Preston Manning

[Province Of Quebec, May 31st, 1994]

Yesterday in Montreal the Prime Minister acknowledged that uncertainty concerning Canada's future is having adverse effects on the economy. In addition to growing uncertainty about the government's ability to manage the deficit and the debt, there is this increasing uncertainty caused by the debate over Quebec sovereignty.

Rather than just acknowledging or complaining about this uncertainty, does the government have any vigorous new initiatives to propose to reduce these uncertainties concerning Canada's future?

[Province Of Quebec, May 31st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.

[Federalism, May 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, each non-response from the government to this question just creates more uncertainty about the leadership for the advancement and promotion of federalism and where it is going to come from. Each non-response causes the national unity vacuum to grow.

Does the government intend to provide the House with an opportunity to freely debate the federal response to Quebec's separatism before we recess for the summer?

[Federalism, May 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I have a supplementary question.

Some of the premiers and many other Canadians want to be assured that the federal government is preparing a principal federalist response to the various problems and issues that Quebec's separation could create for Canada and the other provinces. These are problems and issues which the Prime Minister considers hypothetical and which he said yesterday the federal government does not want to think about for fear of being accused of accepting the inevitability of separatism.

Who should be preparing the federalist response to these problems and issues if the federal government is not prepared to accept the responsibility?

[Federalism, May 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.

As the Prime Minister knows the securing of Canadian federalism and the future of federalism in Canada is not solely a federal responsibility. The provinces have an integral role to play in the operation and preservation of the federal system, but last week a number of the western premiers expressed several concerns about how the national unity issue was being handled or not handled.

Does the federal government intend to actively consult the provinces and involve them in a joint effort to strengthen and promote national unity over the next few months?

[Federalism, May 24th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, that is not exactly the kind of visionary statement I had in mind. It seems to me that behind the government's reply is also a fear that it is conceding legitimacy to the separatist cause by even acknowledging some of the problems which Quebec separatism creates. Yet by saying nothing on such problems the government is leaving the national stage open to one-sided separatist arguments and ad hoc federalist responses which confuse rather than clarify the issues.

My question is simple: Will the Prime Minister agree today to publish a list of the key issues which Quebec separatism raises from a federalist perspective and simply assure Canadians that his government is developing a principled response to those issues?

[Federalism, May 24th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Prime Minister for his reply. We have had the discussion before that federalism and the Constitution are not synonymous.

The vigorous promotion of a federalist vision of the future need not focus on constitutional arrangements. It could focus on

an economic vision or a social vision or a vision of Canada's international role. My point is that something visionary and futuristic has to be put forward to fill that vacuum.

Will the Prime Minister acknowledge that what he needs to do soon, what he needs to do now, is provide the country with a fresh, clear vision of what a 21st century federal state should be in order to deepen the commitment of all Canadians including Quebecers to Canadian federalism?

[Federalism, May 24th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.

The unwillingness of the federal government to so far vigorously promote its vision of federalism or to respond to various problems created by Quebec separatism is creating a national unity vacuum. That vacuum is now being partially filled by statements from provincial premiers, ad hoc pronouncements by ministers of the government, separatist rhetoric and media speculation.

Does the Prime Minister believe the time has now come for the federal government to fill the national unity vacuum with something more positive and concrete on the federalist side? And, if so, with what does he propose to fill that vacuum?

[Violent Crime, May 11th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, my supplementary question is for the minister.

Yesterday in question period the minister made reference to a meeting he held with Margo B., the Quebec mother raped while doing secretarial work in a church by an inmate of the Cowansville penitentiary on day parole.

The minister will recall that Margo B. asked the Quebec court to compel the accused to take a blood test to determine whether he was HIV positive but the court denied her request saying that such an intervention would compromise the rights of the accused to privacy and security of the person under the charter.

Would the minister assure us that the criminal justice reforms he proposes will establish the principle that where the rights of a perpetrator of crime and the rights of a victim of crime conflict it is the rights of the victim that will prevail in Canadian law.

[Violent Crime, May 11th, 1994]

But, Mr. Speaker, I did not really hear any references to the underlying causes of crime to which the minister refers and I did not hear specifically any reference to the failure of individuals to accept responsibility for their actions as one of the roots of crime.

Many Canadians no longer have confidence in the Liberal philosophy of the past, the philosophy behind the original Young Offenders Act that individuals are not primarily responsible for their own actions and that crime is primarily the fault of society.

Will the minister state unequivocally today that whatever the details of the criminal justice reforms he brings forward they will fully recognize the principle of personal accountability for criminal acts?