Douglas Young

[Canadian National Railways, March 7th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, CN and CP must follow a very well-known process for abandoning activities in certain regions of the country. We do not intend to impose a moratorium. The hon. member is no doubt aware that the railways have already disappeared from some parts of the country, like Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. However, I want to assure him that we are studying this whole issue and the proposal which was already discussed publicly by the president of CN and the president of CP will be considered when it is presented to the government.

[Excise Act, February 22nd, 1994]

You cannot make them safe under the Hazardous Products Act.

[East Coast Ports, February 22nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, obviously I am somewhat aware of the activities at the ports of Halifax and Saint John. It has been a need for Canada to be able to ship and receive goods from its major ports on the east coast for the last 40 or 50 years.

I find it rather unusual that anyone would question the activities of the port of Montreal, as essential as that port is to the economy of Canada as a whole. Therefore we fully intend to continue to provide services from the port of Montreal as we hope we will be able to do with enhanced activity at the ports of Saint John and Halifax.

[Supply, February 21st, 1994]

We cannot smoke here because of a private members' bill.

[Grain Transportation, February 16th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, unaccustomed as I am to taking the same line as the Minister of Finance, I think my hon. friend will have to wait for the budget to get the answers to questions regarding the Crow and a number of other questions we are all waiting with bated breath to have answered.

[Mil Davie, February 16th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, as far as the decision affecting mainly the Magdalen Islanders is concerned, we know that they need a ship to replace the Lucy Maud Montgomery . We will try to come up with a solution.

Of course, the question raised by the hon. member as to whether the ship will be built or bought is one of the criteria to be considered in reaching a decision.

It is a very complicated process. I met with the Quebec Minister of Industry, Mr. Tremblay, and we are discussing the whole issue in order to come up with the best possible solution, taking into account the needs of the Magdalen Islanders and of travellers and also our responsibilities to Canadian taxpayers.

[Mil Davie, February 16th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the government has a responsibility to provide service between Prince Edward Island and the Magdalen Islands and we will meet this commitment to the people who have long been asking for a ship to replace the Lucy Maud Montgomery.

As for building or buying a ship, this is a decision for the government, and we have not yet made a final decision. We are looking at all the possibilities. But the main objective is to provide a safe and efficient service to people travelling between Prince Edward Island and the Magdalen Islands.

[Pearson International Airport, February 15th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I certainly agree with the hon. member that Pearson has enormous economic importance, not just to the greater Toronto area but to Canada as a whole.

The question we must face and that I want to address in response to my hon. friend's question is that in the short term we have announced there will be no new construction this year. We

are going to complete the construction that was begun last year under a quick start project.

I want to emphasize that we intend to listen to members of Parliament from the greater Toronto area. We intend to listen to the leaders of the municipalities, the city of Toronto and other communities in that area to make sure that when we do something at Pearson we do the right thing.

[Quebec City Airport, February 11th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I have indicated to my colleague on a number of occasions when this question has been raised that it is the intention of the department to ensure that the same criteria applies based on the same levels of aircraft movement and all the security aspects that are essential to safe air navigation in this country.

The situation in Quebec City with respect to the control terminal is being assessed in exactly the same light as what took place at Halifax when air control was moved to Moncton, the closing of North Bay, and the reassessment of all of those units across the country.

The one thing I want to emphasize to my colleague is that we will deal with all of these decisions in a fair, equitable way and everyone will be treated in exactly the same way which is I am sure what my colleague would expect.

[Quebec City Airport, February 11th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows that the decision made a while ago to change the air control system, not only in Quebec City, but also in Halifax and in several other cities across Canada, is aimed at ensuring the safety of those who rely on theses navigation systems.

There is no doubt in my mind that the transfer of the air control unit from Quebec City to Montreal will not jeopardize safety.