Bernard Bigras

[Human Resources Development, October 5th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the transfer of the Rosemont grant to Saint-Maurice, the government is still refusing to answer our questions, using the fact that the matter is under police investigation as an excuse.

Will the President of the Treasury Board tell us why the amount of the $165,984 grant appears in the public accounts of 2000 under the heading “Losses of public money due to an offence or illegal act”, when the Minister of Human Resources Development said yesterday that the police investigation was ongoing?

[Human Resources Development, October 4th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, in the transfer of grant money from Rosemont to Saint-Maurice, there is one thing that appears clear, and that is that for some months now the minister has always refused to answer our questions.

The public accounts report is clear: there is a figure of $165,984 under the heading “Losses of public money due to an illegal act”. My question is a simple one: Is the minister telling us the whole truth and what is it she wants to cover up in Saint-Maurice?

[Human Resources Development, October 4th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, again relating to the transfer of grant money from Rosemont to Saint-Maurice, the minister seems to be hiding the truth from us.

For some months now—

[Human Resources Development, October 4th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, Human Resources Development Canada has listed the amount of $165,984 under the heading “Losses of public money due to an offence, illegal act or accident” in the 1999-2000 public accounts.

Since this amount corresponds exactly to the amount received by the company which moved from the riding of Rosemont to the Prime Minister's riding, will the minister confirm that this is indeed the same company, 3393062 Canada Inc.?

[Nicolas Gill, September 21st, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Quebecois would like to congratulate today Nicolas Gill on winning a silver medal in judo at the Sydney Olympics.

According to the experts, Mr. Gill won the four earlier matches with grace, before conceding defeat in the finals to the Japanese Kosei Inoue, but not without a good fight.

This is Nicolas Gill's second Olympic medal. He won a bronze medal in Barcelona in 1992. Used to taking first place in many international competitions, Mr. Gill was dreaming of bringing back gold. We say to him that his silver medal is a source of great pride to all of Quebec.

Mr. Gill started his judoka career at age six, obtained a black belt at age 17, and took first place on the podium in most of his competitions in recent years.

Nicolas Gill is an accomplished athlete, who will certainly inspire hundreds of youngsters, who will put on their judogis with pleasure in the hope of becoming judokas.

[Human Resources Development, June 15th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the Placeteco affair, the Minister of Human Resources Development solemnly declared here in the House that she had paid the $1.2 million grant to Placeteco upon receipt of invoices.

But despite our repeated requests, we have still not received copies of any invoices, whether through access to information or through the minister herself.

Is the government not ashamed of its behaviour in the Placeteco affair and of its defence that it paid $1.2 million based on invoices that we know do not exist?

[Parental Leave, June 14th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, while the Government of Quebec is offering young Quebec families flexible parental leave suited to their needs, the Prime Minister continues to live in the past and reject the National Assembly's unanimous call for greater flexibility and openness with respect to the needs of Quebec families and Quebec's jurisdiction over family policy.

Instead of applauding the originality and the necessary generosity of Quebec's parental insurance plan, the Prime Minister has once again preferred to adopt the confrontational attitude of a reactionary and run the risk of derailing a plan that meets with the solid support of Quebecers.

If the Prime Minister refuses to listen to the repeated requests from the National Assembly, the Bloc Quebecois and the Quebec people, could he at least listen to his Liberal organizers in Quebec who are calling on him to reverse steam and bow to the legitimate requests of the Government of Quebec?

[Petitions, June 13th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, in the same vein, I would like to table a petition signed by hundreds of Quebecers asking that Parliament take action in order to counter excessive gas pricing.

Among other things, those Quebecers ask that adequate funding be allocated to research into alternative energy sources so that, in the near future, Canadians are no longer forced to turn to oil as a main energy source.

[Fight Against Poverty, June 5th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, as the late Fernand Dumont used to say “Collective problems do not vanish because we have talked too much about them: they persist because we did not solve them”.

We can never say often enough that the persisting gap between the health of our economy and the increase in poverty is a real shame for our society. That gap directly impacts not only on the physical and psychological health of individuals, but also on the chances of success, in their adult life, of children living in poverty.

Even though the Prime Minister feels that Canada is among the best positioned countries in the world to make other rich nations aware of the need of less fortunate people, the fact is that since he took office in 1993 we have had seven years of social deficit.

This is why the Bloc Quebecois solemnly pledges to make the necessary representations to the federal government, asking that it alleviate the harm it has caused to hundreds of thousands of women, men and children, by making the fight against poverty a priority.

[Violence On Television, May 31st, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, eight years after presenting a petition signed by 1.3 million people asking the government to legislate to reduce violence on television, Virginie Larivière was back in Ottawa yesterday to support Bill C-470 on the reduction of violence in television broadcasts.

What is the Minister of Canadian Heritage waiting for to support this bill endorsed by the Centrale de l'enseignement du Québec, the Canadian Teachers' Federation and over 80 parliamentarians?