Marcel Massé

[Quebec Pharmacare Plan, February 5th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the federal insurance policy, which covers at least 30,000 federal public servants in Quebec, offers more than the minimums required by the Quebec legislation for 98 per cent of those insured.

Our policy covers a wider range of drugs. It includes medical items such as glasses, which are not covered under Quebec's health insurance plan. Our deductibles are also lower.

Therefore, given that 98 per cent of our members have a better policy than the one available, we feel justified in keeping it.

[Tribute To The Late André Caron, February 3rd, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, we

are gathered here today to honour the memory of one of our colleagues, Mr. André Caron. On behalf of the Government of Canada, I speak for all of the members of the government in offering our most sincere condolences to Mrs. Marie Lévesque-Caron and her two sons, Jean-François and Louis-Philippe.

The House will remember André Caron, elected to this House by a region of Quebec that is proud of its roots and origins as a building force in this country. There have been Bouchards and there have been Tremblays, but there has been only one André Caron, a man of the people, a man close to his people, as all elected members must be when representing a riding.

Unfortunately, I did not have the pleasure of seeing André often in settings other than the House of Commons. Divergent political leanings make those of us who are parliamentarians often philosophically distant from each other because of our political choices, but we share a common goal: the interests of our constituents, our fellow citizens, the population as a whole. His straightforwardness and courage earned him the respect of all us parliamentarians engaged in the federal political arena.

On the personal level, all those coming in contact with him will attest to his profound moral values. He acknowledged only God as his master. This candid and frank man will leave a great gap in all the lives of all those around him.

André's political career was too short to do more than hint at his profound and intense dedication to the causes he espoused throughout his career.

He was particularly committed to our young people and to his faith.

Many young people came to know André as one of those devoted souls who gives without reserve, but others will unfortunately not come to know him, for his Father has called him away.

I would like to repeat, in closing, the words used by Mgr. Jean-Guy Couture in André Caron's funeral eulogy: "Even if he is called away before his time, the just man will find his rest- Wisdom surpasses grey hairs-A spotless life is the equal of a long one".

All of us will mourn the passing of the parliamentarian but, most of all, we will mourn the passing of a man with a mission, part of it accomplished and part of it yet to be accomplished, the ambassador and diplomat from Jonquière.

[Space Agency, November 28th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, as I just said, this is not a special situation. There is a Treasury Board regulation authorizing the Deputy Minister to make a choice and determine the employee's conditions of employment.

In this case, not only must the employee work in Ottawa two days a week, but his spouse works in Ottawa and they have young children. There is no doubt in my mind that the Treasury Board policy was properly interpreted and applied.

[Space Agency, November 28th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, it is true that relocated employees usually have the option of changing their place of residence. But the Treasury Board manual does provide for some exceptions on the basis of a number of objective factors that I would like to outline.

Under section 5.9.1 of the personnel management manual, there are cases in which employees are required to live outside their metropolitan or headquarters area for a number of months or years. The Deputy Minister must consider all aspects of the employee's situation, including the length of stay, family considerations, whether the employee rents or owns, to determine if it is practical,

more economical and less disruptive for the family to help the employee maintain a second residence or to authorize relocation.

In this case, relocation costs would have been much higher than the rental subsidy.

[Government Expenditures, November 27th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, if someone had the authority to punish all of the errors committed by the opposition party, there would not be one of them left.

What is important is that we have markedly reduced expenditures that were not in the public interest. We have cut government expenditures by $15 billion. We have reformed the public service and the various departments.

I believe that, with the recommendations of the auditor general, we can continue to properly serve the Canadian public, including Quebecers, who want good value for their money.

[Government Expenditures, November 27th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, the auditor general will surely find, among a total of $120 billion in expenditures, a few projects that have not been very successful.

We agree, and we take the findings of the auditor general to heart. We wish to provide far more efficient government, and we are, moreover, the first government in 50 years to have really reduced government expenditures in absolute terms. We want to see Canadians drawing the full benefit of their tax dollars. This is why we always give the utmost attention to the auditor general's recommendations and correct our mistakes.

[Infrastructure Program, November 26th, 1996]

No, Mr. Speaker. The reason is that all these infrastructure projects were there to create construction jobs at a time when the rate of unemployment in that field was close to 20 per cent.

I also have a list which indicates that in the riding of St. Albert, which happens to be the riding of the member, 41 projects have been implemented, over $20 million has been spent and 350 jobs have been created. Will the hon. member now tell me that it was not worth our while to create these jobs in his riding?

[Infrastructure Program, November 26th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, the infrastructure project has met with a series of successes. The auditor general mentioned some of them in his report.

When we are spending $6 billion on thousands and thousands of projects, it is inevitable that some projects will have been badly chosen and some of the management may have been wrong. Compared to the private sector, I am sure that the government did well. That will be seen if one asks any municipality in the country.

[The Environment, November 26th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, the auditor general made it clear, in referring to contamination problems which depend a lot on modern technology, that he wanted us to make a more exhaustive list of contaminated sites and the costs involved in cleaning up those sites.

That is exactly what we are doing now. Many departments have already started to compile these lists. It is sometimes very difficult to estimate the costs, but we are now setting up the requisite lists, with a description of the sites and estimates.

[Auditor General's Report, November 26th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. Leader of the Opposition refers to one area, information technology, which is currently being developed and which is rife with problems for all governments, whatever the country, here or in the United States.

At this time we are busy trying to fine tune information systems so as to decrease the cost overages which sometimes occur.

In order to place the words of the Leader of the Opposition in proper perspective I refer you to what the auditor general had to say: "Our office-the office of the auditor general-supports the use of information technologies in order to control costs and improve services, and we endorse the efforts of the Treasury Board Secretariat to develop an improved framework for managing information and technology projects".