Jean Chrétien

[Budget Surplus, October 31st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, we have very difficult problems to address. We have too many people at work in Canada. So far this year, 400,000 new jobs have been created, for a total of 2.5 million since 1993, and this is bringing in more revenue than expected. We are in the very unfortunate position of being too successful in reducing the debt and, consequently, the burden for future generations.

[Budget Surplus, October 31st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, it may not be 50-50, but very close to 50-50, actually 45-55. Of course, when there is an $8 billion surplus in the last week or month of the year, it would be irresponsible to try to spend this surplus just to ensure the balance. Under the acts of Parliament, at the end of the year, the surplus is automatically applied to debt reduction, which enables us to keep interest rates very low, which in turn helps all Canadians pay less for their mortgages and make purchases at lower prices because our economic policy has produced very favourable economic conditions for all Canadians.

[Maurice Gaston Cloutier, October 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I rise this afternoon to pay tribute to Major-General Maurice Gaston Cloutier's 50 years of service to Canada. I do not know him as Major-General Cloutier, however, but as Gus Cloutier.

He is a very competent man, with a keen sense of humour, who has been a friend to all the members of this House for a great many years. He is a great raconteur and a man of action who has served the House of Commons and his country well.

He was a Major-General in the Canadian Air Force from 1952 to 1978. He was appointed sergeant-at-arms in 1978, and Canadian Secretary to Her Majesty the Queen.

His talents were extremely well utilized in the last visit of Her Majesty, the Queen, and many others and he has done all these jobs with great class and competence.

I was here when we had two members of Parliament and two secretaries in one office. This has expanded a lot, and Gus Cloutier has helped to do that very well. He introduced modern equipment and helped the members to be in a better position to communicate among themselves and with their constituents.

Here is a Canadian who has served his country extremely well and at the same time he made a friend of every member of Parliament since 1978. Bien fait.

[Employment Insurance, October 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the member should appreciate the fact that when we came to power, the premiums were supposed to be $3.30.

We cancelled the increase planned by the Tories and reduced the premiums for workers and employers. Workers now contribute $2.20. I presume this will continue to drop as the economy continues to perform well.

There are 2.5 million more people working in Canada since we implemented sound economic policies for the country. I hope the hon. member will one day acknowledge this.

[Kyoto Protocol, October 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons informs me that a proposal was made to the opposition to have a debate on Kyoto in the coming days.

I would be very pleased to have such a debate, because we would know several weeks before the vote what hon. members think.

This would be very useful, and I hope that such a debate can take place at the earliest opportunity.

[Kyoto Protocol, October 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, all the ministers responsible for the environment had an opportunity to meet this week. They will also meet with energy ministers at the end of the month. This is the procedure that was established.

At this time, we should not be looking for reasons to postpone the decision on Kyoto forever. We want to have a vote here and we want the input of this House at the earliest opportunity.

Following that, we will continue to work together. This is a 10 year program. I do not see the urgency. I want to know from this Parliament whether or not we should fulfill our international obligations.

[Health, October 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, again, thanks to the opposition for complimenting that we have done a good job. On health care we received a report from the Senate last week and there will be a report next month by Commissioner Roy Romanow. Early in the new year, I will be discussing with the provinces a reform of the health care system.

If we have some cash available, we will contribute more. I hope we will be in a position to contribute more, but we will have to do the natural arbitration in government because the opposition is always up to ask for more money for health care, defence and so on, and we try to--

[Employment Insurance, October 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the member on mentioning our country and welcome her to Canada.

What has happened is clear. We had a good economic performance. There were more contributions to the employment insurance fund and we had a surplus. We therefore reduced the debt by $48 billion, which has lowered the interest rate. This freed up more money to invest in social programs such as health, the child tax credit and all manner of things for which we will be praised. And we will continue to do still more, I trust, in the next budget.

[Employment Insurance, October 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, there is no fund, in the sense that she means, because when the money runs out, the government comes up with more. It is always the government's responsibility. We always assume our responsibilities. The problem we have, which confuses the opposition somewhat, is that our economic policies have been too successful.

[Employment Insurance, October 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the system is in place. When there is a deficit, the government is there to cover it and, when there is a surplus, in this instance, it is true that we used it to reduce the debt. That is how we were able to bring interest rates all the way down to where they are right now. This is benefiting all Canadians, because when they pay their residential mortgage loans, they pay less. The provincial governments are also paying less to service the debt. Everyone benefits from this government's sound management.