Dennis Mills

[Petitions, January 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 the attached petition is certified correct. It is signed by many people from the greater Toronto area.

The undersigned residents of Canada humbly ask and draw the attention of the House to the following. As a consequence of the death, separation or divorce of their children, grandparents are often denied access to their grandchildren by their guardians. The relationship that exists between grandparents and grandchildren is a natural, fundamental one. Denial of access could constitute elder abuse and could have a serious detrimental emotional impact on both the grandparents and the grandchildren. Several provincial jurisdictions, including the Quebec

civil code, contain a provision to ensure the right of access of grandparents to their grandchildren.

Therefore the petitioners request that the Parliament amend the Divorce Act to include a provision similar to article 6(11) of the Quebec civil code which states: "In no case may a father or mother without serious cause place obstacles between a child and grandparents and failing agreement between the parties the modalities of the relations are settled by the court".

Further, an amendment to the Divorce Act would give a grandparent who is granted access to a child the right to make inquiries and to be given information as to the health, education and welfare of the child.

[Speech From The Throne, January 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by congratulating the member for Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot for his maiden speech in the House of Commons. There were moments as I listened to him speak when I was reminded of some of the things that we said in opposition just a few months ago. I would like to be very specific about that part of his speech that dealt with the issue of tax reform.

I want to say to the hon. member that the Prime Minister stated repeatedly before the campaign, during the campaign and during the speech from the throne that this government is dedicated to comprehensive tax reform. We are dedicated to working with all members of this House in finding a more simple, fair and efficient way of dealing with the tax issue in this country. We agree that the current tax act has tax preferences and privileges that need to be reviewed because the current system is not working.

He should not think that because we have come from one side of the floor to the other we will run away from the issue. Many members know I have a particular bias in that area called the single tax, l'impôt unique, and I will be sending copies to him and his colleagues for review.

The second point I want to make to the member has to do with his statement where he said "we want to have a situation in Quebec where our financial condition does not deteriorate". I support the position the member has taken, but I think it is important to point out to all Canadians and all Quebecers that we have a system in this country, managed by the Government of Canada, called the equalization entitlement program.

As the member knows, the province of Quebec is at this moment in time a have not province, as are many other provinces. We do have three provinces that we define as have provinces; British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. Since 1969 the equalization entitlement, and I stress the word entitlement here, by this federation, which is the total amount of that transfer to the province of Quebec, has been approximately $52 billion. I support this approach and that is why I think it is important to have a strong national government. I will make sure that the member has time to respond.

What I am having a very difficult time understanding is how one can maintain the same standards in education, health care and all other national standards that all of us want to achieve when one gives up a situation called equalization.

[Speech From The Throne, January 20th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by congratulating you on your new appointment. I would also like to congratulate the member for Fraser Valley West on his maiden speech.

I want to suggest something to the member with which we in the House will have to concern ourselves. The hon. member mentioned in his speech on a couple of occasions that the bottom line was the same bottom line. Having come from a business background I realize the bottom line in business is earnings per share. It is how much money we made and how much we have to invest or reinvest. However in this boardroom the bottom line is different. The bottom line for us as members of Parliament is people. It is a totally different bottom line.

When we talk about the concerns of our constituents-and I have to concern myself with my constituents-we think of the number of people who are unemployed and the number of people who are on welfare. They are looking to us to try to create some confidence and try to stimulate the economy which has lacked confidence for the last four or five years.

The member talked about the convention centre in Quebec City being a forum for bringing business together, creating markets and opportunities for business exchange and exports. It will create not only short term construction jobs. It will create a convention environment where things can happen, where sales, marketing and everything else can take place that will put people back to work so that we can ultimately reduce the $30 billion disbursement on unemployment insurance and welfare last year.

Can he not see that as a possible way of reducing and meeting the objective?

[Speech From The Throne, January 20th, 1994]

A single tax.

[Speech From The Throne, January 20th, 1994]

Madam Speaker, on a point of order. Is not the question and answer period 10 minutes?

[Speech From The Throne, January 20th, 1994]

Madam Speaker, I would like to begin by congratulating the member for Calgary West on his maiden speech in the House of Commons. I know it will be a constructive experience over the next four or five years.

I would like to get right to my question because I know this member by reputation and I know he cares about small and medium sized businesses in this country, especially in his own community and in his own province. I noted that he did not seem

to spend a lot of time in his opening remarks commenting on the difficulty that small business is having getting access to capital.

The Prime Minister said repeatedly during the campaign, in the red book and in the speech from the throne, that small and medium sized businesses would really be the engine for putting people back to work. The greatest hope for putting people back to work rests with the entrepreneurial spirit in that small business area. We all know that the banks are really not co-operating with that sector.

I wonder if the member could explain to this House if the Reform Party shares the view of our party that the financial institutions of this country really have to deal with putting the economy back on track. I wonder if the member would stand and say that the Reform Party will join with us in making sure that the banks do their job for small businesses.

[Petitions, January 20th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have the privilege to present before this House petitions that have been signed by constituents from not only my riding but from around the greater Toronto area. They call on Parliament to recognize that the incidence of violence against women and children is unacceptable.

The petitioners humbly pray and call upon Parliament to accept legislation designed to eliminate violence against women and children, encourage and support women to report incidents of assault or abuse, provide assistance and support for women reporting assault or abuse and the need for abuser rehabilitation.

They want to concentrate special effort on the training of police, lawyers, court workers and judges to become knowledgeable about women and child abuse and also to focus public attention on this very important and long ignored problem.