Points Of Order  Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order in reference to a comment the minister of immigration made in quoting from a Canadian wire press release statement that lumped together several things that were just touched on in my address yesterday to his statement. I object to the minister's comment that I said these specific things.

Health  Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance. The results of two studies released by the National Cancer Institute of the United States show that the incidence of colon and rectal cancer is higher among smokers than non-smokers. Also recent statistics show that lung cancer has now passed breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer deaths among women.

Health  It was pointed out to me that the member for Calgary North has expressed quite publicly her support for a reduction in the taxes. I might say to the leader of the Reform Party that some consistency of view from that side of the House would certainly help the Canadian people in understanding where his party is coming from.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I have a supplementary question for the Minister of Finance. In 1987 and 1988 the minister was on the board of directors of Imasco which owns Imperial Tobacco. I would like to ask the minister if he could assure this House that his past association with Imasco-

Health  Yes, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister of Finance if he feels he will be able to fairly consider the reintroduction of an export tax as the best way to discourage both smoking and smuggling.

Health  Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health. I ask this question on behalf of millions of Canadians including Mr. Norman Henderson of Ottawa. Given the horrendous cost to the health of Canadians, to our over-burdened health care system caused by tobacco addiction, and more deaths earlier than the combined total of traffic accidents, drug abuse, murder, suicide and AIDS, will the minister assure the House and the people of Canada that the government will do everything in its power to discourage smoking, particularly among the youth of Canada including the maintenance of high prices.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I applaud the minister's strong representations within cabinet. I would like to ask specifically if the minister has asked the minister of revenue to ensure that tax policies will not be fashioned to protect the tobacco industry or to cave in to law breakers, that is to cave in to people who would break the law, or to extract more taxes from people addicted already to cigarettes.

Immigration  Mr. Speaker, my question is for the minister of immigration. The minister's department is struggling with a backlog of more than 14,000 refugee claims from persons already in Canada. Social services are also struggling with the flow of refugees, something the minister acknowledged when he announced that refugee claimants would be allowed to find work.

Immigration  Mr. Speaker, I have a supplementary question for the minister on a related issue. The Ontario government has already asked for an additional $110 million for immigrant programs. In response, the minister said: "You have to be a realist. There are limited dollars available in the pool".

Immigration  Mr. Speaker, has the minister consulted the other provinces in determining the new immigration level, especially in light of Quebec's decision to accept fewer immigrants?

Immigration  Mr. Speaker, my question is for the minister of immigration. The Government of Quebec has agreed to accept 40,000 immigrants this year, or about one-sixth of the total the minister has announced he will admit to Canada. Quebec has one-quarter of Canada's population. If we extrapolate the number of immigrants Quebec believes it can absorb, the national figure would be 160,000 immigrants.

Immigration  In fact, if I were to say something, there probably would not be enough studies in the current time to correlate those two forces a little more precisely. I know the Reform Party has often used and basically exclusively used the C. D. Howe report done by Daniel Stoffman as a compass for suggesting that it should be reduced to 150,000. Even in the C. D. Howe Institute report Mr.

Immigration  Mr. Speaker, I have a supplementary question for the minister. If the minister were to be presented with studies that maintaining immigration levels at the 250,000 level under current circumstances does not produce a net economic benefit to Canada, would the minister consider lowering the level?

Immigration  Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. None of us in the House question the value and importance of immigration, but legitimate questions exist concerning the appropriate levels of immigration. As the minister knows, 2.3 million Canadians are either unemployed or underemployed, the welfare rolls are bulging and governments cannot finance the current level of social services.

Immigration  Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for his answer. In light of his answer can the minister prove, by laying before the House a detailed cost benefit analysis or other evidence, that maintaining immigration at the level of 250,000 immigrants per year is a net economic benefit to Canada?