From a Franco-Manitoban. Don't you know the difference?
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2000, with 52% of the vote.
Marine Conservation Areas Act September 28th, 2000
From a Franco-Manitoban. Don't you know the difference?
Marine Conservation Areas Act September 28th, 2000
You will not have that opportunity.
Western Economic Diversification September 20th, 2000
They really do not want to hear the good news. We are proud of the record of the western economic diversification.
Western Economic Diversification September 20th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Government of Canada, my department has invested $2.3 billion in the western economy since its inception. With its partners it has created the tools that have permitted the western economies to diversify in a significant kind of way.
Last week I was in the western provinces, particularly in British Columbia. I was told that one of the tools developed, the Community Future Development Corporations, has produced 10% of the new jobs in British Columbia over the last few years.
The department also comes to the aid of communities in crisis such as the west coast fisheries and the Red River flood.
Western Economic Diversification June 14th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, because of the expected phenomenal growth in e-business from $28 billion to $155 billion in three years, and the creation of 180,000 new good jobs along the way, Industry Canada and western economic diversification have been conducting round tables and have undertaken studies to describe the state of e-business and the potential it has. We and our partners will be holding a conference in each of the four western provinces to see where the industry is at and to see what can be done in the future in order to take advantage of this tremendous potential.
The Rcmp June 5th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, it was my privilege to announce a $4.2 million dollar project that came from the partnership agreement with the federal government and the province. This will be matched by a local committee of the private sector by $2.1 million.
Why was this done? It was done to celebrate the RCMP, its great accomplishments for Canada and its prospects of continuing to be a worldclass police force in the future. This is another tourist attraction for Saskatchewan and it is an excellent one. We should be applauding this kind of announcement.
Francophone Entrepreneurs In Western Canada June 1st, 2000
Mr. Speaker, we have jointly defined the priorities for francophone communities in western Canada.
We have determined how to meet their needs and, together, we have decided to set up, in each province, an economic development office to ensure capital access. We have also determined that these communities needed to put the emphasis on entrepreneurship.
Finally, all the provinces have created a francophone corridor for tourism which will soon be linked to the Canada-wide tourism corridor.
Community Futures Development Corporation May 31st, 2000
Mr. Speaker, over 500 men and women, mostly volunteers from 250-plus community futures development corporations and 130 of whom were from western Canada, met in Quebec.
These men and women identify local needs, priorize them and then find solutions to community and economic development. They met to see how they could do that even better. They did it with the help of the Government of Canada, and they do it in western Canada with the help of western economic diversification. Two years from now they will do it again.
Western Economic Diversification Agency May 19th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, the agreement was just signed today. There were difficulties with the previous administration but the new premier has shown an openness to do business. We are really pleased with that.
I also want to mention that there has already been significant activity in fuel cells, new media. Those kinds of results are not unlike what we have seen in the partnership agreements with the other provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba: leading edge science, high technology, $20 million from each level of government in each of the four provinces.
Budget Implementation Act, 2000 April 13th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, I have been here for most of the morning listening to the speeches of opposition members. I find them rather interesting. I snuck out to see what the news media across the country were saying about the budget. Overwhelmingly it is positive. There are articles questioning a number of aspects, but it has been overwhelmingly positive.
Perhaps my colleague could explain to me why it is that all the speeches given by members of the opposition were negative. Perhaps he could explain to me why one positive point was not raised. Perhaps the member could explain to me why none of his colleagues chose to talk about the investments the Government of Canada made in the granting councils, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the millennium scholarship and the 2,000 chairs.
Why did my colleague not talk about the elimination of the $42 billion deficit left by the Conservatives, the very party that his wants to join in order to make it stronger? Why did they not talk about the $58 billion tax reduction or the tax reductions for businesses? Why did they not talk about the UN naming Canada seven times in a row as the best country in the world in which to live?
Why did they not talk about the low inflation rate, the low interest rate, the employment rates which are the highest in decades, and the first series of surpluses we have had in years? Why? Can they not stand positive news?