Elsie Wayne

[National Defence, February 3rd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, it has come to our attention that our troops that were dispatched to the gulf over a year ago were inoculated with an outdated anthrax vaccine. According to experts, this outdated vaccine was not even fit for animals. It had been expired for a number of years.

Canadians want to know how this happened, who gave the order, what the Minister of National Defence is prepared to do for these troops, and who will look after their health in the future.

[Finance, February 2nd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my colleague, the hon. member for Markham.

I rise tonight to raise concerns that we in the PC Party share in relation to the upcoming budget. As many of my learned colleagues know, we in the PC Party share a common vision of how the country should proceed. We know the foundation to a solid future for our families and our children is entrenched in a nation that is economically strong. But to have a strong economy, we have to have an economy that is business friendly, an economy that makes it easier in which to do business than it is not to do business.

When I talk to business people from coast to coast they ask me about our stand on taxes. They want to know why the government will not reduce the level of EI premiums to $2.00. They know the government is collecting approximately $7 billion more than it requires. Why will it not lower it and put more money back into the pockets of that little man and little woman and back into the pockets of business people?

Every time businesses get a tax break they try to expand and create more jobs. We feel very strongly, and so do the people across Canada, that they should have had a bigger tax break than just bringing down the EI premiums to $2.70. I have heard of saving for a rainy day but this is rather ridiculous when Canadian businesses are looking for a true sign from the government on tax relief.

As my colleague from the NDP has just stated, there is a growing trend in Canada which is very disturbing. That trend is poverty. The gap between the rich and the poor is widening more and more each day. I suppose many people wonder why. The real question Canadians should be asking is what is the government doing about it? What is its plan to combat the poverty gap in this country?

Many of us do not know and even more of us are concerned about the true facts. We live in a nation where children are going to school hungry. We have put so many programs together in my riding of Saint John, New Brunswick for these little children. Many volunteers are trying to feed the children. They cannot learn when they go to school hungry.

I remember when I was on the board of the Rotary Club. One day we were having a breakfast meeting at 7.30 in the morning. I heard a noise and went outside. A little boy was going through the garbage barrel looking for something to eat. I asked him “When did you last eat, dear?” He said “I did not eat this weekend”. We brought him in and we started a breakfast program right there at the Rotary Boys and Girls Club. It is still ongoing and it is growing. To think that we have to do this in Canada, that a child is going through a garbage barrel.

Youth unemployment is at an unacceptable level of 14.7%. Canadians are taking home $400 less than they did in the previous two years. The personal debt level of Canadians has grown faster in the past 10 years than it has in any of the other G-7 nations. Consumer bankruptcies have reached a crisis level in Canada with over 85,000 last year alone. This is an all-time high for bankruptcies in Canada.

It is one thing for this government to have things which look good on paper but when people are hurting, ask them what they want and people will say that they want action. They do not want lip service. And they do not want to hear how wonderful everything is and how great everything is. They want action.

Let us look at the shipbuilding policy and the shipbuilding industry. In my city it was the Liberals who first put money into our shipyard for the first frigate contract that we had. Then the Conservatives put the rest of the money in. We have the most modern shipyard there is in the world and it sits idle. We had 4,000 men working in that shipyard. Now those men have left our city. We have had 10,000 people move out of Saint John, New Brunswick since I came up here on the Hill in 1993. They have gone to the United States to find work.

I am in absolute shock at what is happening. I asked the Minister of Industry to please bring in a national shipbuilding policy whereby our people back home could bid and could compete around the world for contracts. They bid on over 50 contracts, but they cannot compete because we are the only country in the world that has still adhered to that old, ancient OECD shipbuilding policy that was entered into many years ago. All the other countries have laughed at it. They have gone away from it.

No, they are not looking for subsidies. What they are looking for is a longer return payment program. But the government will always get its money. There are other things that they are saying, but no, they are not looking for subsidies.

The Liberal Party at its policy convention in 1993 adopted a motion to implement a national shipbuilding policy because the Liberals stated that Canada urgently needed one. Here it is 1999 and we have not received any national shipbuilding policy from the government, nothing. No meetings were held. There were no consultations with the industry officials. The industry officials have come to the minister's office. They have asked for consultation and they have not received it.

We have to invest in our people. The government needs to put the people of this country first. It is done by cutting taxes and allowing this great nation to prosper. We need to increase the basic personal amount of indexed income to $10,000 and give our low income earners a little break. It is no secret that if people have more disposable income they will spend it. Just think about it. If all a person has is $10,000 a year, that person is not living in luxury, that is for sure.

The more we spend, the more money is put back into the economy and the more the economy grows, the more jobs will be created. The more the economy grows, more people are hired and more taxes are being paid in the system. The more the economy grows it is straightforward supply and demand economics. It is the way to go.

We in Canada are known for our kindness and compassion toward our people. I know it is difficult to govern, but when governing we must never forget about the little man and his family who works hard for an honest day's pay, and we never forget about the people who need the services that are paid for by all of us to use. We should never cut things unless the cuts are fair and equally distributed across the country.

Since the government took over in 1993 the Atlantic provinces have seen their transfer payments cut by 40% and we have only 8% of the country's population.

The government balanced its books on the backs of those who need the services the most. Perhaps that is why the Liberals were sent a clear message by the voters of the Atlantic region.

When it comes to health care those transfer payments that were cut have hit our hospitals extremely hard. We have heard about the horrors in the health care system in Quebec. Those same horrors apply to our people in New Brunswick and across the nation.

There is a need to bring back to those transfer payments those billions of dollars that have been taken away so we can educate our children, so we can keep our people here in Canada, not educate them and have them go into the United States, the doctors, the lawyers, the nurses, our people.

There is a great need here. We have to be responsible. I believe in good honest responsible government. I have always ran on that and I believe in it. I believe in people. I believe that when we are making cuts we have to look at the negative impact it can have on the lives of our people. I pray that that is what will happen when the budget comes down.

[Child Pornography, February 2nd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, as everybody knows, including the Prime Minister, it was our party that brought in the law that is there today.

I am saying once again that the people from coast to coast are appalled by the B.C. ruling. This issue is critical to the very essence of our country and the rights of our children. We cannot sit idly by as they are being subjected to the sexual abuse and terrors of sick individuals. It is time to protect our most vulnerable, the little children.

I am asking the Prime Minister and the justice minister to act as soon as possible, sooner rather than later, and to correct this situation before it is too late.

[Child Pornography, February 2nd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the recent ruling by the B.C. court regarding child pornography should be dealt with immediately.

The Prime Minister is a father. I am a mother and a grandmother. I am begging this government to act now to protect all of our Canadian children from those who make and use this repulsive material.

I am asking the Prime Minister to intervene today and have the justice minister fast track this matter to the Supreme Court of Canada to be corrected immediately.

[Tributes, December 10th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a tear in my eye, as there are many tears in the eyes of our colleagues in the House of Commons. We have lost a wonderful, wonderful Canadian today. I look over and see the flowers that are in her seat and on her desk.

Shaughnessy had a sense of humour. When I was here in 1993 there were just two in my party at that time. I sat up in the corner and she used to encourage me to stay. She would joke with me when I was on the elevator with her. Her friend Mary Clancy did the same.

I want to say to her husband, to her daughter and to her family, thank you for sharing her with us. Tremendous sacrifices are made by families, and people across this country do not realize that.

She loved justice. She had a friend in my colleague here, Peter. They would joke back and forth. One day she ran over and asked “Where do you buy your sweaters, Elsie? I want a sweater just like yours”. A couple of weeks ago she came in with a sweater and asked “Is it as nice as yours, Elsie?” I said “I'm not quite sure, darlin'; it's on a Liberal”.

Yes, I have to say that she was partisan, but she was a wonderful person. We were fortunate to have her here. She loved justice. She just loved being the chair of that committee. She loved all of us here in this House of Commons. It is truly a great loss for the people of Windsor, but it is also a great loss for us because she was different. She was different from some of us who are here today.

On behalf of all of my colleagues, I say to her husband, daughter and family, thank you very much for sharing her with us. You are in our prayers and she is in our prayers. You will continue to be in our prayers from here on out. On behalf of my colleagues, our condolences to all of you. Thank you for sharing Shaughnessy with us.

[Shipbuilding Industry, December 8th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, the shipbuilding industry in Saint John, New Brunswick bid on 54 contracts and could not compete with the European countries.

The minister is very much confused. The industry is asking for a policy that includes tax deferrals or loan guarantees, neither of which are subsidies.

The Liberal Party adopted a policy in 1993 and it was one of its priorities to bring in a national shipbuilding policy. It is five years later. When will the minister and the government bring in a shipbuilding policy?

[Shipbuilding Industry, December 8th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, today the representatives from the shipbuilding industry from across Canada from coast to coast met with members of this House.

The industry is asking for a fair national shipbuilding policy. The low Canadian dollar is making it harder for this industry to compete. It costs more to build a ship in Canada because of our sagging Canadian dollar. The industry is at a competitive disadvantage with European countries that receive subsidies. Our people are not asking for a subsidy.

Will the Minister of Industry bring in a national shipbuilding policy and put these people back to work?

[Bernard Lord, December 7th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, the future premier of the province of New Brunswick is in Ottawa today.

On October 21, Mr. Lord was elected to the New Brunswick legislature by capturing the long time Liberal seat of Moncton East and is now the leader of the opposition.

Mr. Lord is committed to offering New Brunswickers a new grass roots approach to politics. His vision is one of a prosperous province with better education and improved health care in each region. He wants to build a better New Brunswick, a province with a thriving economy.

At the dawn of a new millennium it is vital for New Brunswick to have a leader at the service of the people. Mr. Lord will never abandon our responsibility toward the youth, seniors and workers of New Brunswick.

Over the past nine years the Liberals in the province have stood by and watched a brain drain of over 9,000 young New Brunswickers leaving the province. Doctors and nurses have left and the dignity and freedom of seniors have been taken away.

New Brunswickers look forward to a brighter future under the solid leadership of Mr. Bernard Lord. Today I salute the future premier of the province New Brunswick, Bernard Lord.

[Veterans Affairs, December 2nd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I just want to tell members that the reason the Liberals won was because I was supposed to be the coach and I could not make it. That is the only reason they won.

Yesterday the auditor general's report congratulated the Department of Veterans Affairs for its reduction of the turnaround time for veterans' applications for benefits.

However, many veterans feel that there are still problems that exist within the system, one of which is the lack of credibility afforded to veterans who have no way of proving their claim for benefits due to the lack of accurate records.

We in the Progressive Conservative Party feel that veterans in this particular circumstance should be given an opportunity to testify under oath before the veterans review board as to the validity of their claims; therefore, not only giving the benefit of the doubt to the veteran, but also leaving the board to substantiate its decision.

These men are entitled to better treatment and other people's errors should not be a reason for doubt. Lest we forget.

[St. Andrew's Society, November 26th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, today I pay tribute to the contribution that the Scottish people have made to the development and life of Canada.

In 1542 a Scot by the name of David Ross was the first to map the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. Following Mr. Ross, the Scots continued to map out the new world.

In my riding of Saint John, New Brunswick, the St. Andrew's Society founded in 1798 is celebrating 200 years of unbroken history in service to the city of Saint John, the province of New Brunswick and the whole of Canada.

Never numbering much over 150 members, these past 200 years the society has provided sixteen mayors, four lieutenant governors of New Brunswick, one lieutenant governor of British Columbia, one premier of New Brunswick, one chief justice of Canada, three senators, as well as national and international leaders in business, law, finance and education.

This is a very proud record. I wish to publicly congratulate the oldest Scottish society of Canada on 200 proud years of heritage and contribution to Canada.