Denis Paradis

[Fonorola, October 30th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, last week, Fonorola from Montreal invested $100 million in optical fibre equipment to proceed with its 12,000 kilometre telecommunications network project.

With this investment, 150 new jobs will be created at Fonorola in Montreal. This type of investment is the result of the confidence shown by our industries in Canadian society. I hope that this has a snowball effect and convinces other companies to take an active part in the economic recovery.

I am pleased to acknowledge the important contribution by the chairman of Fonorola, Jan Peeters, who lives in Bolton-Est in my beautiful riding of Brome—Missisquoi. I would like to congratulate him for his dynamism and for his great efforts to implement by 1998 a system that will link the whole of Canada from sea to sea.

He is a fine example of the people we have in Brome—Missisquoi.

[Job Creation, October 22nd, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of announcing the creation of new jobs for young people in my riding of Brome—Missisquoi.

A company from Bromont, Univirtuel-Multimédia & Interconnectivité, will create 30 jobs in the area of multimedia production. The Government of Canada will contribute $207,600 to support this job creation initiative.

By creating these new jobs for young Canadians, Univirtuel-Multimédia supports our government's youth employment strategy, which is designed to help our young people find that first job when they come out of school. The company will kill two birds with one stone since it will help Bromont strengthen its position in the high tech sector.

I congratulate Guy Désautels and his associates, and I urge other businesses to follow their example. Welcome to Bromont's high tech park and thanks to my colleague, the Minister of Human Resources Development.

[Ubi Soft, April 22nd, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Canadian government announced good news for the economic recovery of the Montreal region.

It said it was providing assistance to a French company, Ubi Soft, to help it start up operations in Montreal. This should result in the creation of 560 jobs over the next five years.

During this period, the software producer, editor and distributor will receive $14.8 million in funding from the federal government.

The example of Ubi Soft shows that Canadian federalism is working well in Quebec. When everyone has this determination to find effective solutions to regional issues, it can truly be said that Canadian federalism is serving Quebecers.

[Member For Sherbrooke, April 15th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, rather than take pleasure in the Government of Canada's investment of $950,000 in the renovation of the Sherbrooke airport, the Conservative leader, blinded by political partisanship, made the following statement in the daily, The Tribune : ``The federal government is doing this for political reasons. For election purposes, it is going to lose the $100,000 the Government of Quebec promised the City of Sherbrooke''.

He is off the mark. The member for Sherbrooke's logic takes some real mental gymnastics to grasp.

I suggest he be happy at the investment in the Sherbrooke airport, and I thank the mayor of Sherbrooke and the airport authorities for the words of praise they had for the federal government and the member for Brome-Mississquoi for having made this a success.

What we need in the Eastern Townships are Liberal members.

[Battle Of Vimy Ridge, April 9th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, today we commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. This battle, involving over 97,000 Canadian volunteers, was a turning point in the 1914-18 war and left an indelible mark on Canada's history.

This, the first battle in Canada's military history, took the lives of over 11,000 of our valiant soldiers. However, it served to instill in Canada the notions of pride and belonging previously unknown to it.

English and French Canadians discovered what bound them together as they offered up their youth and their courage in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Neither time nor the vagaries of politics will change the love they discovered for their country on the other side of the Atlantic.

On behalf of the people of Brome-Missisquoi, I thank them for what they did for our country, Canada.

[International Aid, March 18th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the words "duplication" and "encroachment" have symbolic meaning in Quebec. The separatists never miss an opportunity to condemn federal interference.

However, what about when the shoe is on the other foot? Do we hear Bloc Quebecois members asking the PQ government to respect federal jurisdiction? No. They fall silent, as they did last week following Minister Simard's announcement.

Might I remind members that international aid comes under federal jurisdiction and that the minister responsible for CIDA is doing an excellent job in this area.

Sylvain Simard's plan to create a parallel secretariat will simply squander $1.5 million annually in an area that comes under federal jurisdiction.

As a Quebecer, I call on the Government of Quebec to direct its attention to citizens' concerns about hospital cutbacks. Minister Simard has just reminded us of the fable of the frog and the ox.

[Biotechnology Centres, March 12th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, Quebec now ranks tenth among biotechnology centres in North America.

In less than three years, Quebec went from 13th to 10th place among the most important centres in North America. The number of biotechnology companies has more than tripled, and revenues have increased tenfold, from $25 million to $280 million.

The federal government actively supports this industry in Quebec. In recent years, we have invested more than $20 million in helping to create and maintain hundreds of specialized jobs.

Canadians have developed the skills and expertise that allow them to compete with the world's great economic powers, and our government is delighted to be a part of this development.

[Interparliamentary Delegations, March 4th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the parliamentary delegation to the Canada-France Interparliamentary Association, which attended the 27th annual meeting of the association held in Ottawa, Vancouver and Victoria from October 9 to 16, 1996.

There were three topics on the agenda of the working sessions: the information highway, social security and the environment. Four aspects of the latter were examined: environmental problems relating to the agri-food industry, to energy use, to urban transport, and the transnational aspects of environmental problems. The meeting was a success.

[Quebec, February 20th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the Quebec Minister of Finance just gave an eloquent demonstration of his inability to give priority to the public interest over his separatist obsession.

Let me explain a few things about the budget. The fact is that Quebec receives 31 per cent of all federal transfers, while accounting for only 25 per cent of Canada's population. It also receives 46 per cent of equalization payments, through government-to-government transfers.

Let us set the record straight. The $1.2 billion reduction in transfer payments to Quebec will not have to be absorbed this year alone; rather, it will be spread over a five-year period.

Separatists should stop looking for scapegoats and make a commitment, as we did, to regain control over public finances and get the economy back on track.

[Brome-Missisquoi Riding, February 11th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, two years ago this week, on February 13, voters in Brome-Missisquoi elected me to represent them in this House. To all my constituents, I would like to say again how proud I am to be their member, their communications highway to Ottawa, their voice in this Parliament.

In the by-election held two years ago, federal and provincial Liberals working together and a strong federalist force helped to take Brome-Missisquoi away from the Bloc Quebecois. This solidarity has been beneficial to all our constituents.

Now that a federal election is imminent, let us all join in a common effort to ensure that all of Quebec's regions, especially the Eastern Townships, elect those who are truly prepared to defend the interests of Quebec within our country, Canada.

My nomination meeting will be on Thursday, February 13, 1997, and I will say again how proud I am to be a member of Team Canada.