Peter Stoffer

[Telefilm Canada Act, November 15th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent to share my time with my colleague from Nanaimo—Cowichan.

[Drug Supply Act, November 15th, 2004]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-284, an act to ensure the necessary supply of patented drugs to deal with domestic emergencies.

Mr. Speaker, as the NDP usually does, we have united a country on the bill.I am proud to say that my colleague from Nanaimo—Cowichan probably supports the initiative.

In this scary age in which we live we are asking that the federal government ensures there is an ample supply of patented drugs on hand to meet the possible catastrophic needs of all Canadians.

Be it the flu vaccine, the avian flu, smallpox or whatever, Canadians need to be assured that there is an ample supply of drugs to meet their needs in the event of a serious emergency in this country.

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

[International Interests in Mobile Equipment (aircraft equipment) Act, November 15th, 2004]

Madam Speaker, I fully support, almost verbatim, what my hon. colleague from Dartmouth--Cole Harbour had said, but he also mentioned shipbuilding. I am going to give him an easy question.

In 2001, Brian Tobin, the industry minister, set up a group of labour and industry personnel to get together and come up with a policy, which they did. Unfortunately, three and a half years later there has been absolutely nothing from the government. In fact, the Minister of Industry's own riding, his own province of B.C., lost a half billion dollar contract to a German firm to build ferries. Not one penny of that money will be going into wages, salaries, or communities in British Columbia.

We have a need in this country to replace Coast Guard vessels, military vessels, ferry systems, the laker fleet, you name it. We can build them right here in Canada.

I am pleased to see that the government is paying serious attention to the aerospace industry. As an 18 year airline employee myself, I know the pitfalls that the airline carriers go through, and this particular bill is a very good one which we fully support. The attitude that the government gives to the auto sector and to the aerospace industry is something we support, but we would also support it if it would just pay half as much attention to the shipbuilding industry.

I would like the member to stand up and give me the assurance that indeed the Dartmouth slips may one day reopen and build the great ships of the future.

[International Interests in Mobile Equipment (aircraft equipment) Act, November 15th, 2004]

Madam Speaker, the member mentioned the fact that Canada was once very prominent in the aerospace industry but now seems to have lost a bit of that prominence and he is absolutely correct. I would like to remind him that we have also lost another terrific industry in Canada and that industry is the shipbuilding industry. Lévis, Quebec, has the potential of being a huge employer.

My hon. colleague the parliamentary secretary talked about the Canadian dream. I would like to remind him and his government that there are many shipyard workers in this country who have a dream of fulfilling their mandate of a livelihood.

Since the government completely ignored the shipbuilding industry, in fact does not bring it up for discussion any more, how much faith does the hon. member from Quebec have that it will do the same thing to the aerospace industry in the future?

[Supply, November 4th, 2004]

Ouch, Mr. Speaker, ouch.

However, the name Grant Devine comes to mind. In fact, it got so bad for the Conservatives that in 1981 they took over a profitable province of Saskatchewan from Alan Blakeney, who never once ran a deficit, and in nine short years they ran it to almost a $12 billion debt, a $600 million deficit. It took Roy Romanow and his finance minister everything to fix that province.

I see the Conservatives stand up and talk about the farmers and BSE and they are absolutely correct to do that. They should be congratulated for standing up for the farmers. The reality is that the border is not a provincial matter. It is a federal matter. Any funding coming to help those farmers should not be on the backs of the provinces. It should be on the back of the federal government. That is where that argument should take place.

If the member wants to discuss Grant Devine, we could. We could go on to Brian Mulroney, Sinclair Stevens and the list goes on and on. That is why Mr. Mulroney did not even make the top 50 of the greatest Canadians on CBC.

[Supply, November 4th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, it is obvious why the member was elected in Cape Breton. He is standing up for the people of Cape Breton and he should be congratulated for that.

I remember quite well the former leader of the Saskatchewan Party, Elwin Hermanson, who supported every cut to agriculture and every cut to farmers in this place between 1993 and 1997. Then he went back to Saskatchewan as the leader of the Saskatchewan Party and said, “My god, the farmers are having a hard time”. I remember very well the member for Calgary Southwest. Although I was not here, I did read his comments regarding Atlantic Canada. However, that was then, but this is now.

I will congratulate the Conservatives for bringing this motion forward. There is no question, I have seen Stornoway turn around. I have seen little piglets brought to Parliament Hill. I remember that party's great person, Deborah Grey, who said, “Never will I take a pension” and boom, like that she took a pension.

Hypocrisy works on both sides sometimes, but the Conservatives have a long way to go to actually cleanse themselves of their previous sins. However, I thank them very much for bringing this motion forward.

[Supply, November 4th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague who has taken over the beautiful Musquodoboit Valley on my behalf.

However, the bombastic style of the premier from Newfoundland is nothing new. Sure, it highlighted the debate. Was it helpful? I do not know.

I am not a Liberal, by any means, but I always believe that a cooperative approach by any premier along with the opposition parties in that particular province is the best way to go. Mr. Mackenzie may or may not have made comments regarding whatever deal was on the table, and said grab this and do that.

A few years ago Premier Hamm was here and we had a dinner upstairs. He was talking about his campaign for fairness. The approach that he took with the six members of the New Democratic Party there was very helpful. After careful reflection, the six of us gave the premier our total support because of the fact that he approached us on an even keel. He said that he was looking for our support and presented the concerns of Nova Scotia. We thought that was a very good way to do things. Instead of a top down approach, he treated us in the same manner that we would treat him if there were a concern among all of us regarding Nova Scotia.

I believe that is the approach to be taken especially when it comes to complicated negotiations such as the ones that we are involved in now. However, the member is absolutely right. The Prime Minister must keep the promise that he made before the election.

[Supply, November 4th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, as a resident of Nova Scotia, I am proud to stand up for the residents in this very important debate.

First, I want to thank my Conservative colleagues for bringing forward this motion today. I am rather disappointed we will not vote on it. I do not understand for the life of me why an important issue of this nature is not debated and voted on right away, but somebody somewhere on the government side has decided he or she does not want to vote on this. There must be specific reasons for that, which is a debate for another day.

I want to correct a few things. I have heard my colleagues on all sides say this and I wish from this moment on they would stop using the term have not province. I do not come from a have not province. My colleague from Cape Breton, my colleague from Prince Edward Island and my colleagues from Newfoundland and New Brunswick do not come from have not provinces. We have some of the greatest people in Canada living in our provinces. We have some of the greatest scenery in our provinces. We have some of the greatest resources. Maybe we are not as financially well off as other provinces, but to say someone from Newfoundland and Labrador, P.E.I., New Brunswick or Nova Scotia comes from a have not province indicates to us that we are have not citizens. That is absolute nonsense. That kind of dialogue originated from the south end of a north bound cow and it has to stop.

I encourage my colleagues on the federal level and, most important, on the provincial and municipal level, to stop using that term. I consider it very derogatory and it is not helpful in the debate. If we want a lift up instead of a hand out, then we should talk about that.

My colleague from Medicine Hat is absolutely correct when he says that the government must keep its promises. Government members must keep their promises. If they made them in the heat of the battle of the election, then the Prime Minister and the finance minister should not be too upset when we in opposition say that we want them to keep their promise. That is the basis of this debate. If people say something to the electorate before the election, they darn well will be held to account by opposition members, not only in the other three parties, but by the provinces as well to maintain their promises.

There is another error in judgment which the provinces have made in this debate. I go back to a question I asked my colleague earlier. During the Meech Lake debates, Gary Filman, the premier of Manitoba, was in a minority situation. At that round table, where there was a very serious discussion affecting Canada, he brought along the leader of the NDP, Gary Doer, and the leader of the Liberal Party, Sharon Carstairs. During that whole session, Mr. Filman and the other two leaders talked to each other on a regular basis to decide what would be best for Manitoba.

I encourage my Premier of Nova Scotia to bring along the leader of the Liberal Party of Nova Scotia, as well as the leader of the NDP to show a cooperative common front. I know Darrell Dexter of the NDP in Nova Scotia and Francis MacKenzie of the Liberal Party have indicated support for Premier Hamm's campaign for fairness. Why not bring them along to the debate?

I also encourage the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, who was very bombastic the other day, to do the same. He reminded me of the days of Brian Peckford. Of course the debate between Mr. Baker and Mr. Crosbie was very entertaining indeed. Is it helpful to the debate? I think if Mr. Williams brought along the leader of the NDP and the leader of the Liberal Party, it would show force that were united in our discussions with the federal government.

Now getting to the federal government, the Liberal government has to understand it is not in a majority situation anymore. It does not hurt to have the dialogue with the opposition parties on an issue facing Atlantic Canada, one that is so serious to our future.

Regarding the offshore oil and gas accords, there is no question that all of us in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador would love to keep 100% of those royalties. We know that when we had the opportunity of joining Newfoundland in its confederation of 1949, when Canada joined it, part of the deal was the federal government would have responsibility to share offshore resources, including fisheries and any mineral deposits that may be there. We know how well the federal government has managed the fisheries off the east coast. We certainly do not want it managing our offshore oil and gas in the same manner. In my belief, those provinces have the right to 100% of those royalties. Just as important, we do not need to have the equalization clawback.

It is similar to when the federal government gave the national child tax credit to Nova Scotia, and then the Nova Scotia government clawed it back dollar for dollar. That is not helpful to those people and the clawback of equalization would not be helpful to the provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.

There is no question that we are on the precipice of something very good for Atlantic Canada. We have the opportunity financially to get our house in order, start reducing our deficits and debts, and start reinvesting into the economies of Atlantic Canada. Not just for Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, but I also include P.E.I. and New Brunswick as we consider ourselves one big family. From the shores of Cape Breton to the shores of Labrador we have great potential to go forward, but we need leadership from the federal government. That leadership should be in cooperation with the leadership of the other parties as well.

That cooperative approach along with the cooperative approach from the provinces would probably have mitigated this debate here tonight. These two trains coming at each other on the same track dialogue must stop. I have been involved in union negotiations for many years with the airlines. I always noticed that it never worked if the two sides were yelling, screaming and threatening each other. It is helpful if the sides sit together in a room. I always like to say to lock them up in a room, give them a big pot of coffee, lock the doors, and do not let them out until they reach an agreement.

I am very hopeful that the provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador will come to a consensus with the federal government. But the federal government has to understand that it simply cannot do this on its own. Liberals need the cooperation, the discussions and dialogue with the other opposition parties. The Liberals are no longer a majority any more.

Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador have a great future ahead of them with oil and gas right now but with other aspects down the road. I do not know how many Yukoners actually moved to Nova Scotia to find work, but on the east coast, our greatest resource is our children and many of them leave Atlantic Canada for better jobs throughout the country, either to Alberta, B.C., Ontario or wherever. We would like to bring those kids back and we would like to provide them with the economic opportunities so they will not have to move in the first place, so that they can raise their children where their grandparents lived.

If indeed that happens, it would be a great day for all of us in Atlantic Canada and it would help the rest of the country. It would give up that perception that we in the east are the weaker sister or weaker cousin in this relationship since Confederation. I do not believe we are the weaker relation at all. Our economies may not be as strong as in other areas of the country and there is a myriad of reasons for that.

It is not just the federal government's fault. It is also the fault of the provincial and municipal governments. Collectively, we have not done a great job managing the economy of the east coast, but we have to hope for the future. We have to hope that there are opportunities down the road. We have to hope that we could once and for all get rid of the image, not only in this legislature but in other legislatures, that we are a have not province or a have not region.

We are a have region. With the right development, the right legislation, the right policies, and the right attitude we can go a long way in our future, not only for us but for our children and their children as well.

[Supply, November 4th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I just want to give a short history lesson. During the Meech Lake debate, Mr. Filmon of Manitoba, who was in a minority situation, brought along Gary Doer and Sharon Carstairs because he knew he did not represent fully the entire province of Manitoba.

In this particular debate the province of Nova Scotia, although we fully support Dr. Hamm's efforts in getting the best deal possible for Nova Scotia, which is a question we can answer in the affirmative, I think it would be better if Premier Hamm brought along the leader of the NDP, Darrell Dexter, as well as the leader of the Liberal Party, Mr. Mackenzie, in order to show a more united front when it comes to the position toward the federal government.

Would my colleague from Dartmouth—Cole Harbour agree that the premier, along with the other two leaders of the other two parties, because they are in a minority situation, would gather strength in their debate against the concerns of the federal government?

[Memorial Cross Act, November 4th, 2004]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-266, an act to provide for the issuance of the Memorial Cross as a memento of personal loss.

Mr. Speaker, as all Canadians know, when an armed forces person dies in the line of duty, the mother of that victim receives the Memorial Cross as a symbol of her sacrifice for all of Canada.There is another person who also suffers a great loss and that is the father of the armed forces member. This bill aims to extend the Memorial Cross award so that not only the mother, but the father of the soldier, airman or crew who dies in the line of duty is also recognized by the sacrifice.

As we know, the grief of the mother is not to be diminished in any way, but the grief of the father is as equal. I believe it is now time in the modernization of our country to allow both parents to receive the Memorial Cross as a symbol of their great sacrifice to all of Canada.

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