Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise and take part in this debate on behalf of the Progressive Conservative Party. I must say I have listened intently to all speakers on this bill. It has been a useful exercise to hear the various perspectives. I think we would find almost to a person that the legislation will receive a great deal of support.

Supply  Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to rise and take part in this debate on behalf of the Progressive Conservative Party. I will begin by commending the Bloc for the impetus to bring this debate before the House. It is certainly very useful and instructional in terms of the commentary that we will be hearing throughout the day.

Competition Act  Mr. Speaker, it would be a very rare day that I would agree with anyone on the government side. However, today, on behalf of my party, I plan to definitely do that. First I want to speak about my colleague, the hon. member for Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, whose riding is in the beautiful province of Saskatchewan.

Foreign Publishers Advertising Services Act  We are suspicious that the government will negotiate our culture away behind closed doors, much as the Mulroney Conservatives did in the free trade agreement. We want stronger cultural protection under NAFTA, under the FTA, under the WTO and under every trade agreement that Canada is party to. These are not my thoughts alone.

Equalization  The money would return to Ontario, B.C. or whatever in the form of purchasing goods or commodities coming out of those so-called have provinces. The long term effect of the free trade agreements would be that this no longer would be the case. Money coming from Ontario to Manitoba would not be turned around and spent in Ontario again. There would not be this effect that there used to be.

Supply  If I may, I would like to refer to the committee's minority report as it was written in the larger report. I take the Reform Party at its word when it says that it is a free trade party and supports Canada's participation in the construction of a multilateral agreement on investment. It continues: The Reform Party is a free trade party that supports liberalized trade and investment.

Parliament Of Canada Act  Yes, they were challenging members of the House of Commons to fight. That was reminiscent of a new way of doing things, of saying one thing and doing another. In simple terms, there has been a reality check that has taken place. I hope Canadians are paying attention because I think we sometimes fool ourselves.

Parliament Of Canada Act  Madam Speaker, like other members of parliament, I am not anxious to jump into this, but there is an element to all of this debate that we have to keep in mind and put into a certain context. It is very easy to say that we want to ensure fairness, that this bill is aimed at changing some anomalies that exist and that there are some technical adjustments that need to be made to ensure fairness.

Sales Tax And Excise Tax Amendments Act, 1999  He used to be on Brian Mulroney's staff who brought in the GST, who helped bring in the free trade agreement and who helped bring in all kinds of regressive policies. I will be very excited if Tom Long wins the leadership of the Canadian Alliance. Then finally those guys will be out of the weeds.

Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would say that the responses we are hearing are Clintonesque, Nixon-like. That may or may not be parliamentary. It is cynical repositioning when a government says one thing to get elected and then completely turns its back on what it has said. We saw it with the GST.

Customs Tariff  Mr. Speaker, it is interesting to hear my esteemed colleague from St. John's West, from the island of Newfoundland, talking about the free trade deal and the hundreds of thousands of jobs it has created. I wonder how many people in Newfoundland are listening to his comments today.

Proportional Representation  Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the hon. member for Regina—Qu'Appelle for an excellent and informative speech and for taking the initiative to bring this matter to the House of Commons. I also extend my thanks to members present who permitted me to speak in this order. The motion as set out calls upon the government and all members of parliament to embark on what would be a very historic and important journey.

Proceeds Of Crime (Money Laundering) Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member opposite for his question and his intervention. I certainly acknowledge his similar interest in matters of justice and policing around the country. As a former police officer I am sure he appreciates the incredible pressures that frontline police officers and those who specialize in areas such as organized crime are faced with on a daily basis.

Canada Post Corporation Act  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand on behalf of my colleague from Winnipeg Centre who presented this very important private member's bill, Bill C-238, which would repeal section 13(5) of the Canada Post Act which restricts contractors from being treated as employees. The reason the hon. member for Winnipeg Centre presented this bill was not only to represent the 5,000 people who do a superb job in delivering Canada Post's mail from coast to coast to coast in the very rural and very far-reaching areas of this country, it was also to correct a historical wrong.

An Act To Give Effect To The Requirement For Clarity As Set Out In The Opinion Of The Supreme Court Of Canada In The Quebec Secession Reference  Mr. Speaker, I will say right off the bat that we are not supporting the Bloc position on this. We are clearly opposing this for very different reasons, reasons that pertain to national unity as opposed to setting up a plan for dismantling the country as this bill will do. The hon. member has very articulately and clearly set out a less than proud record that the Liberal government has amassed.