Westray Mine Disaster  Mr. Speaker, the Westray mine in Nova Scotia was the scene of an explosion accident on May 9, 1992. Twenty-six men lost their lives, 11 of whom are still entombed in the mine. During the five day rescue operation conditions were present for another explosion. Roof falls had to be crossed.

Light Stations  Mr. Speaker, yesterday during the Senate standing committee meeting on transport, Liberal senators defeated a planned fact finding mission to British Columbia next week to hold public consultations on the future of light stations. The mandate and terms of reference were granted long before the coast guard announced the destaffing initiative.

Supply  Mr. Speaker, several issues were put forward. If high speed rail in this part of the world, as opposed to the west where I am from, is a very good proposal, then I would suggest that if the private sector wants to carry it out, that is fine. It has to be recognized that government can no longer do these things.

Supply  Mr. Speaker, the business community seeks many things. One of the things they seek above all else is certainty. Also, they need the ability to work in an environment where they know the rules and where those rules will allow them to clear up any conflicts, particularly through the last court of appeal which is the federal and provincial court system.

Supply  Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to participate in debate on the opposition day motion concerning the inaction and lack of transparency of the government with respect to the potential restructuring of Canada's railways. I look upon this as an opportunity to speak about the vision, history, and fabric of this great nation.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition signed by 101 individuals, the majority from my riding of North Island-Powell River, calling for a public inquiry into the need for staffed light stations on the west coast. Safety will be jeopardized by the destaffing of these stations.

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, on Thursday of last week Bosanquet township workers were ditching Outer Drive which is their road boundary with Camp Ipperwash, owned by the Department of National Defence. This work was being done to remove illegal access, to prevent suspicious activities at Camp Ipperwash and to remove access for public safety because of possible unexploded ordinances on site.

Yukon Surface Rights Board Act  Mr. Speaker, my Bloc colleague from Saint-Jean who just spoke in my view painted some scenarios essentially that do not exist and painted scenes of conflict where it does not exist. We have talked on many occasions about a municipal style of self-government in committee and in this House.

Yukon Surface Rights Board Act  Mr. Speaker, last week in this House the minister of Indian affairs indicated that the Reform caucus had never supported an aboriginal bill in this House. Last week we had already supported Bill C-36, the Split Lake Cree agreement in northern Manitoba. That went through third reading and we supported it at third reading last Friday.

Yukon Surface Rights Board Act  Mr. Speaker, the member for Broadview-Greenwood talked about many different issues. With regard to the surface rights board although it is designed to operate solely within the Yukon with two sets of representatives designated by the Yukon Indians as well as by the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, the whole concept of the board is that it will be paid for from federal funds.

Canada Council  Mr. Speaker, the Canada Council operates under the Minister of Canadian Heritage. The council granted Hilarey Mackey and Shelly Wine $16,000 to produce the video "Fury of The Sound" even though these women were under criminal contempt charges for the very activity that was to be the subject of the video: criminally blocking forestry workers from going to work in Clayoquot Sound.

Yukon Surface Rights Board Act  Mr. Speaker, in the opening comments by the member who just spoke there were some statements regarding the Reform's concerns about the ability of the Council of Yukon Indians to designate its representatives to this board. On the contrary, we have no concerns about its ability to designate representatives.

Yukon Surface Rights Board Act  Mr. Speaker, I will resume from where I was interrupted. In addition to the $8.3 billion that I was speaking about there are another 460 specific native claims and lawsuits that currently have no dollar figure and do not form part of the known liabilities. Frankly no one knows what the total amount may be.

Royal Commission On Aboriginal Peoples  Mr. Speaker, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples set up four years ago is already substantially over budget and over deadline. Again it is extending its deadline. This $58 million exercise has obviously lost focus. Will the minister of Indian affairs instruct this commission to quit delaying and table its report immediately?

Royal Commission On Aboriginal Peoples  Mr. Speaker, this exercise started out as a $10 million or $12 million exercise. The government has been taking excerpts from the royal commission's work and using these for policy statements, including the issue of inherent right to self-government. Is the minister of Indian affairs the one who is really foot dragging on the release of this report because he has no better policy options to present?