Jean Chrétien

[Government Appointments, April 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, many of the jobs are advertised and people can apply for them. If the hon. member had any guts he would point out which of these three people is not qualified for the jobs that have been offered to them.

You cannot be unfair to people because they believe in democracy and are trying to get a party elected. Who is complaining because I named a former Tory minister in Ontario the chief justice of Ontario. Nobody got up to congratulate me for that. Who is complaining because I named the former Speaker as an ambassador? He is a competent person but sat in the House as a Tory. I will not apologize for that and I will not disqualify someone who had the judgment to vote Liberal.

[Government Appointments, April 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, a lot of appointments were made last Friday. Some of them were Liberals. We named a Lieutenant Governor who had been a member of the assembly in Saskatchewan for many years and who is the first farmer to be appointed Lieutenant Governor in almost 50 years.

We named a woman who, yes, ran for the Liberal Party. She is a lawyer. She has been appointed to the port authority of Quebec City where she lives. She is a very competent woman. I will not apologize for that.

According to Mr. Gallup, 55 per cent of the people are Liberal these days. Should we disqualify 55 per cent of the Canadian population from serving the Canadian government?

[Métis Society Of Saskatchewan, April 14th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, when we make arrangements with any groups in Canada, we ask them to make their books available for the Auditor General and other officials of the government to see if they have respected the arrangement.

We will do that with the Métis organization and the native organizations as with any other organization. The federal money they receive from us is taxpayers' money and we should make sure we get value for our money.

[Francophone Minorities Outside Quebec, April 14th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, we have provided very generous funding for a long time to francophone communities outside Quebec. There may have been a few cuts, but a number of other sectors in our society have seen their funding cut as well. However, that does not mean we are not committed to the survival of these people.

I am glad to see the members of the Bloc want to support francophones outside Quebec. If that is the case, the best way to do it is to work within Canada with all French-speaking Canadians so that we can be strong and proud to be Canadians.

[Francophone Minorities Outside Quebec, April 14th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I just want to say that last week, presidents of associations of francophones outside Quebec told a reporter for the Toronto Star that considering the difficult circumstances in which they lived, it did not help their cause when francophones in Quebec said they were prepared to separate from Canada.

The French fact has survived in Canada because we francophones have all stood together since 1867, and that is why we are still francophones, not martyrs as members opposite would have people believe. The Leader of the Opposition said that in Washington, and he is a French Canadian francophone, the Prime Minister is a French Canadian francophone and so is our ambassador in Washington. They are telling the world they are martyrs. Let us be serious.

[Employment, April 14th, 1994]

No, it will not, Mr. Speaker.

[Employment, April 14th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, our government has been in office for five months and the trend is improving. Last month, unemployment was down 0.8 per cent in Quebec. That is not good enough. More improvement is needed. Nevertheless, we are making progress. We must stay this course and that is why we are trying to introduce job creation programs. Such a high level of unemployment throughout the country is unacceptable and certainly no cause for celebration.

We must never stop working to reduce unemployment. Unfortunately, the rate will not fall overnight. However, the outlook is very good and we must work doubly hard to ensure that we obtain ever better results in the years to come. I am confident that the situation will improve within a few months' time.

[Job Training, April 14th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, we have been in office for less than six months. We have reached an agreement on the smuggling problem with the Quebec government. We succeeded in setting up with the Quebec government an infrastructure program that works very well. Other agreements have been reached or will be in the coming days.

I am saying there is a problem of jurisdiction in this area and we are looking for a reasonable solution. I know very well that no solution within our system can satisfy people who do not want to be part of Canada.

[Job Training, April 14th, 1994]

As everyone knows, a 1941 constitutional amendment gave the federal government responsibility over an unemployment insurance program. We have jurisdiction in this area. We use the funds we collect for unemployment insurance to help the unemployed receive education and training from provincial governments, which have jurisdiction in these fields.

We want to eliminate overlap and that is why a meeting will be held on Monday. Several meetings have already taken place with Quebec and the other provinces to try to make the system more efficient. That is what we want to do.

Both levels of government have jurisdiction in this area and it is very important to work together to try to find a way to eliminate duplication. As I explained in this House, it must be understood that unemployment insurance programs were put in place in Canada to allow the central government to use the money of those fortunate enough to work and transfer it to the unemployed in the provinces or in some regions. Quebec, unfortunately, is among the provinces that benefited the most, while Maritimers benefited even more. Canada has always operated by ensuring a redistribution of wealth in this country.

[Budget Cuts, April 13th, 1994]

It is the duty of all parliamentary committees, when they review the appropriations of every department, to make the appropriate recommendations. If members of the Bloc Quebecois and the Reform Party want to make recommendations, the committees are there. They sit every week and I am sure that all committee chairs will be very pleased to consider all recommendations for spending cuts and that will make the hon. members very happy. I asked our party to do so, because we want our members to be involved. There is no problem, then. You will have the estimates of all departments and you can make the suggestions that you want to make. They will be considered by the committee and forwarded to the government in due course.