Mac Harb

[Petitions, February 7th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, this petition concerns the national infrastructure program and is supported by the Canadian Automobile Association. The petitioners are calling on Parliament to urge the federal government to join with the provincial government to make the national highway system upgrading possible.

[International Development Week, February 7th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, international development week gives us the opportunity to reflect upon the unique role that Canada is playing worldwide in international development.

The main players in development are the developing countries themselves. It is within their governments, their volunteer organizations, their institutions and their communities that the real development experts are to be found.

However, in co-operating with these partners, Canadians have also done their share. From Peru to Zimbabwe, Canadian technologies and communication equipment have freed many communities from their isolation. By providing legal support, the Canadian program has helped countries such as Haiti and South Africa develop laws to ensure the respect of human rights and of the rule of law.

In our typically Canadian way-which respects countries and cultures and aims at concrete results-we have helped developing countries. International development week is the opportunity to celebrate these achievements and to anticipate future successes.

[Petitions, February 6th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, this petition is signed by many people from my constituency who are calling on the House of Commons to ask the government to support the immediate initiation and conclusion by the year 2000 of an international convention which will set out a binding timetable for the abolition of all nuclear weapons.

[Program Cost Declaration Act, December 13th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I shall speak just a few minutes on the bill tabled by my colleague, the hon. member for Durham.

First of all, I will congratulate my colleague for having presented a truly worthwhile initiative, one worthy of the House of Common's attention. I personally have had the opportunity to examine it and to ask a few questions, particularly of Treasury Board employees, in order to determine just what they do at the present time with regard to the information they provide about the House of Commons.

I am pleased to inform you that the main thrust of my colleague's proposal has already been implemented. The Department, and the President of Treasury Board, have undertaken to facilitate, and to provide far more information to members of Parliament than they did in the past. For example, in collaboration with the other political parties, they are starting to make it easier to obtain information and to provide far more reports, not only on the new government programs, but also on existing ones.

The government has also taken very aggressive initiatives to ensure that Canadians have access to affordable programs which are appropriate to the population's needs.

At the present time, the government is holding discussions with representatives of the provinces and territories with a view to saving money, while ensuring that the programs established to serve Canadians are appropriate and transparent.

My problem with this initiative is that it will be redundant. Each year the auditor general makes recommendations on the government's operations, and then makes his report public. Historically, more than 65 per cent of his recommendations have been implemented, whereas the government and the ministers take action every time the auditor general makes recommendations.

I think that it will bring in another type of bureaucracy one that will be more costly, especially when the government is already involved in implementing all manner of measures to ensure government transparency and the availability of information to the House and its members.

I just wish to say that the 1996-97 estimates have demonstrated the government's serious intent, since it has taken tangible steps. It has not only talked about taking steps, it has taken them. I therefore wish to congratulate the administrators and the ministers for their initiative.

Let me wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and as my colleague has said, buon anno a tutti e grazie signor .

[Microcredit Summit, December 13th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, more than one in five people on Earth lives in poverty. That is over one billion people who are unable to provide for their own basic needs and the needs of their family.

In February 1997 parliamentarians from around the world will attend the first ever Microcredit summit in Washington, D.C. This conference has been organized to launch an important global fight against poverty.

The Microcredit summit will be the first stage in a 10-year campaign to reach 100 million of the world's poorest families by the year 2005. The goal is to provide these people with access to Microcredit for self-employment and in the process, provide the opportunity to free themselves from poverty and live with dignity.

This campaign targets the poor in industrialized countries and the developing countries of the third world.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Results Canada for their hard work in organizing the Microcredit summit. Their commitment to ending world poverty is truly commendable.

[Petitions, December 12th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, this is a petition sponsored by the Canadian Automobile Association entitled Roads Work.

The petitioners call on Parliament to urge the federal government to join with the provincial governments to make the upgrading of the national highway system possible in 1997.

[Bill C-234, December 12th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member went on at length to talk about his interest in ensuring the safety of Canadians.

It was the hon. member and his party that voted against every single piece of legislation that was introduced by the Minister of Justice that deals with the question of safety of Canadians. This is the very same member who did not hear the outcry from Canadians whose families were slaughtered by criminals. Many of my constituents have been killed by guns, by violence.

When the Minister of Justice introduced legislation that would ensure the safety of my constituents, these members voted against it. They voted against the gun control legislation. They have sanctioned the use of guns that are used in some cases to commit crimes. These are members of a party that voted against everything that had to do with the safety of Canadians from coast to coast. Now they stand up enraged, saying they were entrusted with the safety of Canadians.

They talk about the testimony of people who appeared before the justice committee. Where were they when people before the justice

committee were appealing for support for the gun control legislation? Why did they not support the gun control legislation that would have helped reduce crime? Why did they not support other government initiatives that deal with the reduction of crime?

I submit to you, Mr. Speaker, that you cannot suck and blow at the same time and that is exactly what this member is trying to do.

[Bill C-234, December 12th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I listened with great interest to what the hon. member was saying, but my understanding is that his motion really deals with trying to bring Bill C-234 to the House. It does not deal with Bill C-45 which has already gone through this House nor with the testimony of a witness before the committee.

If that is the case, at least my colleague should be given the opportunity to respond and enter into this debate. My understanding is that the motion-

[Excise Tax Act, December 10th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Maybe the member inadvertently used an unparliamentary word when referring to the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister's office. I would ask that she withdraw that word.

[Chalk River Nuclear Site, December 5th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Natural Resources.

It was reported in 1994 that radioactive waste dumped nearly 50 years ago at the Chalk River nuclear site is polluting local vegetation, swamps, lakes and wildlife. This waste is now seeping into the Ottawa River and is posing a possible health risk to area residents.

What is the minister doing to stop this leakage immediately and to ensure the future safety of our natural resources and human health?