Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, I would request the hon. member to be a little bit more specific because the department has such extensive activities. We are in the business, for example, of appointing arbitrators in the Department of Labour. We consult business and labour to get nominations in these areas.

Cigarette Taxes  Mr. Speaker, if the measures taken by the government do not work, smuggling will continue, but if they work the problem will be solved. To ask a question on the premise that the measures will fail is really not very useful at this point.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for advance notice of his question. Living as he does in Saanich-Gulf Islands, obviously his constituency is very concerned about this issue. We are very concerned about it also. That is why on April 1 of this year we will be implementing legislation to include a federal contribution of $100 million in funding to ensure that we have quick response when spills do occur.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, I did indicate to the hon. member that in implementing the recommendations of the public review panel on tanker safety and marine spills response capacity, one of the issues was double hulling. The federal government has set aside $100 million specifically to try and accelerate the implementation of some of these issues.

Excise Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, we intend to propose amendments to the Excise Tax Act in order to give Quebec and Ontario police the authority they need to enforce the law in their jurisdiction. This was mentioned in the statement given today by the minister.

Cigarette Taxes  Mr. Speaker, we have not heard from tobacco companies. We really do not think this is necessary. Export taxes are a rather short-term measure. We are well aware that if the other measures are successful, the federal government may not get a lot of revenue out of that tax, which is aimed at reducing exports of Canadian cigarettes intended to be smuggled back into the country later.

Crown Corporations  Mr. Speaker, the exemptions are perfectly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. They are principles that have been followed by the government for quite some time and they in no way imply that proper supervision of crown corporations is not taking place.

Indian Affairs  Mr. Speaker, we have clearly explained our policy concerning the possibility of increasing native self-government so that the First Nations can manage their own problems on their own reserves and that is precisely the subject of discussions going on right now between the Minister for Indian Affairs and Northern Development and the Indian chiefs of Canada.

Health  Mr. Speaker, obviously it is the position of the Government of Canada to help stop young people from smoking. Smoking is a killer. It is a killer of young people and it is a killer of all Canadians. Right now there are two million Canadians smoking smuggled cigarettes. To extrapolate the statistics of the Cancer Society, between 600,000 and one million of those Canadians smoking smuggled cigarettes can expect to die from cancer.

Cigarette Smuggling  Mr. Speaker, I think that the figures given by the Solicitor General in this House in recent days prove that a tremendous amount has been seized and that there will be much more now that we have given them everything they need to do so, and we have also helped the personnel of the Department of National Revenue do a better job.

Cigarette Smuggling  Mr. Speaker, there will be a budget in a couple of weeks and all the expenditures of the government will be listed on the balance sheet for the whole nation. This is a problem we are tackling at the moment. I said this morning that it will cost some money. However if we do not act now it will cost a lot more in the medium term.

Trade  Mr. Speaker, I rise to raise concerns with respect to the free trade agreement with the United States. That is the continued use by the United States of its export enhancement program, specifically with respect to agricultural exports impacting on Canadian farmers and Canadian markets.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I would like to relay to the finance minister a few of the concerns regarding the possible content of the upcoming budget which have been expressed to me by many of my constituents. Many people in Nipissing feel it would be unfair for this government to lower the maximum contribution which individuals may place in registered retirement savings plans.

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements And Federal Post-Secondary Education And Health Contributions Act  Mr. Speaker, I have a couple of observations and a question. Maybe I can allude to the question and then go on to the observation. I appreciated the remarks of the previous speaker with respect to this matter and especially Bill C-3. I want him to elaborate a little with respect to his comments on programs outside of the equalization program.

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements And Federal Post-Secondary Education And Health Contributions Act  Mr. Speaker, I appreciated some of the comments made by my hon. colleague. I would, however, like to ask him a question. With respect to national standards, it seems to me that the Bloc is truly unaware of what it going on in the world today. In Europe, for instance, a number of countries have established national standards that go way beyond what had long been in existence as far as different cultures, languages and so forth were concerned.