Brian Tobin

[Shipbuilding, June 6th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, it is very interesting to hear that the Conservative Party is officially opposed to the protection of Bombardier, or at least the equal treatment of Bombardier, when Brazil offers up export financing for a company in an unfair trade practice, and that the Conservative Party is opposed to the tens of thousands of jobs in this industry in Ontario, Quebec, western Canada and, yes, in Atlantic Canada as well.

With respect to shipbuilding, as I said yesterday I am super confident that we will have an effective policy long before the member claims a seat in the second chamber.

[The Economy, June 6th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the only thing dropping like a rock around here is the rankings of the Canadian Alliance in terms of public opinion polls. The chief architect of that descent is the member who just spoke.

The fact of the matter is Canada is making substantial progress in terms of its economic growth. We have gone from the largest deficit in our history to the largest surplus in history, the largest pay down of public debt and 24 quarters of successive growth. This is a policy of which to be proud, under a leader who is effective, with his colleague the Minister of Finance, in delivering a solid economic platform for Canada.

[Shipbuilding, June 5th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of all members on this side of the House, I want to thank the member for acknowledging the hard work that each and every one of the regional caucuses on this side of the House are doing in meeting shipyard workers, meeting private sector players and working hard to build a competitive shipbuilding policy for Canada.

One of the great frustrations being on this side of the House is that the hard work being done by members on these benches is not always acknowledged. I thank the member for that acknowledgement today.

[Shipbuilding, June 5th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, we received the report of the task force on shipbuilding last month. Cabinet is now seized with the issue and we hope to have a response very soon.

I expect we will have a new, competitive, efficient, effective policy on shipbuilding a lot sooner than the member will get to the Senate.

[Shipbuilding Industry, May 31st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, first, may I thank the member for her question and agree with her that the report indeed is an excellent report in that it departed from the traditional approach vis-à-vis shipbuilding. It has made no request, no claim and no argument for the notion that we can maintain the industry by maintaining the basis of subsidies for shipbuilding.

Instead, it has built its report upon the belief that an innovative shipbuilding industry, taking those skill sets, those shipyards and finding the niches where it can be successful, is what government, the private sectors and the unions working together ought to achieve.

We are working on the report and we expect a response in the weeks ahead.

[Grants And Loans, May 31st, 2001]

Yes, Mr. Speaker, that is a serious amount of money to be responsible for. I am very happy to report that with respect to the BDC the funds it provided are totally secured in this transaction.

[Grants And Loans, May 31st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I am very surprised the member would put the question in that way given that with respect to this project the local caisse populaire; the mayor and councillors of Shawinigan; Société québécoise de développement de la main-d'oeuvre; the local tourist association; the provincial péquiste member of parliament, Claude Pinard; the local MNA for the house of assembly; and a variety of different funding institutions participated in developing this facility.

From time to time we do have bankruptcies in Canada. They happen in all ridings represented in this assembly, but no one would suggest that governments should not participate—

[The Economy, May 31st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I think the House will acknowledge, as certainly everybody on this side acknowledges, that under the leadership of the Minister of Finance and the government we now are in a position where we have a more competitive capital gains tax rate than the United States, better treatment of stock options and more flexibility than the United States.

We have a front end loaded five year tax reduction brought about by the Minister of Finance. I am proud to say he is the greatest minister of finance in Canada's history, a great man.

[The Economy, May 31st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House we work together in a collaborative fashion for the benefit of all Canadians.

On that side of the House the Leader of the Opposition has the advantage of your advice and support and we all know where that has led in terms of productivity.

[Census Records, May 31st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the member has now gone from describing the individual in question as a neighbour to being a census official.

There is provision that anybody who wants to provide census information in an anonymous fashion can do so. Unless it is the position of the party opposite that there ought to be no census information, that we can just assume that we all began with alligators in the swamp, I think we should stick with the census.