David Collenette

[Transport, April 5th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, Marine Atlantic is determined to negotiate the best deal possible for the Government of Canada to get a new ferry fast on the gulf service.

That is the priority and we have every confidence in the chairman, Captain Sid Hynes, of the Marine Atlantic board, who knows the shipping industry, to get the best deal so that we can get the ferry up and running.

It seems to me that the Conservative Party is more intent on making political points than getting passengers served this summer on the gulf.

[Shipbuilding, April 4th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, as I said before, a certain amount of money in excess of $70 million was allocated to this particular project. It will provide for first class ferry service which will provide the capacity on the gulf for this year and years to come.

This is going to be a great boon especially to the tourism industry in Newfoundland and Labrador that has really expanded in recent years.

I think this government has discharged its obligations to the people of Newfoundland and we have done it in a very good and satisfactory way.

[Shipbuilding, April 4th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, a certain amount of money has been allocated by the government for the new ferry. That money will be spent to get the best ferry possible and negotiations on this particular ferry have concluded.

We on this side of the House believe we have to be responsible in paying out a certain amount of money. On the other hand we also feel an obligation to all those passengers between the mainland and Newfoundland who demand a good quality of service.

It is obvious from the hon. member's question that the Tories are not interested in quality service on the gulf.

[Shipbuilding, April 4th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, the important issue here is, will there be additional capacity on the gulf run this summer? There will be additional capacity.

The new chair of Marine Atlantic, who is a captain from St. John's, an eminent seafarer, somebody who knows the marine industry, is an individual who has gone out and got the best deal for the Government of Canada. It does not come cheap. We are spending over $70 million for the service between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. I think that is very responsible.

[Shipbuilding, April 4th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I am absolutely astounded that the hon. member would come forward with this question, given the fact that there are members on her side from Newfoundland—only one left now—who have come to me over the last year and said “Get more capacity for the ferry from Marine Atlantic”. Now she is saying that because we will deliver on our promises that is somehow bad.

How does she explain that to Tories in Newfoundland?

[Airline Industry, April 3rd, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, there have been a lot of concerns expressed by members of the House, especially from Atlantic Canada and western Canada. The president of Air Canada assures me that the new schedule which came into effect last night will deal with these particular problems.

We will be shortly announcing the appointment of an independent monitor to look at the entire restructuring process and also a new international charter policy which will not only provide greater opportunities for overseas services but also enhance domestic competition.

Bill C-26 is now before the House and I invite hon. members to help us design ways to better protect the consumers in the airline restructuring.

[Transport, April 3rd, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I recognize that some jurisdictions have made seatbelts mandatory for school buses, but our officials at Transport Canada, who are world renown in their testing and methodology, are not yet convinced that making seatbelts compulsory in school buses would be in the public interest. We have to balance off the fact that even worse results could come from such accidents if young children were belted in and unable to get out in a very difficult situation. This is something which requires further study.

[Canada Transportation Act, March 31st, 2000]

Madam Speaker, I listened very attentively to my colleague's speech and I am not sure it is appropriate for a member of the Conservative Party to use the vehicle of a debate on a bill in the House to solicit memberships by offering his phone and fax numbers. I am just wondering if the fortunes of the Conservative Party are such that it has to resort to this.

I would like his assurances that if he is inundated, as I think he will be with all manner of consumer complaints for having repeated this three times in the speech, that he will not come back to the Speaker or the House administration to request additional resources.

[Canada Transportation Act, March 31st, 2000]

Madam Speaker, I welcome the comments made by the hon. member for Churchill. She is not happy with the bill and she wants to bring forward some constructive amendments.

I would hope that she could show us a better way to deal with price gouging than what is already in the bill. If she is advocating a return to total regulation, then I would say that the consumers would not benefit in the long run because prices would be higher.

I will be looking very carefully at suggestions and amendments that come from her party, because I think the best way to deal with price gouging is that which is provided in the bill.

[Billboards, March 31st, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, after being asked this question two days ago, I spoke with the president of the Federal Bridge Corporation Limited.

He told me that I was right. The corporation is a federal body and that the federal Official Languages Act applies. But in this case the member is right, because the billboards are the responsibility of a provincially regulated private company. In this case, Bill 101 applies.