House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2000, with 53% of the vote.
Health Care May 4th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, one of the principles of the Canada Health Act is universality. One of the things that is banned by the Canada Health Act is user fees.
When the member talks about rhetoric, he suggests that we make the Canada Health Act better. The fact is that the five principles upon which the Canada Health Act is based are the very principles which have many countries around the world looking to Canada as one place where you can get care no matter what the size of your pocketbook.
Health Care May 4th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the Liberal government is strongly committed to the establishment and accessibility of health care across the country.
If we actually followed the member's advice and torpedoed the Canada Health Act, the difficult situation that patients are facing now across the country would be exacerbated because what we would end up with would be one system where if people had money they could get the operation and another system for those people with no money. We will not support that system.
Health Care May 4th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, it is a false choice.
If we look at one area of health which is of great concern to women, it is in the whole area of birthing. Anyone who has gone through the process knows that birthing is a natural part of life. It is not necessarily a medical problem. Provinces across the country increasingly are looking to alternative birthing methods, including the use of midwives. It has recently been embraced by the province of Ontario, including les services de sages-femmes dans la province de Québec.
It is a creative way of delivering a service to healthy women to have babies in a healthy fashion. This creative way actually saves money for the system.
That is what my counterpart, the Minister of Health, is going to be examining with her provincial colleagues when she meets with them in June.
Health Care May 4th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I think the member is on very dangerous ground when he chooses to pursue policies because of polls.
I have a copy of another poll done by Insight Canada Research. This poll is from last month and states that only 16 per cent of Canadians support user fees.
I would suggest to the member that he take a look at the red book commitments of the Liberal government. We will be meeting with our provincial counterparts in June to examine the whole issue of how we can better deliver health care, but we do not see user fees as a solution to the problems of Canada's health care system.
Health Care May 4th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, in the absence of the Minister of Health and on behalf of the Government of Canada I would like to commit the government to our full support for the Canada Health Act. It is a very important instrument in ensuring that every Canadian has access to health care, not because of the size of their wallets but because of the size of their health problems.
Health Care April 29th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I would certainly not agree with the member's statement about the state of Canada's health care.
Yesterday I had the privilege of discussing with the wife of the President of the United States their health reforms. She was asking me how they could put in place a system which would mirror or be similar to the system we have in Canada. The Americans are coming to this country to see a system that works.
Obviously the system has to respond to new realities.
We were very happy to see that midwives were finally accepted by physicians in some provinces, including Quebec and Ontario. It is very important that changes be brought to the system.
It is not enough to say that we will only amend the Canada Health Act. The answer lies in innovation and that is what we are seeking to do in cooperation with provinces.
Health Care April 29th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, on the one hand the member says he does not want us to spend any more money. On the other hand he is pointing out the difficulties being faced by the provinces.
The Minister of Health met with provincial ministers in February. She has another meeting scheduled in the next few weeks specifically to discuss making sure that every Canadian has access to health care services at no cost to themselves.
Frankly, if we followed the suggestion of the Reform Party to cancel the Canada Health Act, every fibre of the work that we have done over the last 30 years in building one of the best health care systems in the world would be flushed down the toilet and we do not intend to do that.
The Environment April 22nd, 1994
But not always in good faith.
The Environment April 22nd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, today is Earth Day in Canada, a day that we have set aside to join with people around the world in making our own personal contribution to the well-being of our environment.
Since Earth Day was first celebrated in Canada on April 22 four years ago, the grassroots support for this event has grown so rapidly it now involves nearly one in three Canadians in some form of environmental activity. There is much energy, enthusiasm and support for greening our way of life.
More than ever before Canadians are aware of our natural environment and we are doing something to make sure that what we now enjoy can be passed on to our children and to their children. By planting a tree, composting kitchen waste, reusing shopping bags, recycling cans, returning bottles and demanding less packaging from producers, Canadians are showing that we want governments to sit up and take notice.
In fact, recent surveys have shown that 60 per cent of Canadians support more spending for environmental protection. Industry too is quickly coming to realize that green planning and green operations mean green savings and green bucks.
Almost every sector of our economy now realizes that consumer demand means that by producing a product in an environmentally friendly manner you can have the critical competitive edge.
Business and industry, for their part, are asking the government to put its house in order. They need our co-operation as well as clear, specific directions to achieve our environmental objectives.
I am proud to announce to this House and to all Canadians that our government is answering the call. Canadians can stand up and say that their federal government is the first green government in our country.
Three former federal environment ministers currently sit in this House, along with a former provincial environment minister. Two of these people are leaders of their respective parties.
We are also fortunate to have the highly qualified Chairman of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development and finally, my parliamentary secretary who is absolutely indispensable to me.
Canadians can also feel secure that there is environmental leadership within their government. We are proud to have a Prime Minister who understands that environment is an integral part of job creation and growth and who made sustainable development an underlying theme of our red book.
Our Prime Minister appointed our former Speaker, the one who initiated the greening of the Hill program, to be our ambassador for the environment to the world. We have a Prime Minister who created more national parks than any other minister in the history of Canada. We have a Prime Minister who announced clearly on his first international trip that Canada's water is not for sale.
Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs understands that we must work globally to attack environmental degradation and make sure that the global environment facility, the GEF, and the Montreal protocol receive Canada's fair contribution.
Our minister responsible for infrastructure made water and sewer upgrades, environmentally friendly projects, an important part of our national infrastructure program.
The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans moved quickly to fulfil promises made about Kemano and has also recognized that eco-tourism can play an important role in the revitalization of our economy.
The Minister of Human Resources Development and the secretary of state for youth have announced a plan to involve youth in environmental training programs to help us get environmental industries on the cutting edge of the world community.
My colleague, the Minister for Natural Resources, has been actively promoting sustainable development in her natural resource sector. She has also been working very hard on energy
efficiencies, an integral component of any future use of energy when we realize that we are the most energy consuming country in the world. Her department's model forest program provides a model for sustainable forest management.
She has also recently tabled the first report to Parliament on the Energy Efficiency Act which outlines the environmental and economic benefits available to energy users to improve energy efficiency.
We have a Minister of Finance who acts in a progressive manner on environmental issues. Last February, he announced a major new initiative in support of sustainable development.
In the budget, it was announced that a task force involving government, industry and representatives of environmental groups would be established to identify barriers to sound environmental management.
This task force will also focus on a wide range of economic instruments which rely on market forces and demonstrate potential for rapid implementation either as an alternative to or to complement environmental regulations.
Speaking of this task force, I am delighted to announce today that following consultations will all interested parties, the Minister of Finance and I will be releasing shortly the names of the task force members and the nature of the task force's mandate.
I am very pleased on behalf of the Minister of Finance and myself to announce that we are moving ahead rapidly with our commitment to analyse how tax policy and how economic instruments can be used to help build a strong environmental record.
Very shortly we will be announcing the membership and the terms of reference of a committee. It will be examining the whole issue of not only economic instruments as they can help government policy but also a review of taxes and subsidies to make sure that they are environmentally friendly and do not work against a clean environment.
I could go on and mention the environmental contributions of every single member of this cabinet, for example the Minister for Industry and his secretary of state who are working very hard on environmental industries, but the point is clear. This government, this cabinet and this Prime Minister are committed to the environmentally sound management of our nation's business.
As Minister of the Environment, I am proud of my department's achievements. In the six months since taking office, we have built strong foundations to meet our commitments. I said that we would pass legislation providing for a round table on the economy and the environment. This will give existence in law to a vital organization and also fulfil a commitment made in the red book.
The throne speech spoke of the government's intentions and I also announced that we would pass an environmental assessment act this spring, as was requested by the Leader of the Opposition. As promised in the red book, we will also strengthen regulations, thereby fulfilling a second commitment.
In co-operation with my colleague, the Minister of Industry, and his Secretary of State, we are in the process of developing a government strategy for environmental industries and we sponsored consultations earlier this winter, in order to generate the required public support. We are currently looking at the comments received and the strategy will be announced very soon. This is the third commitment fulfilled.
Last Monday, I had the pleasure and the honour of announcing phase II of the Great Lakes action plan, as well as the implementation of the plan for the St. Lawrence, Vision 2000. These two plans are major steps to clean up the largest freshwater expanse in the world.
These initiatives, combined with the statutory five-year review of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act which will soon be undertaken by the standing committee of the House, will enable us to fulfil another promise made in the red book regarding pollution prevention. We should soon get the answer of the parliamentary committee on our commitment regarding the Auditor General, and we also expect results very quickly. This is the fourth commitment fulfilled.
An oil tanker sank some time ago. We worked with the four provinces concerned, in co-operation with the Minister of Transport, and we found a solution which will soon be implemented. This is another commitment fulfilled.
Earlier this spring, I gave the Standing Committee on Sustainable Development the very important mandate of looking at the concept of an auditor general for the environment. The committee made its recommendations, thus allowing us to fulfil another commitment made in the red book.
Our government is keeping its promises and we hope with the help of the Parliament of Canada to continue to do so.
On Earth Day I wish to give my friends and colleagues in this House and all Canadians my personal pledge that we want to work with the provinces, the municipalities, workers, environmental groups, businesses and, most important, we want to work with the children of Canada to ensure the protection and promotion of our natural environment.
As Minister of the Environment for Canada I am proud of what we have accomplished. I would be prouder still if I could stand today and tell this House that we have no need for Earth Day, that we do not need a special day to think about the environment because every day is Earth Day in Canada.
This House has heard many speeches from many eloquent individuals but I would like to leave members with the motto which I think should be the standard bearer for Earth Day, for this House, for our country and for the world. It is an ancient Haida saying which we all know and which we should take to heart: We do not inherit the land from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.
Day Care April 22nd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I am a parent and there is no government that tells me where I have to send my child for child care. We do live in a free country.
At the moment what this government has said is that when it comes to employment outside the home obviously child care is an important component of any initiative to help people get out to work. Our government intends to meet its commitments in the red book.
I only wish that the member had a better understanding of how hard it is for those women trying to juggle work outside the home and work at home. I only wish that he and his party would give them more support.