Jean Chrétien

[Official Languages, April 12th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I do not think the commissioner has made a strong recommendation. He has recommended we look into that and we will look into that.

[The Economy, April 12th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, yes, mais oui ça veut dire yes.

The Minister of Finance has my full confidence, my full support. He has the full support of all members of cabinet and all members of the caucus.

[The Economy, April 12th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I will make the answer very clear. C'est oui.

[The Economy, April 12th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I said that the cuts that we had provided for in the budget were needed to achieve our goal of 3 per cent of GNP for the deficit. But we said that there was other work being done.

We are looking at this time at other opportunities for cuts. The minister of federal-provincial relations, who is responsible for renewal of the government, is looking at all the boards and commissions that are reporting to Parliament or to the Prime Minister or to ministers in order to cut more. More cuts are coming and we are working on them.

I repeat that the program we put forward in the budget is the program that will lead us to the goal that we stated clearly in the campaign and in the budget. We will do everything necessary to reduce the deficit in relation to GNP at 3 per cent.

[Hyundai Plant In Bromont, April 11th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is trying to work out a solution even if the opposition has concluded that no solution can possibly be found. We will know soon enough. However, as long as we can look for a solution, I hope no one will blame the minister for trying to do his job well.

[The Environment, April 11th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I have nothing to add to what the Minister of the Environment mentioned a minute ago. She did very objective work. Many cities qualified. One of the factors that attracted my attention and which she did not even use was the fact that of all these cities, Montreal was unfortunately the city with the highest unemployment.

All the other factors have been well balanced by the minister. She asked for applications and so on. But when you are the government you have to make a decision eventually. We made a decision and we will not apologize to anybody for exercising our responsibilities.

[Unemployment, April 11th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, we have a program to stimulate employment. This program was the main element of our election platform in 1993. We clearly stated what we intended to do. We are following our agenda. We are on the right track. So far, results are rather positive, but it will take time. We started off with an unemployment rate of 11.6 per cent. We do not think we can turn the situation around in just a few weeks or even a few months. We must continue to work; we have a well-thought-out plan which Canadians have accepted, and we need everyone's support if we are to succeed. The hon. member could also help. Indeed, if he talked about employment instead of always discussing separation, our country would be better off.

[Unemployment, April 11th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I believe that the employment situation has improved but we are extremely concerned with the unemployment rate among young people. This is why the Minister of Human Resources Development is working with the Secretary of State for Youth to set up a special program to create jobs for young people. I hope that we will be in a position to make an announcement on this program in the next few weeks.

[The Economy, April 11th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I have given my commitment to controlling spending. This is why we have had so many cuts for which we have been blamed by the opposition.

We have a program that we want to keep. We are not about to change suits every day. We will stick to the plans we have made. The markets know we have a very good Minister of Finance. He has my full support and full confidence. The Minister of Human Resources Development is a man of experience and quality. He is an excellent minister.

We have a good team and the markets should have confidence in this team.

[The Economy, April 11th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, we have cut quite substantially in the last budget. It was not easy to do. We have some problems to cope with and we think we have managed the situation quite reasonably.

We have a goal that is achievable: to reduce the deficit in relation to GDP to 3 per cent per year. This goal is very reasonable because 3 per cent of the GDP is the requirement for any country to qualify in Europe to use the new currency called the ECU. If it is good enough for all countries of Europe to have that goal, it should be good enough for Canada. I am saying that is a commitment in the red book and we will achieve that goal.