Income Tax Act  Madam Speaker, I understood the Secretary of State to say that he allowed the debate to resume. So, quite simply, that means the government no longer objects.

Co-Operative Housing  As hon. members already know, the Minister of Justice is aware of the problem and is looking at ways to address it. In addition to specific changes, the government is also looking at longer term crime prevention strategies. It is the view of the government that reacting to crime with harsher punishments will not serve to eliminate crime. We must try to address the root causes and to respond to crime as a social problem rather than on a case by case basis.

Budget Implementation Act, 1994  Now those governments are passing that responsibility to municipal authorities, who pass it on to taxpayers who can no longer afford to pay their taxes. I know that taxes do not create any hardship for the hon. member for Kingston and the Islands because his way of living in Kingston has nothing to do with the conditions in which the unemployed workers live in Quebec.

Budget Implementation Act, 1994  There is no hope in this country for the young, for seasonal workers, for people who can usually earn a living by working five or six months a year. There is no hope left for those people. They no longer say that they are looking for a job. The worst part is that the young are the most severely affected by this unfortunate reform by the Minister of Finance and the Liberal government. Those young people have no hope.

Budget Implementation Act, 1994  These people who were already living under the poverty level were then forced to give up their home because, under these conditions, they were no longer able to pay their mortgage. These human tragedies have increased and have become even more dramatic since April 1993, when Bill C-113 passed by the Conservative government was implemented.

Budget Implementation Act, 1994  Nothing, absolutely nothing except to take it out on the jobless, in two different ways: having them contribute longer by increasing the number of weeks required to be eligible, and reducing the number of weeks of benefits. That is how the government reacts to the requests of citizens, of Canadian and Quebec workers.

Budget Implementation Act, 1994  The Minister of Human Resources Development himself said some time ago that they wanted to force recipients to work for longer periods to continue to qualify for the same number of weeks of benefits. I will repeat only the first part of what he said, which is revealing, namely that they want to force recipients to work.

Budget Implementation Act, 1994  There are no real measures to provide social housing assistance to low income families forced to spend more and more on housing. As Bernard Derome said, if the trend continues, low income families will no longer be able to afford proper housing. What the government needs to do is reintroduce a real social housing policy.

Budget Implementation Act, 1994  The government has decided that from now on, they will receive less and receive it for shorter periods, although they will have to work longer to be eligible. If this is not hitting the unemployed instead of unemployment I would like to know what is. If we consider the amendments to the Unemployment Insurance Act and if we recall the government's stated intention to modernize and revitalize social programs, is it any wonder we are extremely concerned about the government's underlying motives for making such sweeping changes in the administration of social programs and the whole concept of government intervention in this area, especially when we consider the following.

Budget Implementation Act, 1994  Other provinces and the federal government must take similar action. Rosy revenue projections are simply no longer acceptable. The federal government needs to take action on this issue and we need action today. I will just sum up. We in the Reform Party have been constantly speaking about taking action.

Budget Implementation Act, 1994  It is the hon. member's maiden speech. I wonder if there might be unanimous consent to let him have a little longer to finish it. Is it agreed?

Budget Implementation Act, 1994  The Minister of Human Resources Development admitted to pursuing the following objective: to force recipients to work longer to be eligible for the same number of weeks of benefits. As if the unemployed chose not to work! But that is not where the problem lies. So, it is not by tightening eligibility requirements and reducing the number of weeks of benefits that the unemployment problem will be resolved.

Citizenship Act  Will the delays be shortened as a result of this closure, Mr. Speaker? Clearly, we can no longer accept delays of two years between the filing of the application and the actual administering of the oath of citizenship. Moreover, this anachronistic oath requiring a person to be faithful and to bear allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England and to her heirs and successors should also be carefully reviewed.

Budget Cuts  Speaker, the Prime Minister has just disowned his budget. He has just said that his budget is no longer worth anything. Now that he has admitted the need to make additional spending cuts, now that it is clear that he cannot do the job on his own, is the Prime Minister prepared to involve Parliament in this process by creating a parliamentary committee to review the government's finances, as we have been asking him from the beginning?

Halifax West High School  Apparently in some parts of the maritimes the youth of today and the voters of tomorrow are no longer happy with the old style of politics. The old solutions do not work any more and the young people of this country are more aware of that fact than anyone.