Yvon Charbonneau

[Election Campaign In Quebec, November 16th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, we are anxious to see which Lucien Bouchard will participate in the leaders debate tomorrow evening.

Will it be the Lucien Bouchard who told the Toronto Star a while back “I entered politics because I profoundly believed and continue to believe that the future of Quebec is within Confederation”, or the one who reiterated last weekend that Quebec must achieve sovereignty?

Which Lucien Bouchard will show up at the leaders debate tomorrow evening? Will it be the one who was a member of a Conservative government and all of a sudden quit on his Prime Minister, the convert who now contends it is essential that Quebec become independent, or the Lucien Bouchard who hinted at the possibility of deferring the next referendum indefinitely?

Which of the two, or rather the three, will participate in the leaders debate tomorrow evening?

[Fifteenth Anniversary Of La Soupière In Anjou, November 4th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to congratulate La Soupière, a community service program in Anjou, at the heart of my riding of Anjou—Rivière-des-Prairies, for its 15 years of service.

Weekly, for the past 15 years, the volunteers at La Soupière have been providing a nutritious meal to the isolated and disadvantaged residents of Anjou. In 1997-98, 40 volunteers served close to 3,400 meals. This represents 2,300 volunteer hours. Imagine how many meals and volunteer hours that adds up to over its 15 years.

I would also like to draw attention to the excellent co-operation between La Soupière, the city of Anjou, local merchants, Moisson Montréal, the various funding bodies, and the local community organizations.

Bravo to all those responsible for this wonderful effort. It helps those of us who are elected to office keep in mind that, above and beyond economic growth and competition, we must be sure that the resulting wealth is better shared.

[Group Of Parliamentary Friends Of Unesco, October 29th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, at an organization meeting held yesterday, 75 Canadian parliamentarians from all the political parties represented in both Houses set up a group of parliamentary friends of UNESCO.

This main objectives of this new parliamentary friendship group are to provide its members with more information on UNESCO programs throughout the world, particularly those that relate to North American realities, and to support Canada's participation in UNESCO, which includes taking part in the activities of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO.

The parliamentary group appointed an executive made up of eight members of Parliament and three senators. As chair of this new parliamentary friendship group, I am pleased to see the strong interest generated among our colleagues by this UNESCO contact group. We will now develop a plan of action to support UNESCO's major commitments in the areas of education, culture and science.

[World Teachers Day, October 5th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, UNESCO has designated October 5 World Teachers Day, in order to make people aware of the vital role played by teachers, who dedicate their lives to educating our children.

Throughout Canada, many organizations representing teachers, local associations and schools have planned specific activities to mark this special day.

Teachers today are confronted with some of the greatest challenges they have ever faced. In a world of rapid social and economic change brought about by new information technology and globalization, in a world of wealth for some and excruciating poverty for millions of others, education is our hope for the future.

As the vanguard of the education sector, teachers play a remarkable role in preparing and training future generations.

Education is an investment in the future of individuals and societies.

I wish to commend teachers for their valuable work.

[Quebec's Economic Development, September 30th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, in 1996, Quebec's Parti Quebecois government organized two socio-economic summits. On each occasion, it excluded the Canadian government.

The Government of Quebec was prepared to meet with municipalities, high finance—all the major banks were present—, management and labour, but not with the federal government. Yet we know that the federal government is an important player in the economic development of Quebec and the greater Montreal area.

Will the secretary of state responsible for economic development in Quebec tell us what the federal government has been doing to promote the development of Montreal?

[World Maritime Week, September 23rd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, this is the week the UN has declared to be World Maritime Week. It gives us an opportunity to reflect on the contribution the seas have made to the development of mankind.

They are a source of inestimable wealth, and, over the centuries, have been indispensable to explorers seeking new vistas and adventures far from home.

Woven into our history and vital to our economic development, the seas remind us daily of our common duty to protect and develop them so that their wealth may continue to contribute to the development of all nations.

This duty is particularly compelling for us whose country they border to the east, the north and the west.

[Canadian Economy, September 22nd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, during the summer, many questions were asked about the value of the dollar and the state of our economy. Thanks to the decisions of this government and despite a difficult international context, fears have generally settled down.

As an example of these positive economic interventions, I would like to ask the Secretary of State, Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, to tell us what the federal government has done to help the Société de développement Angus in Montreal's east end.

[Canadian Education Services, June 10th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, on May 8, a round table was held at York University in Toronto, focussing on the commercialization of Canadian education services. The Minister for International Trade co-chaired this event.

Participants included representatives of national education associations, of provincial bodies, of private and public institutions at all levels, of the council of ministers of education and of the provincial education ministers, including the Quebec minister, as well as federal officials.

This event is noteworthy because it paves the way for enhanced exchanges between all suppliers of education and training in Canada as well as some partners on the international level.

Familiar as I am with what Canada has accomplished in education and with the huge potential for international exchange and co-operation in this area, I believe this initiative by the Minister for International Trade will stimulate the implementation of numerous partnerships aimed at the commercialization of our expertise in education, both here and elsewhere.

This is one more piece of good news for both our economy and our entrepreneur-educators.

[Environment Week, June 3rd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, on Environment Week in Canada, I wish to acknowledge the work of environmental groups and the contribution of pollution control industries.

Environmental groups have remarkable expertise and offer very relevant suggestions, which may be useful to governments, industry and the public in making decisions.

In addition, tens of thousands of people in the environmental industry work on a daily basis to clean up our environment and to develop strategies and technologies aimed at cleaning up the mess or, better yet, at preventing pollution and protecting our biodiversity.

Since this week is Environment Week—and tomorrow UN World Environment Day—I as a parliamentarian would like to commend all the people who, as volunteers or employees, make every week Environment Week and every day Environment Day.

[Interparliamentary Delegation, June 1st, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the 28th annual meeting of the Canada-France interparliamentary association.