John O'Reilly

[Supply, April 4th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, being a former hockey player I was used to ragging the puck whenever I was able to get it.

Haliburton—Victoria—Brock had a large number of grants in the riding, in fact, the most in southern Ontario, next to Toronto. With over 200 programs, it was a great concern to me when the leader of the opposition started yelling the new word “boondoggle”. I was very concerned because this was a word I had never heard before and was one I was not sure if I was part of.

I asked the local press to audit some of the programs in my riding. The first one it audited was the Lindsay Boys and Girls Club because it was the largest recipient. It has a number of programs that cater to youth in the riding, that cater to boys and girls programs and provides a large variety of very worthwhile programs. It was one that I thought the municipality and the county could not afford. Therefore, we were very appreciative that these grants came into the ridings.

The audit on the Lindsay Boys and Girls Club looked at the applications made, the method of what checks and balances had to take place in order for them to receive and keep the grant and how the money was actually spent. I felt that that program withstood the scrutiny of the boondoggle by the opposition party formerly known as the Reform. As in the largest majority of the grants, I felt there were no problems.

We wanted to make sure that the minister was well aware of the good publicity received in our riding because we honestly took a look at just exactly what the opposition was talking about. Therefore, in doing our own audits and publishing the names of every organization that received grants, whether it was a local pizza parlour that was hiring youth for the summer so that they could have their first job, so that they could afford to go to university, so that they could pay their tuition, I felt that all of these programs stood on their own merits.

As we looked at each one of them and as we looked at the ones proposed again this year, we wanted HRDC to know that we are quite pleased with the amount of grants, the number of grants, and the proportion of them. Of course we would like more money. Who would not? But we want them to know that these grants mean something to ridings.

In Haliburton we do not have to go very far to find a population with a high unemployment rate, with a seasonal work problem. We have as many problems in trying to address that as the east coast and, to some extent, the great north.

HRDC has already provided the results of an internal audit in the grants and contributions program and we have done our own audit in our riding. This total audit identifies some shortcomings in the management of the department's grants and contributions program. I think that is normal.

If we take my riding with over 200 grants, we cannot look at that and say that there would not be someone who did not dot an i or cross a t or send back the wrong form. That is only human nature, but in fact the internal audits are made to identify things that need fixing. That is why organizational reviews and audits are basically tools used by modern managers to make sure the right structures are in place and the right resources are available.

We are in a changing world. We are in a world where certain pockets need more help than others. We have to admit that not everyone is caught up in the metropolitan Toronto boom. Not everyone is caught up in the high tech industries. In my mind, Ontario is not Toronto. That is maybe what happens with the party formerly known as Reform. It has kind of looked at Toronto as if it were Ontario. It really is not.

If we look at the riding of Haliburton—Victoria—Brock, there are 46 municipalities, 24 Santa Claus parades and 18 cenotaph services. We never have a time where we are not busy. In fact, last weekend I had the pleasure of accompanying the minister of agriculture for Canada as he toured one of the newest operations, one of the great new dairy operations.

If we go to that area we will find 450 active dairy farms. Let us think about that, 450 active dairy farms in my riding alone. The member for Wentworth—Burlington is waiting to heckle me because he does not have dairy farms. Does he have dairy farms?

[Petitions, March 27th, 2000]

Pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am presenting a petition from the people of the Kingston area who will be in your thoughts, Mr. Speaker.

The petitioners call upon parliament to enact legislation to establish an independent governing body to develop, implement and enforce uniform and mandatory mammography quality assurance and quality control standards in Canada.

[Petitions, February 17th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am pleased to present a petition from the people of Haliburton, Minden, Tory Hill and Wilberforce.

The petitioners call on parliament to direct the Department of Justice to vigorously defend section 43 of the criminal code and to terminate all funding for this case under the court challenges program. They request parliament to affirm the duty of parents to responsibly raise their children according to their own conscience and beliefs and to retain section 43 of Canada's criminal code as it is currently worded.

[Petitions, February 11th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I wish to present a petition from the people of Haliburton, Minden and area.

They are calling upon parliament to take all measures necessary to ensure that possession of child pornography remains a serious criminal offence and that federal police forces be directed to give priority to enforcing this law for the protection of our children.

[The Economy, February 10th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, when the Conservative Party was thrown out of office in 1993 it left a sorry legacy of high unemployment, high taxes, high deficit and high interest rates. Canadians had lost complete confidence in the Conservatives' ability to manage the economy and further the interests of our nation. The unemployment rate was 11.4% and Canadians faced a $42 billion deficit, the highest in Canadian history.

Today, after six years of Liberal management, the country has turned around. The unemployment rate is 6.8%, 4.6% lower than when we took office. Over 1.7 million jobs have been created in the private sector since this Liberal government took office. Our government's jobs and growth strategy has created more jobs in just six years than in nine years under Tory prime ministers Mulroney and Campbell—

[Petitions, December 16th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have the pleasure to present a petition from the people of the Haliburton-Minden area calling on parliament to retain section 43 of Canada's Criminal Code as it is currently worded.

[Divorce Act, December 10th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I commend the member for Mississauga South and add a little praise for some of the work he has done in the House, particularly on Bill C-235. Sometimes we know the parliamentary secretary is anxious to jump up to get rid of a bill and tell us why we cannot vote for it. This is actually a non-votable item so it does not really matter what the parliamentary secretary says or what anyone says.

It is important in life for people to obtain counselling for divorce, family or any other matter. They need the ability, not necessarily in legislation, to sit down with someone who is clear thinking and talk about their problems.

I was disappointed that the statements today of a couple of people who did not do any counselling bordered on no one being welcome in Quebec unless he or she speaks pure French, even though 42% of Quebeckers have Irish backgrounds much like myself.

Back in my early years as a member of the parole board I do not believe I counselled anyone over there so I do not have to worry about them. At that time I looked at the problems of incarcerated people, people who had been sent to jail. Before sitting down I would read the case files and note that they came from broken homes, that they were abused as children, that they dropped out of school at very early ages, and that they were suffering some type of substance abuse whether drugs or alcohol. That provided me with a catchment.

Very early on in my career here I was asked to speak at a breakfast meeting in Ottawa. I was not sure I was capable of speaking at it because it was the Parkdale Baptist Church. It sent around a topic that I was to speak on: the cost of being a Christian member of parliament.

I looked at it and thought as a Christian and family oriented person that perhaps I could speak to it, and so I did. I did some research which showed that at one point in time previous to 1993 the divorce rate among members of parliament elected for a second term was at about 75%. I thought that was pretty high compared to the rest of the country. The last time I checked it was still hovering around 72% to 75% as a result of a couple of issues.

As a rule members of parliament are elected at a later stage in their lives. They are moved away from the family unit and operate in a vacuum in this building and in the area that surrounds it. Their lives become run by the whip's offices, by the various bills that are presented, and by the pressures of the media surrounding them. Probably members of parliament, more than most people, need counselling and help in coping with everyday life. Certainly when they are away from home five days a week it plays havoc on the family.

The basic premise of what the member for Mississauga South has brought forth both in the book he has written and in the bills he put before the House is that counselling is very important to the life cycle, that counselling is probably at the heart of talking out one's problems.

The member has come forward with a bill that encourages people to have counselling before they get divorced. In fact, before they get married there should be counselling.

My wife Marilyn and I took part in the premarriage encounter course in my hometown of Lindsay. We were worried the first weekend that we spent at the church with a group of young people all full of vim and vigour ready to get married. We were shocked when we found that three couples broke up that weekend. The ministerial association was delighted and said, “What we have done and what this course has done and what this counselling has done is it has prevented divorces. It has prevented broken homes. It has prevented people from starting a family before they realize they are not compatible, that they have nothing in common, they have nothing that they can actually associate with”.

In life, as we know, as soon as people start going together society starts to pull the couple apart. Whether it is boy scouts, girl guides, the women's leagues, baseball or sports, the forces that people have to deal with start to pull couples apart. They have to look at how they are going to handle that.

Couples that are getting married in the church are now told that they have to attend a premarriage encounter course. That course involves human sexuality, the legal aspects and spiritual aspects of marriage and all kinds of things that are important to what my friend from Mississauga South is trying to get at. When a family is established and is functioning as a unit, there are differences. Every family, whether it is brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, grandparents or in-laws, has differences. Most of the minor things can be talked out before they become major things.

The member's bill would cause the government to look at what it is in law that should be standard to allow families to stay together. Whether it is a certain type of tax deduction which allows more counselling in marriage or which allows persons to spend more time at home, all of those things have to do with mental health as married couples or as common law couples. Fewer people are getting married and more people are living common law but they suffer the same problems. Counselling also has advantages in their lives.

The member for Mississauga South has brought forward something that causes us as parliamentarians to take a look and say, yes, counselling is important, marriage is important, common law relationships are important. People can deal with each other in situations as a family and go to counselling and talk out their differences. Bill C-235 is important.

Mr. Speaker, that is either a Roman ordering five beers or you are telling me my time is up. I want to thank you, Mr. Speaker, for indicating that.

Parliamentarians should keep in mind that 75% of all marriages among people elected for a second term end up in divorce or split homes, split marriages. Members should call home if they have not lately. They should make sure that they spend some time with their family so that they do not need the type of legislation the member is bringing forward and they do not need the type of counselling that is going to come out of a marriage split-up.

I agree in some ways that divorce may be the end of a long process. If people talk at the very start, that process ends up being a very short process but also a very sweet and loving one.

I thank the member for Mississauga South for bringing forward Bill C-235. I know the member for Scarborough Southwest has something to say on it, so I will end my speech now.

[House Of Commons, December 10th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, this is a very historic week in parliament where Tuesday became Wednesday and Wednesday became Thursday. Now here we are on Friday and I am glad to see the table has changed.

Voting took place in here for some 43 hours. People talked about a waste of time and money, but I want to talk about the thanks that should be given to the staff, in particular to the pages, the clerks, the bus drivers, the security, the table officers, the Hansard staff, the sound and TV people, and in particular the cleaning staff who made such a fabulous job of cleaning up after our sitting for some 43 hours and voting.

Let us take the time to thank the people who support us here and my thanks on behalf of Haliburton—Victoria—Brock.

[Nisga'A Final Agreement Act, December 2nd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry to disappoint my friend that there are enough people here who actually want to listen, that he is not alone even though all his people have abandoned him in trying to not have a quorum. I understand those dilatory type motions they have.

Mr. Speaker, I do not know whether you are giving me the V-sign for victory or whether I have actually come to the end of my term here, so this will be my wrap-up.

Since 1993 when the B.C. treaty process was launched, treaty negotiations have been wide open, the most open and accessible process of its kind that the treaty commission is aware of. That is from British Columbia. That is what British Columbians think. They do not think of the three Rs of parliament that the Reform Party brought—

[Nisga'A Final Agreement Act, December 2nd, 1999]

I will come to that. I am being heckled here about the B.C. Liberal/Reform Party headed by Gordon Campbell, the B.C. Liberal/Reform member who swims from a very shallow gene pool when it comes to trying to get votes.

Bill Vander Zalm, the hero, the big reform guy out there in B.C. endorsed this. Now, flip flop, flip flop; it is worse than Stornoway. It is just another big flip flop by the Reform Party and Bill Vander Zalm. Get real. Bill Vander Zalm, man, that is sad. What people will not do in a leadership for votes. Where are they? They are running around to every camera. I will read this quote:

It is especially important now for the labour movement to discuss the Nisga'a Agreement everywhere we can since David Black, who publishes 60 community newspapers in B.C., has given instructions to his editors to publish only editorials opposing the settlement.

I saw a member of the Reform Party's research department trying to find a Globe and Mail this morning so—