Air-India  The Gander, Newfoundland air crash, the Hinton train wreck, the Dryden aeroplane disaster and the Westray mine explosion have one thing in common: inquiries were conducted into all four tragedies. The Air-India explosion more than 11 years ago was the worst civil aviation disaster in Canada's history.

Hazardous Materials  In addition, this year the department also distributed in the form of a video to all fire departments in Canada the results of research work on explosions associated with liquefied gases. The video makes reference to the tragic accident in Quebec where several firefighters lost their lives as a result of a boiling liquid expansion vapour explosion involving liquefied gas.

Atlantic Groundfish Strategy  Does the minister, who is trying to cover his inaction with a flood of fine words, realize the explosiveness of the social situation in the maritimes and eastern Quebec, because the people—

Explosives Act  Speaker, I compliment the parliamentary secretary for his excellent address. I have a question relating to the role of transport and the detection of explosive devices and whether this bill will be of any assistance to the department in trying to regulate that. We are hearing a number of speeches this morning talking about a number of things that are not relevant to what we are trying to achieve here, which is merely to detect plastic explosives normally in a situation in which they are being transported on an aeroplane.

Information Commissioner  After 15 years of experience with the 1983 law, it is generally recognized that the law needs review and improvement. The act was drafted before the explosion of computers, including the appearance of computers even here in the Chamber, and electronic mail which is routinely in use in parliament, and the universal use of the delete button that accompanies every computer.

Accueil Bonneau  Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister. We were saddened to hear of the explosion at Accueil Bonneau yesterday over the noon hour, which left three persons dead and a number of its volunteers and homeless clients injured. The suffering of the victims was at least lessened by the admirable speed with which staff and passers-by intervened, as well as the rapid response by emergency services.

Accueil Bonneau  I also ask both levels of government to support Montrealers in getting Accueil Bonneau back in operation as soon as possible. Saint John, New Brunswick was also the victim of a terrible tragedy yesterday when an explosion occurred at the Irving oil refinery. My colleagues and I take this opportunity to offer our support to the victims and their families.

Committees Of The House  The new Canadian biotechnology strategy involves three departments: Industry, Health and Agriculture and Agri-Food. With the explosion of genetically modified products, this strategy will have to be an ever-changing one which members of parliament will have to respond to. The committee is also requesting a comprehensive answer to the report from the government pursuant to Standing Order 109.

Income Tax Act  Second, supplies must be unusable after they have been used in the work for which they were purchased. For example, explosives supplied by a miner or gasoline supplied by a chainsaw operator are currently deductible. Let us consider the various advantages of such an amendment to the act for the 150,000 mechanics and apprentices who are subject to the present tax system.

Empress Of Ireland  May their souls rest in peace. Reports now suggest that salvage operators are contemplating using explosives to recover valuable nickel ingots from the site. What is the government intending to do to prevent the desecration of this site?

Bosnia  There was a belief that the Yugoslavian model was a model of a revolving confederation, one that managed a potentially explosive balance of various national communities. Time has shown us that the Yugoslav model was very fragile indeed. I would point out that the Bloc Quebecois, since its arrival in the House in October 1993, has always enthusiastically supported all peacekeeping operations—in Haiti, Somalia, Rwanda and the Central African Republic.

Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1998  For the past few generations, the capacity of the human race to modify the world ecosystem has undergone a spectacular increase, as the result of the population explosion and our dizzying rate of technological progress. World economic activity, for example, is more than 20 times what it was in 1900. Consequently, many human activities are on the verge of surpassing our planet's potential to replenish its resources.

Court Challenges Program  While more and more miners are being placed on indefinite layoff, the latest Devco revelation comes in a letter I received this week from the tripartite task force on fires and explosions in coal mines that expresses grave concerns over the shutdown of the coal research lab in Sydney earlier this year. The lab, which was urged to expand its activities in the report on the Westray disaster and whose necessity has been reinforced by the recent coal mine disasters across the former Soviet Union, was closed down despite objections from the industry and from the task force, which itself is a government funded body.

Division No. 64  I also remember a statistic of some years back that if you took all the information in the world today and assembled it, 20 years from today it would amount to 3% of the total. The opportunities in this information age and information explosion are as significant as the social pressures it produces. The information age is transforming our world. Truly, it is a global phenomenon. The ability to move information around the globe at the speed of light is improving daily.

Westray  Mr. Speaker, in the early morning hours of May 9, 1992 a violent explosion ripped through the Westray mine in Plymouth, Pictou County, Nova Scotia, killing 26 men underground. Yesterday Mr. Justice Peter Richard released his public inquiry report into the Westray disaster.