Ethics  Speaker, the ministers are urged to consult the ethics counsellor, who was appointed only a few months ago. The guidelines we gave them were clear: No communications whatsoever with the judiciary. This prohibition has been in place for at least 15 years. As for quasi-judicial bodies, they may be contacted in some circumstances but only through the appropriate authorities.

Greenhouse Gases  Instead of reducing Canadian emissions of greenhouse gases at the source, Canada is offering financial aid to reduce emissions in various developing countries. Such a strategy sends a clear message to the industrialized countries that they do not have to act themselves to reduce their own emissions of polluting gases. This new strategy is nothing more or less than an admission of failure by this government, which refuses to put on the table and analyse all concrete measures to reduce the greenhouse effect in Canada, as it promised to do in 1992.

Canadian Environmental Assessment Act  To those who are still questioning the act, I will quote the Leader of the Opposition, when he was talking about the old offer: "Current guidelines are not clear regarding federal-provincial co-operation on joint assessments". We are aware of the need for clarification and we are working on it. The result can be seen today. That is why we have this bill today.

Immigration Act  I know that the disease itself, even in testing positive for HIV, does not mean that you have the disease. As a consequence, today as we talk, there is no clear way to effect the admissibility of immigrants coming into this population; there is no real way to measure whether they have the disease. I note that currently the practice is that where there is a suspicion of the disease, the authorities do require testing, and they do deny admissibility.

Immigration Act  We were given probably one of the most thorough medical examinations we have every gone through with the clear understanding that if there was anything wrong, any medical reason from tuberculosis on down or any kind of heart disease problem, whatever it may be, it would be cause for grounds not to be able to enter this country.

Immigration Act  Would this money not be better spent on AIDS testing for immigrants? The goal of any public health campaign is clear: prevention of disease. One way to prevent the spread of disease in Canada is to eliminate new sources of the disease. We have a dilemma on our hands. On the one hand the Liberal government has a policy in the department of health to prevent the transmission of AIDS and it spends big dollars doing it.

Recall Act  If we can trust the electors to show some wisdom and some judgment in electing people in the first place, surely it is not unreasonable to say that they will exercise similar wisdom and judgment in how often and to what purpose they use recall. If we cannot trust them to use recall then it is not clear why we trusted them to do the electing in the first place. The recall process outlined in Bill C-210 essentially involves three stages: an application for recall, a recall petition and finally a byelection.

Recall Act  The second element on which I believe it appropriate to move very quickly is to make sure that when people are elected, they come here with a clear, well-defined mandate and that they respect it. In politics, people are always right in the end. We live in a society in which-the Conservative Party of Canada can attest to that-if political parties retreat in their ivory tower and forget about the people who brought them to power, they eventually pay dearly for it.

Department Of Canadian Heritage Act  All these areas were previously in five separate ministries and are now combined into one. That in itself is a very significant cost saving measure. All these areas have clear links to our identity as Canadians. I found it very disconcerting yesterday to listen to every member of the Reform Party and how they spoke against Bill C-53. I did not hear one positive comment from that side of the House with regard to Canada's heritage.

Crtc  That is why I said the Minister of Canadian Heritage should have been more careful, but he was acting in good faith as a member of Parliament. His letter was very clear. He asked for due process. He was not asking for a favour. In reality what happened was that when the decision was made the person he wrote for did not receive the permit. In fact somebody else got the permit, so the letter did not help at all.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister. There is a clear discrepancy between what he said in the House yesterday and what he is saying today with respect to the ethics counsellor, meeting with the ethics counsellor and checking with him. Another discrepancy is that yesterday the ethics commissioner said that there were no explicit guidelines for cabinet ministers dealing with government agencies.

Crtc  Speaker, I wish to remind our colleague that I said quite clearly that my letter to the CRTC is not intended to convey support for or opposition to the application. I think this is clear. This statement was made as soon as I had evidence that there was misinterpretation of my original letter. I will be very careful in the future to make sure that whatever I state leads to no misunderstanding.

Ethics  The Mulroney government was not known for setting high standards but at least when it had a problem it was dealt with immediately. This Prime Minister has not. I ask him to ask his minister to resign immediately and clear the air.

Ethics  Speaker, yes, I consulted. I asked somebody to call him to ask him the question. He gave a very clear answer. He did not speak to me directly. Most of the time I have a staff that consults with me because I have a lot of work to do. The answer that came from him did not lead me to change my mind about the decision I had made earlier in the month.

Ethics  Given his party's ambitious commitments with regard to integrity and openness, does the Prime Minister not agree that the episode of the letter shows that his government is in no hurry to adopt clear guidelines for ministers, especially when dealing with quasi-judicial bodies?