Lost her last election, in 1997, with 22% of the vote.
Supply May 3rd, 1994
A majority. Exactly. I am delighted to see that the hon. member from Beaver River understands that.
The hon. member for Beaver River has been here for a little while. Maybe she has a better grasp of it because some of her colleagues seem to think that the policy bus is driven by the opposition. We are here to say that the policy bus is not driven by the opposition; the policy bus is driven by the government. And the gas in the policy bus on this side goes back-
Supply May 3rd, 1994
That, too. Diatribes. At any rate, the meanderings and diatribes from the other side.
There is something I have wanted to talk about for some time and this appears to be a good time. One hundred and seventy-six ridings in this country sent Liberals to the House of Commons. Out of 295 ridings that makes-
Supply May 3rd, 1994
I thank the hon. member for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell. Yes, CLSC.
There is something similar in my own riding, the North End Community clinic in Halifax. A particular form of community based medicine can save us a lot of money. This is clearly the way we are going to have to go and not to what I call band-aid, short sighted remedies like user pay.
This government and the red book that is the basis of this government's policy in this Parliament has a commitment to the people of Canada in the creation of jobs, in the creation of dignity, and in the absolute commitment to the fact that all Canadians are equal in the area of opportunity.
You are not somehow a second class citizen because you live in one part of the country as opposed to another part, or a second class citizen because your family tradition is to go down to the sea and fish rather than get a university degree, or rather than go to the farm and plough, or whatever. Canadians have an equality of opportunity and a right to have those opportunities and the services of their government from sea to sea to sea.
It is not something you will be more entitled to if you live in an urban riding. It is not something you will be more entitled to if you live in Ontario. It is not something you will be less entitled to if you live in the Northwest Territories.
It certainly is not something you will be less entitled to if you happen to be franco-Canadian-if I can say that, French Canadian-or if you happen to be a member of an ethnocultural group that did not necessarily get here 400 years ago.
The point is that we in this government are committed totally to the marriage of compassion and responsibility. As well, the point is that in spite of the meanderings I hear from time to time from our learned colleagues on the other side-
Supply May 3rd, 1994
Yes, indeed, thank you to the hon. member for Winnipeg St. James.
I would tell him that there is a very famous quote with regard to where women fit in our society. I would quote that well known 20th century philosopher, Chairman Mao Tse-Tung, who said women hold up half the sky. It might be interesting if the hon. member looked into that just a bit. The quotations of Chairman Mao in his little red book are almost as relevant to the workings of this House as the rantings of the 18th century mind of Mr. Locke and some others. However that is a mere bagatelle and we will continue to the matter at hand.
I am particularly delighted to take part in the debate today because I think it is terribly important, as it frequently is in this Chamber, to put a human face on the work we do here. I am always delighted to be in the Chamber to hear my colleague and good friend from across Halifax harbour, the member for Dartmouth, as well my colleague and good friend, the member for Kingston and the Islands because the experiences in their own lives frequently puts a human face on the work that we do here.
We talk about cuts. I say this with the greatest of respect, because it is a long tradition in the House that we do not impute motive and that each one of us as parliamentarians understands that every other one of us as parliamentarians, is here to do the best job he or she can do according to his or her lights. We are here to represent our constituents and to do the best we can as well for all the people of Canada. We represent very different views, but the reason for us being here is the highest. Consequently I want to talk about some of those groups that exist on government largess, those groups that my friend from the other side perhaps in his lack of comprehension or just in his lack of experience thinks are not worthy of government attention.
Let me talk about women's groups in particular. Let me talk about transition houses. Let me talk about women's centres. Let me talk about women's health centres. Let me talk about shelters for young people. Let me talk about shelters for women who have recently been released from prison. Although coming under the specifics of provincial funding, all of these receive grants in varying amounts from either the women's program under human resources or under Employment Canada or under other government programs.
Let me tell members how important these are. I believe that the hon. member in his own soul knows that these things are important too. He says he does not. Okay, he asked for it. Let me tell him about the women who are driven from their homes in the middle of the night in fear of violence, in fear of their own lives, in fear of the lives of their children.
Let me tell him about the women who are attempting to reconstruct lives after serving a prison term, after being helped through a group, for example, like Stepping Stone in Halifax which helps prostitutes get off the street and get back into normal society.
Let me talk about women who desperately seek to improve their level of education so they can break the cycle of welfare. Let me talk about people in general, but mostly women because the vast majority of those people suffering under the yoke of poverty in this country are women.
Let me say what would happen to them if the kind of federal funding that the hon. member in his pardonable but perhaps frightening level of knowledge wants to remove from the federal budget. Let me tell the member what would happen to them.
Places like Byrony House, a transition House in Halifax would be shut down. Places like Phoenix House, a shelter for young people would be shut down. Places like the St. Leonard's Society which assist people who come out of prison and who are trying to make a new start would be shut down.
We have already seen what happens when cutbacks meant that a great number of people suffering from various kinds of mental illnesses have had to be released on to the street. We have seen in the last 10 years, the years of the Mulroney government-the hon. member should pay attention, he may learn something-what has happened when a lack of compassion has contributed to an ignorance level and people do not see what is happening to the big picture.
Go to the streets of any major city in this country. Go to my city of Halifax, a small city, and see the number of young people who are on the streets. See the number of people with various kinds of mental disorders who are on the streets because there is no place for them and because the funding is not there.
Go to Montreal and Toronto and Vancouver and Winnipeg and Calgary and Edmonton and you will see them. Is this what you want in your country? Is this what you want to be the legacy of your children? Is this what you want the world to say Canada stands for and Canada means?
If it is, I have to say that it is not what I want and it is not what anybody on this side of the House wants from the hon. member for Saint-Maurice who is the Prime Minister to the latest elected backbencher on the government side.
On this side of the House, we have a history and a tradition that says that you can do two things. Yes, on that side of the House too, as my hon. friend from Ontario reminds me, along with the rump as well. We have a history and a tradition in the Liberal Party that says the two things that drive the engine of government are not incompatible and those two things are compassion and fiscal responsibility. People who believe that the two do not go hand in hand with the greatest of respect, just do not understand the way government works.
We on this side of the House have a great tradition of reform in the best sense of the word. This is the party of Joseph Howe. This is the party of Wilfrid Laurier. This is the party of Lester Pearson. And thank God, this is the party of Pierre Elliott Trudeau and the party of Jean Chrétien.
The question of reform has always been near and dear to the hearts of Liberals because it is reform with a compassionate face. It is reform to ensure that Canadians have a standard of living that is second to none.
My hon. colleague from Dartmouth asked the learned members on the other side where they would cut. I can remember, and I know the hon. member from Dartmouth remembers this as well, five or six years ago the hon. member for Dartmouth, the hon. member for Willowdale, who is currently the chair of the finance committee, and I went out for supper after a committee meeting. We talked about the jewel in the crown of Canadian social programs, and that is medicare.
The hon. member for Dartmouth's history is in a small coal mining town on Cape Breton Island. I came from not too far from there myself, but was brought up in a larger city. The hon. member for Willowdale was brought up in the city of London, Ontario.
We discovered that each one of us had the experience in our early childhood of seeing members of our families seriously ill and prevented from getting the kind of medical care needed. Actually, in my case it was not prevented. My father had an illness for three weeks. When he died, my mother was cleaned out. There was no money left. Everything was gone because this was pre-medicare. The hon. member for Dartmouth's father suffered an industrial accident which devastated his family financially. The hon. member for Willowdale had a similar experience.
The three of us talked about this. I remember it so well. It impressed me so deeply that the three of us, coming from our different experiences were utterly committed to the fact that never in this country should Canadians have to worry about medical care. Never in this country should Canadians have to think that they could not get treatment or medical services that are life sustaining without a complete and utter danger of bankruptcy within their family.
I was seven years old when my father died. I remember the devastation of his death, obviously. But I also remember what clearly was a fear in my mother's heart because she was left a widow with no resources. My father had been a pretty successful businessman. But there was no medicare and three weeks in a hospital cleaned out everything they had managed to save and compile in 10 years.
That is unacceptable. That is not even something which should be allowed to be contemplated. When hon. members from the Reform Party talk about cuts, when they talk about user pay which with the greatest respect is absolutely one of the dumbest theories I have ever heard of but I leave that for another debate, when they talk about these things I wonder if they have truly investigated and looked at the situation.
I would advise the hon. members to go into the Library of Parliament and look at an all-party report, a unanimous report done by the health and welfare committee in the first two years of the last Parliament.
The report talked about the kinds of changes that would deal well with medicare. Unfortunately that report has never been given the kind of light it needs. It talks about preventive medicine. It talks about the kinds of things for example that the province of Quebec is particularly good at. I forget the name and I do not know if any of my colleagues here can help me, but there is a name for medical centres in the province of Quebec-
Supply May 3rd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I must say that I am delighted to take part in the debate today.
While we are having a plethora of quotes from great minds of the 18th century, perhaps we could get in a quote from the 20th century. I am particularly interested that the hon. member for Skeena picked out the National Action Committee on the Status of Women to suggest as being unworthy of government funding.
Is it not interesting that the hon. member would pick a women's group and I wonder if he would go so far as to extend that to other women's groups as well.
Supply May 3rd, 1994
The deserving poor.
Controlled Drugs And Substances Act April 19th, 1994
Madam Speaker, officials with the Department of Citizenship and Immigration met with representatives of the Centre de Développement Salvadorien to discuss this issue on three separate occasions: January 31, February 15 and March 3.
As a result of these meetings we made two commitments to the organization and to the Salvadoran community in Canada. First, all Salvadorans facing removal from Canada would have their cases reviewed to ensure they would not be at risk if returned to El Salvador. Second, officials who conduct these reviews would be in possession of the most recent, up to date information on country conditions and political events in El Salvador. We have delivered on these commitments.
All unsuccessful refugee claimants from El Salvador facing removal from Canada benefit from an extra review in addition to the current post claim determination review. Each case is reviewed to ensure that they will not be at risk if returned to El Salvador. In addition, we have ensured that officials are kept informed of the country conditions through reports and bulletins of human rights organizations, the United Nations observer mission in El Salvador, and information from our representatives in Central America.
We must not lose sight of the fact that the fundamental issue here is refugee protection, not immigration. At some point, we have to accept the decisions handed down in the course of this process. Our refugee determination system is recognized as one of the fairest and most generous in the world.
Immigration April 18th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I wish to again reassure the hon. member that the minister is very aware of the situation in China. His department continues to monitor the situation.
I reiterate again, as the minister has said on several previous occasions, that we do not and will not remove people to countries where their lives or freedoms would be threatened.
Immigration April 18th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, the minister is very aware and tracks human rights' problems world-wide. No one will be removed from Canada to situations where they will be put in danger.
The minister has promised a final resolution on many of these cases by the summer. The question of human rights and the safety of these people will be taken into account as a first priority.
Public Safety April 18th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I again assure the hon. member that the immigration department is following the law of the land and following due process, that the number of people to be deported will be handled by the minister and by the department in due course and the hon. member should not worry.