Jerry Pickard

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

Mr. Speaker, I obviously cannot identify exactly who will be farming what areas in the country. I can say that there has been a major problem in the oilseeds industry.

There is no question that grains and oilseeds have taken the brunt of difficult times. First, the prices have been low. Second, the competition has been difficult and American and European subsidies have distorted the markets and the farmers' abilities to get a proper price out of the commodities they sell. Third, Canadian food prices are lower than anywhere else in the world. However, it is very clear and important to realize that we have to negotiate agreements in agriculture that will put our Canadian farmers back on track in a fair, competitive face.

I do not think for one minute that anyone is ignoring this issue. It is a matter of bringing people to the table. In the past it has always been a competition where larger countries such as the United States—

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

Mr. Speaker, when we look at Canada's safety nets we look at the programs that have been developed and the programs that have evolved over the last many years. The programs have been focused on crisis management, the management of time when there is a great deal of problem. We have not really taken the lead in moving beyond that.

Canada must take steps with our international partners to make sure that rules for fair trade, rules for access to products of other countries and rules of subsidies need to be challenged and need to be met. There is no question that we need to set agreements that will ensure our farm community has the right and the opportunity to compete on an equal footing and on an equal basis.

When we talk about the kinds of strategies that are needed, the Prime Minister had the opportunity to talk quickly with the new President of the United States this week to bring forward some of the issues that have to do with trading in softwood lumber, industry or agriculture.

The fact is that Canada has farmers who are technically well advanced in production, who have a tremendous ability to produce food, and who are under the gun in unfair trade subsidies at this point in time. We have always arrived at situations where our farm community or others have run into those kinds of pressures and problems. I believe going beyond crisis management means that we manage a program that puts them on a fair footing with everybody else in the world, and that is most important. I have not met one farmer who does not want the opportunity to farm and compete on an equal square footing base with everyone else. That is what our farm community is demanding. That is what our Liberal government must deliver.

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

Madam Speaker, I congratulate you on your new appointment. I know that your experience in parliament and all the work that you have done will lead you as an excellent Speaker in the House. I look forward to listening to you and working with you throughout this parliament.

I thank my constituents in Chatham—Kent Essex. I appreciate the support they have given me in returning me to the House. I know that I will work as hard as I can to help with the confidence they have given to me and the Liberal Party in returning a Liberal government for a third mandate. I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Lambton—Kent—Middlesex.

As I listened to the comments made by hon. members in response to the Speech from the Throne I was struck by the comment made by the Leader of the Opposition. He said that reducing taxes and debt and investing in the needed economic and social infrastructure were complementary goals. By reducing taxes, reducing the debt, invigorating our economy and increasing revenues, it is with an invigorating type of fiscal position that we can help with social programs for Canadians, social programs that Canadians need.

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for endorsing the Liberal plan. This is exactly the approach the Liberal government has taken. It is an approach that has received overwhelming support from people across Canada in three successive elections. The Liberal vision has long been based on striking the right balance between prudent fiscal management and smart investments in key economic and social priorities.

This vision has served Canada extremely well. It is no coincidence that for the past seven years in a row the United Nations has proclaimed Canada as the best place in the world to live. There is absolutely no question that since 1993 our nation has come the distance step by step.

In 1993 our public finances were in a mess, with spiralling debt, a record $42 billion deficit, high interest rates, combined with more than an 11% unemployment rate and continuous tax increases.

Together we have eliminated the $42 billion deficit we inherited and the Liberal government has recorded three consecutive surpluses. Last year we reduced the national debt by more than $12 billion, the largest paydown in Canadian history.

The Speech from the Throne reaffirms our commitment to rock solid, prudent, fiscal management. Our extraordinary fiscal turnabout has allowed us to introduce the largest tax cut in Canadian history of some $100 billion. This means more money in the pockets of every Canadian, particularly moderate and middle income Canadians.

The unemployment rate has fallen to 6.8%, its lowest level in over two decades. Over two million new jobs have been created under the Liberal government.

Canada's economy is doing well. In fact our economy is enjoying the longest run of growth since the sixties. At the same time the Liberal government has been investing in our youth, our children, our families, health care, knowledge, innovation, infrastructure and environment. Together we have built a strong foundation, but we cannot rest on our achievements. We must and will do more.

Many challenges and opportunities lie ahead for us as we enter the new millennium. We will continue to build a stronger Canada, secure a higher quality of life for all Canadians and ensure all citizens have a chance to participate fully in making our society the best it can be.

Our success today and in the future is in the hands of our children. The Liberal government takes this investment seriously with the early childhood development agreement and the national child benefit, and by doubling the length of maternity and parental benefits our investments in families and children have been second to none.

The government believes there is no higher priority than the welfare of Canada's children. That is why in the throne speech we have committed to developing new measures to help single parents, to working with provinces to modernize the laws for child support, custody and access, and to improve the support to parents and caregivers in times of family crisis.

Our health care system is also cherished by Canadians. Canada's health care system embodies the values we share as a nation. It reflects a society that is caring and compassionate with a strong sense of justice. It provides quality service to all citizens, not just those who can afford to pay for it.

The recent health action plan agreement, agreed to by all first ministers, marked a historic step forward to renew our health care system for the 21st century. The Speech from the Throne echoes the deep commitment of the Liberal government to universal, publicly funded health care, to upholding the principles of the Canada Health Act, and to ensuring our system better meets the needs of Canadians.

The Liberal government plans to invest in health care more than $21 billion over five years, including $8 billion in Ontario. This means shorter waiting lists, more doctors and nurses, better delivery services and improved access. This is important for all Canadians, especially those who live in rural and remote areas.

Another aspect of the throne speech which is of particular relevance to rural Canadians, including those of my own riding, is the government's pledge to help Canada's agricultural sector move beyond crisis management.

Many farmers are facing a crisis beyond their control. High foreign subsidies and historically low prices are making it difficult for farmers to survive and compete. It is incumbent upon us to commit to doing more to support our farmers to enable them to compete on equal footing with their American and European counterparts.

Many Canadians face the challenges of this intense competition. We live in a fast paced, technology driven, global economy. The government has developed bold programs to ensure that all Canadians have access to the education, tools and information they need to develop skills that are in demand. Prospering in an economy requires being connected to the technologies that will drive the future.

To date our government has achieved an enormous success with initiatives such as SchoolNet and community access programs which help communities, public schools and libraries across Canada get on line.

Many communities in my riding, including Blenheim, Chatham, Highgate, Leamington, Merlin, Ridgetown, Tilbury and Wheatley, have benefited from the national strategy for connecting Canadians across the country. I am pleased to see that the federal government will continue to support this strategy and build on its progress.

The throne speech sets forth bold goals in the areas of skills and lifelong learning as well as research and development. We intend at least to double the current federal investment in research and development by the year 2010. Over the next five years we will help at least one million more Canadian adults take advantage of learning opportunities and improve their skills.

We will make it easier for Canadians to finance their learning by creating the registered individual learning accounts. By supporting our youth employment programs we will help our young people make the transition from school to work where they can apply their creative talents. By working with our partners we will assist persons with disabilities who face barriers to full participation in our economy and society. We will invest aggressively in the skills and talents of Canadians to ensure that no one is left behind.

Building a skilled workforce also requires attracting skilled labour from abroad. I am pleased the government intends to reintroduce changes to the immigration legislation. It wants to facilitate the entry of temporary workers to allow for the immediate needs of employers to be met very quickly. It also wants to modernize the system to attract the world's best and brightest to Canada. Canada is a nation of immigrants. It is a country that was built by immigrants, and everyone knows that diversity has made Canada strong and will continue to make us strong.

Strong communities are the goal of the Liberal government and continued work to make our communities strong is the goal the Liberal government will attempt to achieve over its mandate. The throne speech makes it clear that every Canadian should have the opportunity to share in the prosperity of the country. We will do our best to make sure that happens for every Canadian.

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

Madam Speaker, I would like to note that the zone guarantee was not moneys that were directed toward Bombardier as loan guarantees. My hon. colleague knows that.

I listened very carefully to what the he had to say. We have agreements to help less productive provinces, which basically is the member's point today? How would the member respond to Mr. Klein's accusations that too much money is coming out of Alberta, that it is not getting its fair share and that Atlantic Canada is getting a tremendous amount? There seems to be a different philosophy in the member's party from one area of the country to the other.

[Thames River, October 17th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, the legacy continues. In 1984 Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau initiated the Canadian heritage river secretariat to recognize the great natural and human heritage of Canada's rivers.

On August 14, 2000, the Thames River in southwestern Ontario was officially designated as one of Canada's 28 Canadian heritage rivers.

Over its 11,000 year history, the Thames River has played a key historic role. Natives, hunters, explorers, fur traders, settlers, soldiers and former slaves have all travelled this natural highway.

Today, the river and its watershed are home to great diversity of plants, birds, fish and animals, some of which are endangered and found nowhere else in Canada.

Last month, at the annual Heritage Day Festival, I was pleased to join with provincial and first nation representatives to unveil a plaque recognizing the heritage river.

Congratulations to the many volunteers who made this dream a reality.

[Sports, September 19th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize two outstanding athletes from Chatham—Kent. The first is Meaggan Wilton. Meaggan was a virtual unknown in 1998 but scored the winning run that qualified Canada to compete in the Olympics. Now she is in Sydney with the Canadian National Women's Softball Team. That is a dream came true.

The second is past Olympian Shae-Lynn Bourne. On the ice Shae-Lynn and her partner Victor Kraatz have dazzled crowds. They have won seven Canadian championships and four consecutive bronze medals at the World Championships.

Off the ice Shae-Lynn's courageous public stand for fairer judging practices has brought about positive changes in the rules for all competitors. For her efforts Shae-Lynn has just received the Governor General's Meritorious Service Cross.

I congratulate Meaggan and Shae-Lynn, two outstanding ambassadors for Canada.

[Immigration And Refugee Protection Act, May 1st, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, it is very clear, when we look at our Immigration Act and the changes that have been brought about today and will be continuing forever, that we have to ensure that our system does move refugees through as easily and quickly as possible.

There is absolutely no question that it is in part a legislative process that has to be sponsored and supported very strongly by the administration.

It is absolute nonsense for the critic, my hon. colleague across the way, to suggest that a one-member board will slow the system down. When we stop to think about the processes in place with the boards that have been there, it is much easier and certainly a heck of a lot more efficient if there is a person to listen to the tremendous number of appeals going on to make sure they are carried out in a much quicker way. We put extra dollars into the system in order to make sure that those appeals can be heard and dealt with in a lot quicker way. Yes, there may be some that do go to an extra level of questioning and that is only fair. It is only fair that we allow a broader appeal if we do not answer all the questions in the first opportunity.

From the appeals I have seen from constituents in my riding, I would suggest that they are very carefully put together. They are put together in a way that one person listening to them can certainly make judgments as to where and how the effects of the appeals are carried on.

It is not a matter of having poor administration. It is a matter that we are getting more and more immigrants applying to Canada and we have to alter the system to a degree to make certain that we give fair and open hearings to everyone who requires it.

Attacking the administration really does not do anything. What we need to do is look carefully at the suggested changes, at the recommendations that are coming forward, and realize that they will expedite cases in a much better way.

[Immigration And Refugee Protection Act, May 1st, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to continue the debate on the second reading of Bill C-31, the immigration and refugee protection act.

In a world too often torn apart by ethnic, racial and religious strife, Canada is one of the model countries of the world. It certainly is a privilege and an honour that Canada shares with some other nations.

One reason for this tolerance and compassion in Canada is that we are a country of immigrants. Consider today that 46 members of the House were born outside Canada. Our governor general, Adrienne Clarkson, came to Canada as a refugee during the second world war. In the nation's capital many Canadians have participated in high tech companies. Many of the companies were started by immigrants.

Immigrants enrich the everyday lives of Canadians as doctors, nurses, people in our health care system, teachers and university professors. Immigrants who write books, make films and entertain have put Canada's cultural industry on the world stage often winning international awards in the process.

My riding of Chatham—Kent Essex is rich in ethnic diversity. Many of my constituents are refugees who have overcome great economic hardships to build successful new lives for themselves in Canada. Today they contribute to Canadian society as workers in our economy, as volunteers in our communities and as nation builders of Canada for tomorrow.

Indeed with the exception of our aboriginal people, we are all immigrants or refugees or descendants of immigrants and refugees. That is why this debate is so important today. Just as Canada was built by immigrants and refugees, what the country, our children and grandchildren will receive from us will be one built by the systems that we alter and change today.

Honourable members of the House know that countries with the most open minds to immigration throughout history have prospered and flourished. That is why our government has a long term goal of annual immigration levels of 1% of our population. This government knows that healthy immigration levels are the fuel for a dynamic and growing economy. With our declining birth rate and aging population, a strong immigration program is an investment in our future.

As we welcome new arrivals to our shores, Canada continues to benefit from savings, earnings and investment that result and which in turn lead to increased demand for our goods and services. In today's emerging global markets, Canada's multilinguistic and multi-ethnic workers provide us with a great opportunity to be competitive throughout the world.

If immigration has been a vital part of our economic success, our refugee system has earned us a reputation as humanitarian leaders throughout the world. Canadians are proud of our tradition of providing a safe haven for those in genuine need of protection. Time and time again Canadians have opened their hearts and their homes to those fleeing war, persecution and horrendous violations of human rights. In the 1990s many of my constituents joined Canadians across Canada in opening their hearts, often by making financial and other donations to the Kosovars.

The immigration and refugee system has indeed served Canada well. However, the international and domestic environments the systems work in have changed. Therefore, changes are required in our Immigration Act.

Human smuggling has become a major underground industry as some people try to circumvent immigration rules that are provided to protect all. The United Nations estimates that international trafficking operations smuggle over four million people a year across national borders and that smuggling is a $10 billion industry.

Civil war, racial tensions and religious persecution in other parts of the world put innocent people's lives at risk. Requests from refugees seeking safe haven in Canada have increased by almost fiftyfold in the last 20 years, from 500 refugee claims in the 1970s to 24,000 claims in the last few years.

The Canadian economy requires skilled workers and entrepreneurs who can contribute to Canada's economic growth. The draft legislation before us which addresses these and other issues is the result of more than four years of work. The process included nationwide extensive consultations with provincial governments, business groups, the Canadian Bar Association, refugee organizations and individual Canadians.

As has been so aptly put by my hon. colleagues during this debate, Bill C-31 has a dual purpose. The legislation will close the back door for those who would abuse the system. For example, by providing severe penalties and fines of up to $1 million and life imprisonment for people who are smuggling or caught trafficking in humans.

Closing the back door will allow us to open the front door even wider both to genuine refugees and the immigrants Canada will need for a growing, prosperous future. Yes, it is tough on criminal abuse of immigration and refugee protection systems but not on the overwhelming majority of immigrants and refugees who have built this country and will continue to do so in the years ahead.

The comprehensive package before us strengthens the program's integrity and reduces cost without diminishing fairness or legal safeguards that Canadians have built into the system over many years. It also follows through on Canada's throne speech commitment to strengthen measures directed at preventing admittance as well as removal of criminals, terrorists, human rights abusers and human traffickers. These reforms strike a balance between enforcement measures to address the abuse and our need for opening the system. New measures will also help Canada attract immigrants who can contribute to the knowledge-based economy of the 21st century.

Hon. members are very familiar with the backlogs in Canada's immigration and refugee determination systems. We, as members of Parliament, are often asked by permanent residents, families who wish to sponsor potential immigrants and refugee organizations, to help with the long delays. I hope Bill C-31 will quickly be passed into law so that we will be able to inform people in our ridings who ask for our help that concrete measures have been taken to improve our immigration and refugee systems.

Let me enumerate some of the important measures the government has already implemented or will be able to put into place when Bill C-31 is passed.

Client service is being improved through the introduction of global case management systems. This will result in faster processing times. New funds have been designated to clear up backlogs. The management of the inventory of applications for permanent residence and immigration visas abroad is being improved. These measures will mean immigration systems will serve Canadians, permanent residents and potential immigrants faster and more effectively.

The proposed in Canada landing class in the draft legislation for temporary workers, foreign students and sponsored family members of permanent residents would make it easier for these people to remain in Canada. By facilitating the entry of temporary workers through a more service oriented approach, the government will assist employers to meet their immediate needs for skilled workers faster.

There are many measures to keep the refugee system fair but make it faster. These include required eligibility decisions to be made within 72 hours; consolidation of protection decisions of immigration and refugee boards; and the increased use of single member panels supported by paper appeal on merit. All of this will allow genuine refugees to be processed faster so that their lives are not put in limbo while they wait for decisions crucial to their future.

Canadians have made it clear to their elected representatives that they want a system based on respect, both for laws and for the tradition of welcoming newcomers. This bill strikes the balance that Canadians want. I am confident my constituents, both Canadians and those who are new immigrants and refugees, will support the goals of this legislation. I request everyone in the House to give it support.

[Supply, March 20th, 2000]

Madam Speaker, the numbers I have come from official government documents. If the member has different numbers, she had better read the documents and get the proper numbers.

When we talk about cash transfers we are not talking about ad hoc programs. We put $11.5 billion last year into the budget to help the provinces with their financial situations, to put money toward emergencies and to solve problems. We added to that $1.2 billion this year. If we combine the $11.5 billion and $1.2 billion we end up with a huge increase over a two year period which is in the neighbourhood of 25%.

It is important to realize that no member on this side of the House has said that is the limit. The people on this side of the House have said “We have to plan”. We have to work with the provinces, which control the health budgets. We have to make certain that the dollars going in are utilized for the services Canadians need. That is important.

[Supply, March 20th, 2000]

Madam Speaker, I am really pleased to answer that question. Reform Party members used to be Tories, Conservatives. I remember Brian Mulroney led them. They were here in the House. They had the same right wing agenda then as they have today. They said day after day the Liberals tax and spend. That right wing party with its counterpart over there increased our debt three times in an eight year period. When they came in the debt was $168 billion. When they left it was over $500 billion.

Are we proud of cutting? Darn right, we are proud of cutting, because it had to be done. If we did not make the cuts, my children, my grandchildren and my great-grandchildren would have to pay for the overspending. It had to be done and there is no question about it.

The reality is that the folks across the way say one thing but do something different. They say “We are going to get the economy rolling correctly”. Everybody knows that it was not the Reform Party that had anything to do with straightening out the economy; it was good, solid Liberal policy. We straightened out the economy and now I am proud to be in the position of being able to make Canadian lives better.