Preston Manning

[Homage To Robert Bourassa, October 2nd, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to join with other colleagues in paying tribute to Robert Bourassa on the sad occasion of his death.

Allow me first of all to express sympathies to his family and to the people of Quebec on this loss of a husband, father and a political leader. These sympathies are expressed on behalf of the Reform members of Parliament and their constituents, many of

whom live in constituencies and areas a long way from Quebec and yet who feel the loss that Quebecers feel today.

My wife Sandra and I wish to extend our heartfelt sympathy to his wife, Andrée, and their two children, François and Michelle.

In paying tribute to his memory we could focus on a number of things as other speakers have done: his academic contributions, his political work, the acts of his government and his commitment to keeping Quebec within Canada.

The attribute that I would like to select for tribute is a more human one. We in this Chamber, who spend all our time on politics, do not spend enough time paying tribute to human characteristics, and that is his courage in adversity, particularly in his latter years. In his latter years he carried out all his political and governmental work while suffering from a painful illness. The willingness and ability of a public servant to attend to the affairs of others while enduring personal pain and suffering is a rare attribute. It is one which should be recognized and praised particularly on this occasion.

We salute today the many contributions of the late Robert Bourassa, but particularly his courage in adversity.

[The Somalia Inquiry, October 2nd, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I know political letters when I see them and this is not a political letter.

I will hold Captain Ransier's decorations in trust and I will return them to him on the day when he can wear them with pride and honour. I will hold them in trust until there is a new defence minister and a new chief of defence staff. How long will Captain Ransier have to wait?

[The Somalia Inquiry, October 2nd, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I will give the Prime Minister the letter.

As a young soldier Captain Ransier protected the current Prime Minister during the FLQ crisis. He apparently stood outside the current Prime Minister's door when he came back from Pierre Laporte's funeral. He accompanied Mrs. Chrétien to the grocery store during those unsettled times. Now he is looking to the Prime Minister for protection of the morale and reputation of the Canadian Armed Forces.

What is the Prime Minister's response to soldiers who are looking to him to protect the morale and reputation of the Canadian Armed Forces from mismanagement by the Minister of National Defence and the chief of defence staff?

[The Somalia Inquiry, October 2nd, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, this morning I received a very moving letter from a retired armed forces captain, Stephen Ransier in Guelph. What made it moving was that along with it he included his Canadian service decoration for years and years of military service in the Canadian Armed Forces.

This is what he said: "I have concluded that I can no longer wear my Canadian forces decoration-with pride or honour". He lists the reasons why: lack of moral leadership; a minister of defence who appears to have no concept of or interest in the military; and a chief of the defence staff who abrogates his responsibilities.

What does the Prime Minister have to say to Captain Ransier and others like him who are so disappointed in the leadership at the top that they return their Canadian forces decorations?

[Churchill Falls, September 25th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, we are not suggesting anything of the kind. We are talking about one particular project.

The minister administers the National Energy Board Act. Surely she has read the words fair and reasonable, fair and reasonable, fair and reasonable, time and time again.

Quebec Hydro has made profits of over $500 million annually from Churchill Falls in recent years, while Newfoundland gets only a fraction of that amount.

If Newfoundland received a fair portion of those profits its dependence on federal-provincial transfers and equalization would be significantly reduced to the benefit of all Canadians.

Why will the federal government not simply ask the National Energy Board to ascertain-we are not asking it to give an order-what would be a fair and reasonable division of returns between the provinces involved under present economic conditions?

[Churchill Falls, September 25th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, the government is always talking about fairness. It professes that no one in the country and no party in the House can match the Liberals in their commitment to fairness.

Yet when we have the poorest province in Canada being exploited by one of the largest, the Prime Minister will not even admit there is a problem, let alone seek a solution.

Then the Minister of Natural Resources has the gall to say in this House that the question of fairness is not a matter for the federal government.

Why should the people of Canada believe that the Liberal government is committed to fairness when it consistently ignores the injustice of the Churchill Falls project?

[Canadian Armed Forces, September 25th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, he digs himself in deeper and deeper.

Brigadier General Cox said: "We may still have a couple of warts out there that are still hiding and I have to go out there and uncover them". The two biggest blemishes on the reputation of the Canadian Armed Forces are the defence minister and General Boyle.

These generals cannot do it alone. The plumbers and carpenters cannot be expected to rebuild the entire house. At some point, the chief architect of this whole mess has to be held accountable.

Will the Prime Minister hold General Boyle and the defence minister accountable for damaging the morale and reputation of the Canadian Armed Forces or will he pass the buck to General Cox and General Baril?

[Canadian Armed Forces, September 25th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, fortunately for the rank and file people in the Canadian Armed Forces, Generals Cox and Baril are not going to put politics before the morale.

According to General Cox our soldiers are worried about a lingering cloud that follows them around because of the actions of a few. They want the cloud to pass. The only person who can make that cloud go away, especially the cloud at the top, is the Prime Minister.

Will the Prime Minister get rid of the cloud that is hanging over our soldiers by appointing a new chief of the defence staff and a new Minister of National Defence.

[Canadian Armed Forces, September 25th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, Brigadier-General James Cox, the army's new command inspector, is doing something that the Liberal government refuses to do. He acknowledges that there is a morale crisis in the armed forces and it has everything to do with leadership.

General Cox says he has a team of soldiers ready to stare people in the face, ask all the hard questions and expect honest answers.

Let me ask the Prime Minister one of those hard questions. Does he now acknowledge the morale crisis in the Canadian Armed Forces and that it has everything to do, not with reorganization or downsizing, but with the leadership vacuum at the top of that department?

[Churchill Falls Hydro Project, September 24th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I asked the question because there is a way the federal government could rectify this deal if it is truly unfair outside of the contract.

The federal government can do two things. First, it could refer this issue to the National Energy Board and ask it to determine a fair and reasonable allocation of the profits to Newfoundland. Second, it could adjust the equalization formula to reduce the amount that goes to Quebec by the amount that should go to Newfoundland. Has the federal government considered that solution to this problem?