House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 64% of the vote.
Referendum On Quebec Sovereignty December 7th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I asked a question on options and I take the minister's answer to be "yes".
The minister will know that the matters raised in the Quebec sovereignty bill are of deep concern to all Canadians and through this Parliament are under the jurisdiction of all Canadians. Will the minister confirm for the House that the government's referendum options include the option of a national referendum?
Referendum On Quebec Sovereignty December 7th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, last night, on the TV program Le Point , the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs said that if the referendum question in Quebec is not an honest question on Quebec separation, the federal government would consider holding its own referendum and asking its own question. He said: ``I imagine that we would then have to ask that question ourselves''.
Can the minister confirm to the House that a referendum is indeed an option for the federal government?
Province Of Quebec December 6th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I welcome two pieces of information from the Deputy Prime Minister. One is that she and her government will have a co-operative attitude with all federalist parties. The second is that she views the bill tabled today by the premier of Quebec as not legitimate.
Is it therefore the intention of the Government of Canada to make it clear to the government of Quebec and to Mr. Parizeau that this Parliament has the sole legal right and the sole jurisdiction in areas such as boundaries, native affairs, citizenship, currency, international treaties and federal pension programs? Is that the intention and does she intend to express that view clearly to Mr. Parizeau?
Province Of Quebec December 6th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, in replying to the leader of the Reform Party the Deputy Prime Minister said, and I paraphrase it, that we intend to ask a certain question and that is the question of the unity of Canada versus the separation of Quebec.
Shall we take from that response that it is the intention of the federal government to put its own question to the people of Quebec and to the people of Canada on the clear question of separation?
Finance November 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, the member for Capilano-Howe Sound gave the government good marks for realizing that all its fiscal assumptions during the campaign were wrong.
My supplementary question is for the same minister. The reason for the lack of confidence in the financial market is clearly the government's fiscal policy.
Does the minister admit that the goal of reducing the deficit to 3 per cent of GNP is completely inadequate in a period of economic growth?
Finance November 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, it is interesting. We have the finance committee travelling round the country. Virtually every group and organization has presented proposals for the federal budget. And after a year we still have no fiscal policy from the Government of Canada.
Since the Minister of Finance appeared before the committee a month ago and admitted that his budget projections were all wrong, the Canadian dollar has lost over a cent in international markets and interest rates have risen steadily as a consequence.
I have a supplementary question. Does the government have any proposal for dealing with the deteriorating financial situation other than raising interest rates?
Finance November 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, today Reform members of the finance committee tabled a proposal for government spending and government spending cuts that totalled $9.4 billion, with the principles attached, all in areas of non-social program spending.
My question is for the Minister of State for Finance. When will the government be releasing for public discussion its own principles and proposals for dealing with federal public spending?
Supply November 22nd, 1994
Point of order, Madam Speaker. The smart-ass question which we just got-
Supply November 22nd, 1994
Sorry, if it was more generous, he would resign.
He actually suggested it would be more expensive if the public put us on RRSPs in a 1:1 matching arrangement. We know the current plan is a 6:1 matching arrangement. With all her rhetorical eloquence, is the hon. member seriously suggesting that she can make the number six less than a one?
Supply November 22nd, 1994
Madam Speaker, I remind the hon. member that I knew of a party once that used to brag about its high standings in the polls. We all know where it is today. That may be interesting information but in and of itself will not get anybody re-elected.
The hon. member spent a considerable part of her speech defending what she perceived to be a personal attack on the member for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell. As I heard the speech from the member for Kootenay West-Revelstoke he was really quarrelling with some very specific things that the member for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell had said.
The most ridiculous thing he said was that it could be demonstrated that a private kind of RRSP purchase would be less generous to him than the current MP pension-