Rick Laliberte

[Post-Secondary Education, February 6th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, students are graduating with debts of $25,000 on average while the minister makes policy by holding up his finger to figure out which way the political winds are blowing.

Will the minister stop playing politics, get down to business, discuss the millennium fund with the students and commit himself to base the grants on need?

[Post-Secondary Education, February 6th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday the human resources minister told students in Ontario that the proposed millennium fund for post-secondary education would be based on need. Later that same time he told Quebec reporters that the fund would be based on academic merit. No wonder students are angry. They cannot get a straight answer from the government.

Could the minister tell us which is it? Is it based on merit or or need?

[Child Benefit, February 5th, 1998]

Madam Speaker, on October 6, 1997 I asked the Minister of Environment about additional cuts to her department's mandate and staff. These cuts will affect up to 200 positions on top of the 1400 positions cut from the previous Liberal budgets. There was an apparent shortfall of $8 million to $10 million to meet the finance minister's deficit quota.

The entire planet has realized that there are problems in our atmosphere yet the environment minister will be cutting the atmospheric environment program, a program that includes internationally recognized research, science and development. As a nation we are beginning a journey to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to meet international obligations from Kyoto and to take steps to protect the atmosphere for our children and their children. How can the minister justify further cuts to the department that is so vital to understanding our atmosphere and climate change?

As my colleague from the Yukon described last fall, the weather for the Arctic will be forecast and broadcast from southern British Columbia. Will it take the loss of lives caught in a freak winter storm to bring the minister to her senses?

In my riding of Churchill River air services are a key component of our northern lives. We now rely on weather reports from as far away as Winnipeg. When will the cuts to weather services be stopped? Enough is enough.

The Environmental Protection Branch is also slated for further cuts. This is the very department which monitors most of the worst polluters in this country. It is responsible for waste management and risk management in the mining, chemical, pulp and paper sectors.

Not all companies are polluters, but to expect Canadians to believe this Liberal government and to tolerate the cuts to the very department which protects communities from the bad apples is asking a bit too much.

Voluntary, voluntary is what Canadians are told by the Liberal government as the best way for industry to monitor and police itself. Who is the Liberal government trying to protect? Is it the industry and its lobbyists or the health, safety and environment of all Canadians?

The decline in environmental services is felt right across this fine country. The big problem is not just the federal environment cuts. One must consider the added insult that many Canadians share. The provinces have been meeting deficit quotas as well and the environment departments are often the first to be sliced and diced.

Ontario has cut over 40% of its environment ministry since 1995. Staff levels have been reduced by 36%. Who is protecting the environment?

The Plastimet story reminded every Canadian that accidents can happen. The health and safety of Canadians is being compromised.

In my riding of Churchill River we experienced severe flooding last summer. Communities were not warned, properties were damaged and many lives were disrupted. I discovered that Environment Canada does not monitor rivers or possible flooding in my riding. It has been passed off to the province or to the private sector, or even partnered.

It is hard to keep track. There are so many different names but the story is the same. Cut, cut, cut. The deficit quotas must stop. With the deficit battle met and a balanced budget close at hand, will the minister stop the cuts and invest $8 million to $10 million in our children's sustainable future?

[Ice Storm 1998, February 4th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Acadie—Bathurst.

I would like to congratulate the House for taking the time to reflect on the ice storm of 1998.

I represent a riding, Churchill River in northern Saskatchewan, which was far removed from the present ice storm and the harsh realities that the citizens of Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick experienced.

With the blessings of modern day media we had a chance to see the images and hear the stories of people's daily routine disrupted. Their safety was compromised, their whole educational process put on hold and their health and basic necessities unavailable to them.

I also think of the cause of it. If we look at an ice storm, raining for numerous days in the middle of winter, it is a climate disruption of huge magnitude. The news is quick to say that the intensity of El Nino is blamed for our present day climate disruptions such as forest fires and grass fires at the foothills of Alberta and the rain and the floods which are happening on the coasts of the United States.

If we take a second look at these climate disruptions, just before Christmas we had a major debate and a major international conference in Kyoto dealing with the human effects of greenhouse gases on climate change.

These are the messages. We have to read these. What are we preparing ourselves for?

I am proud to be Canadian when I see all the efforts made by the provinces, neighbours, the communities, the municipalities, the provincial governments in Quebec and Ontario, all putting their efforts into getting the basic requirements back in order.

I had an opportunity after leaving Parliament Hill last night to travel to Montreal and the South Shore. The impact of being without hydro is causing a real struggle. There are still communities and families without power and therefore the basic necessity of heat.

It is now time to pick up the pieces. Members have mentioned the environmental impact with all those trees snapped off at the beginning of their higher reaches. They now have to be cleaned up. Imagine the manpower required to clean the ice off the equipment and get some of the productivity going again on the farms, for the maple producers and the many industries in those regions.

I have taken notes tonight that I will take back to my constituency to try to learn how we would handle a disaster or catastrophe in our area. What would we do?

For example, travelling through St. Jean this morning, family farms all over the place were affected. Family farms are an integral part of the economy of Quebec, the prairie provinces, Ontario. They have become dependent on hydro. Hydro provides heat and light.

A few decades ago the wood stove played a major role. It was a legacy from family to family and from generation to generation. Why isn't the wood stove a basic necessity of a home now? A lot of our young people are moving to the cities. You cannot haul your wood stove into an apartment. Look at the family farm.

Why are we compromising family industries? Let us caution the people in Quebec and Ontario who have been hit hard and are thinking of giving up their farms or businesses because of the effects of this catastrophe. Let us extend what assistance we can as a nation, as a province and as a neighbour.

While sitting in the warmth of my home in northern Saskatchewan watching the daily news report, a constituent walked in and asked how can they could help. I was astounded. I had no network to tap into. The army was moving into the region.

What came to my mind is why do we not have a network of communities in Canada. Why could home town not be paired off with a sister community in Quebec or in B.C.? If we had a hard time as was experienced in this past month, we could reach out for help and safety. If there are hard times in our community some time in the future, we could call on this sister community.

That came to mind when I was in Big River and had coffee with students in a Katimavik program. The students had just moved in to start a new program in that area. There were students from British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario. I asked them about the ice storm. They shared stories about phoning home to check on the safety of their people who were in shelters and that the elderly were taken care of. They were assured they could continue.

That was a message for me as well. Katimavik is a youth corps program bringing our youth together to work on community projects. Community projects will be required to clean up the forests and the communities. There are many branches hanging off the trees. If the kids climb those trees, those big branches are going to fall. Safety will be compromised. The youth corps should be looked at in Canada, an environmental youth corps to clean up and give us a support structure built on Katimavik ten times more than what it is now.

The reserves were talked about. There are no reserves in my area. The military is removed from a different sector into another part of the province or the neighbouring province. The reserves should be expanded in this country so that when people are in times of atrocities or catastrophes we can feel a part of it.

A network of experience could be brought together if we could communicate. The CBC News and the CTV News really communicated in terms of bringing the news into our homes.

We have to look at our resources in the House of Commons, in the provinces and in our communities. On behalf of the people of Churchill River, we offer our support if there is any way we can help pick up the pieces at this time.

The ice storm is similar to a fire. When a major forest fire has impact on a province, neighbouring provinces will send fire crews to fight the fire. There are fire crews all along the boreal forest. The crews are outfitted to camp and be self-sufficient. They have communications systems. Why could they not be mobilized into this area to pick up the pieces of the ice storm of 1998?

That is what I offer. Thank you for this opportunity to listen, to gain from the knowledge and to take the experience back to the region I represent.

[The Environment, December 4th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to address my question to the prime minister.

The federal government has up to 5,000 contaminated sites across Canada and it has no plan to clean them up.

The auditor general estimates a minimum price tag of $2.8 billion and further inaction will only increase these costs. PCBs, military sites, ports and harbours, government lands, old bases and dumps need to be cleaned up and the government has no idea where most of these sites are.

When will the government stop dragging its feet and stonewalling, clean up these sites and get Canadians back to work restoring our environment?

[The Environment, December 1st, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal announcement for Kyoto is finally here but it is no where near the previous red book promises or international commitments. Canadians know that Liberals often miss or forget their promises.

Will the Minister of the Environment assure Canadians that job creation will be a major instrument used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

[The Environment, December 1st, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Natural Resources.

On the Kyoto announcement, is the government intent on supporting the Reform fearmongering on this issue instead of acknowledging that efforts to cut emissions can be a powerful job creator?

Could the Minister of Natural Resources explain what targets have been set for job creation through greenhouse gas emission efforts like public transportation, building retrofits, clean environmental technologies and transitional funding for displaced workers and industries?

[Goods And Services Tax, November 28th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I will try to be brief.

The motion asks for the government to consider removing GST on books and reading material. This inhibits and puts up blockades and barriers in people's journey down the road to literacy. The worse effect is for the people who cannot afford it. That is what my colleague pointed out. People who can barely afford to buy a book have to also pay the 7% GST.

The Reform Party says that it supports tax incentives but not GST on books. Liberal members on this side are telling us that they appreciate the literacy issue but removing the GST from books is not necessarily on their agenda.

The last Liberal member who spoke created an interesting debate, and I have to take him on. He indicated that we do not need school boards. That is a major debate.

School boards, university senates and boards of directors of community colleges are trying to create an ownership of their communities and regions by representing parents and children to try to envision the future of their education. At the moment, there is no national vision on education as it has been decentralized to the provinces.

A national vision creates a vision for the journey from kindergarten to grade 12. After grade 12, when they graduate, we drop them off. If the student survives, great. We congratulate them if they find a career. If they do they will probably be wealthy enough to buy a house or a vehicle and maybe some books for their children, but there is no journey.

Our acts of education say that the provinces are responsible for our children until they are 21 years old. In reality, the majority of these graduates are 17 and 18. We are short-circuiting our investment on our children.

Why not invest in our children regardless of what journey or where they are at in high school, university, trade school, community college, business school or any other school they are in until they are 21 or 25 years old? Why not take this huge tax grab that we call GST and invest it correctly?

Historically, the biggest tax incentives came after the second world war. The country was ready to fight in a war against some aggression in the world and suppress it. We won that war. Now this tax incentive in money and resources is to make our lives safe and peaceful in an international community. However, we cannot do this without the betterment of our children and a vision for our youth in this great country we call Canada from coast to coast to coast.

The GST is a major test for the parties. The hon. member is raising a major issue. The GST on the print media is a disincentive for these children and does not give them the opportunity to get their hands on books, magazines and a learning stage. This is a simple test.

Other bigger debates will come into this House and I look forward to being a big part of those debates if they enter the House. In the meantime, let us take the GST off. That is all the member is asking.

[Canada Co-Operatives Act, November 28th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I have heard stories from my parents and grandparents about the fur trade and the creation of a co-operative movement to try to market their furs. Unfortunately, we lived in the backwoods of the Churchill River, far removed from the garment makers in Montreal. In those days it was way beyond anyone's means to transport or communicate in order to co-operatively market and envision ourselves as a world leader in garment development in fur.

The co-operatives have taken on challenges. They have made mistakes by trying to develop economies through a collective effort in the communities. We cannot blame them for that because the effort was worth it. Individual markets and the globalization of multinationals who take out of our markets and economies is probably our nation's biggest fear.

Look at the success of the agricultural co-ops, the pools in marketing their grains and agricultural products worldwide. It is a major success. We have a wealth of resources in this country, resources in our people and our ideas. We have our timber, mining, water and other natural resources and non-renewable resources, all living resources.

I would like members to pay attention when they go to the parliamentary restaurant and turn to the right as they enter. They will see a picture highlighting the capital of this nation and its pyramid load is on the land, the resources, the timber, mining and fish. That image should be drawn up in a co-operative measure as how to go forward into the next millennium.

Look at the crown corporations. We have been selling off our railroads to American interests. All of a sudden Omnitrax owns major tracks of railroads in western Canada. Why did we not give the first option to Canadians? Maybe a Canadian co-operative could have taken up the transportation sector. Why not challenge ourselves in a co-operative perspective and give the first option to truly Canadian people as opposed to outside offshore interests?

I am very proud to speak on behalf of all the New Democrats and support this growing process of the co-operative movement in our nation. I encourage all Canadians to support their co-operatives in their regions. We must keep the process of negotiating these bills and amendments by taking it to the co-operative leaders and representatives and let them design and structure the necessary bills and legislation to come before the House.

The amendment which came in late, unfortunately may have missed the opportunity. However, I think it is truly a technical oversight on the part of legislators.

In closing, there are issues on the multilateral agreement on investment that will impinge on our national ability to improve the economy and the strength of our Canadian companies because outside interests can actually test the favouritism of our Canadian corporations and co-operatives.

The parties have united in supporting the co-operatives bill. We are looking to the government and the collection of all representatives of Canada to see the co-operatives flourish in this nation.

[Canada Co-Operatives Act, November 28th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I stand on behalf of my party to support Bill C-5, as amended.

The amendments up to now, until the recent amendment which was moved quickly, were consistent with the co-operative way of doing business. The co-operative movement during consultations was challenged to support the bill as it was drafted, as well as the amendments. It went two rounds in the co-operative sector before it went one round in the federal sector. That shows great respect for the co-operative movement. These amendments seem to be all but technical issues. The co-operative sector actively discussed the amendments as did officials from Industry Canada, the co-op secretariat of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and there was a representation from the co-op of national organizations.

With respect to the position that the co-op sector has had in its gatherings as representatives, this bill seems to be a great step for our country. I would like to talk to the whole co-operative movement about how it will deal in light of the increasingly globalized world.

There are many federated co-op activities in Canada in areas related to fuel and food and many other items that meet the basic economic needs of people in this country. There is one key phrase among these items, “Truly Canadian”. That is probably the most powerful message of the co-operative movement. That is a unity message for us. Even our fellow representatives from Quebec showed support for a co-operative movement in their provinces. That co-op supports the idea that people should combine their efforts, their resources and their visions in an effort to create and support our economy. An entrepreneur from downtown New York would never imagine helping someone in small town Canada.

We have seen the Arctic co-ops shine. They are groups of partisans and craftsmen who have gathered their crafts and their marketing skills and have shown the world that as Inuit artists they could not do it singlehandedly. An individual could not create the energy or the economy or the resources, but many individuals could create collectively. As a collective the Inuit artists can be seen as a spotlight of this nation throughout the world.

I draw the House's attention to some of the experiences the co-ops have created in this country. In my neck of the woods, the Boreal Forest, the fur industry was a major activity. It was handled through Hudson's Bay and the Rupert's Land agreements of the British North America Act. All of a sudden the fur trade began to wither away. Nobody represented the trappers. All of a sudden their whole economy was falling apart.

The fur marketing board started up in northern Saskatchewan and the province of Saskatchewan through the CCF movement saw the light that could empower the people to market their own product.