Suzanne Tremblay

[Point Of Order, June 15th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, because I care about intellectual honesty and transparency, I would like to correct an error that I unwittingly made on June 8 last.

In my question that day to Minister of Canadian Heritage, I stated that the Astral communication group was from Toronto. After verifying my sources, I wish to inform the House that the principal shareholder in Astral is the Greenberg family of Montreal.

Obviously, the minister was no more aware than I was that Astral was owned by Montreal interests since he did not correct me when I put my question to him. However, I can see that he has read the copy of the letter which was sent to me as a result of the information provided in this House. Furthermore, since I was born in the Plateau Mont-Royal neighbourhood, I can say that I am just as familiar with rue Ste-Catherine as I am with rue St-Germain in Rimouski.

[Canadian Radio-Television & Telecommunications Commission, June 10th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, considering his responsibilities, can the minister give the assurance that he will defend the interests of francophone communities and will he undertake to provide these communities with access to a genuine, all news network in French?

[Canadian Radio-Television & Telecommunications Commission, June 10th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Canadian Heritage confirmed he had received a letter from the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes asking him to intervene through the governor in council, in order to change a decision by the CRTC regarding the French all-news network.

Now that he has a letter from the fédération, does the Minister of Canadian Heritage intend to defend the interests of the fédération himself, in cabinet and recommend that cabinet act on this request and demand that the CRTC change its discriminatory decision as soon as possible?

[Canadian Radio-Television And Telecommunications Commission, June 8th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, will the minister confirm that this decision came about as a result of a split between the CRTC's Anglophone and Francophone commissioners who were unable to agree on one of two projects, with the Francophones supporting the Chapiteau project from Quebec and the Anglophones favouring the project by Astral, from Toronto?

[Canadian Radio-Television And Telecommunications Commission, June 8th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the CRTC commissioners, who were unable to reach a consensus, refused to issue a licence for one of the two French-language pay-per-view proposals. This decision was roundly criticized by many parties, including the Government of Quebec, since it would deprive Francophones of an important cultural tool.

How can the Minister of Canadian Heritage justify a decision that is blatantly unfair to Francophones, in Canada and Quebec, when Anglophones have enjoyed a similar service for some time?

[Crtc, June 7th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I would still like to get a very clear answer from the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

Does this mean that the Minister of Canadian Heritage intends to personally ask the Cabinet to review the CRTC's decision? Is this what his somewhat diplomatic language means?

[Crtc, June 7th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the CRTC made a decision regarding the French-language all-news channel. This new service was awarded to Radio-Canada. However, the access of francophones outside Quebec to this new service will be left to the discretion of cable operators.

My question is for the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Does he not consider quite inequitable the CRTC's decision, which does not give Canada's francophone and Acadian communities guaranteed access to the French-language all-news channel, when they have been financially supporting the English-language equivalent, Newsworld, for several years through their subscriptions?

[Deputy Prime Minister, June 7th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Deputy Prime Minister was again unable to rise to her responsibilities. She said: "It hurts me to see Mr. Bouchard putting his wreath before the Cenotaph today".

I would first say to the Deputy Prime Minister that the wreath was laid by the member for Quebec whose father, Léon Gagnon, took part in the battle of Normandy and fought in Europe from 1939 to 1945 for freedom and democracy.

The most basic decency should have made the Deputy Prime Minister respect other people's sorrow. An hon. member should be able to honour her father's memory even if the Deputy Prime Minister does not share her political opinions.

The courage and sacrifice of our elders are a common heritage which no one can use for partisan purposes. The event commemorated yesterday belongs to the collective history of Quebecers and Canadians of all allegiances. Quebec will never deny this heritage, whatever the political choices it makes.

[Francophone Affairs, June 6th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, does the Deputy Prime Minister not agree that the Ontario government's attitude means that Kingston will not have French services before the year 2000 if that city is not bilingual? Is it really the Liberal Government of Canada's bilingual showcase?

[Francophone Affairs, June 6th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister. Ontario's Minister of Francophone Affairs refused to act on the request from the Commissioner of Official Languages, who asked the Government of Ontario to make an exception so that Kingston could become a bilingual area. This refusal by the Ontario government comes just before the cadets are to move from the military college in Saint-Jean to Kingston.

How can the Deputy Prime Minister still maintain that her government wants to make RMC in Kingston a bilingual institution and make that city a showcase of bilingualism when the Government of Ontario systematically refuses to make Kingston bilingual?