Sheila Copps

[Irving Whale, March 15th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member had read the documents I provided, all of the material in the public domain, including the 1990 report asking the former minister to take action, she would know that we did have an electronic inspection done last June.

What I find incredibly obscure about the logic of the hon. member is that a few months ago she stood in the House and said we should not wait until next spring. We have to lift the Irving Whale this year. Now that we are moving ahead and have gone to tender, she completely reverses the position she took only a few months ago.

I took a position, unlike her leader. I am going to raise the Irving Whale and finally we will get rid of the ticking time bomb that has been there for 25 years.

[Irving Whale, March 15th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, the only one who thinks this is a controversial issue is the company that did not land the contract. What is truly unfortunate for the hon. member opposite is that people called her leader regarding this issue when he was environment minister, and he held public hearings into the matter in Halifax, Dartmouth and on Prince Edward Island, yet took no action.

As soon as we came to office, we acted and we hope to raise the Irving Whale this summer at the very latest.

[Irving Whale, March 14th, 1995]

I just wanted to remind hon. members that the first report proposing salvage measures, proposed in 1989, was rejected by the then Minister of the Environment.

I am very pleased to report that, since we came to power, 24 years after the incident occurred and six years after the first report was presented to the former environment minister-the hon. member for Lac-Saint-Jean-action will finally be taken this spring. We have opted for the alternative that was the least expensive and the safest for the residents of the Magdalen Islands and Prince Edward Island.

[Irving Whale, March 14th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I was expecting this question from the official opposition, but since it was not forthcoming-

[The Budget, March 1st, 1995]

No, Mr. Speaker.

[The Budget, March 1st, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, the absolute hypocrisy of the Reform Party is never more evident than when its members rise to defend the benefits of universal health care. This is the very party that would have cut the heart and soul out of the health care system.

We are not going to let them do it because they will never form the government.

[The Budget, March 1st, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister means what he said this morning and what he has repeated. He intends to support and maintain a universal, accessible system of health care across the country where treatment is based not on the size of your pocket book but on the serious illness you face.

[The Environment, February 27th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, to clarify, the Court of Appeal ruled that the interim order put in place by the then Minister of the Environment, the hon. member for Lac-Saint-Jean, was unconstitutional.

It ruled on the PCB interim order that has subsequently been replaced by chlorobiphenyl regulations. It specifically did not rule on the constitutionality of the application of CEPA. It protected the integrity of CEPA.

I think the majority of Canadians would support the notion that the federal government has a very specific role to play in the cross-border transportation of toxic materials. It did, however, rule that the interim order put in place by the then Minister of the Environment was unconstitutional.

[The Environment, February 27th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, it is true that the court of appeal dismissed the interim order issued by the Minister of the Environment, the hon. member for Lac-Saint-Jean.

The court decided that the interim order he issued following the incident in Saint-Basile-le-Grand was improper. The court decided not to rule on specific sections of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. The interim order issued by the hon. member for Lac-Saint-Jean was declared unconstitutional.

[Monetary Policy, February 22nd, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, we intend to do that on Monday.