Mauril Bélanger

[Amateur Sport, April 28th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, before complaining about unfairness and discrimination and making unsubstantiated charges, the member would perhaps do better to get the facts.

Twice in the last seven years, the team was headed by Quebeckers. Even team members supported the decision that was taken.

That having been said, I repeat that it is not up to the government to select trainers. The government's role is to create programs and ensure that they run properly, and that is what we are doing.

[Publishing Industry, April 28th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, nothing has changed. The bill that has been approved by this House is under scrutiny in the other place. It is proceeding at pace. There is no agreement. We have said and continue to say that we are open to suggestions, that we will respect the spirit of the bill this House has approved. That is the way things stand now. Discussions are continuing.

[Amateur Sport, April 28th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the government's response has not been tabled in the House yet. We hope to do so in about twenty minutes. We therefore ask the member and other colleagues to wait until the government has tabled its response.

[Amateur Sport, April 27th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the government honoured its commitment to amateur sport by increasing the budget for it by $10 million annually. Part of the budget was for improved training for trainers.

From that to saying that the government must get involved and go as far as to choose the trainers, as suggested by the opposition, there is a step we are not prepared to take. It is not up to the government to meddle in the internal administration of national teams.

[Radio Music Awards, April 27th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, last month some of Canada's best new artists were honoured when the Canadian Radio Music Awards were presented during Canadian Music Week.

The nominees were chosen as first time charted artists based on radio spins recorded last year. The winners were determined by votes from radio station program and music directors as well as on-air staff.

I would like to congratulate this year's winners: Melanie Doane; the Matthew Good Band; Bruce Guthro; the Moffatts; Heather Nova; VIP; Love Inc.; Justin Gray from the Band 3 Deep; and, of course, Shania Twain.

Once again I offer my congratulations to these Canadian artists and invite everyone to encourage them and other Canadian performers in their quest for success and excellence.

[Canadian Hockey Association Women's National Team, April 23rd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the government's position on official languages and linguistic duality is very well known. Unfortunately, on a number of occasions, some organizations that receive federal government funding have not shown all the respect they should for linguistic duality and the official languages.

If this is the point the member opposite is raising, we will be pleased to look into the matter and to remind these organizations of their obligations.

[Canadian Hockey Association Women's National Team, April 23rd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the organization to which the member refers is an independent one that makes its own decisions, and I am surprised that the member would call for the government to interfere.

[Canada Travelling Exhibitions Indemnification Act, April 23rd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, at first glimpse Bill C-64 looks like a relatively small technical piece of legislation of apparent interest only to people who work in Canada's museums. However this legislation has tremendous potential. It has the potential to affect the heart, soul and mind of every Canadian now and in years to come.

With this legislation in place every Canadian will be that much closer to seeing and experiencing many of the world's treasures that are all too often inaccessible except to a fortunate few.

Canada has museums, art galleries, libraries and archival depositories that are renowned throughout the world. They house treasures that belong to all the people of Canada. Many of us, if not most of us, have never had an opportunity to admire them.

For someone living in Red Deer, in Moose Jaw, Trois-Rivières, Corner Brook or such small places as Howe, Saskatchewan, which I have had the opportunity to visit, Mattawa, where I was born, or Saint-Eleutère-Pohénégamook in the lower St. Lawrence region of Quebec, it is not always possible to get to Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City or Fredericton to see exhibitions.

The entire world is full of wonderful things which Canada's children and youth will probably never get to see, for most people cannot afford to visit Rome, Paris, Beijing or Johannesburg.

But what if these treasures came to Canadians, instead of Canadians having to travel to see them? What if the world's greatest works could be brought here to Canada, and if Canada's art works could be seen by people the world over?

Far more Canadians would then have an opportunity to learn more about their history, their heritage, their identity, and the world's masterpieces.

This is precisely the essence of Bill C-64: to give Canadians the chance to know Canada, to open up the world to Canadians, to open up Canada to the rest of the world.

The bill deals with a major roadblock in putting exhibitions on the road. One solution is to get rid of the high cost of insurance. That is what the bill will allow us to do, to greatly lower the cost of insurance by covering loss or damages to an exhibition through an indemnification program: no money up front, only after the fact, only if needed.

Fourteen industrialized countries including the United States, Great Britain, Australia and France have have had their own government sponsored indemnity programs for years. Do they work? They more than work. In 23 years of operation the United States indemnity program has received only two claims at a cost of just more than $100,000 U.S. out of a total annual indemnification value of $3 billion. It is a similar story for the other 13 countries with similar programs. The precedent has been set.

Risk for Canada would be minimized by stringent eligibility criteria in a number of areas, including plans for security, environmental control and artefact handling.

Having a sliding scale will do away with requests for relatively minor indemnification.

It also means that insurance companies will not be excluded, because they will continue to supply insurance policies. Exhibitions valued at less than $500,000 would not be eligible for this program, and the maximum indemnification per exhibition would be $450 million.

The risk to government could be further reduced by setting a maximum of $1.5 billion for all exhibitions indemnified during a fiscal year.

With this bill, we want first and foremost to circulate Canadian heritage and to put it within the reach of all Canadians. We also want it accessible to visiting tourists. We want to make the wonders of the world more and more accessible to the people of Canada.

We must not ignore the economic impact of visitors to a province, a region or a city anywhere in the country. The Barnes exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario alone generated $38 million in consumer spending, much of which comes from the some 65,000 foreign visitors to Canada. The same phenomenon occurs pretty well across the board in other cities in Canada.

Last summer, I had the honour of visiting the Rodin exhibit in Quebec City. The exhibition was thronged and beautiful. The same phenomenon is happening with the Monet exhibit in Montreal, which I have also had the opportunity of seeing, and it occurs in the rest of the country as well.

Consider also last fall's Renoir exhibition at the National Gallery in my own backyard: $6 million in restaurant sales, a quarter of a million room nights in Canadian hotels and motels, 80,000 more people visiting Parliament Hill, and $25 million spent by visitors from abroad.

Exhibitions are about culture. They are also about jobs, manufacturing, consumption of goods and services, and tax revenues for all levels and orders of government.

I am honoured to have the National Gallery in the riding of Ottawa—Vanier that I represent. I know families from St. John's, Victoria, Whitehorse or Val d'Or cannot take a walk or a mere drive to the National Gallery as can my constituents and those in the national capital region.

I would like the wonders of that gallery, the Group of Seven paintings, the Emily Carr paintings, the modern sculptures and the antique artefacts, to travel to all Canadians. The bill is one big step in making that happen. As a proud Canadian, as all of us here, I think that is fantastic.

If our museums, art galleries, archives and libraries are to compete with institutions in other countries in order to borrow the world's most prestigious collections, we must pass this bill.

If we want a greater share of tourist revenues, we must pass this bill.

If we want our kids to see more Canadian art firsthand, we need this legislation. If we want our kids exposed to the greatest works of art in the history of humanity, we need this legislation. A vote for this bill is a vote for the achievement of Canadians and for our national identity. It is a vote for opening up the world to our children. It is a vote for culture and the power it brings to the human mind, the human soul and the human heart.

I am delighted from preliminary conversations with representatives of the opposition parties that there seems to be a substantial amount of support for the legislation. I encourage speedy passage at second reading so that the committee can be tasked with dealing with the bill and report as early as possible.

[St. John Ambulance, April 21st, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, today marks the 900th anniversary of the Order of St. John founded in the 11th century with the establishment of a hospital for Christian pilgrims in Jerusalem.

First aid became an integral part of the work of the order in England during the France-Prussian war in 1870. The humanitarian work of the British branch of the St. John Ambulance spread to Canada in 1882-83 when first aid classes were organized in Quebec City and Kingston.

We should all recognize the importance of the St. John Ambulance in providing first aid training to Canadians therefore enhancing their ability to save other lives and to improve the quality of those lives.

We thank them for their dedication and for their spirit of volunteerism. May they continue to serve us long.

[Committees Of The House, April 15th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the seventh report of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.

Pursuant to its order of reference of Tuesday, December 1, 1998, your committee has considered Bill C-48, an act respecting marine conservation areas, and has agreed to report it with amendments.