Jean Chrétien

[Citizenship and Immigration, November 6th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I simply said that somebody who is not a Canadian citizen is not entitled to a Canadian passport. It is the law of Parliament. It is not me. I am not the one who decides who should have a passport. A passport belongs to a Canadian citizen.

For those who do not have a passport, it is because they are not Canadian citizens. A passport certifies one's citizenship. When one is a citizen of Canada, then one is entitled to a passport. If one is not a citizen of Canada, there is nothing more that Parliament permits me to do.

[Citizenship and Immigration, November 6th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I said that in these situations every country has its own regulations about the people who enter a nation. We have ours, the Americans have theirs. The French, the Germans and everybody else have their own internal techniques to receive people entering their country.

As far as Canadians are concerned, they have Canadian passports and we are defending them vis-à-vis the Americans and the validity of the Canadian passport. The Minister of Foreign Affairs has received assurances from the Ambassador of the United States that Canadian passports will be completely acceptable.

If people do not have a Canadian passport and the Americans are asking for something else, I think that as a country we can fight for the passport--

[Kyoto Protocol, November 6th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the figures were provided and analyzed by officials of all the provincial environment and resources ministries at a conference. There will be another conference in two weeks, if I am not mistaken.

As I said, this is a commitment Canada is making for 2012. Adjustments will be necessary. Because of our efforts, other countries have agreed to accept the concept of the sink in the case of trees. And we are continuing our efforts to gain the support of other countries and ensure that Canada receives credit for exporting non-polluting energy.

[Kyoto Protocol, November 6th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to talk about geography. The former leader did not know the way Niagara Falls was falling and this one does not know that Great Britain, France, Denmark, Germany and Italy are part of the western world. Perhaps he should go back to school.

This international agreement is extremely important for future generations. This government does not run away from its international obligations and the health of the children of the future.

[Kyoto Protocol, November 6th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have an international obligation. Because we believe in multilateralism, we have to accomplish that.

We will accept the goals of Kyoto and will make a Canadian solution to Kyoto in the next 10 years. We have talked only six years with the provincial governments and with the private sector to achieve that goal.

Seventy-five per cent to 80% of Canadians are in favour of ratification of Kyoto. Canadians are preoccupied with the health of their children, their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren.

[Budgetary Surplus, November 5th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, when March 31 comes, we cannot spend the money that is left, so we apply it against the debt. The law does not permit us to spend it when we arrive at the new fiscal year, so we pay the debt.

I do not think it is a big scandal that Canada is the only country in the western world that has managed to pay virtually 10% of its national debt.

[Parliamentary Reform, November 5th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, we have already voted many times on some opposition motions when sometimes the motion makes sense.

Perhaps I can make a suggestion today that will please the opposition. Perhaps the first vote that we are supposed to have this afternoon should be a secret vote.

[Parliamentary Reform, November 5th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, democracy has always flourished in this House. I do not know why the opposition complains about members being allowed to vote openly for whom they want for committee chair and preferring a secret ballot.

That is what they wanted, and they got the anticipated results. The Liberal chairs that were to have been elected were elected, while the vice-chairs came from the Alliance, the Bloc, the NDP or the Conservative Party. The secret system has served them well.

[Parliamentary Reform, November 5th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, we do not have the American system here. We have a British inspired system where the government is responsible on a daily basis to the people of Canada. In this parliamentary system the tradition is that we all stand up and vote in front of all of our electors all the time.

However, some prefer to have secret votes and I am happy to see the results that I noted earlier. Yes, a secret vote worked. All the Liberals who were supposed to become chairs became chairs. It is only the vice-chairs from the Canadian Alliance who lost their jobs.

[Parliamentary Reform, November 5th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the House leader informed me that he has already asked the opposition to have a committee to reform these procedures.

The rules have permitted the committees for years to have secret votes. In fact this morning there were three secret votes called for unanimously. It so happened that the secret votes worked very well. Three vice-chairs from the Canadian Alliance lost their jobs.