Pierrette Ringuette-Maltais

[Radio Station Cjem, December 7th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, radio station CJEM in Edmundston, New Brunswick, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its founding; it started broadcasting 50 years ago.

Under the direction of its founders, CJEM has been a source of relevant information and entertainment for the local population since December 4, 1944. CJEM was also the first French-language radio station in the Maritimes, which illustrates very well the vitality and creativity of the people in my riding and their interest in promoting the French fact.

I extend to them my sincere congratulations on their 50th anniversary and wish them continued prosperity in the years to come.

[The Honourable Romeo Leblanc, November 24th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate, on my behalf and on behalf of the residents of Madawaska-Victoria, the Honourable Roméo LeBlanc, who will become our new governor general in February. There is no doubt that Mr. LeBlanc is very qualified for the position.

He has always worked with dedication for a united and prosperous Canada. Mr. LeBlanc's appointment is an honour for the Atlantic provinces, for New Brunswick and for all Acadians and French-speaking Canadians. It is the first time that the governor general is a native of Atlantic Canada.

After 127 years of Canadian history, after the deportations of 1755, we are truly pleased, in this year of the World Congress of Acadians, by this historic appointment. This is the crowning achievement of the long and perilous road already covered and still to cover.

I wish the best of success to the Honourable Roméo LeBlanc in his role as governor general. I also want to thank the Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Jean Chrétien, for making an excellent choice.

[Supply, November 15th, 1994]

First of all, Mr. Speaker, I wish to commend the open-mindedness the hon. member for Mégantic-Compton-Stanstead has shown in advocating a national railway system from coast to coast, that is to say from the Atlantic to the Pacific and, of course, going across Quebec.

It is with pleasure that I will be talking today about a critical element of Canada's infrastructure, CN North America. CN is the largest rail carrier in Canada as well as the largest federal crown corporation with assets over $5 billion and revenues in 1994 forecasted at over $4 billion. CN North America operates an extensive network of 18,000 miles and provides about 30,000 jobs across the country. It serves shippers in 8 provinces giving them access to all major canadian ports and to markets in the U.S.

CN North America has faced several difficult challenges over its existence and, more particularly, over the last few years. Let me explain, the market for rail has changed dramatically and motor carriers now compete vigorously against rail carriers. The commodities best served by rail are under growing world price pressure and are demanding lower transportation rates. Shippers from the manufacturing sector are demanding better services in terms of reliability and rapidity.

All these factors have affected the financial performance of CN North America and resulted in continued losses over the past few years. However Mr. Speaker I believe that CN North America has begun to take the necessary steps to improve its future performance. The company is rationalizing its network. It is abondoning the few remaining lines where there is simply no traffic and selling to local entrepreneurs the lines that serve local markets and can be operated profitably by a small-scale railway company.

These regional railways or shortlines are usually more responsive to local shipper's needs and consequently provide services of equal or higher quality than class 1 carriers. In addition, their more flexible work rules allow them to adapt quickly to market demands and make them a lower cost solution than the traditional class 1 carriers.

In addition to rationalizing its network, CN North America is currently implementing a major labour reduction initiative. The company announced in 1992 that 11,000 jobs would be eliminated over three years. That announcement resulted in a significant write-down and a loss over $1 billion in that year. But it also signalled to the financial market, the company's firm intention to control its costs.

CN North America is now in the second year of this initiative. It recently confirmed that 70 per cent of the cuts have been made. This iniative represents an important change in the organization that needed to be made if CN North America is to become a viable operation.

CN North America has also increased its marketing effort and is investing to offer shippers the best service available. The expansion of the Sarnia tunnel is perfect example of an investment that will give the company a competitive edge over it competitors in the intermodal market. By investing over $200 million to expand the Sarnia tunnel, CN North America will soon be able to move double-stack containers between Montreal, Toronto and Chicago. This could represent savings of 12 hours for shipments going to Chicago.

Another good example of CN North America's strive for improved service is the recent purchase by the company of a leading-edge information system that will track individual shipments from pick-up to delivery. It will now be possible for CN North America and its shippers to know exactly where a shipment is and when it will get to its final destination.

I am glad to inform the House that CN North America is starting to reap the benefits of its ongoing efforts. The company earned $186 million for the nine months ended september 30, compared with a loss of $41 million in the comparable period in 1993. The company could earn as much as $225 million profit this year, which would break the long series of losses experienced over the last few years.

However, this year's profit is not yet the happy ending we are all hoping for CN North America. The company's debt remains at $2,2 billion, a very high level. And the profit in 1994 will not be sufficient to reduce the debt significantly because of important requirements for capital investment.

CN North America must continue to invest in its infrastructure to respond to growing demand and to reduce its costs. Higher profit over several years will be necessary to start reducing CN North America's debt. Fortunately, the recent cost-cutting and revenue-enhancing intiatives undertaken by CN North America put the company in a position to reap the benefits of the current strong economic growth and establish the base for a viable rail operation.

We are all aware that on september 22, Canadian Pacific Ltd. presented to government an unsolicited proposal to purchase CN North America's eastern assets. The offer came a few months after the failure of merger discussions between CN North America and Canadian Pacific Ltd.

You will recall that Canadian Pacific Ltd. and CN North America initiated these merger discussions more than a year ago in an attempt to consolidate their money-losing operations in eastern Canada. The discussions failed when the companies could not agree on the value of the assets they were each contributing to the deal.

The governement is now reviewing CP's bid to assess the many implications for the rail industry, shippers, rail employees and taxpayers. In particular, government is reviewing the competitive implications of the proposed bid for shippers located in eastern Canada as well as the likely impacts on transcontinental traffic and western shippers.

The review will also include an assessment of employment impacts of the take over. And government has retained the professional service of wood gundy, and investment banking firm, to provide advice on the financial aspects of the proposed transaction.

The overall review is proceeding quickly but the government made it clear that it would take all the time required to conduct a proper assessment of the offer.

This unsolicited bid prompted the Minister of Transport to announce on september 29 the creation of a task force on the commercialization of CN North America. The task force, chaired by my colleague from Kenora-Rainy River, Robert Nault, will focus on commercialization of the company, including potential employee participation.

The task force will seek input from a variety of stakeholders in the rail industry, including railway employees, shippers, provinces, communities and the railways.

To date, the task force has been briefed by senior executives from CN North America and other rail industry experts, by the Canadian Railway Labour Association and by the National Transportation Agency.

Public consultations will start next week on november 22 in Ottawa and will be held in a dozen of other cities across the country over the next month. The task force is expected to report to the minister of transport by the end of the year.

I want to emphasize that the task force review is only one element of government initiatives to streamline its operations and review its role to define what must be done by government and what could be accomplished by the private sector. Accordingly, Transport Canada is currently reviewing all its operations to determine what activities could be better accomplished by the private sector or in partnership with the private sector.

In the rail sector, Transport Canada has undertaken a review of the industry to determine the key elements impeding railway's performance. The objective is to define a strategy dealing with these issues that will improve the railways' ability to compete and provide efficient and affordable service to canadian shippers.

Transport Canada has concluded a series of regional consultations on the rail industry where shippers, the railways and unions were asked for recommendations to improve the railways' performance and ability to compete. The discussions covered several issues from railway management, labour practices to rail regulations.

In parallel to the consultations, Transport Canada is taking a close look at its regulations to ensure that our transportation companies, including the railways, operate in an environment that favour efficient use of resources and high-quality service for shippers.

Obviously, the future of CN North America will be affected by all these initiatives. Changes in the rail industry as well as changes in the perception of government's role vis-a-vis crown corporations would have a direct impact on CN North America. It is too early to speculate on what the future of CN North America will be. The government has undertaken a series of reviews that will all affect the corporation: a review of the environment in which the corporation operates; an assessment of CP's unsolicited bid, and a review of the potential merits of commercializing CN North America.

The company has begun to take the necessary steps to become an efficient rail operation. The conclusions of these reviews will be instrumental in maximising the benefits of CN North America's initiatives. The government will ensure that railways operate in an environment that allows them to freely compete and gives them the opportunity to adapt to shipper's demands in an efficient and affordable manner.

In this context, the future of CN North America will be determined by what is best for the rail industry but also for canadian shippers and the canadian people.

[Down's Syndrome Awareness Week, November 4th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind members of the House that Down's Syndrome Awareness Week runs from November 1 to 7, 1994.

About one person in 700 is born with Down's syndrome. During this week, the Canadian Down's Syndrome Society is making the public aware of the abilities, strengths and needs of Canadians who have Down's syndrome.

For a child or adult, as well as the parents, family and health, education and social science professionals, Down's syndrome is a challenge which must be met so that everyone with this syndrome can develop their full potential.

Together let us wish the Canadian Down's Syndrome Society an excellent awareness week!

[Canada Post, November 2nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, rest assured my question is not one of whining and rewhining about a letter. My question is for the minister responsible for Canada Post.

Canadians from coast to coast and I were pleased last winter when the minister stopped the closure of post offices in small communities which are vital for their social and economic development.

Could the minister tell the House what plan he has to modernize those post offices in order to provide decent, modern, written communication abilities for all Canadians?

[Income Tax Act, October 5th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome this opportunity to support the hon. member's bill. I may add I am not so naive as to expect the Canadian tax system and the general public to support this kind of bill. However, before we have legislation supported by the majority of the people and the members in this House, we must first have some time for discussion.

In fact, this bill gives us an opportunity to look at our tax policies and consider how the Act could be amended. It may well be that at Finance or National Revenue, this kind of legislation is seen as a considerable loss of revenue. I must point out that this would only be in the short term. If we look at pension funds in Canada and the Canada Pension Plan, all the supplements paid to the spouse who was unable to take advantage of a private pension plan are so many expenditures for the Canadian government.

I think we should take a much broader view of this bill. We can take the short term view but we can also take the longer view, and I am thinking of the economic spin-offs.

As the hon. member mentioned earlier, I also think this bill raises the whole issue of recognizing the value of work done in the home, work that has a social value in Canada.

At some point we can put a price tag on these social values. Our tax system should be able to recognize that cost, although personally, I think that women or men who decide to stay home do so as a matter of choice or personal emancipation. There are people who function extremely well in the home, although unfortunately, I am not one of them. I notice my colleagues are smiling, but I think we must recognize the value of work done in the home.

I would even say that in this initial bill, perhaps we should have considered all children, not only children of pre-school age who are still at home. In the current context, all levels of government and Canadian society as a whole urge children to take some responsibility for caring for their parents and grandparents.

When care is given to a child, a teenager, an adult or an elderly person, there is an intrinsic social value that should be recognized. I think it is the right time to start this debate on the value of the Canadian family and the individual. I think it is the right time and also the right week, since this is National Family Week. My family includes my parents, grandparents, children, spouse and in-laws. They will be glad to hear that!

I think it is high time, when we are talking about updating all our social programs in this country as well as a review of our tax system in the short, medium and long term, I think it is high time to get this debate going. I may be naive, but I believe that Canadians across the country will be very pleased to have an opportunity to discuss this value and to ensure perhaps that we can create a very just society, one that will be even more just and progressive than it is now.

[Canada Post Corporation, October 5th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, a few months ago, I commended minister Dingwall warmly for imposing a moratorium on post office closures in our small communities.

It is not enough to keep post offices open. Our small communities must also be provided with modern written communication transmission services; our rural post offices must have faxes and electronic mail.

Again the status quo is not good enough for our small communities. Time has come to modernize their communications network.

[Canadian Heritage, October 3rd, 1994]

Thanks to the electronic highway, we have made progress, in our part of the country.

[Lobbyists Registration Act, June 17th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to be able to participate in the debate on referring this bill, an Act to amend the Lobbyists Registration Act, to committee prior to second reading.

Lobbying is a long-standing part of democracy in this country. It pre-dates Confederation. Ever since the birth of this country, individuals have tried, directly or indirectly, to influence government decisions in their favour.

This House knows along with the increased activity by lobbyists grew a concern among Canadians. So long as the activities by lobbyists were conducted outside public view, Canadians might question whether government decisions were indeed made for the public good or under undue influence from a particular group.

This concern is nothing new. In 1969, the first private members' bills were tabled to demand that lobbying be opened to public scrutiny. By the time the government announced the establishment of a system for the registration of lobbyists in 1985, about 20 such private bills had been tabled but none had been passed by Parliament.

In 1985 the Government of Canada took up the cause of lobbying reform and issued a discussion paper which was studied by the Standing Committee on Election, Privileges and Procedure. The ideas presented in that standing committee report became the basis for the original Lobbyists Registration Act. It was given royal assent in September 1988 and came into force a year later.

This Act rests upon the fundamental principle that the registration of lobbyists serves to inform the public about lobbying and to guarantee that government decisions are made on the basis of the issues. In other words, the Act seeks to make lobbying transparent. The public has a right to know who is trying to influence government decisions.

By opening up the process to public scrutiny registration provides the opportunity for others to initiate their own efforts to present their views to the government.

This government believes that every Canadian has the right to approach government officials without using lobbyists as an intermediary. No one should feel they have to hire a lobbyist to bring matters to the attention of their member of Parliament, the ministers of the crown, public servants or any other institution in our governmental system.

Mr. Speaker, I would remind the House that, during the 1993 election, the Liberal Party of Canada promised that we would implement the Standing Committee's recommendation.

The registry will indicate who is attempting to influence what government department and agency on what specific subject matter, on whose behalf and using what technique. They will also be required to clarify any given information at the request of the registrar.

The amendments also provide for a review of the Act by Parliament after a period of four years.

These measures in total represent a major step in the evolution of lobbying in Canada.

The sub-committee members may want to make suggestions to enhance this legislation in order to ensure that it adequately guarantees the openness and transparency of lobbying activities. It is therefore proper that members have the opportunity to make their comments before the bill goes to second reading.

[Atlantic Canada, June 16th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, comments made in this House two weeks ago by the opposition parties concerning the people of Atlantic Canada were an insult, not only to Atlantic Canada, but to anyone residing in a democratic society. Today, I will accept the apologies of the Reform Party member and of the leader of the Reform Party.

But the people of Atlantic Canada are all awaiting appropriate apologies from the Bloc Quebecois member for Rimouski-Témiscouata and her leader.

Mr. Speaker, we await these apologies.