Mauril Bélanger

[Referendum Campaign, October 6th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, at a meeting with UQUAM students in management studies, the PQ finance and revenue minister said: "It seems that business people are not overly grateful when it is the Parti Quebecois which does something". Are we to understand from the minister's comments that he is trying to enlist business people in the Yes camp?

The PQ minister must stop using provincial subsidies and other benefits to force Quebec businesses to support the Yes side. Earlier this week, his colleague, the Bloc Quebecois leader, said that enlisting business people was undemocratic and unacceptable.

[World Teachers Day, October 5th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, on October 4, 1966, a special intergovernmental conference adopted the UNESCO recommendation on the status of teachers. Thirty years have passed since the adoption of that historical document, and today we mark the anniversary by inaugurating World Teachers Day.

Just by pure happenstance, on the very day we are marking the vital contribution of our teachers, the permanent campus of la Cité collégiale will be holding its official opening ceremonies in Ottawa. Its teachers and students can be proud of the fact that theirs is the first French-language college of applied arts and technology in Ontario.

I would like to take this opportunity, therefore, to offer my thanks and congratulations to all of the men and women in the educational field for their ongoing efforts to provide Canadian youth with the opportunity to realize their full potential.

My best wishes to all teachers for a happy international day, and to la Cité collégiale for a long life.

[Quebec Economy, October 2nd, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Parti Quebecois Premier made use of something said by one of the executives of the Bank of Montreal to reaffirm his confidence in the economic future of an independent Quebec. It is paradoxical, to say the least, to see the head of the Parti Quebecois using the words of a representative of the Bank of Montreal to support his separatist pretensions. In June 1994, the same man was publicly inviting Quebecers who did business with the Bank of Montreal to pull out of the institution because its chief economist had dared to say that the election of the Parti Quebecois would make the money markets extremely nervous.

This is a fine example of the separatists' double standard. If you make a statement in favour of Quebec independence one day, you are quoted publicly. Then, another day, if you say something against separation, you become the target of the PQ's big guns. So much for intellectual impartiality.

[Public Service Of Canada, September 29th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian awards of excellence will kick off Quality Month on Monday, October 2. The awards celebrate outstanding achievements in the private sector.

During the last few years the federal public service has gone through tough and sometimes demoralizing challenges. Will the President of the Treasury Board tell us what the government is doing to improve morale and promote excellence in the Public Service of Canada?

[Ottawa Lynx Baseball Team, September 22nd, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, on September 13 the Ottawa Lynx Triple A baseball team won the Governor's Cup of the international league. Thanks to their great team effort the Lynx beat the Norfolk Tides four to nothing, thus winning the best of five series three games to one. Norfolk with the

best record during the regular season was the favourite team coming into post-season play; however, the Montreal Expos farm team peaked at the right time and took the championship.

Since its creation the prospects for the Lynx have been rather encouraging. In the first year the team set a new Attendance record for the league.

The September 13 game which brought the championship to Canada stretched over four hours and twenty-seven minutes, including two rain delays, yet the 9,000 plus fans gathered at the Ottawa stadium never lost faith in their team.

On behalf of all the baseball fans in Ottawa-Vanier and in Ottawa-Carleton, I offer my most sincere congratulations to the Ottawa Lynx, to their manager, their president and owner, Mr. Howard Darwin and Jim Durrell, the former mayor of Ottawa.

[The Late Jean-Luc Pepin, September 18th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, on September 5, the right honourable Jean-Luc Pepin, one of the most significant figures on the Canadian political scene since the 1960s, died on the eve of his 71th birthday. The death of this former member of Parliament and minister caught us by surprise. All those who knew him were also caught by surprise, but we also witnessed his numerous achievements and his departure can only fill us with sadness and nostalgia.

It was largely thanks to this great Canadian that our country adopted the metric system. It was mentioned earlier that it was also largely thanks to him that the Canadian government became more open to the People's Republic of China well before other countries did. The same goes for his work in the Department of Transport, with the elimination of the Crow rate and with Via Rail.

We will also long remember him for the Anti-Inflation Board and for the Pepin-Robarts Commission, whose findings still remain relevant today in any discussion concerning relations between the federal and the provinces. I wish I could avoid being partisan, because Mr. Pepin always avoided excessive partisanship. But after listening to some remarks, I cannot help but mention that, during a dinner that was held about ten days before his death, we had the opportunity to discuss the political issue of the day, the referendum, and I wish to note that, even though he was almost 71 years old, Mr. Pepin clearly said to me at the time that, if necessary, he would willingly agree to campaign for Canada.

I wish to thank him as a personal friend, as one of his students-because I was one-as his assistant, as an admirer and now as the member for Ottawa-Vanier. I would like to extend my condolences to the Pepin family as well as those who were close to this great political man.

[University Of Ottawa, June 16th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, today, I would like to congratulate the University of Ottawa for a remarkable fund-raising campaign. Through its Vision campaign, the university raised $38.6 million, which was much more than the university's objective.

This campaign will allow the University of Ottawa to remain a leader in the area of teaching and research.

In more concrete terms, it has enabled the university to begin construction of the first phase of a new building for the Arts Faculty, D'Iorio Hall, which will be devoted to research in the pure sciences and the neurosciences research institute.

The campaign also raised close to $9 million that will be used to endow chairs, as well as for centres of excellence and institutes, and over $1.5 million for scholarships and student financial aid. In addition, this campaign was an excellent opportunity for the University of Ottawa to forge new partnerships with industry and the business world.

Once again, congratulations to all who contributed to the success of this campaign and long life to the University of Ottawa.

[Petitions, June 14th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition which I would like to present is from 37 constituents of Ottawa-Vanier.

They call on Parliament to amend the Divorce Act to include a provision similar to article 611 of the Quebec civil code, which states that in no case may a father or mother, without serious cause, place obstacles between the child and grandparents. Failing agreement between the parties the modalities of the relations are settled by the courts.

[Petitions, June 14th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I wish to present two petitions.

The first petition is from 60 Canadians, some of whom reside in the riding of Ottawa-Vanier. The petitioners call on Parliament to act quickly to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and to adopt all necessary measures to recognize the full equality of same sex relationships in federal law.

[Mike Harris, June 7th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, last week, a few days before the Ontario provincial election, the Association canadienne-française de l'Ontario, ACFO, held its annual convention in Toronto. This organization has defended the interests of Ontario's francophone community for decades.

The leaders of the Liberal, New Democrat and Conservative parties were invited to attend. Mike Harris, the leader of the Conservative Party decided, however, not to. Would Mr. Harris' decision not indicate how little interest he has in Ontario francophones? It would seem so.

Ontario's francophones want a government that is sensitive to their needs, a government that is not afraid to respect their rights. Clearly, Mr. Harris has little concern for these claims and for the francophone community of Ontario in general.