Jean Chrétien

[Government Expenditures, March 9th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I think that we have delivered exactly what we said we would. We did what was promised in the red book. We are on track. If anybody wants to look at that they will see that we are determined to provide a good government. We will achieve our goal.

We know that at the same time there are a lot of people who need help from the government. We will not do what has been done in Alberta, put people on the unemployment list. It is very nice for the premier to cut there, but when he puts someone on the unemployment list, he transfers the problem from Edmonton to Ottawa. It is just shifting the problem from one jurisdiction to another.

We are doing what we can, but we cannot achieve our goals overnight. If we have 3 per cent of the deficit in relation to the GNP in three years, it will be what we said we want to do. It is achievable and I am very confident that we will achieve it.

[Government Expenditures, March 9th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I said in Edmonton that we want to make some cuts. When travelling in Canada today, we find that a lot of people think that we have put forward some very deep cuts and we have to handle that.

At the same time I said that we had a plan. The plan is clear, that over the period of three years we want to reduce the deficit to 3 per cent of GNP. I said that with the cuts that have been put forward in the budget and having 3 per cent growth the first year and 3.8 per cent the second year, we will achieve our goal. At the same time I have asked the minister of federal-provincial relations to look at all other aspects of government on top of that to see if we can do better.

That is why, for example, yesterday we made an agreement with the Auditor General to review the matter of government planes in a reasonable way.

I want to find as many cuts as possible but at the same time be responsible. If you go too deep with cuts, you create unemployment and more misery in Canada.

[Lobbyists, March 7th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I think that I would like to see the bill before saying it is too weak. Let us wait a bit. The hon. member will see the bill after which he can pass judgment.

[Lobbyists, March 7th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, there will be a statement made in this House about legislation on lobbying on the Hill very soon. I hope the minister in charge will address this problem.

[Members Of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act, March 7th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, we know that life expectancy in the House of Commons is not that great. Judging by the number of members of the Progressive Conservative Party in the House, we know there is no security of employment around here.

I just want to say that some people come to Parliament and when they quit it is not necessarily easy to get re-established in private life. When we look at other pension plans, we have to be fair too.

Some people might think the pension is too much and we will be looking into that. There is a question about double dipping that is a big preoccupation and a problem of some members who take their pensions very early in life, such as was the case a year and a half ago. This is a problem that has to be looked into.

I do not want to create the impression that those who are good members of Parliament are over compensated.

[Members Of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act, March 7th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, there will be a report tabled very soon concerning this problem. We said we want to review the program. We have some months before an election so we have plenty of time. We will look at what is wrong with the program and try to make it more in tune with reality.

On the other hand, we do not want to create the impression that some of us might think we are not value for the money we are paid. When members of Parliament make $64,000 a year and the worst hockey player for the Ottawa Senators is paid $135,000, I do not think that we are overpaid.

It is very bad to create a wrong impression of members of Parliament with the public because most members of Parliament work very hard, earn their money here and make sacrifices to be in Ottawa. The hon. member is creating the impression we are not worth the money we receive. I for one will not apologize to anyone because I think I earn every cent of my pay.

[The Budget, March 7th, 1994]

He is doing well.

[The Budget, March 7th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I would say exactly what the Minister of Finance said. In the budget that was presented in the House we made provisions for cuts over the next three years.

If we have 3 per cent and 3.8 per cent growth in the next two years, we will be at 3 per cent of GNP in relation to the deficit. The programs cuts for the next three years have been announced. They are the big programs like defence, social expenditures and so on.

In the meantime we have asked the minister responsible for federal-provincial relations to work very actively to find some duplications between provincial governments and federal government and to reduce the duplications, and to look into all the boards within government operations and to reduce them in order to find further cuts.

These will not be the major cuts as mentioned in the budget. When we talk about the cuts in defence and other cuts announced in the budget, they were very serious cuts indeed.

[Bosnia, March 7th, 1994]

In response to the hon. member's question, Mr. Speaker, I would say that throughout last week and the weekend, negotiations for the withdrawal were being conducted, mostly under the direction of Commander Rose, the officer in charge of UN troops. According to the information we received a few minutes before entering the House, we have good reason to believe that Canadian solders will be leaving Srebrenica within the next 48 or 72 hours.

As I said, the operation is a few days behind schedule. It may take a little more time, but we hope that the process will be completed in less than 72 hours.

[Bosnia, March 7th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, we have made considerable progress. Of course, we would have liked to have had our soldiers out of Srebrenica by the end of February. Dutch soldiers arrived as expected; 500 of them are in theatre and Canadian troops are preparing to withdraw. Trucks are currently on route to Srebrenica. Bosnian Serbs have expressed some reservations, arguing that the roads were not very passable. Nevertheless, we believe that our troops will be able to leave within a few days.

Admittedly, they are several days behind schedule, but the operation is proceeding as expected. As for the rumour reported in the weekend newspapers to the effect that some demonstrations had taken place and that Srebrenica's Muslims were holding Canadian soldiers hostage, there is no truth to it. Muslims were merely staging a demonstration to thank Canadian soldiers for having protected them so valiantly during the past two years.