coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador, along the shores of Cape Breton Island and throughout Nova Scotia he would see and perhaps have a little more empathy for the dire straits these people find themselves in.
I would ask the hon. member at this time if he so opposes this bill what suggestions might he have to solve this immediate crisis and to have some impact as we take direction for the long term future of these people who have known nothing but the history of the sea, fishing, for over 200 years.