Income Tax Act  Madam Speaker, as I said a few weeks ago, I agree in many respects with the objectives of this bill, which would allow individuals to deduct a portion of their public transportation costs for environmental reasons. The purpose of this legislation is definitely in line with the o

Supply  Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to participate in the debate on the Bloc motion regarding transferring tax points to the provinces. I will broaden the discussion a little if I may because there are three components of the Bloc economic policy that form a logical and coherent whole

Supply  Mr. Speaker, I will respond to these three points. First, the motion has nothing to do with separatism, at least not directly. This is not a referendum. What I said is that the more tax points are transferred to the provinces, the less important the federal government is in Queb

Supply  Mr. Speaker, as usual Bloc members are totally out of context. This is the same interview in which I said that the Bloc critic should join the private sector if his forecasts were truly so fantastic. What I said in this interview—he missed the important point—was: “It could have

Committees Of The House  Mr. Speaker, I should like to present a resolution which I know has the support of the four opposition foreign affairs critics. If you would seek unanimous consent, I hope it will be given. The motion concerns the advisability of proclaiming Nelson Mandela an honorary citizen of

Nelson Mandela  , seconded by the hon. members for Windsor West, Medicine Hat, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, Winnipeg—Transcona and Calgary Centre, moved: That this House, recognizing the great moral leadership provided by Nelson Mandela to South Africa and to all humanity, agree that he be declared an

Blood Samples Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to vote in favour of the bill.

*Question No. 72  Mr. Speaker, with respect to (a), the daily turnover in the international gold market is approximately six to seven million ounces per day. With respect to (b), Canada has had a clear and transparent policy since 1980 to sell gold at a gradual and controlled pace to reduce the p

Employee Benefits  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member raised some interesting ideas, but I cannot support the motion. I will give the main reason I cannot support the motion first, then give some background and come back in more detail on why I cannot support it. The basic reason is that the member's mo

Prebudget Consultation  Mr. Speaker, I am not generally reluctant to offer my opinion on budgetary matters but today is different. As Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, my role is to listen, to sit here in the House and take note of the ideas hon. members have on the budget. As member

Prebudget Consultation  Mr. Speaker, the member for Regina--Qu'Appelle made thoughtful comments overall. I am not agreeing with every word but they were positively enlightening compared to the two speakers who preceded him. It is sometimes said that if one has 18 priorities, one has no priorities. The

Prebudget Consultation  Mr. Speaker, I must confess that notwithstanding the kind comments toward me from the hon. member I have a bit of a problem. I have been making notes on suggestions. I have a quarter to a third of a page from the Alliance, a quarter of a page from the Bloc and a third of a page f

Prebudget Consultations  Mr. Speaker, I will be quite delicate, because as I said earlier today, my role here is to take notes and listen, not to enter into substantive debate. Nor will I respond to a couple of personal barbs. Just purely on the question of facts, my difficulty with the finance critic i

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, the member should know that the federal government has already injected over $20 billion, in terms of tax cuts and increased spending, into the field of health care. Twenty billion dollars is the equivalent of $200 billion in the states. So, it is not just lower int

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the Quebec finance minister on her budget yesterday, which added another $3 billion. Governments in Canada must all work together in these difficult times. If we include the funds injected yesterday by Quebec and the $20 billion already added by the f