Speech From The Throne  Mr. Speaker, I rise in my reply to the speech from the throne to first of all congratulate you for being elected as Speaker of this House. Second, I would like to congratulate the right hon. Jean Chrétien as Canada's 21st Prime Minister. My special thanks go to the people of Okanagan Centre who elected me.

Speech From The Throne  Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the hon. member for Halifax West. I too grew up in Halifax West and went to Halifax Municipal High School. I have relatives all through that area. With regard to the infrastructure program, I would like to ask how much do you think the program will add to the economy of your area.

Speech From The Throne  Mr. Speaker, I think I got my question across. I would like to find out how much employment the hon. member thinks this infrastructure program will actually add to long-term employment in Halifax West.

Speech From The Throne  As I was saying, I am pleased that we in this House will help to save another $5 million by doing our part. I am also in favour of reforming the MPs' pension plan. Canadians are watching to see whether we are here to serve ourselves or our country. I believe we are on the right path. What a thrill it is to be here to serve my country, Mr.

Finance  Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance. It comes from Mr. Raymond Watts of Surrey, British Columbia and has to do with the chronic inaccuracy of federal revenue estimates. Allow me to quote Mr. Watts. "History shows that one of the first acts of any new government is to condemn the accounting practices of the previous government.

Finance  Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that I cannot put questions directly from the people in my constituency. However if that is your ruling- On November 25, 1993 the Liberal government of Nova Scotia enacted a law which allows the Auditor General to review and report on the reasonableness of that government's revenue estimates.

Members Of Parliament Retiring Allowances  Mr. Speaker, on Friday the Prime Minister said that members who do not wish to participate in the MP pension plan could opt out. I refer to Hansard , page 151. The right hon. Prime Minister said: The member should not be worried at all if he does not contribute. He mentioned this to my colleague from Kindersley-Lloydminster.

Members Of Parliament Retiring Allowances  Well, Mr. Speaker, if we talk about future tense I will make mention again that he said the member should not be worried at all if he does not contribute. My supplementary question for the Prime Minister is this. Has the Prime Minister informed the comptroller of his decision to allow members to opt out, as he just said, and when will he decide when this decision will be implemented?

Parliamentary Reform  Mr. Speaker, of course there will be more free votes. Tomorrow something will be done in this House that has not been done for a long time. Before the government makes a decision, every member of Parliament will be invited to express his or her views about the Bosnia situation. This will not be done after the fact as it was in the past but before so members will have input.

Parliamentary Reform  Of course, Mr. Speaker. Yes, a big yes. They were all elected by very good majorities in the last election.

Member For Markham-Whitchurch-Stouffville  Mr. Speaker, a supplementary question. I am bringing a different focus to this particular issue. I acknowledge the comments made this morning by the member for Markham-Whitchurch-Stouffville. It is not the member but his actions that are in question and this leads to the broader issue.

Tax Shelters  Speaker, there is no sense in repeating the same question as a supplementary. This question was also posed by the hon. member from the Reform Party. So listen up, sir-

Job Training  Bourbeau from the Government of Quebec before Christmas to discuss this issue. We talked about training issues as well as more general aspects relating to reform. I am also hoping to meet with his successor, Mr. Marcil, next week to discuss this and any other subject Mr. Marcil and Mr. Johnson may want to bring up. I will gladly report to the House the outcome of that meeting, but for the time being, no decision has been made and we are still discussing with the Government of Quebec as well as with all other governments.

Member For Markham-Whitchurch-Stouffville  Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Prime Minister exactly when he was made aware of the comments made by the candidate for Markham-Whitchurch-Stouffville and how the decision was made to withhold that information from the public.

Member For Markham-Whitchurch-Stouffville  Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am trying to bring a different focus to the question and I would ask the right hon. Prime Minister to respond please. I will bring a supplementary on this point at this moment if you wish.