Lost his last election, in 2000, with 28% of the vote.
Interest Rates October 2nd, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Minister of Finance who, I guess like everyone else, was surprised yesterday to learn that interest rates are now on the way up again.
We have acknowledged that inflation, at 1.8 percent, is well within the parameters of the Bank of Canada's monetary policy. The minister says he has to take action because the inflation rate is at 1.8 percent.
How high do unemployment levels have to go before the minister also takes action on interest rates?
Speech From The Throne October 2nd, 1997
Madam Speaker, I listened with interest to my hon. friend. He spoke with a great deal of eloquence about how well the government has done in his view. I suspect, knowing his constituency well, that he deals with a great number of immigration problems.
Years ago one of the dark sides of Canadian history was the head tax on Asians. We have rejected that as one of the darkest moments in our history as a country.
His government recently imposed a major head tax on all new Canadians. He will know that this poses an incredible burden, in particular on poor families coming from developing countries.
I would be curious to know what my hon. friend says to new Canadians who are applying to have relatives, friends and extended families come to Canada and have to pay these exorbitant head taxes now as a result of the taxes imposed by his government on new Canadians.
Speech From The Throne September 25th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I will be very brief. My hon. friend asked about the MPs' pension. Perhaps the best thing he could do would be to ask his own members of the Reform Party to take their pensions.
Speech From The Throne September 25th, 1997
Was that a question, Mr. Speaker? It was kind of a rant, I thought.
My hon. friend is right. The government announced that it will do something to help students some day in the future. Is this not nice? In fact it was more precise. By the year 2000 it will take some action.
If my friends opposite were sincere about helping young people afford post-secondary education, they would go far beyond having a scholarship program. They would consider doing away with tuition fees in our post-secondary institutions.
I can hear my hon. friend now, that whining we hear all the time: “Where are they going to get the money?” We always hear whining from across the way.
This is not a new concept. Other countries that put a priority on young people's education have long had tuition free universities and colleges. It is not a new concept. It exists today.
Rather than give a tax break to one of the tens of thousands of very profitable corporations that do not pay a single cent in income tax year after year, why do we not close some of those loopholes? Then we could have some money for post-secondary education funding.
We will hear comments any day now—we should be hearing them in question period today—that the government has decided the Cadillac helicopter purchase has been changed into a Chevrolet and now we can afford it. We will be dishing out money now for the helicopters. Fair enough. That is what this job is all about. Helicopters will probably be a lot more important than helping poor children. Buying helicopters will probably be a more important initiative than helping young people afford education. That is a decision that the government might well take.
If it does, let us recognize that as long as it tolerates more than one million children living in poverty it will have to wear on its shoulders what the Conference of Catholic Bishops reminded us is a form of child abuse.
Speech From The Throne September 25th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I apologize. I got so worked up that I just could not help it. However, I do have another whole version of it here. Pap is pretty cheap.
When I listened to the throne speech in the other place, I reflected back on the last number of years here. I go back to the Tories because it is basically the same group, only different faces.
I remember as a kid having my mother read me a story by Robert Louis Stevenson, called The Wreckers where unscrupulous people on a desert island would light fires on the rocks at night to lure ships into thinking it was a harbour. The ships would smash on the rocks, people would loot the ships and the people on the wrecked ships would die.
This reminds of the government. This reminds me of my Liberal friends. I wonder if they really know what they are doing to the people of Canada.
There is a reference in the throne speech to the deficit war being won. I suspect that if we listen carefully we would hear the Liberals cheering, saying “We won the deficit war. Yes, we were successful”.
If we were to acknowledge the heroes of the deficit war over the last number of years it would not be the Minister of Finance and our Liberal colleagues across the way or our previous Conservative friends in the House of Commons. It would be the long line-ups of people waiting to get into hospital. It would be the thousands and thousands of young people with huge debt loads on their shoulders as a result of having to fund so much of their education. It would be the 1.4 million people who do not have a decent job or perhaps do not even have a job at all. It would be the millions who have part-time jobs and are barely scraping through to make ends meet for their families.
We could talk about others like the 10,000 people every month, month after month, who declare personal or business bankruptcy, who are walking away from their businesses and their homes. In many cases they walk away from devastated families as a result of the economic policies of the government.
They are the true heroes of this deficit war. They should be the ones who are first rewarded when there is a dividend. The minute there is a surplus we should go back and start mending the safety net that has been ripped and torn apart by the Liberals and by the Conservatives before them. This should be a top priority if we are a caring and decent country.
I look across at these people. They look like nice people but I do not think they care about people. If they cared about people, would they permit having over a million children—they are laughing, Mr. Speaker. I do not think this is funny. They are laughing at over a million children waking up this morning and living in poverty in the richest country in the world. The Conference of Catholic Bishops calls it a form of child abuse, that this is allowed to happen. The government has to accept responsibility for that.
These people sit quietly in their places and give little speeches in the House of Commons about how nice the country is, how great they are and how hardworking we are all going to be. This country is in a mess for a growing number of people.
I acknowledge that luxury car sales are up. I acknowledge that the Toronto Stock Exchange is at historic levels. I admit that corporate profits have never been higher and the banks are happier than they ever have been in our banking history. At the same time increasing numbers of Canadians are living in poverty, increasing numbers of people are losing their jobs, their businesses and their homes.
What will the government do about this? Let us look in the throne speech. We are positive, happy people trying to find some goodness left in this world. There must be some goodness left in this government. There must be something in here about what it will do about the 1.4 million people who do not have jobs today. Is it mentioned?
I am being asked to talk about something new. The Liberals would love me to shut up about this topic. They would love me to stop talking about the 1.4 million people who are out of jobs? They would love me to stop talking about the people in Atlantic Canada who met our caucus and said they have not worked in four years because of this government's policies on free trade, NAFTA and now the multilateral agreement on investment.
There is a slow erosion in our country of what our parents and grandparents before them struggled to build for generation after generation into one of the best countries in the world. We have people by the hundreds of thousands lining up to come here because of what they built and what the government is tearing down systematically budget after budget after budget.
This has to stop. We cannot sit here passively, talking about minor shifts in trade and changes to trade policy or tinkering and so on with various social programs. At the same time as we sit here today, the Minister of Finance has tabled legislation in the House to radically change the way seniors receive their pensions.
When we cut through all the red tape and all those provisions, what does it say? It says that hundreds of thousands of seniors in the future will receive fewer benefits.
Is that the kind of country we are? Is that what we have come to? Is there anything in this throne speech about a national child care system? I heard minister after minister promise to introduce it. I heard Tory ministers promising to introduce it. Now it has reached a point where they were too embarrassed to mention it in the throne speech because they know nothing will happen in the budget.
Things must change. I am pleased to be here with a group of very progressive New Democrats who on a daily base in the House will remind the government how it has been cruel and continues to be cruel to many Canadians. That has to change and change soon.
Speech From The Throne September 25th, 1997
This is the same throne speech. They did not even bother to re-write it. It was a new governor general, that is all. This throne speech is worth nothing. This is absolute pap. Yap, yap, who cares? I looked through here to find out where the helicopters were mentioned because the government announced today that a major priority is to purchase billions of dollars worth of helicopters. There is not a mention of helicopters in here. This is pap.
Speech From The Throne September 25th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I would like to indicate that I will be sharing our speaking slot with my hon. colleague from Winnipeg North Centre.
I join with my parliamentary colleagues to congratulate you, Mr. Speaker, on your ascension to the Chair. I look forward to seeing not only your smiling face but also your good judgment exercised during the next number of months.
We all listened carefully and attentively to the throne speech as was read by the Governor General. I would like to quote from this throne speech before I make some remarks in my response.
It states:
This is the inauguration of a new Parliament. Let it be also the beginning of a new era of national reconciliation, economic renewal and social justice—.
While there are no easy solutions to the great problems facing our great country, there is a new will among Canadians to make a fresh start in the search for answers.
There is that phrase “fresh start”. It goes on to state:
—a priority goal of my Ministers will be to breathe a new spirit into federalism and restore the faith and trust of all Canadians in the effectiveness of our system of government.
A constant process of consultation and co-operation must be restored. My Ministers are regularly meeting their provincial colleagues to eliminate irritants and to improve services to people where the federal and provincial governments have joint responsibilities.
This throne speech goes on to state:
The process of consensus-building will engage the private sector partners in an era of co-operation on economic goals. In such a context, government would act as a guide, a mediator, a catalyst, becoming less intrusive in the private sector but vigilant over the integrity of the national economy and of national standards—.The three-part strategies of my Ministers is to restore fiscal responsibility, remove obstacles to growth and encourage new investment—This three-part strategy is aimed at renewing economic growth in order to provide jobs our people need and to address the continuing tragedy of youth unemployment—
My government will enter into discussion with the provinces aimed at a comprehensive overhaul of our pension system—
Consultations will also begin with the provinces to consider the most effective means of providing increased federal support for the improvement of—health care—
Canadians are deeply troubled by the incidence of crime, especially crimes of violence—
It goes on and on.
I am glad my Liberal colleagues here are applauding because this is the throne speech of Brian Mulroney. It sounds exactly the same.
Speech From The Throne September 25th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I share the same views as my friend from Broadview—Greenwood on this question.
The hon. member, in his thoughtful presentation, referred to the plight of Canada's children. I think we sometimes assume that it is just a matter of fact that we have to have poor children. We have to have people who do not have jobs and who are living in poverty.
I might want to remind my hon. friend, who probably does not need reminding, being the economist that he is, that there are many countries in the world where child poverty does not exist. I refer specifically to countries like Norway and Denmark where children do not live in poverty because their parents do not live in poverty. Poverty is not something that we have to accept as a reality.
It seems to me that in a country as rich as ours we should not have the number of children living in poverty and suffering today because their parents are living in poverty.
Considering the situation that exists in what has to be the wealthiest country in the world, would the hon. member not agree that this is actually, to quote the Catholic bishops, a form of child abuse for a government to allow this condition to continue?
Speech From The Throne September 25th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to the hon. member's comments on the throne speech. I appreciate his thoroughness and his straightforward comment.
He has obviously read the throne speech. Could he find anywhere in the throne speech where the government indicates its plans to purchase helicopters as a top priority?
I listened carefully when it was being read. I do not remember hearing any comment. I reread the throne speech and I saw no reference at all to the multibillion dollar purchase of helicopters.
It seems to me that if this were a priority of the government, it should at least have been mentioned in the throne speech.
My other question is that tax reform, as was indicated, was a major discussion in the last federal election and again I do not see much reference to tax reform in the throne speech. Does he agree with me that there was no mention of the helicopter purchase and could he clarify for the House his party's view of the purchase of helicopters? Do they support spending these moneys now on search and rescue helicopters?
Also he made comments about tax reform. Has his party given much thought to the fact that if there is going to be any tax reduction that it be in the form of reducing the GST as a way of assisting Canadians from all parts of the country at all levels in the socioeconomic scale?
Canada Water Export Prohibition Act April 16th, 1997
They were talking during their golf game about various matters. I could go on at some length but I want to hear what my colleagues have to say about this important initiative.
Maybe Canadians are wondering how significant the issue is. When someone goes into a store to buy a litre of water or a litre of oil, often the litre of water is actually more expensive than the litre of oil. We know to what extent the United States will go to ensure its secure oil supplies. We can all agree that water is even much more valuable than oil. We can imagine the extent to which Americans will go to eventually have access to our fresh water.
It is important that we take whatever steps we can as a country to indicate that Canadian water is not for sale. Canadian water is the lifeblood of our country and is not to be treated in the same spirit as we treat cod, copper or timber.