Jean Chrétien

[The Senate, January 24th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Constitution makes provision for the appointment of senators. We will amend this procedure when all of the provinces agree to an elected Senate. We cannot have some elected senators and some appointed senators. We have to amend the Constitution, but it is clear that the members of this House are not willing to do so.

I do not intend to change the Constitution at this moment. We will respect the Constitution. It is the basic law of the land. It is the way the Constitution is written. I will respect the Constitution until it is changed.

[Member For Markham-Whitchurch-Stouffville, January 24th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the members of this House have their private lives like anybody else. There are members who in the past faced criminal charges and sat as members until their problems were resolved before the courts.

In the case of the hon. member for Markham-Whitchurch-Stouffville, no charges were laid before any court whatsoever. There was no judgment. The hon. member in question apologized to Canadians, and in this House, it is the rule that when a member apologizes for making a mistake, those apologies are accepted.

If every member in this House who made a mistake in the past were obliged to leave the House, there might not be many members left who would not have to rise in the House and say: I made a mistake at some point in my life.

The hon. member admitted he made a foolish mistake, and he apologized. I think the Standing Orders of this House indicate that one accepts the apologies of a member of this House.

[Member For Markham-Whitchurch-Stouffville, January 24th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I do not think I have anything to add to the statement by the hon. member for Markham-Whitchurch-Stouffville who apologized before the House this morning. We have a tradition in the House that applies when no criminal charges were laid.

I remember when I was a member here, one of the members rose in the House and admitted that in the past, he had served a prison sentence, but since that time he had been a member in good standing of his community. After this admission he was given a standing ovation by the House, because he had become a very good citizen.

[Cigarette Smuggling, January 24th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I have nothing to add except to say that of course the federal government and the governments of Quebec and the other provinces must act to enforce the law. That is what the Solicitor General instructed the RCMP to do and I hope that the provincial governments will give the same instructions to their police authorities.

[Cigarette Smuggling, January 24th, 1994]

As the Solicitor General indicated, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have received orders to make all citizens of this country obey the law.

[Registered Retirement Savings Plan, January 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I have nothing to add. Everybody in society has to contribute to the financing of this government. This party wants to reduce the deficit and the debt and we are looking at all the options.

This is money earned by a lot of people on which they do not pay any tax. That is a way to accumulate money and I have nothing against it, but there is no tax paid on the money invested. We want to ensure that the system is fair between the poor and the rich in our society in relation to the tax system.

[Registered Retirement Savings Plan, January 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance is preparing his budget. Any member of this House who wants to make a contribution and express his views on any part of the budget is free to do so.

The Minister of Finance will look at the member's speech of yesterday and make his own decision before the budget comes out. That is why we have the House of Commons and why members are welcome to express their views. I am happy when they express their views because that is democracy. However, it is up to the Minister of Finance to decide what will be part of the budget. We will know this some time in February.

[National Revenue, January 21st, 1994]

I have nothing to add to my answer, Mr. Speaker. The minister has asked that all and any proceedings against the crown be discontinued and is not expecting any settlement from the government. It could not be clearer.

[National Revenue, January 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, what I have been told is that the Minister had instructed his lawyer to drop the case immediately and that he will not be getting any settlement from the government.

[Members Of Parliament Retiring Allowances, January 21st, 1994]

The member should not be worried at all if he does not contribute. We will pay him back the few dollars he would have contributed in the first few months. We will not try to make money off of him.

I would like to make this statement. When we talk about compensation for members, we should realize that every elected member of this House makes less than half the salary of the worst hockey player in the NHL. Members of Parliament also make less than most police chiefs, directors of schools and directors of hospitals in Alberta who sometimes make more than $120,000 a year.

I do not think that members are overpaid. However, if some members think they are not worth what they are making we will be happy to reduce their salaries.