Hedy Fry

[Vancouver Museum, April 15th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, today it is an honour for me to recognize the achievements of one of the great museums of Canada.

The Vancouver Museum, Canada's largest civic museum, celebrates its 100th birthday this Sunday, April 17. To celebrate and commemorate its first century the museum is presenting the exhibition, "100 years, a million stories".

One artefact or set of artefacts from each year of the museum's history will be displayed in chronological order. Viewers will see a wing from Vancouver's first plane crash and the city's first gas pump. They will learn about a medicine woman's outfit and hear the story of outlaw Soapy Smith.

This will be an exhibition of tales untold and mysteries yet unsolved. It will amaze visitors with a century's worth of treasures bestowed by citizens and friends who cared enough to create and sustain the Vancouver Museum.

[Spring, March 23rd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, Sunday was the first day of spring in Canada, or at least it was in my city of Vancouver.

Today I have attempted to bring the sweet air of our west coast spring to Ottawa. In the lobbies outside this House are 295 daffodils for 295 members of Parliament. It is my wish that these daffodils like spring itself awaken the creative passions of members of the House of Commons.

The challenge before us of making Canada work better requires the swiftness of a sudden spring shower, the resolution of a blossom, and the certitude of a thaw.

May these daffodils, generously donated by a Vancouver radio station as well as by a fine corporate community partner, serve as a pleasant reminder that with spring comes hope, renewal and growth.

[Nutrition Month, March 16th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I take this opportunity to remind members of the House and all Canadians that March is national nutrition month.

The theme for the Canadian Dietetic Association's 1994 national nutrition campaign is "Nourishing Our Children's Future". The goal of the campaign is to promote the importance of nutrition and healthy eating for children between the ages of four and 12.

The campaign will highlight the role that healthy eating plays in the physical, intellectual, emotional and social development of children.

This year's nutrition month theme is especially timely because 1994 is the International Year of the Family. Through information materials, media coverage and local activities across Canada, Canadians will become more aware of the importance of healthy eating for children and how they can influence those eating habits.

Health Canada is proud to be a partner with the Canadian Dietetic Association for this year's nutrition month and to be involved in the launch of this important event.

[International Women's Week, March 9th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, in honour of International Women's Week I would like to recognize two extraordinary women in my riding, women who overcame great odds to achieve success.

One is Barbara Binns, a black Jamaican born Canadian who has devoted the last 20 years of her life to improving the lives of women in developing countries and to combating racism in Canada.

She has achieved this by working through CUSO, Canada World Youth, CIDA and the United Nations. When in Vancouver she teaches an anti-racism course at Langara College.

She was recently chosen by OXFAM to be an observer in the upcoming elections in South Africa and was recognized last month by CIDA with an award for her work.

The second woman, Faye, will graduate this year with a B.A. in communications from Simon Fraser University. She is 53, a mother of six children and suffered 17 years of violent, emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her husband. She left penniless and took charge of her children and her own life to achieve this remarkable success.

I salute the courage of these women.

[Excise Act, February 22nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to support Bill C-11.

As members know, part of this bill deals with the Customs Act and the Excise Act and it therefore deals with issues such as seizure, enforcement, identifying smuggled goods and in fact with a lot of the law and order issues that pertain to smuggling.

The other part of this bill deals with the effects on young people of the lowering of the tobacco prices. I want to say that as a physician, my expertise has always been in the matter of health. My expertise is also with regard to smoking and anti-smoking issues. I have been involved in this issue for many years.

When I came to this House I was only aware of my one perspective. The issue to me was solely the effect of smoking on health. That issue has been well related by everyone here in the

House today. It is no secret to anyone that smoking is the single most preventable cause of death and illness in the world.

It is no secret to anyone that the World Health Organization has said that from the year 1990 to the year 2000 if smoking continues at the rate that it is going, the number of people dying in the world from smoking will be over 40 million people which will be greater than all of the people who have died in all of the wars in the 20th century. That tells members that smoking is in fact a deadly disease and a deadly issue.

However, when I came to the House I was not aware of the other side of this issue, the issue of smuggling. It is well documented that in fact the increase in tobacco prices has had a significant effect and is perhaps the biggest gun in the whole strategy of anti-smoking legislation.

Increasing tobacco prices in fact decreases the access to tobacco for young people. We know that between the ages of 13 and 20 young people having access to tobacco have a great risk of addiction.

I was very concerned that one of the ways of dealing with the smuggling of tobacco had to do with the lowering of tobacco prices. However I am aware now of another group of experts in law enforcement and smuggling. I am not an expert in that. I am only an expert in health. Many people will say I am not but I suppose I am. They have said in their advice to the government that if one merely increases the export tax and uses enforcement measures it will not in itself have an effect on smuggling.

We have now reached a critical point in our increase in tobacco taxes. We had reached the point where we had almost come to the point where prohibition had reached with regard to alcohol when the United States had created a prohibition level. We have seen exactly what happened then begin to happen here with regard to tobacco smuggling.

Forty per cent of all tobacco sales was smuggled tobacco. Two million Canadians were buying contraband tobacco and many of those same Canadians were young people. The same young people who had no access to tobacco as a result of the increased prices were now having access to tobacco because of the cheap smuggled tobacco. The whole strategy of high prices had been undermined.

I support the bill because it deals with the issue of law and order on the one hand and with increasing the ability to seize, with increasing the ability to identify smuggled products and with increasing the enforcement of this smuggling activity of the RCMP and expanding this not only to RCMP and customs officials but I understand to local police.

I also want to support the second part of the bill which deals specifically with the government's understanding of the complexity of this issue. The government understands that lowering tobacco prices will affect the accessibility of tobacco to young Canadians. It has taken steps to mitigate the lowering of tobacco taxes via the Tobacco Sales to Young Persons Act. The amendments to this act, which increase the age from 16 to 18, which decrease the ability of young people under 18 to bring tobacco into this country, which remove vending machines from everywhere else but bars, and which increase the enforcement and the penalties to anyone selling tobacco to minors, have put tobacco very clearly where it belongs and that is as a controlled product alongside alcohol. I would like to see the time when tobacco is treated like alcohol and sold only in liquor stores.

The government has acted immediately and promptly to address a problem that has been allowed to sit for four years without any attention by the other government, so that it is now in the crisis position that we see it in. The government has dealt with a complex issue with sensitivity to both sides of the problem and with a clear commitment to the health of Canadians.

I hope that everyone here will see not only that this bill is worth supporting, but that it is urgent we support it so that we can get on with so many of the strategies that are necessary to improve the health of Canadians and to prevent us from having our young people have access to this lethal drug.

[Excise Act, February 22nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I want to comment in the absence of the Minister of Health that in fact the Minister of Health has been meeting with the lung association, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Canadian Medical Association and all the anti-smoking groups to talk about new strategies.

[Multiculturalism, February 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize multiculturalism week in my home province of British Columbia, as proclaimed by the Hon. David Lam, Lieutenant Governor.

From February 13 to February 19, British Columbians will take part in events and activities throughout the province, affirming the diverse cultural heritage that is integral to life in our province.

I thank all those groups participating in this week's festivities. Their active involvement in the lives of our communities is crucial. It enhances understanding of the different and vibrant cultural traditions of Canada.

I am proud that the federal government is a willing partner in this effort. We will initiate measures to promote Canada's cultural heritage.

I hope all Canadians and all levels of government will support these initiatives to bolster our cultural institutions and shared citizenship values.

Today our culture and identity as Canadians are threatened. More than ever, Canadians across the nation need to renew their commitment to cultural development and linguistic duality.

I extend my gratitude to the people of British Columbia for taking the lead this week.

[Prince Edward Island Fixed Link, February 15th, 1994]

Madam Speaker, the question as the hon. member has said is a very complex one and to try to boil it down to a simplistic answer is impossible.

I will take on the issue first and foremost of the problem of tobacco smuggling. When the Prime Minister stood up in this House on February 8 and announced his national action plan on tobacco he said very clearly that smuggling is threatening the safety of our communities and the livelihood of law-abiding merchants. The problem of tobacco smuggling is an increasingly complex one because it touches on the very fabric of our Canadian identity which is dedicated to peace, order and good government. It touches on the safety of our communities. It touches on respect for law and order. It also affected the economy and, as the hon. member mentioned before, the health of Canadians.

Organized crime networks have been responsible for 95 per cent of the tobacco smuggling that was going on in Canada. They were also responsible for smuggling liquor, drugs and firearms at the same time. Tobacco and alcohol were controlled drugs as were firearms. We would have lost control over these controlled substances if we had not done something immediately to deal with that smuggling and to deal with the smuggling of liquor.

In order to deal with the matter the government took unprecedented action. I want to remind the hon. member that the issue is not a new one. It has been going on for years. The past government tended to ignore it and to pretend it did not occur. We took immediate unprecedented action. We increased the number of RCMP and customs officials dedicated to fighting tobacco smuggling. They are using new strategies. They are accompanying these resources with other strategies to crack down and to keep surveillance on smugglers starting immediately.

The hon. member talked about the lack of a response from the Minister of Health on this matter. The Minister of Health is responsible and has worked very hard for the major health strategy found here. We have invested about $185 million in funds from taxing the tobacco industry. They will be dedicated to prevention and promotion. We have already seen the launch of a media campaign aimed at kids, the proclamation of the Tobacco Sales to Young Persons Act, and legislation to eliminate kiddie packs, to increase the age and to crack down on sale to minors. The minister has responded.

[Osteoporosis Menopause Education Project, February 10th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to inform the House of the launching of a nation-wide osteoporosis menopause education project by the Osteoporosis Society of Canada. The project is organized through a partnership with the private and voluntary sectors and is directed primarily at Canadian women 35 to 55 years of age.

Census data for 1991 show that nearly seven million Canadian women are over 50 years of age. It is estimated that about 25 per cent of post-menopausal women are at risk for osteoporosis fractures. Costs to the health care system in treating these injuries are considerable.

The objective of this initiative is to promote prevention and treatment strategies which will result in a better quality of life for women. It has been designed so as to encourage local grassroots activities. Planned activities will include forums throughout the country on menopause and osteoporosis.

[Social Security System, February 3rd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to hear that the hon. member and I have much in common. I have a 25 year old who has a university education and not able to find work either. We have all come here with the same bottom line. We are all looking for the same things.

I do take exception to the fact that the hon. member said the red book is long on rhetoric. The red book is very long on specifics. These are the plans of action into which we are now moving. The immigration plan is clearly set out the red book; our economy plan is clearly set out in the red book and our social policy is clearly set out the red book.

She has asked that we marry the two and look at a way to bring them together. That is precisely what this motion speaks to.