Italian Canadian Community  Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party's position on this issue is quite clear. My predecessor, the hon. member for Mount Royal, made a statement in the House in 1994 which said very clearly that while things had happened in the past history of the country, that if history could be repea

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation  Mr. Speaker, the minister announced recently that there will be stable funding for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. This is an opportunity for the CBC to start looking at how it fulfils its mandate, to look at how it does things more effectively and efficiently.

Canadian Culture  Mr. Speaker, the so-called propaganda the hon. member talks about has done a great deal to assist Canadians. Let me point out some of things the CIO has done. It has set up programs to promote exchanges in sharing among Canadians, such as the recently organized Canada student ex

Canada Marine Act  A Reform calculation.

Employment  Mr. Speaker, I find it very interesting that hon. members across only seem to ask questions about women's equality and women's economic autonomy on International Women's Day. What happens to the rest of the year? We spent a whole year as a government dealing with issues of women

Status Of Women  Mr. Speaker, again the hon. member does not understand the full and holistic component of what is done for women's jobs. Many women cannot have sustainable full time jobs because they have children, a fact which statistics support. We are looking at how to assist women with chil

Status Of Women  Mr. Speaker, I would draw the attention of the hon. member to some of the very important initiatives that the government has taken since it came into power. In its strengthening of employment equity it has targeted women as a key group for employment equity strategy. Second, wh

Status Of Women  Mr. Speaker, I will reiterate. In the new employment insurance bill over 700,000 women, including 495,000 women who pay EI premiums today, will not have to pay EI premiums. That is a major breakthrough for women. Second, when we talk about cuts not benefiting women, the child b

Status Of Women  Mr. Speaker, I think the issue that my hon. colleague is talking about has to do with transfer payment cuts. I would like to draw the hon. member's attention to some comments made by Lucien Bouchard when he made it clear that he knows that restraints involve tough choices. He sa

Status Of Women  Mr. Speaker, that question is exactly why this government has embarked on certain initiatives to deal with economic autonomy of women. It is precisely why we have started to build a strong infrastructure that will assist women to get sustainable jobs in today's economy and also i

Supply  Mr. Speaker, I will address the first question about my influence as Secretary of State for the Status of Women in cabinet. The issue of women's equality is too important to be left to personal influence. That is why the government has embarked on gender based analysis, a clear

Supply  Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak to the motion on women's economic autonomy that is currently before the House. I am pleased that my hon. colleague attaches such a high importance to the enhancement of women's economic autonomy, because there is still a great deal that we still must

Supply  Mr. Speaker, I want to respond again to the propaganda comment that is being made. Buying freedom. I agree with the hon. member that freedom cannot be bought. But one has to ask oneself about the 1995 Quebec referendum that cost Quebecers $63.5 million, or the pre-referendum pub

Supply  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to address the opposition motion concerning the many activities of this government, activities which my colleague across the way has just called propaganda. In his impassioned speech he talked about the money that should have b

Canadian Multiculturalism Act  Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, copies of the annual report on the operation of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act for 1995-1996. I will be making a statement shortly outlining my vision and the government's n