House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2000, with 67% of the vote.
Air Transportation May 3rd, 2000
Mr. Speaker, the agreement negotiated between the commissioner of competition and Air Canada gives guarantees to Canadians to be served from coast to coast, those communities that were formerly served by Canadian Airlines. The spirit of that particular agreement is contained in the bill and that is that Air Canada has to be fair and cannot abuse its dominant position. This government will make sure it does not.
Air Transportation May 3rd, 2000
Mr. Speaker, I have consistently said that the faster we get Bill C-26 passed by the House and the Senate the better it is for the protection of all Canadian consumers who use the air mode of travel. I believe that Bill C-26 does give those guarantees.
However, the hon. member is a member of the Standing Committee on Transport. If he has concrete suggestions on how we can improve that protection, then he should bring forward amendments and we will consider them.
Grain Transportation May 2nd, 2000
Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, when we bring in the bill which hopefully will take effect for the beginning of the grain season in August we will see a change in the regime that has penalized producers, has penalized railways and has penalized grain companies. It has penalized everybody in the system for the last 60, 70, 80, 100 years.
This government has taken its responsibilities. We have commissioned two prominent Canadians, Justice Estey and Mr. Arthur Kroeger. We have the benefit of their advice and will be moving on a package of reforms. Given the hon. member's enthusiasm, I know that we can count on his support.
Grain Transportation May 2nd, 2000
Mr. Speaker, as I answered yesterday to a question from the NDP, the Canadian Transportation Agency was fully within its statutory authority when it issued the authority for the increase last week.
I know this has caused some concern with producers, in particular on the prairies, but shortly I will be coming before the House with a package of reforms which will be fair and equitable. The bottom line is that those reforms will benefit western farmers. I hope the Reform or Alliance Party will be there to support the bill when it comes in.
Grain Transportation May 1st, 2000
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should know that it is the statutory responsibility of the Canadian Transportation Agency to take into account all the costs that railways are bearing in their operations. Therefore it was fully entitled to make the judgment it made some weeks ago.
I realize it has caused some concern with respect to people on the prairies, but as the hon. member knows we are working hard on a package to improve the competitive position of the grain farmers in the prairies. I hope that some of those savings my colleague talked about in the media some weeks ago can indeed be passed on to producers.
Transportation May 1st, 2000
Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe the hon. member stands in the House with a straight face asking for a freeze indefinitely. There is no freeze on any rate increases or any taxes or any guarantee that could be made by any government. What I have said is that there have been no increases that have been approved.
For the very reasons the member has outlined, we want to make sure that we have extra capacity on the gulf run this summer to deal with the burgeoning tourism industry. We will make that commitment. It will be a good service and will provide all the capacity for everyone in Newfoundland.
Transportation May 1st, 2000
Mr. Speaker, there has been no announcement and no approval of ferry rate increases for Marine Atlantic. There have been consultations between the management of Marine Atlantic and the trucking industry in Newfoundland about the costing regime, given the fact that there has not been an increase for about four or five years. There has been no approval granted. Therefore my colleague the Minister of Veterans Affairs was entirely correct.
Petitions April 14th, 2000
You're cynical.
Transportation April 14th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, as one of the conditions for the elimination of the rail service some 10 or 12 years ago, the former government entered into a long term financial arrangement with the government of Newfoundland to upgrade the highways. That province has been particularly well served by that agreement. I am surprised the hon. member was unaware of this.
On the larger point, this has been a great week for passenger rail in this country. We have turned the corner and we are saying that in the new millennium there is a role for passenger rail.
Other countries in the world are supporting their passenger rail systems. It will become an even more important fabric of Canadian life.
Transport April 5th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, we are absolutely satisfied that all of the normal procedures have been followed.
The hon. member says that he can smell a rat. Perhaps he is talking about rats leaving a sinking ship, the caucus members from the Tory party abandoning that party.