Mr. Speaker, in the normal course of events, President Clinton's letter should come from Washington, not from Ottawa.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2000, with 54% of the vote.
U.S. President's Visit February 6th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, in the normal course of events, President Clinton's letter should come from Washington, not from Ottawa.
U.S. President's Visit February 6th, 1995
No, it was not mine. I did not receive a letter. I made enquiries.
I was sent a copy of a letter, but the request was made to President Clinton, who will answer it himself. I cannot speak for President Clinton.
I would like to point out to the hon. member that I am just back from a trip to six countries, where I never met the leaders of the opposition. I only met the ministers. And I did not object. The point is, this is not a general custom, and when I was leader of the opposition, there were some presidents who came here whom I did not meet, and in fact, in December when President Zedillo came, he did not meet the Leader of the Opposition.
In any case, President Clinton, who received the letter, will respond, and we will see what his answer is. It is not up to me to answer that question.
U.S. President's Visit February 6th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, I was asked that question. I thought it was about a letter sent to me but it was a letter to President Clinton.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation February 6th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, I have full confidence in Mr. Manera; he is an experienced civil servant with long service at the CBC who asked, in the interest of defending his organization, to meet with members to explain the role of the CBC. It is quite normal for members to have asked him questions regarding the work of the CBC. I have not spoken to Mr. Manera since he became president and I do not intend to speak to him either, nor will my wife.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation February 6th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, the caucus met with the president of the CBC at his request. He requested the meeting. They asked questions as they are entitled to do. You can ask me questions in this House. You can ask the ministers questions. We will pass them on.
We want news coverage to be fair across the country and that the CBC be allowed, within its mandate, to do what it wants. We just want it to be fair for everybody and we want all viewpoints heard and not just one. In fact, we are asking all the broadcasters in Canada to give everyone an equal opportunity.
Up to this point, provincial government money has been spent on distributing pamphlets-not the pamphlets of the Liberal Party-but the pamphlets of the Parti Quebecois and the other parties. The system is unfair. We want the debate to be fair and both campaigns to be given exactly the same coverage.
Post-Secondary Education February 6th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, again they should wait for the budget. To wonder whether the government will do this or that is to speculate. A budget will be tabled and the hon. member will have the opportunity to look at it. I find it unbelievable that, at a time when it is being rumoured that there will be more room to maneuver and more freedom of action for the provinces, the Bloc Quebecois wants to maintain the status quo. That makes me very happy indeed.
The Economy February 6th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, one party accuses us of cutting too much, the other one wants us to cut deeper. I am confident that when the budget is tabled, the Liberal Party will, as always, find a middle ground and will not make indiscriminate cuts, nor go to the other extreme of refusing to control government spending.
We gave a clear idea of where we stand in the last budget and we will do it again in the upcoming one.
The Economy February 6th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, nobody can say what will be in the budget until it is tabled in the House of Commons. It will be before the end of the month. It is going to be another good budget through which this government will meet its targets.
The Economy February 6th, 1995
No, they cannot. Now they say that we will increase the taxes. Even I do not know. The budget will be later in the month. I will discuss that with the Minister of Finance.
Again the Reform Party will have to recognize that the Minister of Finance last year predicted that growth would be 3 per cent. It turned out to be 4.2 per cent. Inflation has been zero. Unemployment went down from a prediction of 11.1 per cent to 9.6 per cent.
We have a big problem, the debt. In the previous nine years before we arrived the previous government accumulated $300 billion of its own debt. We have a problem with that. We all recognize it. We will do what we said we would do in the red book. We will meet our target of 3 per cent of GDP next year.
The Economy February 6th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, members of the Reform Party are very desperate. They set the target there to be in the news because they cannot really attack the government.
The hon. member should be patient-