Marcel Massé

[Public Service Of Canada, December 14th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member and myself would agree that we had and we still have one of the finest public services in the world and that we have to maintain its quality in order for it to be able to perform well in the future.

The government has given a pledge that it would reduce involuntary layoffs to an absolute minimum and it will keep that pledge.

In the program review we are looking at all the programs to make government more efficient in order to cut costs. There is no doubt that government will have to be downsized. However in that process we are always keeping in mind that the public service has to be kept efficient and able to perform its job. It has to be kept in a spirit that will permit it to respond to the challenges that it faces. We will do that.

[Collège Militaire Royal De Saint-Jean, December 14th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, we must indeed stop fooling around, so the Quebec minister, who says one thing on Monday and another thing on Tuesday, should confirm her position to me in writing before I can take action.

[Collège Militaire Royal De Saint-Jean, December 14th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I spoke to the mayor of Saint-Jean yesterday at lunchtime and it is clear that we can come to an agreement. The only obstacle is that the Parti Quebecois has not yet agreed on the basis of negotiations. I hope to be notified in the coming days. As soon as I am notified, we will resume negotiations.

[Collège Militaire Royal De Saint-Jean, December 13th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, it is always better to dance the cha-cha-cha than St. Vitus' dance, like the opposition.

The proposal from the mayor of Saint-Jean, Mr. Smereka, only implements the sixth point of the July 19 agreement. Therefore, by stating, as she did literally yesterday morning, that she does not believe in the July 19 agreement, Ms. Beaudoin has set aside the whole basis for negotiations.

At midday today, I wrote to Ms. Beaudoin, indicating that if she advised that she was prepared to accept the terms of the July 19 agreement, I would gladly resume negotiations, because what we care about is keeping the college in Saint-Jean going and the welfare of the people of Saint-Jean.

[Collège Militaire Royal De Saint-Jean, December 13th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, if anyone has not flip-flopped on this issue, it is I. For the past four months, I have been telling the opposition day after day that this matter must be settled on the basis of the agreement signed with the Government of Quebec on July 19.

Ms. Beaudoin, in her press conference yesterday morning, denied the basis of our agreement. She denied that the July 19 agreement would be the basis of our negotiations, so she is the one who has set aside what would have made it possible for us to reach a positive conclusion for the college in Saint-Jean.

[Royal Roads Military College, December 12th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, in both cases the military colleges are being closed and in both cases there have been economic activity consequences as a result of the closures of bases. In the two cases the amount that is offered over five years is $25 million, of which $5 million is taken from the Department of National Defence in order to compensate for decreased military activity.

This has been a part of the Quebec deal. This is a part of the British Columbia deal. It is exactly the same deal on the same basis.

[Royal Roads Military College, December 12th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, since the beginning we have offered exactly the same deal to Royal Roads as we have offered to the Collège militaire royal. We have made it a point to be absolutely fair in the agreements that we were negotiating; in fact, most of the clauses in the Royal Roads proposal are exactly the same as in the Quebec proposal.

The arrangement with Mayor Smereka, if it ever leads to a full implementation of the deal, is merely a process of implementation and in that process whatever is offered to Quebec will be offered to Royal Roads.

[Collège Militaire Royal De Saint-Jean, December 12th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, in the last few months, I put great effort into trying to reach an agreement that would keep the college in Saint-Jean open and allow the community to benefit economically from its operation.

On July 19, we reached an agreement that would have done just that. The Quebec government consistently refused to implement it. At last, thanks to the co-operation of the mayor of Saint-Jean, we finally succeeded in putting together a series of proposals which will or could lead to an agreement that would keep the Collège de Saint-Jean open as a civilian university.

But once again, Minister Beaudoin's bad faith has jeopardized the agreement we could have reached.

[Collège Militaire Royal De Saint-Jean, December 12th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I myself met with the mayor of Saint-Jean to discuss this issue. My office has been in contact with him on several occasions. It is true that, on Saturday, we came to the conclusion that it would be useful to resume negotiations, since the chances were very good to finally conclude the negotiations on item 6 of the July 19 agreement, in order to make it possible for the college in Saint-Jean to keep operating as a civilian university.

Unfortunately, I learned just a few hours ago that, during a press conference, the Quebec minister, Ms. Beaudoin, who presumably was apprised of the letter faxed to her on Friday and of my press release, chose to misrepresent quite a few things.

In view of Ms. Beaudoin's position, I am no longer so sure that we can reach an agreement.

[Supply, December 8th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the motion before the House attempts to determine, rather it states the Bloc Quebecois's position on democracry, based on what Mr. Parizeau did. In fact, what he did is clearly undemocratic because his bill takes for granted an answer to a question which was never asked, and because this regional commission procedure is really a joke, as it recreates fifteen yes committees. That is the unanimous view of Quebecers and that is clearly why these are undemocratic proposals.