Sheila Copps

[Unemployment, March 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, it is obvious that changes in Canada's industrial sector are triggering major disruptions. In my riding, some workers are directly concerned because the steel industry can now produce a lot more steel with far fewer workers. Traditional jobs, which we were very proud of, are disappearing, in the steel industry as well as in other industries. These jobs must be replaced.

What the Minister of Human Resources Development is trying to do, with the co-operation of every department and province, is to set up a support system for those who will never be able to work again. The minister also wants to give those who are capable of working, and who are looking for work but cannot find any, the necessary tools to adapt to the new industrial reality.

Let us take the case of a 40 year old person who had always worked in the steel industry before being laid off. This person needs to be retrained to develop new skills and have access to new opportunities. This is what we are trying to do by bringing in changes which are very hard to make but also very necessary to ensure our competitiveness in the 21st century.

[The Economy, March 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, maybe it is because it is Friday; pensions seem to be a Friday question.

The fact is that the government has committed itself to reform of the pension plan. The Prime Minister has stated unequivocally during the election, after the election, in the House and outside the House that he feels the age for receiving the pension should be reviewed. That is part of an overall review which includes the issue of double dipping.

I know the member would want to reflect on the fact that several members in her caucus are currently receiving pensions from various departments of the Government of Canada at the same time as receiving their salaries.

Obviously the pension issue is a complex issue. We will be introducing some very specific changes, but to suggest that the Government of Canada is going to solve its financial problems by a review of the pension system for 295 MPs is not a fair reflection of the fact that our financial problems are much more significant. They require some structural changes to the economy which we intend to carry out.

[Native Communities, March 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, it is statements like that, obviously based on an incomplete knowledge of the facts, that lead people to get the wrong impression.

The member says that the Prime Minister is author of the current policy on Indian Affairs. The Indian Act was around approximately 75 years before the current Prime Minister came to the House of Commons. To suggest that somehow he is responsible for all the problems that face the aboriginal communities is absolutely false.

The Prime Minister and the Minister for Indian and Northern Affairs are working extremely hard to move toward self-government. His personal commitment, the commitment of the Prime Minister to abolish the department of Indian and northern Affairs, is a real reflection of his understanding that we do not need paternalism in government policy. What we need is equality and that is what we are moving toward.

[Native Communities, March 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is quite right when he says that there are no miracle cure for native communities' problems. There is not only one but several native communities in Canada, just as there are several anglophone communities.

I think that the strategy adopted by the Department of Indian Affairs, which even tried to have its name changed because this paternalistic overtone did not reflect the place, the equal place native communities must have in our society, takes that into account. As the minister mentioned earlier, he is negotiating native self-government agreements to ultimately put his department out of business.

I would say that these are the two pillars of a great policy to advance the cause of equality for all natives peoples of this country.

[Members Of Parliament, March 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, all hon. members will agree that the real business of this House is the problem of the literally thousands of Canadians who are without work and who are looking to us for some leadership.

It seems to me there has been a fairly vigorous exchange of comments in this House. I have to tell the member that over my years in Parliament I have been called many things. Frankly, I am not going to spend the time of this House worrying about what somebody said about me yesterday, the day before, last week or last month.

I would tell the hon. member that the job of the House today is to start giving some thought to the crucial issues, for example the unemployment situation across this country.

[Members Of Parliament, March 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, it is certainly the wish of the people of Canada that this place get down to serious business.

I read comments attributed to the hon. member's leader in the newspaper this week where he suggests he feels compelled to introduce a code of conduct on drinking and running around. That is because he had personal knowledge that people in the energy industry used this information to influence the political positions of members of Parliament. I must say I find that position rather reprehensible and abhorrent.

I hope everyone in this House realizes that the job of this Parliament and this government is to get Canada working again and not to spend time passing slurs on members of Parliament.

[Members Of Parliament, March 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, first of all the statements attributed to me were never made.

The member should know the statement I made three years ago was very specific about the nature of Reform Party policies passed at its 1990 convention. I stated that those policies were racist. In fact the party decided subsequently to withdraw those policies.

Second, I may be wrong but I thought I saw the hon. member or one of the hon. members who lays claim to the label of redneck standing and bowing in the House yesterday, happy with the fact that he personally calls himself a redneck.

If the member has a problem with the term redneck I suggest he should address his difficulties to his own colleagues in his own caucus. Obviously there are a number of them who are proud to be called rednecks.

[Conflicts Of Interest, March 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister has put the dealings of his companies into a trust which is not in any way influenced by any of his actions.

To follow through on the hon. member's implication, which I find extremely distasteful, the implication is that because the finance minister has had past successful business dealings he should not be sitting in the cabinet of the Government of Canada.

It seems to me if one wants a balanced approach one needs to have people in cabinet, in caucus and in government who have some strong connections with the labour movement, with the business community and with social activists. That is what democracy is all about. For heaven's sake, I think Paul Martin is an excellent addition to a cabinet team.

[Conflicts Of Interest, March 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, even the Bloc Quebecois should not be so presumptuous as to suggest that a person with business holdings in Quebec has no right to be a member of the federal cabinet. That would be ridiculous.

If the hon. member wants to discuss the ethical behaviour of the Minister of Finance, he should note that in 1989, the minister was the first person to disclose the full extent of his business holdings to all Canadians. I think that there is a place in Parliament for members like myself who do not have any holdings, as well as for others who do have such holdings. This makes for a sound democracy.

[Goods And Services Tax, March 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, on the basis of our mandate

of October 25, the government promised the full participation of the House of Commons. The hon. member knows very well that some of his colleagues are now working on how we can replace the GST.

The Prime Minister said outright that this government's policy is not to have a new GST. Now, as for what the committee studying the question will produce, I think that he should talk with his friends and colleagues who are on the committee so that they can produce a unanimous report recommending a strategy to replace the GST.