Jean Chrétien

[1992 Referendum, September 22nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member claims that what the Province of Quebec does is none of our business. What were he and his leader doing during the provincial election, when they went on the hustings? They are federal members, and federal members should stick to federal business. But he went around the province and ended up looking like a Don Quixote tilting at windmills.

We did not cross the line between our jurisdictions. However, Canada's future is the Prime Minister's business.

I am a citizen of Quebec, and Quebec's separation is my business, and I will do everything that is necessary to keep this country united.

[1992 Referendum, September 22nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I am quite surprised that the leader of the Bloc Quebecois is asking me to keep a commitment made by someone else, when last week, he asked the leader of the Parti Quebecois in Quebec not to keep his word about holding a referendum within eight to ten months.

If the Hon. Leader of the Opposition could just give us a document showing that there was a commitment between the Government of Quebec and the Government of Canada, we will honour the government's commitments. However, I have been unable to find any commitment of that kind. It is not mentioned anywhere in the minutes of Cabinet or in any documents.

Gentlemen, give me proof that my predecessor and the previous government made a commitment and we will gladly pay.

[1992 Referendum, September 22nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, we will respect the commitments made by the government. If someone can clearly establish that the Government of Canada made a commitment, we will respect that commitment. We were not there, we were not part of the discussion and I asked senior officials to verify whether commitments had been made between the two levels of government.

No trace of any commitment was found. Therefore I conclude that we have no obligation and that the Government of Quebec at the time knew very well that if it held a referendum under provincial law, the expenses would be incurred under that same law.

[1992 Referendum, September 22nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I asked senior officials in the Privy Council to check whether there had been commitments. I even discussed it at one point with current and former senior officials and we could not find any commitment made by the previous government in this regard. Under the circumstances, it must have been understood by the persons involved at the time that there was to be no compensation.

[Unemployment Insurance, September 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, it is very clear that there has been a significant decrease in the number of people who need UI benefits at this time and that the creation of 275,000 jobs allowed these people to return to the workforce. That is why I said that fewer people need to rely on unemployment insurance and social assistance, since many jobs have been created in the last 10 months.

[Francophones In Kingston, September 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, we intend to take the necessary steps to ensure that Kingston college provides services in both official languages to all its students.

I am surprised to see how emotional these people who want to split Quebec from Canada and have their own army and so on can be. We will do what is good for Canada. We will make sure that anyone attending the only military college this country needs since we reduced our troops to 60,000-will be able to attend a bilingual institution, as required by Canadian legislation.

[Francophones In Kingston, September 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I have asked ministers who have Crown lands in Kingston to make a site available to the Kingston French-Language School Board to build a school, if it cannot come to an agreement with the city council. The Solicitor General and the Minister of National Defence have been trying to resolve this issue and we will find a suitable site if no agreement is forthcoming.

[National Unity, September 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I already called them, as I mentioned before in this House, and I made a speech in Quebec City, before the Canadian Chamber of Commerce last Sunday, so my message is well known. We want this question to be resolved in a civilized manner and quickly, so we can turn our attention to the other problems facing this country.

I would like to tell the hon. member that his party should have subscribed to a 1-800 number, instead of trying to make money with a 1-900 number. This is quite inappropriate.

[National Unity, September 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the answer is yes, and the commitment was not only in a private conversation. It was made public on the Wednesday afternoon during a press conference when Mr. Parizeau answered a question by a CBC radio reporter stating he was to fulfil his commitment. I took his word in the press as well as what he said privately.

I see that the Reform Party is trying to make money on that subject by having a 1-900 telephone number. It is pretty awkward for a political party to want people to express a view and pay money to the Reform Party on a divisive issue like this one.

It is unbelievable and not very ethical to take a controversial problem, one that is very divisive and ask the people to pay to make money for the Reform Party. I can understand why the Reform Party has problems with its funding at this time, if we judge it by its performance in the House of Commons.

[The Economy, September 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to know that the leader of the Reform Party is conceding that when we had a Conservative government even less right wing than his, business was not making money and with the Liberal government in power it is starting to make

money. It does not know where to invest it. It is better to have that problem than the problem it had with the Tories in government.

Talking about uncertainty I would like the leader of the Reform Party to be a bit objective. It is on TV every night and every morning that the Canadian dollar is going up. The interest rate is going down. The international community has more confidence in Canada than ever before. He should rejoice. That is simple.