Dan McTeague

[Business Of Supply, February 16th, 1994]

I have only a question for the hon. member, because like his colleague-

[Business Of Supply, February 16th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to commend my hon. colleague on her insight in terms of not only this debate but some of the comments she has made on a wider economic plane as it relates to housing.

I have worked in the housing industry. I take exception to one of the questions concerning the need for federal government funding in the area of social housing as a means of stimulating jobs. I can assure the hon. member that in the private sector we often found ourselves with private money competing with public money. The result was not only waste and duplication, but at the end of the day there was lack of housing.

I have a very simple question for the hon. member. Would she consider looking at housing as a means for the private sector, with all that is attached to it, to make a more affordable and accessible product in this country through financial institutions? That seems to be the real reason many developers and builders are not able to bring on a good product at an affordable price for the economy and for people to get access to quality housing.

[House Of Commons Standing Orders, February 7th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank the hon. member for Calgary Southwest for his rather enlightening comment on what the Reform Party's position would be with respect to recall.

This reminds any budding student of history of the famous debate that took place some two centuries ago in the 1790s when the member for Bristol in England in the other Parliament discussed the various pros and cons of the system which the member, some generations later, has just suggested.

My concern to the hon. member is that it seems very clear that the system the member proposes is not only cumbersome, it could very well be costly. If he stops to consider that if 50 per cent of the signatures are required in any one constituency, what is the cost that is going to be attributed to that very taxpayer in terms of determining whether or not those are valid signatures?

The second part of that would be simply the cumbersome nature of having that kind of a system.

[House Of Commons Standing Orders, February 7th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I have the unique pleasure today to compliment the member for Scarborough-Rouge River. About five years ago around this time I had the benefit of being his campaign manager. At that time I recall these same eloquent remarks being placed before the electorate and the fine people of Scarborough-Rouge River.

It is significant that this is my first intervention as the member for Ontario. I will have an opportunity at some point to discuss that.

Going very quickly to the question, how does the member for Scarborough-Rouge River feel these changes will impact him now that he is a government member? We know he has distinguished himself as a member of the opposition but now that he is sitting on the government benches it is very important for him to understand where his role is now in terms of government and how these new reforms will help him along.

[Schindler's List, January 20th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the film "Schindler's List" depicts what can occur when racism is permitted to go unchallenged or, even worse, ignored.

The increased incidence of racism and hate propaganda in Canada, as well as the tragic events in Eastern Europe, demonstrate that the atrocities of the Second World War related in the movie cannot be viewed as an isolated event or a historical aberration.

The horrors of the past could be repeated-in fact they have already been repeated-if we do not fight racism. MCA Universal gave me the authorization to show, for the benefit of all parlementarians, the movie "Schindler's List" this evening. We, the legislators representing the various regions of our country, have the obligation, towards our voters and towards all Canadians, to support the efforts of those who fight against racism, both here and throughout the world.

I would like to thank MCA Universal for their support and I also wish to thank my colleagues in this House and in the other place.