Simon de Jong

[Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation And Safety Board Act, March 6th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure of introducing another petition signed by petitioners mainly from Fort Qu'Appelle and the Balcarres district.

These petitioners point out that there are still over 30,000 nuclear weapons on the earth. They point out as well that the continuing existence of nuclear weapons poses a threat to the health and survival of human civilization and to the global environment.

They call on Parliament to support the initiation and conclusion by the year 2000 of an international convention which will set out a binding timetable for the abolition of all nuclear weapons.

[Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation And Safety Board Act, March 6th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour of presenting a petition on behalf of the

Canadian Council of Railway Operating Unions. This petition is signed by communities all the way from Windsor, Ontario to Revelstoke, British Columbia.

What the petitioners are pointing out is that the viability of the CCROU as an effective bargaining unit for the members has been undermined as a result of the government's interference in the collective process via the maintenance of the Railway Operation Act, 1995.

What they are asking for is that Parliament and the government restore meaningful collective bargaining to the process. They call on Parliament to recognize the importance of free and unfettered collective bargaining by enacting a bill which would restore the union's right to strike and with it the company's right to lock out.

[Child Poverty, February 21st, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development.

The budget speech delivered earlier this week could have come straight from George Orwell's 1984 . Small extra expenditures are touted as new money while massive cuts to social and cultural programs continue. For example, the government claims $600 million is new money for poor families with children.

The government knows however that the new rules for the taxation of child support that resulted from the Thibaudeau court case will give a windfall of $120 million in the third year and more in subsequent years.

How much is there actually in new money to help those hundreds of thousands of children who live in poverty?

[The Budget, February 21st, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, this government's dismal record in supporting Canadian culture was further amplified in the budget and in the estimates tabled yesterday.

While there will be more money for flags and the propaganda/information office, all the cultural programs that help support artists will continue to see massive cuts over the next two years.

The estimates strongly hint that the restructuring of the heritage department will result in core programs being entirely eliminated. CBC will get $10 million back for radio from the over $400 million in cuts.

Where is the delivery on the red book promise to provide stable, multi-year funding for our national cultural institutions? Is this the leadership to protect and enhance Canadian cultural industries and our cultural identity? Who does stand on guard?

[Employment, February 14th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, a point of order. I seek the unanimous consent of the House to ask one question of the government.

[Banks, November 25th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance.

The banks will be announcing another $6 billion profit, a record. We hear members of the Liberal caucus making progressive noises in the finance committee about the banks' service charges and interest rates charged on Visa cards. But the real question is: What is the government going to do?

Will the Minister of Finance commit his government to putting a ceiling on interest charges on Visa, Mastercard and the other credit card companies? Will he act?

[Banks, November 25th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, the big six banks are rejoicing over their early Christmas gift of $6 billion in record profits, but we know that many more Canadians cannot be part of this celebration.

While bank profits soar, so do bank service charges. On the heels of celebrating its windfall profits, the CIBC is hiking the fee for using another bank's cash machine from $1 to $1.25.

While the Bank of Canada prime rate has dropped to 3.25 per cent, the big banks continue to charge 18.9 per cent on Mastercard and 16.5 per cent on Visa.

The banks have been quick to lower the interest paid on the savings accounts of hardworking Canadians, so low that they pay only one-quarter of 1 per cent per annum on these savings.

I challenge this Liberal government to take legislative action that will bring debt relief and fair treatment to Canadian consumers, small business people, seniors and working families. They too deserve an early Christmas gift.

[Postage Stamps, November 5th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, the classic children's character, Winnie the Pooh, often de-

scribes himself as "a bear of very little brain". Well, Canada Post has entered into a campaign of very little brain.

In promoting its series of Winnie the Pooh postage stamps, Canada Post is also promoting the 25th anniversary of Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom in Florida. Caps, T-shirts and stamps with Winnie the Pooh in front of Disney World are available at your local post office outlet as well as entry forms for a free trip to Florida.

Countries around the world use postage stamps to promote what they are proud of: national heroes, historic events and natural beauty. So what is Canada Post promoting? Disney World. What is next: McDonald's or Coca-Cola?

To use the much loved Winnie on Canadian postage stamps to promote a commercial enterprise outside the country is exploitive and demeaning. Is there no national dignity left? Can space be bought on postage stamps to the highest bidder?

It is about time this Liberal government took our national image more seriously.

[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, November 1st, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, my question is addressed to the Acting Prime Minister.

This week CBC Radio is celebrating 60 years of service. Especially in remote areas, it is a vital link that holds our country together. For example, CBQ in Thunder Bay serves half the province of Ontario.

Despite all the rosy promises in the red book about stable multi-year financing for the CBC, when will the government deliver on one of its most important commitments to the Canadian people? What is the future of the CBC and stations like CBQ with the Liberal government?

[Employment, September 26th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government never tires of telling the Canadian public that it has been working to get the economic fundamentals right.

Low inflation and drastic cutbacks to social spending were supposed to have set the stage for future jobs. We have had very low inflation for years and the government is ahead of schedule on deficit reduction.

But Canadians are facing the highest rate of unemployment during an economic recovery since the last depression. Where are the jobs? When can we expect that bountiful harvest of jobs that the Liberals have promised?

I commend the distinguished economist Pierre Fortin for so convincingly showing Canadians in the past few days that the harvest of jobs will never occur under the Liberal policies because they have their fundamentals wrong.

While the American policy makers have tolerated 3 per cent inflation in order to achieve near full employment, the Liberals have inflicted the strait-jacket of 1 per cent inflation and high real interest rates which have killed, according to Fortin, 850,000 jobs.

The Liberals cannot expect Canadians to believe the talk of jobs when their actions of inflation are calculated to kill jobs.