moved that the bill be concurred in.
Lost his last election, in 1997, with 38% of the vote.
Income Tax Act April 20th, 1994
moved that the bill be concurred in.
Income Tax Act April 20th, 1994
moved that Bill C-15, an act to revise certain income tax law amendments in terms of the revised Income Tax Act and Income Tax Application Rules, be read the second time and referred to a committee.
Flu Vaccine April 20th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I will take the House into my confidence and respond to the hon. member very clearly, very directly.
This member and that party have been pushing this government to be involved in the process. The hon. member should know that BioVac's price to the Canadian taxpayers, primarily the provinces, was $1.85. Connaught's was $1.69. A compromise was reached whereby it would be $1.77.
If that is not a measure of fairness reached by provincial governments across the country, I do not know what is. The real thing here is that member and that party wish to sabotage this deal in order that they can create political havoc in the province of Quebec.
Flu Vaccine April 20th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for the question.
The fact is that the Government of Canada, as I have said repeatedly in the House, purchases approximately 1 per cent of the total amount. Ninety-nine per cent of the vaccine is purchased by the provinces. This is done through the auspices of a co-operative committee by federal but primarily provincial governments across the country. They are the ones that purchase the vaccine.
As a result, there was an agreement reached by that committee where 50 per cent would be purchased from the province of Quebec, namely BioVac, and the other 50 per cent purchased from Connaught.
Purchases Of Flu Vaccine April 19th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, again I thank the hon. member for such a wonderful question.
I informed the hon. member and this House that two years ago in the province of Quebec BioVac did not get 50 per cent of the contract; 87 per cent of the contract went to the province of Ontario.
What we have provided under this particular regime is a 50:50 splitting of the contract. One per cent of that contract is purchased by the Government of Canada; 99 per cent is purchased by all the other provinces. If that is not equity I am sure the hon. member might want to go back to math school.
Purchases Of Flu Vaccine April 19th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for the question. Obviously the hon. member does not have all of the facts.
The hon. member should be aware that in previous years the amount of the contract awarded to the company from the province of Quebec was approximately 38 per cent over a three year average.
This year because of the representations made by the hon. member and her party, all of which we took into consideration, we were able to have an agreement in principle where both parties, Connaught industries from Ontario and BioVac from Quebec, would be able to split a contract on a 50:50 basis. Keep in mind that the Government of Canada purchased less than 1 per cent of the vaccine and 99 per cent of that particular contract was purchased by the other provinces across this country.
Government Contracts April 19th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I do not know where the hon. member gets his information with regard to the context of guidelines which are to be released by the government.
I want to assure him however that the Prime Minister made a clear and unequivocal commitment to Canadians that this subject matter would be reviewed. The matter has been reviewed. We are in the throes of releasing those guidelines to the public. Members will then have an opportunity to assess their effectiveness.
I want to assure the hon. member the principles of competency, fiscal responsibility and transparency will be seen throughout those guidelines.
Housing April 19th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his unexpected question.
We have had numerous deliberations with the provincial governments across the country. A number of them have agreed with us that there is a necessity for cutting out duplication and overlap. However a number of them for a variety of reasons have not wanted to proceed with us. For instance, in the province of Ontario there has been no sharing of that common vision.
Moneys under RRAP will be made available later this week. Applications can be processed in the coming weeks. I hope we will be able to have a fair amount of money in the system in order to provide the necessary repairs for the homes in need.
Fisheries April 19th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member makes reference to the fact that the Minister of Industry was not in attendance. The hon. member should also say that the Minister for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency was not in attendance either.
I want to assure the hon. member that in view of the commitments the Prime Minister has made and we made during the election campaign, each and every member of this cabinet, each and every member of this caucus, and each and every member of this party are firmly committed to assisting those who are in need, whether they be in the Atlantic region, in Quebec, western Canada or Ontario, to try to provide some economic assistance where possible.
Fisheries April 19th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question on an important subject but he is wrong.
Part of the package announced by the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Minister of Human Resources Development has a component dealing with regional disparities and how we might be able to facilitate the private sector, particularly small and medium sized business, to take advantage of economic opportunities in that region.