Sheila Copps

[Canada Day, June 8th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I want to say once again how pleased we are at our partnership with Quebec in Canada Day celebrations, beginning with Quebec's national holiday celebrations on Saint-Jean-Baptiste day, whose budget the Government of Quebec doubled this year.

[Canadian Heritage, June 8th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, as I said a few days ago, the member recommended that the Government of Canada logo appear in the Bronfman Minutes, and I welcomed his suggestion.

I will follow up on this to make sure that all Canadians—I believe 23 millions of them have seen the Bronfman Minutes in all Canadian theatres—know that it is the Government of Canada that works in partnership with a great organization. I thank the hon. member for his recommendation.

[Canadian Heritage, June 8th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I said yesterday that we should appreciate the fact that, thanks to the Bronfman Foundation, 43 videos were produced celebrating Canadian heroes such as Maurice Richard, La Bolduc and many others. The Government of Canada is very proud to have a partnership with the Bronfman Foundation.

[Canada Day, June 7th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I am very happy that we can work together to organize celebrations for Canada's big birthday, as well as for Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day.

I read in the newspaper this week that the Government of Quebec has doubled its funding for the national holiday.

There is such a spirit of partnership that I myself received a cheque for $350 from Guy Bouthillier, the president of the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste, in support of Canada Day. I thank Mr. Bouthillier.

[Radio-Canada, June 6th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I know the member for Rimouski—Mitis well, and I do not think she wants the government to meddle in matters relating to jobs at the CBC. At least, I hope so.

[Canadian Heritage, June 6th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, allow me to say a few words about what is being called propaganda.

We have told the legend of Maurice “The Rocket” Richard. We have told people about the singer La Bolduc, about Paul-Émile Borduas and Joseph Casavant, not forgetting Jacques Plante and his innovative goalie face mask. Is that propaganda for Canada?

[Canadian Heritage, June 6th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I will follow the hon. member's suggestion to gain more visibility for Canada, and we will put our wordmark on this.

[Official Languages, June 5th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by stating that, at the present time, thanks to the official languages program, we have 2.7 million young Canadians who have learned the other official language.

What is important is that, when an agreement is signed, the government of the province delivering the agreement is in fact audited daily through their public accounts.

[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, June 2nd, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary. I think that what came about as a result of the president of the CBC listening to the entreaties of a number of members of parliament, including members of the opposition and the government, was that we have made a decision by way of the board of directors and the president to reinvest and to strengthen regional programming across the country.

Regional programming should include not only the news but also arts, culture and sport. One of the mandates of the CBC, which I am very happy that Mr. Rabinovitch said he was going to explore, was the operation of regional cultural production centres across the country. Not all productions should be done in Toronto, and I think that was the gist of his message.

[Canadian Culture, June 2nd, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to receive the question from the hon. member for Charleswood St. James—Assiniboia. We can take one example, the centre of Canada, Winnipeg.

In Winnipeg alone we have heard of Carol Shields, Henri Bergeron, l'hôte des Beaux Dimanches , the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Winnipeg Ballet, the French festival.

There is also the Festival des Voyageurs, not to mention the Cercle Molière.

What I think is important to Mr. Parizeau is that he should either take his blinkers off or he should stick to boiling lobsters.