Bonnie Brown

[Human Resources Development, May 11th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, if it were simply a transfer, why were those same people on employment insurance between the two sets of jobs?

[Human Resources Development, May 11th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, all the moneys that are given out by HRDC are of serious concern to us. That is why we act when we get facts and evidence of wrongdoing, which is what we have done in this case.

[Human Resources Development, May 11th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, we have done something about it. Once we found out about these letters, which the Bloc was waving in the House on Monday, we moved and referred all of this to the RCMP, which is the appropriate response.

[Human Resources Development, May 11th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I am unaware of any such agreement. If they have any evidence of wrongdoing, I have told them time and time again to bring it forward.

[Human Resources Development, May 11th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, the new information that came to light on Monday in the House, which we received on Tuesday, is the information that has been given to the RCMP.

[Human Resources Development, May 11th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, the same theme is re-stated over and over about transparency. This is the department that the Reform's own researcher said was the best for access to information requests.

[Human Resources Development, May 11th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, we are not hiding anything. As I said yesterday, there was a review of this file. Our officials expressed some concern about it. A person from the fraud and investigation branch looked at it. At that time he could find no evidence of wrongdoing and the file was closed.

It was upon receipt of the new evidence provided by the Bloc that we were able to move and refer this to the police, which is the appropriate action.

[Human Resources Development, May 11th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I have said repeatedly that if new information were to come to this House we would investigate it. We received new information on Tuesday, we reviewed it yesterday and, therefore, we have passed this new information to the RCMP.

[Pornography, May 10th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister for International Trade has said in the House that among the G-7 nations, Canada benefits the most from trade and therefore is the most open to trade of the G-7 economies. Our exports plus imports add up to the equivalent of over 80% of our GDP. The next closest to us is the United Kingdom at less than 60%.

More of our production at home depends on export markets than any other G-7 country. By the same token we have made the global market our market to a greater extent than any of our competitors.

Finally, we have to see the importance of global markets to Canada's emerging new economy sectors. Our trade numbers show that we are having some success. Some of our new economy exports such as earnings from royalties and licences and research and development have consistently been the strongest components in our services exports. These grew by 16.8% and 15% per year respectively since 1993. Services are the key to the new economy and we are starting to do very well here.

It is true that we ship a lot of rocks and logs. We have and will continue to have a strong comparative advantage in many resource sectors. The numbers show that the relative size of the resource sector in total Canadian exports has fallen over the years. But the good news is that we have not been losing our resource sector. Rather, we have been gaining vibrant manufacturing and services sectors that have become world class competitors in their own right.

This points to what I think is the most significant way in which trade and investment are benefiting Canada. Our integration with the global economy is not type casting us as producers of raw materials. It is paving the way for Canadians to enjoy the benefits of a vastly more diversified economy with more knowledge based economic activity and more rewarding jobs than an inward orientation possibly could offer.

[Pornography, May 10th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, maternity and parental benefits are a longstanding part of the Government of Canada's commitment to children and families. These benefits are provided to Quebecers like all other Canadians.

In October 1999 the government indicated that it would extend these benefits to provide greater flexibility to parents to better balance work and family needs. Our priority is to implement our improved parental benefits.

The recent budget announcement on the extended parental benefits now allows parents up to one year of leave instead of the traditional six months. We have also made parental benefits more accessible by lowering the eligibility threshold to 600 hours, about four months on a 40 hour week and five months on a 30 hour week, and giving more flexibility to parents by removing the second waiting period.

In 1997 the Government of Canada did enter into negotiations with Quebec so that it could establish its own parental leave plan. At that time we made a fair and equitable offer to the Government of Quebec but the Government of Quebec walked away from these negotiations. For our part, at the moment our government is focused on providing extended EI maternity and parental benefits to Quebecers and to all other Canadians.