House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 1993, with 66% of the vote.
National Ports February 16th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, what a revelation: the hon. member will now wait for a mandate before raising such issues. When I appeared before the transport committee, the hon. member, instead of dealing with the problems affecting the transportation system across the country and proposing solutions, went on and on about Mr. Masters. With or without a mandate, the hon. member always knows where to dig.
Railway Safety February 16th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has mentioned a very major report
that is quite long. First off, I would like to thank those who wrote it. The government is currently preparing its response to the many recommendations, a good number of which are very broad in scope, and we should be able to publish that response within 90 days.
Canada Ports Corporation February 16th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member indicated, the appointment of the gentleman in question was made by the previous government. He has been in office for several years and had acted as a director prior to that. We understand the importance of making sure that the operations of Canada Ports are done efficiently.
There have been questions raised by the hon. member and others at hearings of the Standing Committee on Transport. We are going to review the matter very seriously, but I want to emphasize that the Standing Committee on Transport, mandated by the House to look into the whole area of the operation of Canada Ports, is meeting across the country right now and will have an opportunity to hear from these people who signed their names to a letter. They can make their allegations directly before the committee.
Perhaps, if the hon. member has any other information that he wishes to make known to the Canadian public, he might want to step outside and make whatever allegations he wishes to make.
Canada Ports Corporation February 16th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that this is a serious matter.
Because we try to pay attention to the advice that is given by members of the third party in the House, in situations such as this one where serious allegations have been made and there is a call for drastic action we want to take some time to make sure we do the right thing.
The hon. member would know, as many of his colleagues have said on another matter that has been the subject of a great deal of discussion in the House, a person does not want to act rashly in these matters.
Railway Security February 15th, 1995
Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the report of the committee reviewing the Railway Safety Act.
Air Transportation February 15th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should recognize that it is government policy to recognize there are two great Canadian airlines in this country: Air Canada and Canadian Airlines International.
What we have achieved with respect to what we hope we will be able to sign when the president comes to Canada is something that has been worked on in this country for nearly eight or nine years.
I would have thought that instead of playing petty parochial politics the hon. member would have recognized that Canadians from coast to coast in every province and both airlines have accepted this deal as the biggest step forward in Canadian aviation history in the last 15 years.
Air Transportation February 15th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, first, the question asked by the hon. member is based on an absurd statement. Indeed, since I was appointed Minister of Transport, the government granted Air Canada access to the new Kansai airport, in Osaka. Air Canada also has flights to Seoul, in South Korea, and has landing rights in Singapore, even though it does not go there. You can rest assured that when the time comes to allocate U.S. routes, assuming the bilateral agreement with that country is ratified, we will-as we have always done-ensure a balance and a reasonable sharing of the benefits for the two Canadian airlines.
Trans-Canada Highway February 9th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for her question because I know it may be one of the last questions she raises in the House. I understand she is looking forward to replacing Dennis Cochrane in New Brunswick as leader of the Conservative Party and thereby reducing the Conservative caucus in this House by 50 per cent in one crack.
With respect to highway construction in New Brunswick, as is the case everywhere else in the country, the hon. member would be aware that it is a provincial jurisdiction. If the Government of Canada is able to participate, we certainly will try.
As far as the routing of the highway is concerned, because of the nature of the provincial jurisdiction she would have to negotiate that in her new incarnation in the legislature of New Brunswick with Premier McKenna.
Air Transportation February 9th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, I know the hon. member is trying, but I want to point out that with respect to international routes we need to be very careful on exactly what was done and when. This government certainly did not contribute any $50 million guarantee to Canadian Airlines International.
In spite of what the hon. member is trying to produce in front of the House today, again I want to quote: "Under the existing international air route policy, Air Canada has just announced that it is increasing its international capacity by 18 per cent".
If the hon. member would look back to where we were this time last year with Air Canada and Canadian Airlines International, he would understand how far we have come.
Air Transportation February 9th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, Air Canada is of course interested in the Hong Kong route. However, as you very well know, in 1994 we gave Air Canada access to Japan with a route to Osaka via the new Kansai airport. I can assure the hon. member that the outlook is pretty good. Air Canada will hire more than 350 flight attendants and recall about 100 pilots. That is not bad.