Peter Stoffer

[Fisheries, March 30th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, two days ago I rose in the House to remind the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans that the auditor general had said that his department was managing the shellfish industry in the same way the groundfish industry was managed prior to the collapse of the cod stock, which by the way has cost taxpayers billions of dollars.

I also reminded the minister that his scientists are now telling him that the present snow crab stocks off Newfoundland could be gone in three years.

Finally, let us not forget about the lobster and the Marshall decision. The season opens very soon and all we hear from the minister are very vague statements, the same vague statements we had prior to the supreme court decision.

First it was west coast salmon, then east coast salmon, cod and now possibly snow crab. Will lobsters be next?

When the minister was asked how he would protect our precious marine resources, his response was “Liberal times are good times”. I can only hope that Canadians do not wake up with the loss of another fragile resource in our oceans and with a taxpayer hangover.

[Income Tax Act, March 29th, 2000]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-467, an act to amend the Income Tax Act.

Mr. Speaker, again I thank the hon. member for Halifax West for seconding this bill, which is a step in the NDP advancement toward getting taxes down for members of community volunteer groups, in essence saying that what they do for Canada in terms of volunteerism is very important.

When this bill gets sweeping endorsement from all political parties, it will allow members of recognized service groups, such as the Lions, the Kiwanis, the Knights of Columbus, et cetera, to claim as tax deductions on their income tax returns the dues they pay to those organizations on a yearly basis.

I know you will endorse the bill, Mr. Speaker, as well as the other members of the House and of the other place.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Canada Post Corporation Act, March 29th, 2000]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-466, an act to amend the Canada Post Corporation Act.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Halifax West for seconding this very important private member's bill which is now before the House.

As Canadians pay their taxes to government and to all official levels, one little annoying thing they have to do is to put a postage stamp on the envelope when they send it to Revenue Canada. I believe they should be able to send those remittances postage free.

This private member's bill will have sweeping endorsement by all political parties in the House of Commons and will be passed fairly quickly. I thank all hon. members for their nodding support at this time and, when it comes up for debate, for their unanimous consent in the House and in other place.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Shipbuilding Act, 1999, March 28th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, it gives me tremendous pleasure and pride to rise on behalf of my brothers and sisters in the shipbuilding industry, those hardworking people who build the greatest ships in Canada and around the world to speak to this very important and timely bill brought forward by the great member for Lévis-et-Chutes-de-la-Chaudière. My party congratulates the member for his outstanding work in bringing Bill C-213 to the House.

I am very happy that the member for Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough mentioned the Conservatives' report although we would like to know what Joe Clark would have to say about it. We only wish that the Conservative government when it was negotiating the free trade deal, had included shipbuilding in that deal, similar to what the United States did when it protected itself with the Jones Act. If that had been done we probably would not be having this debate right now. That is old history. I have a little more history for the Liberals.

I see one of my good colleagues and friends over there, a soccer player whom I admire greatly. In the 1993 red book, their election promise was, “Vote for us. Trust us and we will give the country a shipbuilding”. It is seven years later and not one damn thing has been done about that, not one.

The government continually misleads the general public. Its Atlantic caucus is saying very clearly to the government and to the members of the Liberal Party that in order to improve its electoral chances in Atlantic Canada it needs a shipbuilding policy. What does the government do? It ignores its own backbench members. It is absolutely scandalous.

I am going to give the Liberals who are here listening to this a lesson in election 101. If they want to win any seats in Atlantic Canada, then put a shipbuilding policy in now. Organizations like the CAW, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the chambers of commerce, provinces and others are on side for a shipbuilding policy so that we can protect and preserve the thousands and thousands of well paying and skilled jobs that are in Atlantic Canada in Marystown, Saint John, my great city of Halifax and in other ports across the country.

It is absolutely insane that the government does not listen to the people of Atlantic Canada, western Canada, Quebec and Ontario. These people are not asking for handouts. They are asking for jobs, jobs that other countries have. Other governments support their workers and industry.

One of the greatest sins in the House of Commons is that the finance minister who runs Canada Steamship Lines Inc. has his ships built in other countries. It is an absolute disgrace that he can stand up in the House and say that he wants to lead Canada in government, that he wants to be the prime minister, yet he turns his back on Canadians and those hardworking people of Atlantic Canada. It is an absolute disgrace.

Tomorrow we are going to have a free vote on Bill C-213. I only hope and pray that the government along with the Reform Party can actually see what has been happening in Atlantic Canada and will vote with their minds and their hearts in support of Bill C-213.

[Shipbuilding Act, 1999, March 28th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask for unanimous consent that for the remaining 24 minutes of debate members will speak for only four minutes each.

[Fisheries, March 28th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, last April the auditor general of Canada indicated that the DFO was managing the shellfish industry in the same manner that it managed the groundfish industry prior to the cod collapse in 1992, which, by the way, cost the taxpayers of this country billions of dollars.

Now disturbing reports out of Newfoundland show that the fragile snow crab industry is in serious decline.

First the west coast salmon, the east coast salmon and the cod, and now the snow crabs off Newfoundland.

Will the minister heed the advice of his own scientists and put measures in place to protect the resource, or will he again ignore the advice of his own scientists and allow the crab to go the way of the cod?

[The Budget, March 27th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the Liberals promise a future for our children and for health care. Yet they still have not been able to maintain their 1993 promise on the day care concern across the country. They also failed to break their promise on the GST.

On the child tax credit, which they talked an awful lot about, they never put in strict guidelines to say that provinces could not claw that money back. This happens now in my province. My fear is that with the additional money through the child tax credit again the province of Nova Scotia will claw that money back because the federal government refuses to tell the province that under no circumstances can that money be clawed back. I would like the hon. member's comments on that.

[The Budget, March 27th, 2000]

Madam Speaker, again I listened intently to my colleague from the Liberal Party. He quotes numbers like $2.5 billion for health care. The reality is that $2.5 billion announced in the budget is for health care, education and other social programs over a four year period. It is not just destined for health care.

If he is convinced that the health care announcement which the government made is so positive, why is every premier and territorial leader in the country upset and why is every other person who has ever accessed health care in the country, who has used home care and so on, upset with the Liberal government?

Several members on the other side, the Atlantic caucus as they call it, produced a document called “Catching the Wave”. In that document they called upon the government to introduce a shipbuilding policy, and I notice that the budget completely left that out.

On Wednesday we will be having a vote on Bill C-213 from the Bloc Quebecois. We will be initiating that. Will the hon. member be supporting the other Liberal members of his caucus in supporting a very important initiative for shipbuilding policy in the country? The budget certainly was not inclusive in that regard.

[The Budget, March 27th, 2000]

Madam Speaker, does the hon. member for Selkirk—Interlake and his new party believe that the dismantling of the Crow rate was a good thing or a bad thing for farmers?

[The Budget, March 27th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, my Alliance colleague was right. When the government takes money away from a taxpayer and gives it to a profitable corporation all of Canada should question that.

Why would the government, in any way, shape or form, give half a million dollars of taxpayers' money to the Wal-Mart corporation to set up so-called jobs in the whip's riding? Why would the government give half a million dollars to an American run corporation that is already, by its own standards, very successful in the commercial market?