Diane Ablonczy

[Social Security System, January 31st, 1994]

Madam Speaker, on the motion before us to set up a committee to examine the social security programs for this country, first of all I would like to commend the prospect that has been raised by this government through the Minister of Human Resources Development of a broad consultation on this issue which is very much close to the hearts and important to all Canadians.

I would also like to commend the prospect of considering Canadians' concerns and priorities. This is appropriate because Canadians pay the shot for these programs. It is also their lives and their futures which are being affected by any changes that might be made.

I would also like to commend the timetable that moves ahead briskly dealing with this issue of changes to social programs. It also shows real promise of input and responsibility for this initiative being given not to government bureaucracies and departments but with the elected representatives of the people where it belongs.

There are a couple of improvements I would like to recommend to the proposed mandate of the committee. First of all I believe we should define the terms in the mandate, particularly the terms modernization and restructuring. It seems to me that these words can be taken in quite a number of ways, depending on a person's philosophy or particular perspective on these issues. I believe that the government ought to define for the committee what exactly is meant by modernization of our social security programs and what is meant by restructuring.

Also I noted that the mandate made particular reference to the needs of families with children, youth and working age adults, but it omits seniors and Canadians in their retirement years. This is a very large and constantly growing segment of our society. I believe that the omission of this segment of society from the mandate of the committee is not wise.

It is still to be demonstrated also whether this broad consultation and the effort by members of this House through the committee will have any real meaningful or substantial impact on the final direction of the government.

Will it be like the public consultations on the Constitution which were held in 1992 which ignored the clearly expressed majority view of Canadians across the country? Will it be like the current pre-budget consultations where it appears to some Canadians at least that this government magnifies a few minority view comments into proof of support for a direction the government intends to go anyway while dismissing clear majority consensus?

If the current broad consultation and open debate turn out to be so much more empty window dressing, paid for once again by hard earned tax dollars and taking away time that could be spent actually achieving something, it will merely add to the cynicism and contempt Canadians already feel for government and the political process. I urge the minister and the government not to let that happen.

I commend the government for raising the hope of a more genuinely democratic process. I urge it to ensure that there is change, not just in the form but also in the substance of what is actually allowed to be achieved through the process.

This morning the minister set out his underlying philosophy on what we are trying to achieve by giving the mandate to the committee to change our social security systems. He said that jobs were the issue. He then went on to list existing systems that must be overhauled in order to "restore employment as a central focus of government policy".

I suggest one thing the committee also ought to do is examine the assumption that the purpose of the social security system is now to focus toward employment. Going one step further, it should even examine the assumption that we should look to government to guarantee that all Canadians have jobs.

Government assistance to ensure that Canada has trained workers and to provide for labour force training and adjustment would probably be supported by most Canadians. However that is something far different from rejigging the whole social security system toward job creation.

First, substantial numbers of Canadians think there would be a lot more jobs if government would just stop spending our money, mortgaging our future and creating a bureaucratic solution for every perceived need and demand. This viewpoint is large enough so that it ought to be represented and considered.

Second, many Canadians view our social security system as a way for us collectively to care for the old, the young, the sick and the poor among us. It is going to be quite a shock and surprise to discover that the focus of social security may be shifted to something quite different.

Canadians can see that our social programs are being eroded and that changes must be made if we want to be able to count on having a social safety net even a few years from now. To shift the focus from making programs sustainable and available to the truly needy, to using them primarily as a means to attempt to create jobs, has far reaching implications that require a clear public mandate, not just an assumed one. For these reasons, the new philosophy being now introduced by the government ought in my view to be examined by the committee, especially whether it carries the judgment of Canadians.

I hope these comments will be of help in providing the best possible mandate to the committee on behalf of the country and its work on behalf of all Canadians.

[Speech From The Throne, January 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, that does not sound like a set up for a one-minute answer.

In answer to my colleague's question I would say that Reform certainly would be very open to anything that could help the government get its spending under control. I believe many people in Quebec voted against the past government very much because they rejected the fiscal policies and mismanagement that have practically ruined not only the province of Quebec but our entire country.

We have to get a grip on that. I think as members we have a mandate to do that. Our people want us to do that. We would be very happy to co-operate with and support anything that would assist in doing that.

On what we would cut back, I would commend to my colleague a study of the program we put forward during the election called our zero and three plan to balance the federal budget over a three-year period of Parliament. It would be interesting for the member to know-and a lot of people do not know it-that our plan balances the federal budget while preserving funding for important social programs like health care, education and pensions for people who need pensions.

A lot of people are not aware that is something that has been done, with figures attached. We have been promoting such a program during the election and will continue to promote it. We know that Canadians put the highest priority on social programs like health care and education. Our program to balance spending does not jeopardize those programs. In fact it ensures, we believe, that those programs will be sustained into the foreseeable future for when I am older and need most of them and many Canadians are in the same boat.

[Speech From The Throne, January 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the kind remarks of the hon. member for Brant whom I have met and hope to get to know better. Her remarks underscore the fact that there is a genuine and possibly unprecedented desire in Parliament for new directions and for doing things differently. Members are very much determined to consult their constituents and to represent them truly.

That is the point at which we have some question marks, or at least I do as a new member. It is all very well to consult with constituents, talk to them, to have meetings and to hear what they have to say. However if we come back here and we are told how to vote, what is the point? Their input does not mean anything.

When our constituents tell us they want us to represent them and voice their desires and concerns because they are paying us to do so since they cannot be here, we have to be free to do that. We cannot have our parties telling us: "You cannot vote that way. We have decided to do something different".

That is the reform we must have in the House and that is what we are going to keep working for. We have to support that together. If not just our particular caucus but all members have the drive and determination to achieve that, it will turn this House upside down and make it truly a House of the people which it was meant to be.

[Speech From The Throne, January 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by adding my congratulations to those which have already been expressed to the Speaker of this House on his election to a post of great trust and responsibility. I hope my words will not be taken as a mere formality because they are most sincerely meant.

Members of this House chose their Speaker in a free and democratic vote. We hope it will be the first of many free and democratic votes in this Parliament. I believe their vote was a clear indication of members' confidence in the Speaker and his ability to preside over this Chamber fairly and effectively.

I also congratulate the right hon. Prime Minister and members opposite on being given the opportunity to form the government of this great country as well as all members here for earning the confidence of fellow citizens in their home ridings.

Voters in the riding of Calgary North have allowed me the great privilege of representing them in the Parliament of their country. I want to take the opportunity of my first speech in the House of Commons to once again express to the citizens of Calgary North sincere thanks for the confidence they have placed in me and in the Reform program which I intend to work for as I work for them.

Other members will be interested to know that the riding of Calgary North has the largest population of any of the 26 Alberta ridings. New residential areas are continually being built in Calgary North and our people are forward looking, dynamic and working hard to build sound futures for themselves, their families and their communities.

It has been my pleasure to meet and talk with many of them in recent months and I am determined to do my very best to provide the competent and trustworthy representation they want and deserve.

In the many hours I have spent talking with Canadians in Calgary North I have heard two messages loud and clear. One is a real concern and growing anxiety about the mismanagement of this country's finances. The people of Calgary North like most Canadians do understand that there is a connection between the enormous amounts of debt which successive governments have run up and the difficulty people are having in finding stable jobs with good incomes.

Excessive government spending has led to more and higher taxes. Taxes are like weeds in a garden. Let too many grow and pretty soon there is not enough soil left to grow flowers.

The second message is the focus of my own reply today to the speech from the throne. It is this. Canadians have a profound and disturbing distrust for the institutions of government and for politicians in general. It is no secret how this has happened. Politicians tell us they will do certain things. They do something different.

We try to tell politicians what we want them to do. They do not listen. Yet it is our money they are spending and it is our future they are deciding.

That is why I together with many other Canadians in Calgary North and elsewhere applaud the statement in the speech from the throne which reads:

The government is committed to enhancing the credibility of Parliament. Changes will be proposed to the rules of the House of Commons to provide members of Parliament with a greater opportunity to contribute to the development of public policy and legislation.

I would like to inform the government and the members in this House that the people in Calgary North would be all for this. They want and are prepared to contribute to the development of public policy and legislation through me as their elected representative. In fact since the election they have been working with me to set up mechanisms which will genuinely allow me to inform, consult with, and be advised by constituents.

Less than a month following the election over 300 people packed a school gym in my riding for our first constituency meeting to discuss how this could best be done. Out of this meeting and through subsequent consultations have and will come many excellent recommendations. We will hold regular public constituency meetings to discuss key issues and legislation which come before this House.

Constituents have requested regular communications about what is happening here and they want to know how government activities will affect their lives. They want their say on major legislation and that is why we are designing ways to get their input before I come here to vote.

In early March we will discuss the federal budget at a public constituency meeting. The people will tell me which budget initiatives they support, which do not carry their judgment and where this is so what alternatives they would recommend. This is a constructive approach and one which the people of Calgary North believe is consistent with the principles of representative democracy which this House has been entrusted to uphold and to practise.

Calgary North constituents are also able to participate in question period by sending questions they want asked of the government to the fax line and voice mail number installed in our Reform parliamentary office. People are demanding that the parliamentary process must be opened up and made more relevant to the real needs of Canadians.

Believe me, they will be watching. They are watching these proceedings and the highlights of the daily question period on the nightly news to see if the decorum and attitude in this place will truly change.

When Canadians watch television they expect to see the body checking, cheering and jeering left to Hockey Night in Canada, but when they watch Parliament they want to see us put the puck in the net. They want and look to us to work together to find real answers to real problems facing this country.

The decisions taken in this House must reflect the will of the people of Canada expressed through their legitimate representatives and not just the will of a small group of ministers and bureaucrats who advise them. Government proposals must be tested and balanced by the people themselves.

In this 35th Parliament I believe the courage to demonstrate faith in the democratic system by making this possible would prove to be justified. It is clear not only to myself as a new member but to all members that there now exists an unprecedented and genuine desire in this House for new directions and new approaches.

I sincerely believe that we want this Parliament to operate for the people of this country by consulting them meaningfully and by seeking direction from them. I and the Canadians I represent are willing and waiting to see whether the good intentions which have been expressed in the speech from the throne to enhance the credibility of Parliament will be implemented and whether the words will be matched by the deeds.

I would appeal to this government to allow members of Parliament to do the job we came here to do. I hope it will not allow our reports and recommendations to this House and to the government to gather dust on some shelf. I would ask that all members be allowed to vote freely in consultation with the people they were elected to speak for. We want this House to operate in such a way as to provide us with the opportunity to make a real difference and to carry out the wishes of our constituents.

I conclude by affirming to the people of Calgary North my sincere intention to represent to the best of my ability their interests, concerns and aspirations for themselves and for their country.

[Trade, January 20th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, could the minister state conclusively that the text of the agreement which has been made public is in fact the true and complete text? That is what people want to know.

[Trade, January 20th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister for International Trade.

A woman by the name of Shelley Anne Clark, who is an employee of the federal government, has publicly made serious accusations concerning the free trade agreement, including a statement that the actual text of the agreement has never been disclosed. She says that the real agreement contains terms which limit Canada's sovereignty over our resources.

On behalf of Canadians who have called me and other MPs to find out whether this is true, would the minister lay the matter to rest today by stating conclusively that the text of the free trade agreement which has been made public is in fact the true and complete agreement?

[Speech From The Throne, January 20th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Pursuant to Standing Order 43(2), I would advise the Chair that Reform members speaking in this debate will be dividing their time. For each 20-minute time period two speakers will speak for 10 minutes each for the rest of this debate on the throne speech.