Jean Chrétien

[Kyoto Protocol, December 10th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud that Parliament will vote to ratify Kyoto this afternoon. It is in the interests of future generations that we move on that file and that we respect our international obligations.

It also is in the interests of all sectors of the economy to know exactly what they will have to do now, not wait six or seven years from now and face a wall. They will know exactly what kind of obligation they will have and what kind of help the provincial and federal governments will provide for everybody in these cases.

However we will meet the target and future generations will be happy with the actions of Parliament today.

[Kyoto Protocol, December 9th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, there is a very good chance that, after 10 years of implementation of the program, neither the leader of the fifth party nor myself will be able to reply to this question.

[École de médecine vétérinaire de Saint-Hyacinthe, December 9th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, here we go again with stories of humiliation. The members have spoken about the issue here and you will soon see that when they tackle a problem, they get results.

[École de médecine vétérinaire de Saint-Hyacinthe, December 9th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to respond, because the member made a statement that I would like to correct.

The first time I heard about this problem was in the Liberal caucus, before Bloc Quebecois members ever raised any questions in the House of Commons.

[Health, December 9th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I thought the hon. member would keep on complimenting the government because she started to compliment us on the surpluses.

She should have complimented us for asking Mr. Romanow to table a report that is being studied by us at this time and by all the provinces. There will be a meeting with them at the end of January or early in February. I hope we will make a lot of progress to ensure we maintain a good health care system for all Canadians.

[Firearms Registry, December 9th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice, who is handling the file at this time, is a very competent minister and he is doing what is needed at this moment.

Obviously the Auditor General indicated very clearly to us that we have some problems with this program and we are taking the steps to correct them.

[Goods and Services Tax, December 9th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, there is one fact that is very clear. It is that the administration has provided such a government that this year we have--for the sixth year--a surplus. It is because our administrative operations are very good.

There are always problems in a big administration, and when we are informed by the Auditor General or even by committees of the House, we work very hard to bring about a report to the House and to do the right thing. In this case, the chair of the public accounts committee is a member of the opposition and he has not yet reported on that to us as far as I know.

[Health, December 3rd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the important thing is that they be accountable to everyone. If they are accountable to the federal government and to the public, it is somewhat the same thing. What the public needs to know is what these governments are doing.

Under the October 2000 agreement, we agreed on a mechanism to inform the public. This mechanism was acceptable to the federal and provincial governments. It was signed by all provincial and territorial governments, and by the federal government, in October 2000.

[Health, December 3rd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, we still have not made any decision. We received the report of Mr. Romanow and that of Senator Kirby. There is Mr. Clair's report. There is the Mazankowski report. Many people have examined these issues. They will all meet. The ministers will meet this week and later in December and in January.

When we will hold our first ministers' meeting, then we will decide what is the best agreement that we can have. However, we will always act in the best interests of those who receive health care, and not with an eye to a future election.

[Health, December 3rd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, sometimes the provinces have found it very useful to have funding earmarked for a specific purpose, such as the purchase of badly needed equipment. The money was earmarked for needed equipment and could not be used for collective bargaining.

Sometimes it is very useful to have funding that is earmarked for a very specific purpose, so that people can have needed equipment. This is what happened with the one billion dollars we provided at the time to help the provinces purchase new equipment.