Gun Control  As a woman I feel particularly vulnerable. As a female constituent of mine stated, why must I lose my freedom and live in fear? No longer should we tolerate these violent and senseless crimes. I urge not only the Minister of Justice but the whole House to unite and move rapidly to adopt stringent gun controls.

Budget Implementation Act, 1994  The reform of social security programs is essential if we are to meet head on the challenges of the 1990s and beyond. We can no longer use an outdated system to solve modern problems. It just is not working. We have too many people without jobs, too many families under stress, too many young people who have given up hope and too many Canadians who have lost their confidence in the future.

Budget Implementation Act, 1994  They were afraid, perhaps of the misunderstandings, of the code words. They were afraid to face the challenge of saying to people that the systems were no longer working and new ways of giving Canada a better social security system should be looked at. We have accepted the challenge. We have said that unemployment insurance as it exists today simply does not reflect contemporary reality.

Auditor General Act  Macdonell, did us all a great service by bringing this to the attention of this House in no uncertain terms. Things are quite different today. The public service is no longer growing and the reduction in the operation budgets of departments is imposing a discipline of its own. Things have changed and it may be that the Auditor General's usefulness to this House is constrained not just by the annual reporting requirement but by other limitations as well.

Public Service  In speaking in the committee the hon. member for Ottawa West said that the amendment represented a renewed commitment to some very positive action to ensure that people in the four designated groups are no longer denied opportunities to be whatever they are capable of being in the public service of this country. To return to the annual report that I have tabled, I should note that the Treasury Board has been publishing employment equity data since 1988.

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Suspension Act  It is with reluctance that I rise but the member has used up his full 10 minutes. If the member is going to be just a little longer we might ask the House if there is unanimous consent that he might conclude his remarks. Would there be unanimous consent to allow the member for Bramalea-Gore-Malton to conclude his remarks?

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Suspension Act  For example, in my riding of Kamouraska-Rivière-du-Loup which would take in the regional municipality of Témiscouata, there would be over 60 municipalities grouped together in four different regional municipalities: Basques, 11 municipalities; Rivière-du-Loup, 16 municipalities; Kamouraska, 18 municipalities; Témiscouata, 20 municipalities. Elected representatives might need longer parliamentary breaks just to travel to the various parts of their ridings. For instance, the population of the riding would increase from 73,747 to more than 88,000 over a really vast area.

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Suspension Act  We just have to reflect back to October 1992 at which time politics in the country took a dramatic turn for the better. The Canadian people said back then that they were no longer going to be led by the political parties. They were going to have a say in what was going on in the country. They sent out that very clear message. That message can be ignored in the House at our peril.

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Suspension Act  This area, which is isolated from all other areas with the exception of Ahuntsic, has a large Italian community, which in the process would also be isolated from its natural centre, the Italian parish of Notre-Dame-de-Pompéi. This community would no longer enjoy integrated federal representation. Between this area and its new riding lies the vast Miron quarry dump. Saint-Sulpice, where I live, is faced with a similar situation. The parish is separated from its community organizations, and so forth.

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Suspension Act  Many of us prepared briefs and speeches for these advertised meetings. Our work is all for naught. The fact is it is no longer an open process but instead, when things are not going their way, the process has been cut off. Another nail in the coffin of openness. In conclusion, I have a couple of proposals that I would like to make to the government.

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Suspension Act  We make laws, we change laws, we amend laws. Sometimes we even strike laws from the books when we think they no longer represent what Canadians want. However we are not above the law. In our positions as members of this great House, the very cradle of our democracy, we are in positions of great power.

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Suspension Act  If we put in six new members of Parliament we are going to spend $6 million more every year. If we continue with the process in the longer term we are going to keep adding members to the House of Commons. We would be knocking out those walls and the Reformers would need binoculars to see the Speaker. Therefore time is of the essence.

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Suspension Act  Yes, I make no bones about it. I think there are real weaknesses in that and I think Beaver River deserves a longer life than it has had. As I mentioned in my remarks the other day, it was a brand new constituency in 1988. Will it just evaporate into thin air? I do have problems with that. We have had negotiations with the government but I have no guarantees.

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Suspension Act  There were a number of comments hurled across the way to the effect that Elections Canada was a partisan body. Its members have strong affiliations to another political party which is no longer recognized in the House. The hon. member for Beaver River has been a member since 1989. She has run in two elections and a byelection. Could she comment at some length on her experiences with Elections Canada as a candidate and as a lone member of Parliament for a good deal of time?

Erik John Spicer  Speaker, I rise on behalf of my party today as well and offer congratulations to Mr. Spicer for a long and remarkable career in this place, certainly longer than many have been able to celebrate. I have known Erik Spicer for five years in my capacity as the member of Parliament for Beaver River. Of course, in my unique position in the last Parliament I must say it was wonderful to have somebody to call on who knew what they were doing in Parliament.