House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2000, with 54% of the vote.
National Unity March 7th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, it is very important to have the guts to present candidates in every province of Canada and to have one message for all Canadians, not one for one part of Canada and one for another. That is why when I was in Alberta last weekend I received a fantastic reception. I was talking about the policies of the government vis-à-vis Canada and the people received me very well indeed.
National Unity March 7th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, of course I will work very hard to make sure the policies of the government are so good that the people of Quebec will not have any hesitation to stay in Canada.
It will be very useful when I am able to report to the Americans that I have convinced members of the Reform Party to support the two officials languages of Canada.
Official Opposition March 7th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I was pleased to hear the premier of Alberta say on Friday that he was in favour of two official languages in Canada. They like to
use him a lot in their speeches, so that is something that should be noted.
I do not know what was the cost of this additional lunch or dinner for the Leader of the Official Opposition. I just hope it was cheaper than the party for the Governor of the Bank of Canada.
Official Opposition March 7th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I believe I can speak about national policies that can be useful in keeping Canada together.
I urge the member of the Reform Party to recognize generously that it is a very good thing in Canada to have two official languages.
Official Opposition March 7th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, the people of Canada voted in one election. They elected a separatist party as the Official Opposition and we are treating it as the Official Opposition.
Not only bad things came out of that trip, there were a lot of good things too. The Leader of the Opposition told the Americans he was Canadien français, just like me. That is great. He said he wanted the Americans to understand his position. Rather than using the confusing term of sovereignty he wanted them to know the truth and the truth will now be known by Quebecers. He said: "I am a separatist," and I was very happy.
Collège Militaire Royal De Saint-Jean March 7th, 1994
As a francophone in Kingston, she functioned so well that, at the end of her course, her fellow students voted to give her the prize awarded to the student who contributes the most to his or her faculty's development.
So, Mr. Speaker, I think there is a way to organize the college in Kingston so that francophone students can be served in French. And, if there is a need to improve the local situation in Kingston, we will try to help, just as we are now trying to help the people who want to keep in Saint-Jean an institution that, unfortunately, can no longer serve the military.
Collège Militaire Royal De Saint-Jean March 7th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I would reply to the hon. member that francophones can now receive their whole training in French at the college in Kingston. This morning, I was looking at the file of a young woman who was able to take in French at the military college in Kingston 38 of her 40 engineering courses.
Collège Militaire Royal De Saint-Jean March 7th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I would like to reply to the hon. member that the problem must be put in a real context. Only 16 per cent of French-speaking Canadian military officers are graduates of the college in Saint-Jean.
Many officers who have pursued a career in the Canadian Forces went to other universities. There are flexible programs
allowing them to choose their universities. We will have only one military college in the future. The Canadian Forces will have about 70,000 members and only one military college. The American armed forces have only three colleges for 2 million soldiers.
As we have to make cuts, we decided to close the military college in Saint-Jean. We are sorry but we had to cut somewhere. We made cuts in every province, including Quebec. We told the Quebec government and all the people that, if they wanted to keep the college in Saint-Jean as an institution of higher learning, we were ready to help them, as we help other provinces hit by base closures and, very often, by cuts much more severe per capita than those made in Quebec. We are ready to help but the decision is final. A country with 70,000 soldiers cannot have three military colleges when the American armed forces have three colleges for 2 million soldiers.
Governor General February 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, in the budget the Minister of Finance indicated that a review of all boards and appointments is being conducted at this time under the authority of the minister in charge, the President of the Privy Council. We are reviewing everything to make sure there will be no unnecessary spending.
In the case of the Governor General, I did not complete my answer to that. The same principle applies as to Her Majesty the Queen.
Governor General February 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I think it is the same for the Governor General as it is for the Prime Minister. When the Governor General and the Prime Minister travel, questions of security are decided along guidelines established by the security service of the RCMP.