House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 58% of the vote.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation May 30th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is not totally fair to the president of the CBC. What he did say, and he did correct his statement at committee when the member was there, was that the priority was not to add money to the current envelope of $901 million plus what CBC can get from the television production fund.
For the member to say that the CBC is not a priority is totally erroneous. The president of the CBC said no such a thing.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation May 19th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, this week the president of the CBC appeared before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, which I believe offered a fairly faithful reflection of public opinion from one end of the country to the other.
He committed to passing the comments made to him at the meeting on to those attending the board meeting to be held shortly. It will be up to them to decide on what direction the CBC will take.
As far as the government is concerned, our funding is stable. We are committed to it, and it is our intention to continue that stable funding.
Crtc May 18th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, it is entirely proper that CRTC commissioners make efforts to improve the public's understanding of the CRTC as well as to improve their own knowledge of the technological evolution in the telecommunications industry.
This is why CRTC commissioners regularly attend a number of business and consumer conferences.
Not so long ago, I personally attended a dinner organized by a consumer association in which CRTC members participate. This is therefore behaviour that we encourage.
Book Drive For Iqaluit School May 18th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, in early February the principal of a school in Iqaluit, Nunavut, sent a letter to the editor of an Ottawa daily newspaper describing the urgent need of books for his school.
After speaking to him, and to my colleague from Nunavut, we launched a book drive with hopes of collecting 100 or 200 boxes. To our surprise, we ended up with more than 1,000 boxes, in excess of 25,000 books.
I would like to thank everyone in the region who contributed, particularly one young lady, Catherine French, who collected over 2,000 all by herself.
I would like to thank the people of Mattawa, the village where I was born, the people at F.J. McGellight Secondary School, St. Victor's and St. Anne's schools and the municipal library, for contributing more than 200 boxes of books.
I also wish to thank Susan Scullion of my colleague from Nunavut's office, and Suzanne Demers of my own, without whom this project could not have been the success that it was.
Competition Act May 16th, 2000
Madam Speaker, I wish to take this opportunity to say that I too participated in the meeting to which the member for Dartmouth referred.
It is true that the members who attended took advantage of the opportunity to pass on to the president of the CBC the concerns raised by their constituents.
We had a golden opportunity as members of parliament to convey to the president of the CBC concerns that have been expressed to us about the importance of the regional aspect in CBC Radio Canada's mandate. That has been done. Today the president of CBC committed to the members of that committee to report directly to the board of CBC Radio Canada the concerns that have been voiced by a number of people but also the concerns that were voiced today by members of parliament who were reflecting comments received from constituents from all across the country.
That also points out that a decision has not been made. One can hope that the concerns expressed indeed will be reflected in whatever decision is finally made.
We cannot ignore that CBC gets some of what my hon. colleagues have called stable funding. The funding has been stabilized. This is the third year of a five year stable funding program. It was marginally increased to reflect some cost of living adjustments. It was also increased to absorb one time costs related to the Y2K concerns and so forth.
Proof that some things were working was presented to us today by the president of CBC in that radio is fine and in that French television is fine. Let us not forget Radio Canada International which has also received secure and stable funding.
All told, the focus was on English television. Despite funding problems there were things that the president wanted to do which he might do even if he got more money.
Youth May 12th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, we live in a vast country, a country rich in natural resources and in its geography as well as in its cultural diversity and in the linguistic duality it is important to discover.
This is why two weeks ago, the Minister of Canadian Heritage announced a further $15 million, which was provided in the budget this year, for interchange Canada, in order to permit young people to take part in the some 300 exchange programs in this country to enable our young people to discover each other, to discover communities from sea to sea and to appreciate this great and beautiful country of Canada.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation May 12th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, funding for the CBC has been stable since 1998. We stabilized the funding over a five year period.
If the member is not aware of that, perhaps he should have done more homework. Since the 1998-99 fiscal year, CBC Radio Canada's funding has been stabilized and in some cases increased.
Cbc May 10th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, the government is not abandoning the regions. The government has stood by the CBC Act and its mandate of reflecting Canadians in each region of the country to each other.
I advise the member that her own critic has asked the heritage committee to meet with the president of CBC, which the committee agreed to do before the next board meeting, so that it could be apprised of the concerns expressed by Canadians to some members of the House. In the meantime, before the next board meeting where decisions and recommendations will be—
Cbc May 10th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, the government is not abandoning the CBC at all. The government has stood by the mandate of CBC.
I encourage the member of parliament opposite, her constituents and the constituents of all members, if they have concerns about the plans of the CBC, to express those concerns to the members of the board or to the president of CBC before the decision is made, because it has not yet been made.
Canada National Parks Act May 5th, 2000
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I believe that you would find unanimous consent among the colleagues present for us to proceed to the private member's bill.