Justice  Good laws are going to take a little while but I can assure the House that this will not take any longer than absolutely necessary.

National Defence  Fortunately, most media outfits declined the Department of National Defence's offer. When will the government realize that this country's means no longer match its ambitions and that the Department of National Defence must stop such frivolous spending?

Old Age Security Act  Upon introducing flexible retirement it was determined that it was only necessary to pay 12 months of retroactive retirement benefits to persons who delayed their benefit until after they were 70 years of age. It was felt that persons retiring at some point between 65 and 70 no longer needed this option because their benefit entitlement would be increased to reflect the fact that they had not taken their retirement benefit five years before, at age 65. Experience has shown that there are those individuals over 65 years of age who would rather have up to 12 months of retroactive retirement pension than the actuarial increase in their monthly pensions.

Old Age Security Act  Old age security and Canada pension plan clients will also be well served by an amendment to the administrative error and erroneous advice provisions. It would no longer be necessary for the client to complain in writing before the minister could take corrective action in cases where the department has made an error. Without this amendment the department cannot legally take corrective action when it finds that a client has lost benefit entitlement because of an error made by an employee.

Old Age Security Act  The reality is that the government has been the first one in a long time that has had the courage to face up to some very difficult challenges and choices we have to make as a nation. Thirteen per cent of the people in Canada are unemployed for a year or longer. Long term unemployment has increased three times since 1976. When 40 per cent of these people are faced with structural unemployment and 30 per cent of Canadians have problems with literacy and numeracy skills, one has to admit we have to move toward building a better and more efficient social security system that; first, helps Canadians get jobs and keep jobs; second, would help the most vulnerable and; third, is sustainable.

Environment  We must use the act intelligently so that a national prevention policy takes place that ensures our industries use clean technologies and closed loop technologies in manufacturing processes to prevent toxic substances from reaching the atmosphere and the ecosystems. Above all, we must have an integrated approach and muster all resources in the system. We must realize that we cannot do anything about the environment without talking about health, we cannot do anything about the economy without talking about the environment and we can do nothing at all without talking about education, since education forms the very basis of any action in our society.

Environment  By the year 2000 the International Monetary Fund has forecasted that the environmental technology market is anticipated to reach $600 billion. I believe that this government should support Canadian entrepreneurs and their endeavours to seize opportunities in this industry. Canada has developed a global reputation as an environmental leader and we must continue to build on this role.

Regional Economic Development  I ask him for a little more transparency from someone claiming that the federal government and the provinces are about to reach an agreement when Quebec's Minister of Industry, I remind you, finds it unacceptable that Ottawa should impose its will in matters of interprovincial trade. Is he willing to make the proposed agreement public to ensure transparency and enlighten the debate, so that Quebecers and Canadians can judge what is in the agreement?

Department Of Agriculture Act  The fact that the Department of Agriculture will become the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food confirms the greater responsibility of that department. It will no longer simply help producers, because the future of the agricultural sector is dependent on the processing, marketing and distribution of products. The minister made it clear in this House last month.

Department Of Agriculture Act  These are not people who started farming overnight; they have had long term credit ratings with their banks, possibly 15 or 20 years. I talked to some of the managers. One of them commented that the banks no longer want to make evergreen loans. I had never heard that expression before so I asked him to explain. He told me that an evergreen loan is one the banks consider never gets repaid. I suppose the analogy is that evergreen trees never shed their needles; similarly the banks do not want to make loans they think will not be repaid.

Department Of Agriculture Act  Such devolution might entail a Canadian governance system of the year 2020 in which a small percentage of the agri-food civil service will be federal. It would be organized into small units concerned with longer term national policy in the areas of trade arrangements, financial support, and safety and health standards. Again, although there is an attempt in this proposal to more clearly delineate jurisdictional responsibilities in the agri-food sector, this does not mean an absolutely watertight allocation of tasks among players.

Department Of Agriculture Act  Granted, Ottawa had nothing to do with this but these services were closed and people must now go to Thetford. If you need to have an autopsy carried out on a dead animal, you can no longer go to Sherbrooke. You have to go instead to Saint-Georges de Beauce. These are small irritants people have to live with in rural areas. People are telling us it is not fun any more to live in the country, and that they want to move to the city to earn a living.

Taxation  Speaker, how can the Prime Minister tell us that he is counting on economic growth to make up the deficit, when his Minister of Finance said exactly the opposite yesterday, and I quote him from memory: "We can no longer count on economic growth alone to make up the deficit. Other measures will have to be taken"? How does he reconcile these two statements?

Bankruptcy Act  I want to bring to his attention that the Minister for International Trade criss-crossed the planet probably four times, reaching out and trying to promote the interests of Canadian business and Canadian companies in order to promote trade internationally. This minister as well as this government are not afraid to stand up and protect the interests of the industry.

Bankruptcy Act  Disagreement is obvious from agricultural disputes concerning durum wheat, poultry and eggs for example, disputes which undermine trade relations between our two countries. A fragile and incomplete settlement has just been reached in the Canada-U.S. trade dispute on beer. So, the fact remains that Canada is among countries that the United States complains about profusely. Therefore, nothing stops them from applying or threatening to apply their Super 301 to some specific sectors of our economy.