René Laurin

[Supply, February 7th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, we do not have unanimous consent.

[Supply, February 7th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, could someone explain to me the consequences of changing the order of priority?

[Excise Tax, February 5th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, we now have proof of what we have known since the very beginning and what we have so vehemently condemned: this bill on GST harmonization serves only one purpose, one political objective, to show the people that the Liberal government is keeping its 1993 campaign promise to scrap or change the GST.

They are fulfilling their commitment in three provinces, and as we also know, this gift to the maritimes will cost Quebec and Canadian taxpayers $1 billion. Moreover they are not considering the other impacts of this tax, which is not a new tax, mind you, only a hidden one. It is so well hidden that we will not be able to see it any more, since it will be included in the sales price. This will be seen as a despicable hidden tax because of its effects on some aspects of the lives of the taxpayers.

I want to dwell on the issue of education. Having been a teacher and a school board administrator, I know how vitally important books are for the development and education of children.

What better way to build a nation, to develop children, and to nurture our youth than to teach them how to read and then to encourage them to buy books to increase their knowledge, expand their horizons and learn how to see beyond their town, their city, their province, their country, and to communicate with the rest of the world?

The government wants to tax books as if they were luxury items. It wanted to look good by tax-exempting certain educational institutions such as universities, colleges and primary and secondary schools, but it is the institutions and not the books that are exempted.

If my child needs a book, I cannot buy the book from the school board. I have to buy it from a bookstore and pay the tax, since I am not an institution. The school board would not pay this tax.

A child needs books long before he or she enrols in school. Given the financial problems that school boards, universities and cegeps have today, they are less and less able to provide books for free.

They may be able to provide some books, but certainly not all of them. For example, is there a more important tool to learn our own language than a French or an English dictionary?

There are dictionaries in school libraries, but it is not practical to ask the teacher during class: "May I take a couple of minutes to go to the library and check if such or such word is correct in French or in English?"

A school board cannot afford to provide dictionaries for each and every student because students use these books throughout their school years. Who will buy it? The parent will have to buy it at the bookstore. Even though the parent is a member of a family, this institution would not exempted from this tax on books.

The parent will have to pay, and just think of how much a dictionary costs. It is quite expensive. One can pay $30, $40, or $50 for a dictionary. If you add the federal sales tax on a $40 dictionary,

you will have to pay $2.30 to $3 more. If the parent has four children in school, he will have to shell out another $12. This is not an incentive. Parents may be tempted to give their children something else.

In the case of younger children, such as a two-year old or a three-year old, what could we give them, for example, to get them interested? What book could we give a two-year old who cannot read yet, but whom we would like to get interested in reading?

We start by getting him colouring books. Will this colouring book be taxed? And what if it is a picture book? If we want to get kids who cannot read interested in books, we start by showing them picture books to slowly introduce them to the world of books, to all the new things in books. It is a new world for this very young kid.

If parents have to pay tax on these books, it will not encourage them to choose a book rather than a toy for their children.

The purpose, and that is what Quebec did when it exempted all books from the PST, was to bring people to buy books instead of something else when they gave a gift to their children, or to make the necessary school books more affordable. With the tax, the incentive is not there. People will be penalized.

I mentioned colouring books and picture books, but when the child reaches three or four years, he likes to be told tales and stories. Some parents have enough imagination to invent these stories, but others need books. So, they buy children's story books. They read it with their children. They start teaching their kids to read. They get them interested in reading. They show them that literature is interesting. In elementary school, and especially in high school, when children are still searching for their own identity, books would be an excellent means to help them. But that is out of reach because we tell them: "If you want to buy books, you have to pay more because the federal government decided to tax culture, to tax reading. You must pay more to get that access to culture".

Those are the effects of the tax. Some will say: "The impact will be marginal. Why would they refuse to pay 7 or 7.5 per cent more to buy books, since they pay it when they buy other items?"

When the government wants to make a difference, guide consumers' choices, help some businesses, it offers well targeted subsidies. For example, a business that wants to get into the environmental sector will get a grant that it would not get in other sectors.

The same goes for education and culture. If we want to promote that product, if we want children, teenagers and adults to buy more books, we must help them and not grant this privilege only to educational institutions.

By granting this privilege only to educational institutions, elementary schools, secondary schools, colleges, universities and other non profit organizations, the government just wants to be able to say: "Here is what we have done with the GST; we have changed it. We even abolished the GST on books". Again, this bill does not abolish the GST on books. It is false to say that. It is not books that are exempted from the GST, but certain institutions.

Even the exemption of certain institutions from the tax can raise some questions. Is the government not opening the door to a situation where some people could put pressure on institutions to avoid paying the tax? I imagine myself as a teacher telling a class of 30 students to buy a certain book for a literature paper. Since the book is not available at the school, they have to buy it. If I ask them to buy the book, I am penalizing them. If I do not ask them to buy the book, I cannot ask them to do that particular paper. I am forced to restrict my teaching because books are too expensive.

These are a few examples I wanted to give. I will have the opportunity to rise again on the other groups of motions and continue this speech.

[The Late Norman Fawcett, February 5th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, as we did for Jean Roy, and for the same reasons, we wish to offer Mrs. Fawcett, his children and all those Mr. Fawcett leaves behind, our sincerest condolences.

[The Late Jean-Robert Roy, February 5th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, we did not know Mr. Roy. However it is clear from the tributes paid him by his former colleagues and those who knew him that his reputation was well deserved, and I would therefore like to join with his colleagues in offering his wife and two children the most sincere sympathy of all members of the Bloc Quebecois.

[Human Rights, February 4th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, torture, kidnapping and political assassinations by security forces are prohibited under Turkish law and international treaties on human rights.

Yet, in Turkey, these are everyday occurrences. In 1995 alone, more than 35 people disappeared after being arrested by the security forces, 15 died from torture while in custody and another 100 or so were killed for political reasons.

The figures for 1996 paint an equally dramatic picture. During the first 10 days of January, four prisoners were beaten to death in an Istanbul prison, and a reporter covering their funeral suffered the same fate.

We condemn the complacency of the Canadian government, which did nothing to promote respect for human rights in countries where these rights are systematically violated, and in Turkey in particular.

[National Organ Donor Day Act, December 12th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I would like you to call the House to order. Those who are not interested in the debate can withdraw. I am having difficulty hearing my colleague, and I am close by.

[Excise Tax Act, December 5th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I am quite sure that what my Reform colleague has to say is interesting, therefore I believe we should be as many as possible to listen to him, and I call for a quorum count.

[Disabled Persons, December 4th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the revenue minister.

For a number of months now, the disabled have run up against the inflexibility of Revenue Canada officials in the application of the disability tax credit and a number of other tax measures affecting them. The official opposition voted in favour of a Liberal motion that should serve as a guide to the government if it truly wishes to respect the disabled.

Given the obvious and urgent need to review all tax measures that affect the disabled, what recommendations will the minister make to her colleague, the Minister of Finance, in order to resolve this unacceptable situation?

[Ways And Means, December 2nd, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, we are in agreement, and wish to express our most sincere appreciation to the other parties for their co-operation, given the circumstances.