Jim Hart

[Petitions, September 26th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my constituents from Okanagan-Similkameen-Merritt I present a petition calling to the attention of the House that the Bloc Quebecois has publicly dedicated itself to the disloyal objective of the secession of the province of Quebec from the Canadian federation.

Therefore the petitioners call on Parliament to preserve Canadian unity and parliamentary tradition and to protect the rights of all people of Canada by prevailing on the Speaker of the House of Commons to recognize the Reform Party as the official opposition during the remainder of the 35th Parliament.

[Cultural Property Export And Import Act, September 25th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to the hon. member.

What we are seeing today in the House of Commons is the hypocrisy of the Liberal government. It talks of fair taxation. It has the nerve and the audacity to talk of fair taxation. Is the bill before us fair?

It is not just donated works of art that are eligible for the tax credits; it can be anything that is deemed to be of outstanding significance and national importance. For instance, prominent retired politicians such as Mr. Trudeau, Mr. Turner and Mr. Mulroney have all donated their personal papers to the National Archives in return for very high tax credits. It will amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars over many years. Who is it being funded by? It is being funded by the taxpayers of Canada.

Fair taxation? Is it fair that this will be used by former prime ministers and people the government deems important, but not by the dual income family that is having a difficult time making ends meet? Is it fair tax policy when something like this will be used mainly by the extremely wealthy in Canada and not by the disabled worker who is on a very low income or by the mother of two who is struggling to survive?

What we are seeing today is the hypocrisy of the government, which in its last budget told Canadians that there would be a tax increase for those mothers who will have to get work to make ends meet, to the dual income family and to the disabled person.

The government raised gasoline taxes by 1.5 cents per litre. That hits home. That hits the average Canadian taxpayer.

What we are seeing today is a tax measure that is for the elite of our society.

Would the hon. member like to comment on that?

[Excise Tax Act, September 25th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his answer. However there is still a contradiction and I was wondering if he could clarify it further.

The government is planning on introducing legislation regarding neighbouring rights. Here is legislation which will affect an industry in Canada, the broadcast industry, which is in severe trouble. It is losing millions of dollars a year and yet the government has plans to tax that industry. How can it justify that when it will look after another industry? There is a protectionist attitude toward one industry and yet there is a failing industry in Canada, the radio broadcasting industry, and the government will do nothing except increase its taxes.

[Excise Tax Act, September 25th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to the comments of the member for Rosedale.

If we truly had a protectionist attitude maybe we would not have ABC television or CBS television. Maybe we would not be exposed to any television programs come from the United States or elsewhere. Maybe the NHL would never be in the United States and maybe we would not have t he NBA coming to Canada now.

There is a contradiction the member is espousing but obviously does not see when he talks about protectionism and in the same sentence talks about the global economy and how we must compete. I am wondering if the member could again try to explain to the House the reconciliation of what he is saying.

[Petitions, September 25th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I bring to the attention of the House a petition signed from people in Ontario and Nova Scotia.

They state the Bloc Quebecois is comprised solely of members elected from only some constituents in the province of Quebec; that the Reform Party of Canada having only one less member in the House representing constituencies in five provinces and with constituency associations in every province of Canada more truly represents the interests of Canadians.

Therefore the petitioners call on Parliament to preserve Canadian unity, parliamentary tradition and to protect the rights of all people of Canada by prevailing on the Speaker of the House of Commons to recognize the Reform Party of Canada as the official opposition during the remainder of the 35th Parliament of Canada.

[Sea King Helicopters, September 22nd, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, in my recent visit to Shearwater I found out that the Sea King helicopter requires 25 hours of maintenance for each one hour of flying time. This definitely speaks to the serious situation the Sea King is in right now.

I can make my supplementary question very simple and I would like to make it direct because the children serving our country are literally falling out of the sky. How many other crashes must there be before the government takes action to replace the Sea King?

[Sea King Helicopters, September 22nd, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Defence. I have learned that a Sea King helicopter crashed Wednesday night in Piopolis, Quebec. The crash was due to a transmission failure.

I had trouble getting this information from the Department of National Defence. I wonder if the minister will confirm this

incident and will he tell the House why it is a secret when one of our aging Sea King helicopters goes down?

[Petitions, September 20th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the constituents of Okanagan-Similkameen-Merritt to present a petition which has been duly certified by the clerk of petitions.

The petition draws the attention of the House to the following: "That the rights and interests of citizens residing in nine provinces and two territories cannot be adequately protected by the disloyal one province Bloc Quebecois as Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition and that this is accordingly a travesty of the institution of Parliament. Therefore, we call on Parliament to preserve Canadian unity, parliamentary tradition and to protect the rights of all people of Canada by prevailing upon the Speaker of the House of Commons to recognize the Reform Party as the official opposition during the remainder of the 35th Parliament of Canada".

I present this petition on behalf of all Canadians.

[Auditor General Act, September 18th, 1995]

Madam Speaker, I listened with interest to the member's speech. I wonder if he could clarify a couple of areas for me.

He made the statement that Canada was the largest creator of garbage in the world. Maybe he could tell us where he got that information and how he developed the thesis that Canada of all places is the largest developer of garbage in the world. I am sure it is something that all Canadians would like to know more about. Could he tell us the scientific facts and how he arrived at that conclusion.

The second comment I was concerned about was in regard to global warming. I remember growing up in the seventies when environmentalists said that in five years if we were not careful the rivers would boil. I would like the member to share with us where he received this information. In his statement who is speaking for science in his comments?

I feel he has left out an important aspect. If he wants to make a statement about something, he should back it up with some facts.

[Petitions, September 18th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today pursuant to Standing Order 36 to present a petition. This petition not only bears the signatures of constituents from my riding of Okanagan-Similkameen-Merritt but also signators from across this country, including places such as Bath, Ontario, Seeleys Bay, Lansdowne, Ontario, and also Victoria, British Columbia.

The petitioners draw to the attention of the House that the Bloc Quebecois has publicly dedicated itself to a disloyal objective, that being the secession of the province of Quebec from the Canadian federation. Therefore, the petitioners call on Parliament to preserve unity, parliamentary tradition, and to protect the rights of all people of Canada by prevailing upon the Speaker of the House of Commons to recognize the Reform Party of Canada as the official opposition during the remainder of the 35th Parliament of Canada.

It is not only my duty but my privilege to present this petition on behalf of Canadians.