Pierrette Ringuette-Maltais

[Income Tax Act, April 25th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, it was with much amusement that I listened to my colleagues in the opposition, who repeated to a large extent what I said in my remarks in the first days of the first session of this Parliament. I had said that any measure of social justice must also take into account the tool the government has, that is the tax system, and review it to increase the system's fairness.

The proof of this government's commitment to review the tax system to ensure that Canadians, at least the least fortunate of our fellow citizens, can benefit from measures that are fairer and more equitable, is the reform announced by the Prime Minister during and after the election campaign. He promised the removal or the reformulation of the GST, a tax that is paid not once a year but every day, and a rather heavy burden for Canadians with low and even middle incomes.

I think this government shows on a daily and continuing basis its will to ensure greater fairness at the national level and particularly for people living in Quebec.

As for Bloc members, I hope they will support the government when we bring forward measures to ensure greater fairness in the tax system, and to abolish the GST, a daily form of taxation imposed on the population and a heavy administrative burden both at the federal and provincial levels.

[Canadian Citizenship, April 5th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, a ceremony was held today in the Hall of Honour to reaffirm our Canadian citizenship. That ceremony gives us an opportunity to show the importance which we attach to our rights, our privileges and our responsibilities as citizens of this great country.

I want to thank the Liberal member for Don Valley North for organizing a ceremony which allows all of us, in spite of our cultural diversity, to get together and to show how proud we are to be Canadians.

This reaffirmation marks not only the importance of staying united in order to be prosperous, but proves once again to the world that Canada and its citizens are number one in this Parliament. We should be proud of our accomplishments as a young nation providing world leadership and an enviable quality of life.

Vive le Canada. Long live Canada.

[National Defence, March 23rd, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Defence.

In previous years his department has been contracting seasonal work to retired military personnel receiving a pension, thus double dipping and leaving in the cold many Canadians seeking employment.

Can the minister tell us if his department will continue to hire retired military personnel or will civilians have a fair opportunity to work at these seasonal jobs?

[Francophones Outside Quebec, March 16th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc member for Rimouski-Témiscouata and critic for the Department of Canadian Heritage toured the country to tell francophone communities that the Bloc was with them all the way.

But Tuesday, the honeymoon was over when she accused the francophones of this country of being sell-outs.

How embarrassing for the Bloc to have one of its members make such accusations. Talk about double talk. At last the Bloc is showing its true colours to francophone communities.

But when Paul Piché and Laurence Jalbert made it clear they were separatists, after receiving financial assistance from Canadian Heritage for the production of records and videos, did you hear any federalists insulting them?

Not at all, and it goes to show how open-minded federalists are, and we expected Bloc members would show the same respect for the opinions of others.

On behalf of the francophones of this country, I ask that the member of the Bloc withdraw, in this House, the slanderous term she used.

[The Budget, March 14th, 1995]

Madam Speaker, I listened with great interest to the speech made by the hon. member for Lévis. First of all, I found it most interesting that he was defending the status quo, and Canadian federalism, when he indicated that he hoped that there would be no social program reforms, that he was a member of the parliamentary team which toured Canada, and that he had heard various comments regarding the reforms proposed by the Minister of Human Resources Development.

The member defended ardently and with great enthusiasm Canadian federalism and the status quo while the Liberal government has realized that, at the international level, things are evolving, and quite naturally so. As Liberals, we want to make sure that the future of Canadians, including Quebecers, will be much more promising than now.

I would also like to mention that Quebecers understand perfectly that the changes brought upon by this government are necessary to the future well-being of their children. I refer our colleague, the member for Lévis to a documentary, a survey conducted in Quebec, on the quality of instruction in the CEGEPs, which, after all, are the responsibility of the Quebec government. The results are not too encouraging for young people. I believe, therefore, that we should start putting our own house in order.

[Canada Games, March 2nd, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, during the Canada Games in Grand Prairie, Alberta, the New Brunswick judo team earned a total of eight medals, with the male team placing second in the country.

With their determination to succeed and train in their sport, they displayed their fine talent and agility.

I would like to congratulate the judo team from the Northwest, in particular, Bruno Volpé, gold medallist; Denis Cyr, Sylvain Collin, Marco Volpé, silver medallists; Danny Beaulieu, Madeleine Bossé, Jérémie Lepage and Magalie Paquet, bronze medallists.

Congratulations. Your perseverance in training in this sport has no doubt brought its rewards.

[His Excellency The Governor General, February 8th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, it was a great pleasure for me to attend the swearing-in of the 25th Governor General of Canada, the Right Honourable Roméo LeBlanc.

His Excellency delivered an historic speech. As an Acadian, he was able to link our past to our present, and to set forth the principles which will guide all Canadians to a promising future. The new Governor General is a remarkable man to whom all Canadians will be able to relate, because of his simplicity, his humility and his great wisdom.

I wish the very best to His Excellency, the Right Hon. Roméo LeBlanc, and to Mrs. LeBlanc in their new roles. As a French-speaking person from New Brunswick and member for the riding of Madawaska-Victoria, I speak for my constituents when I say how proud we are of this great Canadian, this great Acadian, who has shown that, in Canada, it is possible to achieve great things without relinquishing one's identity.

[Government Organization Act (Federal Agencies), February 7th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I thank you for recognizing me. The Bloc member answered my question by alluding to the other place. However, I can tell him that it is his supporters, the separatist PQ party in Quebec, who formally opposed any change to the Senate during the last national referendum on the Constitution. Come on, be serious!

The hon. member should look at what goes on in his own party before commenting on what takes place within other parties.

[Government Organization Act (Federal Agencies), February 7th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, indeed, I can see that the hon. member was unable to answer my questions on political patronage in the Parizeau government. Perhaps I could also point out to our colleague from the Bloc, when he talks about the other place, at a time when-

[Government Organization Act (Federal Agencies), February 7th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I have listened amusedly to the hon. member's remarks. He talked about loyal slaves and described political appointments as a shameful practice showing how corrupt the Canadian political system is.

I would like to know if he has a list of the political appointments made by the Parizeau government and a list of the Quebec senior government officials who have been dismissed when Parizeau was elected.

Just in the past four months, there has been a spectacular political appointment in Quebec that made the headlines: that of the president of Radio-Québec. Now the Bloc member comes and tells us that political appointments are used to reward loyal slaves and that the people of Quebec find it shameful.

I think that when the hon. member has the chance to get out of here and take a good, hard look at himself in the mirror, he will figure out whether his approach makes sense or not. He will see that we are a little bit all over the place today.