Jean Chrétien

[Social Program Reform, April 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Human Resources Development has had several meetings with his colleagues and was supposed to have another one last Monday. The provincial governments said they were not ready, and the minister postponed the meeting. That is exactly how we want to proceed. At the request of several provinces, the minister cancelled the meeting he was prepared to call at that time. We can hardly do more than talk to the provinces and, if they want us to postpone the talks, we say yes. Eventually, governments will have to agree, because the unemployed cannot wait while we squabble over constitutional matters. They want jobs, and we will do everything to satisfy them in that respect.

[Social Program Reform, April 25th, 1994]

Regarding our strategy for the fishermen, the Government of Newfoundland, where 85 per cent of the target population comes from, has praised the reform which was developed in consultation with it and other governments.

As for youth job creation, that is a priority for this government. The federal government has always had such programs. It had them under the Conservative government when the Leader of the Opposition was a member and a minister on the government side. My point is that, today, the hon. member is hardly in a position to blame us for doing what he did himself, and we make no apologies for doing everything we can to create jobs, especially for young people.

[Social Program Reform, April 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I said that, like all governments, this government has a mandate to work on creating jobs, not to indulge in squabbles, constitutional or otherwise, that would adversely affect the economic climate in this country. In fact, in recent months we proved that we were able to conclude agreements with provincial governments. We signed an infrastructure agreement with the Government of Quebec, which is working very well, and also with the

other provincial governments; we managed to deal with the Sainte-Marguerite River project; and we have concluded similar arrangements.

Obviously, we cannot deal with all the problems, especially the more difficult ones, and especially when the Opposition is looking for a bone to pick and keeps trying to talk about the Constitution and jurisdictional matters instead of focussing on job creation. We were elected to create jobs, and that is why we are going to introduce reforms in our own jurisdiction that will create more jobs. We hope the provinces will be willing to do likewise, so that both levels of government will benefit and, above all, so that workers will get what they want: jobs that will provide them with an honest living.

[Social Programs, April 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, something that pleases me today is that this is the first time a question has been asked by a member of the Reform Party about the unemployed people of Canada.

When they get up in the House they are always telling us: "Cut, cut, cut. Don't help them. Let them starve". It is not our way. Our way is to earn their respect and we are working hard on it. I am very pleased to see the Reform Party is now waking up to the reality the unemployed people want the government to help them.

[Social Programs, April 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, if the member would take the time to read my speech she would see what I said.

In my speech I said that Canadian workers are the best in the world and are the best prepared. I also said that Canadian people do not want to stay home doing nothing; they want to work.

Perhaps I used one word there that I should not have used. I could have said something else. Sometimes in a speech one uses a word that perhaps in context is misplaced, but I clearly said that they want to work. I know this, since I have served in Parliament for a long time. Canadian people desire to work. A lot of people say: "Don't do anything". On the contrary we

want to do something. Nobody likes to be on welfare. Nobody likes to be on employment insurance. They want jobs.

This is why we have created some programs and are trying to apply the resources of government to programs where the people who are unemployed will be productive. This is what we want to do. It is the program of the government.

Some people are arguing that we want to do it too fast. That is one of the problems, that we were too keen to solve the problem. Some of the provincial governments were afraid that we were moving too fast. Yesterday the premier of Ontario made a speech in which he said he wanted to work with us and find some solutions.

We will take the time that we need because we believe in the dignity of the people. Rather than refusing to do something, we are working on it. We hope the hon. member will support us in our endeavours.

[Foreign Affairs, April 21st, 1994]

When I had a chance to speak with President Clinton yesterday, I raised this point with him. I asked him what was happening with Russia. He told me he would communicate with the Russians as he had placed a call at about the same time, and I will speak with him again tonight. He assured me that Mr. Yeltsin would be contacted before NATO makes a decision tomorrow morning.

[Social Program Reform, April 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Human Resources Development had called a meeting for Monday. Several governments said they were not ready yet and would like a few more weeks. The government agreed to a moratorium-if you want to call it that-to give them time to prepare. The Minister of Finance has done the same thing. There have been more consultations between the Minister of Finance and his provincial counterparts in the last six months than ever before in Canada.

Since they have asked us for more time, we will give them more time, because we want everyone to work together to find a good solution. However, the system will have to change one day because if it does not, unemployment will continue to increase, people will grow discouraged and they will lose even more of their dignity.

All parliamentarians, whether federal or provincial, have a duty to work toward a common goal, that is creating jobs, enhancing productivity, increasing the country's wealth and building a better society than the one we have now.

[Social Program Reform, April 21st, 1994]

I do not understand what the hon. member is saying. He is always saying that we must consult.

When the minister rises and, in all honesty, says to the people: "I cannot put any proposals on the table right now because I want to sit down with all my counterparts and explore different options in order to get the results that we all want", this is an approach that will benefit employment in the country and help people acquire the dignity that comes through employment. Now the member is getting all upset because the minister is holding consultations.

Would the member prefer it if the minister showed up with a clear, final plan and used the majority in this House to push it through in one week? We could do it, but that is not our style. Our style is to convince all provinces and all stakeholders that we must work together in the interest of creating jobs and giving workers some dignity.

I cannot understand why the member does not want us to hold consultations. We will have to make a note of that.

[Social Program Reform, April 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what we are trying to do. We are proposing changes in Canada which are absolutely needed at this time to find jobs and give the people the dignity of work.

The Leader of the Opposition is always talking about jurisdiction and the Constitution, not caring at all about the real problems of people getting jobs.

I repeat what I said in a speech that the best workers in the world are the Canadian workers. They do not want to stay home. They are not happy when they do not work. They are not happy not being productive. They want all of us to work to make sure they get jobs and have the dignity of work. They do not want us to talk about the Constitution or jurisdiction. They want us to create jobs and this government will do that.

[Social Program Reform, April 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, if the Leader of the Opposition had read the text or had been there, he would have known that I said Canada's workers are the best. I said that Canadians spend the most on training and giving people the advantage of a university education, and that we spend more than any other Western country on education in this country. I was very positive in what I said. I said I was an optimist who was confident in the skills of Canadian workers and in Canada's future.

However, these are difficult circumstances, because at a time when we want to take specific action to improve the situation in this country, we have an opposition that is intent on destroying a country that could provide long-term guarantees for all workers in Canada.