Motion agreed to on division: Yeas, 115; Nays, 62
211
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Monday, March 4, 1996
The House met at 11 a.m.
_______________
Prayers
_______________
[English]
The Speaker: Before we begin with orders of the day, I have a
point of privilege from the member for Beaver River.
Miss Deborah Grey (Beaver River, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, I
appreciate the time.
I rise on a question of contempt of Parliament. The issue is one
that I originally raised as a question of personal privilege on
February 28 on the floor of the House. After further consideration
of all the information, I now raise this matter as a concern to all
members of Parliament in the context of a contempt of Parliament.
I cite Joseph Maingot's Parliamentary Privilege in Canada,
page 192:
While privilege may be codified, contempt may not, because new forms of
obstruction are constantly being devised and that Parliament must be able to
invoke its penal jurisdiction to protect itself against these new forms; there is no
closed list of classes of offences punishable as contempts of Parliament.
I intend to prove in my arguments that Mr. Simpson of the Prime
Minister's office coerced, intimated and incited staff of the House
of Commons into not fulfilling their mandate to answer to a request
for printing made by me on February 28 and that this constitutes a
contempt of the House. Consequently I will be asking, Mr. Speaker,
that if you rule this a prima facie case of privilege, this matter be
referred to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House
Affairs for examination.
It is difficult to determine what any House of Parliament will
consider as an offence and a contempt of Parliament. Erskine May
describes contempt as:
Any act or omission which obstructs or impedes either House of Parliament in
the performance of its functions, or which obstructs or impedes any member or
officer of such House in the discharge of his duty, or which has a tendency, directly
or indirectly, to produce such results may be treated as contempt even though
there is no precedent for the offence. It is therefore impossible to list every act
which might be considered to amount to a contempt, the power to punish for such
an offence being of its nature discretionary. Nevertheless, certain broad principles
may be deduced from a review of the kinds of misconduct which in the past either
House has punished as a contempt.
On October 29, 1980 a Speaker of this House had this to say:
The dimension of contempt of Parliament is such that the House will not be
constrained in finding a breach of privileges of members, or of the House. This
is precisely the reason that, while our privileges are defined, contempt of the
House has no limits. When new ways are found to interfere with our
proceedings, so too will the House, in appropriate cases, be able to find that a
contempt of the House has occurred.
The House shall not be constrained in dealing with this matter. It
is a very serious matter and should be taken up by the Standing
Committee of Procedure and House Affairs for further study.
It is very important at this time to understand the sequence of the
events in this matter. Since I went through those last week I do not
know if we need all the gory details again. However, suffice it to
say that when I requested a printing order from the printing people
they were willing to fulfil my request and had already completed
48 out of the 60 copies I had requested when not only one but two
phone calls were made from the department to the Prime Minister's
office to talk about the number of copies that would be available. It
then slipped out erroneously from the printing department that it
had run off copies and that it was for an opposition member.
At that point,Mr. Simpson in the Prime Minister's office said:
``No, do not fulfil her request''. It certainly limits me or any other
member of the House of Commons when somebody from the Prime
Minister's office can know what is going on and what members are
asking to be printed, and further that somebody there would have
the gall to say do not print that.
I give notice and read the following motion which I am prepared
to put forward. I move:
That Mr. Simpson of the Prime Minister's office coerced, intimated and
incited staff of the House of Commons into not fulfilling their mandate to
answer to a request for printing made on February 28, 1996 by the member for
Beaver River, and that this constitutes a contempt of this House, and
consequently that this matter be referred to the Standing Committee on
Procedure and House Affairs for examination.
212
The Speaker: The hon. member will recall that I did rule on
what I feel is the first part of the question which she put before
the House in review. The second part constitutes something quite
different from what we dealt in the first, which was an
administrative matter.
(1105 )
Hon. Alfonso Gagliano (Minister of Labour and Deputy
Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.): Mr.
Speaker, you have already ruled on this issue. I do not think the
hon. member has all the facts. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, before you
proceed we should find out exactly to whom the document belongs.
In any caucus there are documents that belong to it. All caucuses
have documents such as research papers which belong to the
caucus and we ask the House printer to print them for caucus
members, whether from the government, the official opposition or
the Reform Party.
Mr. Speaker, before you proceed you should inquire as to the
exact ownership of the document. I think the hon. member is
coming back on a ruling you have already made. I do not see any
new facts. They are the same facts, the same document, the same
person she referred to last week. Before you proceed, you should
inquire more about the facts.
Mr. Don Boudria (Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, Lib.): Mr.
Speaker, I heard briefly some of the remarks from outside the
Chamber, remarks with regard to the alleged question of privilege
today.
As the deputy House leader has just indicated, the Chair has
already ruled on the issue. To raise the issue again with a further
belief that the same point is valid even though it has been rejected
by the Chair is not usually recognized by the Chair as being valid in
itself.
The Board of Internal Economy has its own entity of the board
and a subcommittee on printing. If my agenda is correct, we have a
meeting of the subcommittee on printing only a few days from
now. There are representatives from each of the political parties on
that subcommittee of the board on printing. I believe the whip of
the Reform Party is a member of that subcommittee. That sounds
like an appropriate vehicle through which to raise the issue even
though it is not a question of privilege, as the Speaker has indicated
to us.
There is probably a suitable forum to raise the issue there to see
if anything that has occurred is inappropriate, notwithstanding that
it is not a point of privilege, and to determine what correction or
restitution is in order if an offence by someone has been committed
at any time.
We do have that structure. It was created by the Board of Internal
Economy, which was created by the House. The issue could be
appropriately dealt with in that forum. I understand we are only a
few days away from a meeting of that group.
Mr. Bob Ringma (Nanaimo-Cowichan, Ref.): Mr. Speaker,
in reference to the chief government whip's statement I would have
to disagree that it is appropriate for this matter to be dealt with in
that subcommittee. The issue here is not printing. The issue here is
interference, bold faced interference by the Prime Minister's
office.
This is a serious enough matter that we as members of the House
want to redress it in the most appropriate forum, which is certainly
not that subcommittee.
Mr. Paul Szabo (Mississauga South, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I was
in the House when the issue was first raised by the hon. member, at
which time the Speaker also ruled.
My understanding is that when a matter comes forward like this
in the same form after the Speaker has ruled, it is effectively a
challenge to the Chair.
(1110)
I would like to have clarification of whether it is the intention of
the member to challenge the Chair's ruling with regard to the
matters that have been addressed in the House. That is an extremely
important point for all members. The integrity of the Chair is very
important to the House.
Miss Grey: Mr. Speaker, it certainly is not my intention to
challenge the Chair ever. You and I had a meeting along with the
clerk of the House of Commons. New facts came out when you
talked to me very specifically about the printing department and all
those departments being under your supervision.
We are not talking about printing here. We are talking about
interference by the Prime Minister's office which, Mr. Speaker told
me clearly, was not under his jurisdiction. I am talking about a
contempt of Parliament by the Prime Minister's office, not the
printing department.
The Speaker: We understand that the point of privilege on
which I ruled has now been set aside.
Regarding the second point, the point of contempt, I would like
to inform myself, get more information, seeing as I have been
asked by both the deputy House leader for the government and by
the Reform Party to consider the information.
I ask that the hon. member for Beaver River table the document
she referred to in her contempt of Parliament. If you will give me
some time, I will come back to the House with a ruling which I
hope will be clear to all members.
If that will be deposited with the clerk, it will form part of the
other point that was brought up, which I will look at. I will come
back to the House if necessary.
213
213
GOVERNMENT ORDERS
[Translation]
Hon. Alfonso Gagliano (Minister of Labour and Deputy
Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)
moved:
That, with regard to Government Orders, Government Business No. 1, debate
be not further adjourned.
The Deputy Speaker: Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the
motion?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
Some hon. members: No.
The Deputy Speaker: All those in favour will please say yea.
Some hon. members: Yea.
The Deputy Speaker: All those opposed will please say nay.
Some hon. members: Nay.
The Deputy Speaker: In my opinion the nays have it.
And more than five members having risen:
The Deputy Speaker: Call in the members.
(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the
following division:)
(Division No. 4)
YEAS
Members
Adams
Alcock
Allmand
Anawak
Arseneault
Assadourian
Axworthy (Winnipeg South Centre/Sud-Centre)
Bakopanos
Barnes
Bélair
Bélanger
Bertrand
Bethel
Bevilacqua
Bodnar
Bonin
Boudria
Brushett
Bryden
Calder
Campbell
Cannis
Chamberlain
Chan
Clancy
Collenette
Collins
Cowling
Crawford
Culbert
DeVillers
Dingwall
Discepola
Dromisky
Duhamel
Dupuy
Easter
English
Finlay
Flis
Fontana
Gagliano
Gagnon (Bonaventure-Îles-de-la-Madeleine)
Gallaway
Gerrard
Godfrey
Goodale
Graham
Grose
Guarnieri
Harb
Harper (Churchill)
Hopkins
Hubbard
Iftody
Irwin
Jackson
Jordan
Karygiannis
Keyes
Kirkby
Knutson
Kraft Sloan
Lastewka
LeBlanc (Cape/Cap-Breton Highlands-Canso)
Lee
Lincoln
Loney
MacLellan (Cape/Cap-Breton-The Sydneys)
Malhi
Maloney
Manley
Marleau
Massé
McCormick
McGuire
McLellan (Edmonton Northwest/Nord-Ouest)
McTeague
McWhinney
Mifflin
Minna
Mitchell
Murphy
Murray
Nault
O'Reilly
Pagtakhan
Payne
Peric
Peters
Peterson
Phinney
Pickard (Essex-Kent)
Pillitteri
Proud
Reed
Regan
Richardson
Ringuette-Maltais
Robichaud
Robillard
Scott (Fredericton-York-Sunbury)
Serré
Shepherd
Sheridan
Simmons
St. Denis
Stewart (Brant)
Szabo
Telegdi
Thalheimer
Torsney
Ur
Valeri
Vanclief
Walker
Wood
Young
Zed-119
NAYS
Members
Abbott
Bachand
Bélisle
Bellehumeur
Blaikie
Brien
Brown (Calgary Southeast/Sud-Est)
Canuel
Chrétien (Frontenac)
Cummins
Dalphond-Guiral
de Jong
Deshaies
Duceppe
Duncan
Epp
Fillion
Frazer
Gagnon (Québec)
Gauthier
Grey (Beaver River)
Grubel
Guay
Guimond
Hanger
Harper (Calgary West/Ouest)
Harris
Hart
Hayes
Hill (Macleod)
Hill (Prince George-Peace River)
Hoeppner
Jacob
Lalonde
Landry
Lavigne (Beauharnois-Salaberry)
Loubier
Marchand
Mayfield
McClelland (Edmonton Southwest/Sud-Ouest)
McLaughlin
Meredith
Mills (Red Deer)
Morrison
Nunez
Penson
Picard (Drummond)
Ramsay
Ringma
Rocheleau
Schmidt
Scott (Skeena)
Silye
Solberg
Solomon
Speaker
St-Laurent
Thompson
Tremblay (Rimouski-Témiscouata)
White (Fraser Valley West/Ouest)-60
PAIRED MEMBERS
Anderson
Assad
Augustine
Bergeron
Bernier (Mégantic-Compton-Stanstead)
Blondin-Andrew
Caccia
Caron
Catterall
Cauchon
Copps
Crête
Debien
Dubé
Dumas
Fewchuk
214
Gaffney
Laurin
Lebel
Leblanc (Longueuil)
Leroux (Richmond-Wolfe)
Leroux (Shefford)
MacAulay
MacDonald
Manley
McKinnon
Ménard
Mercier
Milliken
Mills (Broadview-Greenwood)
Paradis
Paré
Pomerleau
Sauvageau
Stewart (Brant)
Tremblay (Rosemont)
Verran
Wells
(1150)
The Deputy Speaker: I declare the motion carried.
(Motion agreed to.)
[English]
Mr. Jim Silye (Calgary Centre, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, this motion
calls for the reinstatement of any government bills at the same
stage under the same legislative procedure and process at which
they stood at the time of prorogation.
Why is this necessary? Why not introduce legislation from the
session before we prorogued which is new and improved? All those
bills that are at various stages and which all members know can be
improved upon, why not bring them back in their new forms?
Why did the Prime Minister prorogue? To give a confusing
throne speech? He talks about a national referendum in the throne
speech or is there not a national referendum? He talked about
creating jobs and not creating jobs. He said that maybe it is not the
government which should create jobs, it should be the business
community. He talked about national unity: Is it plan A, plan B or
no plan at all?
(1155)
An hon. member: No plan at all.
Mr. Silye: No plan at all. That is probably what he has.
The point is, why did the Prime Minister prorogue if only to
introduce this motion to bring back any of the legislation, anytime
the government wants at any stage at which the legislation was if it
is similar to the current bill? Why did we prorogue?
An hon. member: For a photo op.
Mr. Silye: For a photo op. I never thought of that one.
We were happily working along in the 35th Parliament. We were
happily going about our business trying to make the government be
held accountable. We were working along trying to ensure that the
bills that were being passed were as good as possible and trying to
give our constructive criticisms.
What happened? The Prime Minister said: ``Whoa, let's clean
the slate. Let's just take three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine
weeks'', how many weeks did we take off? He said: ``Let's just take
that time off. We will prorogue and we will come back with a new
slate. We will come back here with a new throne speech, a new
direction, a new vision and new ideas for Canada''. What do we
get? Motion M-1: ``Let's bring back all the old bills whenever we
want. We will not tell the opposition when; we will just sneak them
in there when we can and at the same stage''.
That is anti-democratic and very autocratic. The use of closure
which we just voted on is a violation of the freedom of speech
within the House. It is a violation of the freedom to openly express
our thoughts and our points of view. By limiting the debate, by
limiting the time in which we can debate this, we are forcing
members of Parliament to be quiet. We are allowing this freely,
democratically elected Prime Minister to be a dictator and he is
dictating to us by his very action.
Why is the government acting just like the previous government,
but only worse? When the Liberal members were on this side of the
House they accused the Tories of using closure and time allocation
and the hue and cry went out. I can remember watching them on
television saying it was anti-democratic and asking why debate was
being limited. All the arguments they were using I am using now,
except they are over on the other side and they are laughing.
Already the Liberals have used time allocation and closure in the
35th Parliament more times than the Conservative government did
during its mandate of four years.
The Prime Minister when he was opposition leader sat here
criticizing former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney asking: ``Why
are you travelling outside the country? Why are you going all over
the world when the problems are here in Canada? We have to solve
our problems with Quebec; we have to solve our problems with
Alberta, B.C., Ontario and the Atlantic provinces? Why are you
travelling all over the world?''
Now that he is Prime Minister, the current Prime Minister has
already travelled more outside this country. He is very close to
being outside this country more, while we have to run this
government, than he has been in the country. This Prime Minister
has travelled more than the previous Prime Minister Brian
Mulroney.
Why is he doing this exactly in contradiction? I have already
mentioned prorogation. When the Conservatives prorogued the
House and they came back in, all they wanted to do was bring back
five bills. That is all the Conservatives wanted to do, bring back
five bills. When the Liberals were on this side in opposition the hue
and cry that went out about those five bills, about how it was
anti-democratic, how it was short circuiting the system, how it was
changing the parliamentary rules. They said: ``We would never do
that if we were over there because we are better than you guys. We
would be different''.
What did they do now that they are over there? Exactly the same
thing as the Conservative Party did, only worse. They sat over here
215
and watched the Tory GST come in. They said: ``That is not the
way to do it. We should look at tax reform. We should look at other
ways of replacing this manufacturers' sales tax. We would get rid
of it. We hate it. We would kill it''. What have they done in two and
a half years? They have not got rid of it. They have not killed it.
On Senate appointments, how they used to sit here in opposition
and criticize those Senate appointments and they are doing it the
very same way. They are doing it for the very same purposes, the
very same reasons as the Conservatives.
(1200 )
What has changed? All that has been done is change the faces of
the people in government. The system has not been changed. In
fact, it is worse. What about the latest appointment to the Senate? I
am sure the gentleman is a fine, outstanding Canadian citizen but
he is eight months away from having to retire after he is appointed
to the job. Does it not take six to eight months to learn the job of a
senator? It takes at least a year to learn the job as a member of
Parliament. By the time this gentleman learns the job he is out and
is replaced by someone else. Why not put someone in the Senate
who has some time to learn and contribute something?
An hon. member: He is just holding it for another Liberal.
Mr. Silye: The action by this government on Motion No. 1 is
anti-democratic, is short-circuiting the system and is a very lazy
way of governing the country. That is, I think, the secret of the
success of this government. It is a do very little or do nothing and
keep the Canadian public asleep and quiet. Do not get them upset
with any controversial issues. Distort the truth. Tell the Canadian
public that we have broken the back of the deficit. Tell the
Canadian public that this is the best bill that has ever come along
since sliced bread. Then, as the leader of the country, stand up and
say: ``Don't worry. Be happy. Everything is okay. Quebecers are
happy. All Canadians are happy. Everything is fine''.
I am disappointed in the government's actions. I am
disappointed that government members will not act and behave the
way they said they would when they were in opposition.
I submit the following as being the real reason the government is
doing this. It has no real, new, substantive legislation planned for
this session. Therefore, it needs an inventory to draw on. What
better inventory than the 32 bills that are sitting in abeyance
somewhere in various stages? If it has a slow Tuesday, Wednesday
or Thursday, when the member for the opposition party gets up on
the Thursday question and asks: ``What is in store the next week?'',
the government will be able to just pick one out here or there or
knowing that a committee is not very busy and it will just pick
another one out and get the committee busy. That is why the
government did this. It has nothing planned.
Look at the throne speech. What is in the throne speech that sets
out anything newer than what it said in the first throne speech?
What is in the throne speech that gives it a new direction or a new
focus so Canadians can feel there is something to look forward to?
What is there?
Some hon. members: Nothing at all.
Mr. Silye: This prorogation was strictly for the purposes of
general appearances, to make it look as if the government is still in
control. As members will recall, before we prorogued things were
unravelling, unsettling.
This Prime Minister bragged about that red book. He bragged
about the people he was attracting to that party. He said he had the
plan. He said he had the people. However, we very quickly found
out that there was no plan because they spent all those months in
committees trying to come up with the purple book, the green
book, the lavender book and the grey book.
Talk about the people. He fired everybody. His people were so
good he fired them all. He fired all the parliamentary secretaries.
He fired some cabinet ministers. Where are the people? Those
people he brought in, I believe 178 of them, were so good that he
had to bring in two more from the outside. Now we have
byelections to bring in two new members. Not only have they never
been elected before, not only have they never served in public
office before; they are cabinet ministers. Right away they are
cabinet ministers. How good are these people? For general
appearances, that was my point.
Liberals brag about how wonderful their first two years were and
how the wonderful finance minister in two years of rolling targets
is meeting these soft targets, how great he is and how much better
he is than any previous finance minister. I will give him credit for
this: the previous finance ministers have been a sorry lot. They
could not even project three, four or five months ahead. At least I
will give the finance minister credit for setting a target, no matter
how soft, and meeting it. He made some cuts, no matter how
meagre, and met them and beat them. That is good for the
investment community. It just has to be done a little bit quicker.
However, that is about the only thing government members can
brag about. Do they brag about abrogating the NAFTA? The Prime
Minister in opposition said: ``If elected I will abrogate NAFTA
unless they change certain clauses''. Do members know what really
happened? They signed it as was. They did not change one word or
one letter in the agreement. They just signed it.
(1205 )
The Liberals said that when they were elected they would protect
civil servants. They did a good job of that. They fired 45,000 of
them. They promised no big spending cuts. Since they have been in
office, during the past two and one-half years, they have
announced $15 billion in spending cuts. That is less than what
Reformers would have cut but where did they cut the most? Right
216
where it hurts people the most: in education, in health care and in
welfare.
The Reform Party, the party that has been accused of being slash
and burn, would have cut $3 billion less than the government on
health care, education and welfare. The government's combined
cuts with its Canadian social and health transfer is $6.6 billion and
ours would have been only $3 billion; that is $3 billion more than
we would have cut.
Talk about slash and burn. Talk about draconian. That is the party
that should be embarrassed. That is the party that is down loading
its problems to the provinces. The provinces now have to deliver
the programs for education, health care and welfare. Now they just
sit back over there on that side of the House and say: ``Boy, did we
pull a good one on the provinces, eh? We give them less money, we
made our cuts. Now they have to administer it''.
Guess whose Parliament gets rocks thrown in the windows? Not
the House of Commons but Queen's Park. Guess which premiers
get all the flack? Not the Prime Minister but Mike Harris and Ralph
Klein. They have to take all the flack over health care and
education when they are trying to administer the diminishing funds
they are getting. They should have had $3 billion more.
Talk about smart. That is smart. It is smart politics but it is not
smart government. It is not smart investment of money.
Mr. Speaker, in the throne speech did the Liberals brag-I
believe the only reason they prorogued the House was to do some
bragging-about eliminating that GST? No. Once again that is
smart politics. What did they do? They are now going to introduce
a new national sales tax that combines provincial sales taxes with
the goods and services tax, calling it the national sales tax.
Do we think the federal government is going to reduce its take
from 7 per cent? No. It will expect the tax to go through, combine it
with the provinces and call it one tax. I recall when the finance
minister was in opposition. He criticized the GST as the
replacement for the manufacturers' sales tax. I cannot quite
remember the quote, but to paraphrase the finance minister he said
that replacing one bad tax with another new bad tax, it still remains
a bad tax. Is that not the same logic as that exhibited by the finance
minister now? Does a national sales tax which combines a
provincial and a federal tax not leave the rates the same? They were
bad taxes separately. Is it still not a bad tax to combine them? Does
it not remain a bad tax under a different name?
An hon. member: What will it do to Alberta?
Mr. Silye: What will it do to the province of Alberta that does
not have a provincial sales tax? Are we going to make that
government collect 15 per cent of taxes, then rebate people? The
government does not brag about things like that. That is very smart
politics. The Liberals know how to pull the wool over people's
eyes, to distort the truth just a little by talking about what they are
doing and how they are doing it. If they say it often enough then
people might just believe it.
Do the Liberals brag about all the broken promises they have
made but have not kept? There must be a lot of people that voted
Liberal who are very disappointed in the government's efforts. In
fact, I happen to know of a lot of backbenchers that are unhappy
with the government's efforts. I know why they are unhappy. They
are unhappy about that GST and the promise of replacing or
eliminating it. The red book says replace.
The newspapers have been quite clear that when the Liberals
campaigned door to door-I cannot name the members because I
do not know their ridings-many of the members around Toronto
said, ``We will get rid of the GST. We hate the GST. This is an
awful tax. It is not going to be there. You vote for us and it is gone.
The GST is gone''.
The red book says replace which I understand. I understand the
Prime Minister saying: ``I hate it. I would kill it. We will get rid of
it. Now I have to find something to replace it with''. I know he did
say that. He said that in some speeches. I heard him say that in
Calgary when I went to listen to him speak.
However, I hear that a lot of the backbenchers around Toronto
did not say that. They went door to door and said: ``Vote for me,
we'll get rid of the GST''. They did not say that would replace it
with something revenue neutral. They did not get that elaborate. A
lot of the backbenchers are worried about the next election. They
are saying that unless the government gets rid of the GST,
harmonizes it, hides it or something, and tries to keep this promise,
their chances of getting re-elected are nil. It is about integrity. It is
about keeping one's word. It is about making a promise and
keeping that promise. The government is slowly eroding the
foundations of the word called integrity. A national sales tax will
be the son of the GST. However, once again it is smart politics but
it is not good government.
(1210)
One of the biggest promises made by the Prime Minister during
his campaign was made September 10, 1993, about a month and a
half before the vote. He said there would not be a promise that he
would make in the campaign that he would not keep. Fair enough.
Five days later he said something to the effect that anyone could
go before him at any time with that red book, wave it in his face and
say, where are you with your promises? By the points that I made,
where is the Prime Minister with his promises?
217
He broke the promise on NAFTA. He broke the promise on
protecting the civil service. He broke the promise on big spending
cuts. He broke the promise on the GST or he has not kept it yet,
although he still has time. He can still get rid of it. We will wait
for him. Mr. Prime Minister, where are you with your promises?
Mr. Prime Minister, why are you acting like your predecessor, but
even worse? How can you sit on that side of the House?
Reformers could never do that. Once we become the
government, we are going to keep our promises. We are going to
run this government the way we said we would. We kept our
promises. We have kept everything up front, above board and we
plan to do that all the way through. The government said one thing
to get elected and now its members act like the previous
government did in power.
That is a great and huge disservice to the Canadian voting public.
That is not the way to retain one's integrity. I do not understand
how the Prime Minister can get away with saying one thing in
opposition and doing another in government. Now in government
the Liberals say they will do something, then not do it or do the
opposite.
The Prime Minister is sending out such confusing and
convoluted messages whether he says it in French or in English. No
matter who is listening, it is confusing, convoluted and
complicated. Why can we not get a clear direction from the
government? We ask questions in question period. Are we going to
have a national referendum on the issue of national unity? Should
Quebecers decide for themselves whether or not they should be
voting on that issue or should all Canadians have a say?
Anybody can petition for divorce but both parties have to agree
to the terms. Maybe that is where some of the separatist members
of the Bloc Quebecois can see the government's side. When one
gets to the terms of the settlement, perhaps it does take two sides to
negotiate and to decide what the consequences of that break-up
would be.
This is where the Bloc members could take a look at that new
cabinet minister who is not a member yet. He is suggesting that
both parties look at it.
Why will the Prime Minister not run Parliament like he
promised when he was in opposition? Why will the Prime Minister
not live up to the standard that the Canadian public expected of
him? He is a very popular individual. He has a personality that is
liked by all walks of life. He is an individual who has spent 30
years of his life serving the public.
At the end of those 30 years, is it not worthwhile to be able to say
that he kept his word, his promises? Is it not better at the end of 30
years to be able to say that he meant what he said, that he said what
he meant and did it instead of caging this all in flowery rhetoric,
confusing everybody, hiring spin doctors to give the right image
and playing politics all the way through?
(1215 )
I am embarrassed for the government. I am embarrassed that it is
doing a worse job than the Conservative Party ever did in terms of
the rules of the House and how it is trying to force its legislation
through with the use of closure, time allocation and with motions
that make it appear to be a government that is not interested in
following the democratic process.
The Deputy Speaker: Colleagues, we do not have 10 minutes of
questions and comments now since the vote. We will therefore go
directly to the hon. member for Mercier.
[Translation]
Mrs. Francine Lalonde (Mercier, BQ): Mr. Speaker, I strongly
object to the motion before us. First of all, for the people watching
or listening to us, I should explain what this motion means. It
would allow a minister, during the first 30 sitting days of this
session, to restore a bill to the same legislative stage it had reached
at the time of prorogation simply by making a statement at the first
reading stage of the bill. This bill must be exactly in the same form
as it was during the last session.
For someone who is not familiar with House proceedings, this
may sound like normal procedure but we cannot find any
precedents for such a motion. Since 1938, there has been only one
example of such a motion: in 1991, the Tory government tabled a
motion for debate on March 28 and then imposed closure on May
29.
Before 1991, parliamentary tradition dictated that such a motion
be agreed to with the unanimous consent of the House. The
Liberals, who were then in opposition, strongly denounced that
motion as irregular and undemocratic.
According to parliamentary tradition, when the government puts
an end to a session, it usually means that it has achieved its goals. If
some bills die on the Order Paper, the government has only itself to
blame. A new session means that it must submit new bills to the
House of Commons to be examined right from the start.
We are asking government members to object to it if they want to
be consistent with what they said in 1991, when they denounced
this process in very strong terms.
If they ever decided to vote in favour of this motion, we would
end up with bills such as the one on employment insurance-whose
number I cannot recall-which would have come before the House
only at the report and third reading stages. They are bypassing all
the usual legislative stages, as I recall that the employment
insurance bill did not go through second reading in the usual way.
The government used a parliamentary tactic that also bypassed the
usual procedure.
218
(1220)
At second reading, all members were not allowed to express
their views as they should on such an important bill; instead, we in
the opposition had to make do with six times ten minutes. This is
absolutely disgraceful, especially considering the absolutely
ridiculous amount of time we were given to inform the public about
the details of former Bill C-111-whose new number we are not
about find out, I hope-because that is what serving in Parliament
is about.
What is the use of readings, of broadcasting readings, if not to
inform the public? The public has not received all the information
it should have been provided with regarding this bill on
employment insurance.
The government interfered with the normal second reading
process. When people protested vehemently, supported by their
bishops in the Gaspé Peninsula and by their Churches in other parts
of Canada, instead of abiding by parliamentary procedure and
withdrawing the bill, or letting it die on the Order Paper and
introducing a revised bill, as requested by any and every one who
cares about the ordinary people of Canada, this government
impertinently seeks to bring the bill back before the House, during
the second session of this Parliament, while skipping all other
stages.
This is my first experience as a member of Parliament, and I
thought that the House of Commons of Canada provided a certain
decorum, certain democratic guarantees and a forum where the
people could inform themselves and their representatives, in the
opposition that is, could raise in public-and be given the time they
need to make their point-the serious problems posed by various
bills.
I am forced to realize that this is a far cry from how I thought the
British parliamentary system was used in Canada. This government
motion goes farther than anything before. This government motion
is, to put it bluntly, antidemocratic. It is unusual and, as such,
problematic.
That is why, as energetically as we can, we urge the government
not to proceed according to this motion, but rather according to the
parliamentary spirit, which provides that, within the course of any
given session, a certain procedure shall be followed after a bill has
been read for the first time, that allows the opposition to play its
role.
Let us not forget that, unless the opposition is free and able to
express its views, there can be no democratic process. The role of
the opposition is a fundamental one, and a crucial one as well. And
when we find ourselves in a situation like this, with a bill as
fundamentally important to ordinary people as the employment
insurance bill, that will go to committee without having undergone
proper consideration at second reading and come back before this
House only for committee report and third reading, we are dealing
with highly unusual procedures, which are totally unacceptable.
Ordinary citizens are not properly served, or else this is a drastic
and serious change in parliamentary proceedure in the House of
Commons.
(1225)
Numerous rallies were held in various Canadian provinces,
including Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, by people who are
disgusted with the major changes included in a bill that was
supposed to have died on the Order Paper, but that will now be
referred to committee if the government passes its legislation.
People are concerned; they do not know what to do.
Unemployment insurance is the only security for millions of
Canadians and Quebecers. There are some who do not understand
that, because they have financial security; they have money and a
steady job. But for all the others, unemployment insurance is the
only security they have. And I could add that it takes them a long
time to get that security, often a full six weeks. However, few
people can save enough to survive six weeks with no income, but it
is possible to somehow manage, if one knows that one will at least
get a minimum income.
Everyone is urging the minister to withdraw this bill and conduct
an in-depth review of its provisions, because it changes everything.
It creates conditions whereby, for example, young people,
newcomers to the labour market will have to work six months
before being eligible for UI benefits, at a rate of 35 hours of work
per week.
Everyone knows that these conditions are hard to meet for a
woman who re-enters the labour force, for a new immigrant, for
someone who has been sick for more than two years or who left the
labour force, or for a young person entering the labour market. It is
difficult to keep a first employment. Some do find a stable first job
that pays well, but this is uncommon. In real life, this is a rare
occurrence indeed.
What does that bill imply? It means that, from now on, in spite of
having worked at one, two or three jobs, many people who have not
managed to get six months of employment at an average of 35
hours per week will have to rely on their friends and family, or go
on welfare. This is what it means. It means that, instead of entering
the labour market and, given existing conditions, being able to
count on some help to tide them over between jobs, people entering
the workforce will immediately get the feeling that they are being
ejected from it.
This bill contains some discriminatory measures. It also
completely changes the old rules.
(1230)
Unfortunately, we will have the opportunity to speak of it a great
deal, and I am obliged to tell you that we in the Opposition want
the government to listen to the Canadian coalition and to withdraw
219
this bill, or rather just leave it where it is. It does not need to be
withdrawn because it is supposed to have died on the Order Paper.
We do not want the government to resuscitate it in its current state,
for it is a bill which bodes nothing but despair.
The government may well say: ``But the demonstrations
involved only a few thousand people here, a few thousand people
there, another hundred somewhere else.'' But it cannot claim that
this bill has not brought out crowds in opposition. Does the
government not make any move unless it is facing a large enough
crowd? Has it not itself studied the economic impact of the bill?
This bill, which died on the Order Paper and deserves to be
allowed to rest in peace, was adding $640 million annually in
unemployment insurance cuts for Quebec alone to the $735 million
cut annually by the Liberals since 1994. In 1995-96 and 1996-97,
there will be $735 million less for unemployment insurance
benefits. If this bill were resuscitated artificially by Motion No. 1,
it would impose an additional $640 million in cuts.
What does that translate into? It means $1,375,000,000 in
Quebec alone in the year 2000. The Liberal government welcomes
you to the year 2000, where if Quebec is still part of
Canada-which I hope will not be the case-unemployment
insurance will have been cut by $1,375,000,000.
And how much in the Atlantic provinces? This year $635
million, plus $344 million, to a total of $974 million less. What
does that mean? It means $974 million less for groceries, rent,
children' basic necessities. That is what those cuts represent. They
affect what goes directly into the economy, not money used for
speculative investments, but money injected directly into the
economy.
Did the government even look at the economic impact of these
cuts in disadvantaged regions, of which there are many in Quebec
and in the Atlantic provinces? Did it even give this a thought? We
have been shown studies of all sorts, but no economic impact
studies have been done. The only thing it came up with, no doubt
because it heard rumbling, was the figure of $300 million over
three years, peanuts compared with the cuts I just mentioned.
So it is not surprising that the people in the disadvantaged
regions rose up. It is not surprising that the bishops in the Gaspé
rang the bells-a sort of alarm in the event of fire-because the
ordinary folks will be finding themselves facing extremely hard
times.
Why did the government not let the bill die on the Order Paper
instead of resurrecting it? There is still time for the government to
give it some thought.
It should not underestimate the anger and discontent of the
ordinary people, who are facing cuts, who know there are more to
come and who have only this little bit of security. There was indeed
abuse and a system in certain regions. But individuals are not at
fault, the fault lies with the labour market, which is not providing
the jobs it should. We should be going after it and not after the
people who are eking out a living.
(1235)
I implore the government not to bring back this bill. The best
way would be for it to withdraw this anti-democratic and
exceptional motion, which the hon. members opposite opposed
with virulence in 1991, in conditions that were not so harsh as they
are now. Their responsibility before history, Parliament and society
will be heavy.
[English]
Mr. Herb Grubel (Capilano-Howe Sound, Ref.): Mr.
Speaker, your predecessor on May 29, 1991 ruled the following
according to Beauchesne's fifth edition, citation 167(1):
The effect of a prorogation is at once to suspend all business until Parliament
shall be summoned again. Not only are the sittings of Parliament at an end, but
all proceedings pending at the time are quashed. Every bill must therefore be
renewed after a prorogation, as if it were introduced for the first time.
I now continue with the text of the ruling of your predecessor. He
said:
Thus prorogation gives Parliament the chance to start anew in dealing with
the business of the nation.
While the effects of prorogation are clear, there have been many occasions
when the government has sought the permission of the House to reinstate
legislation considered in the previous session. This has always been considered
an extraordinary procedure. In fact, on two separate occasions, July 1977 and
March 1982, the House amended its standing orders to permit certain bills to be
reinstated in the next session. These and other instances of reinstatement-have
been dealt with by unanimous consent.
This tradition was not followed in 1991 and it is not being
followed in this year's prorogation. All that the opposition
demanded in 1991 is being demanded by Reformers and the Bloc
now: government, please do not use a omnibus motion to reinstate
all bills that died with prorogation; instead, bring them up for
unanimous consent, one by one. We the opposition have not only
the right but the duty to examine the reinstatement of each bill on
its own merit.
Prorogation means the government decides to end a session of
Parliament and suspend all business. Governments have
historically used this mechanism because they have exhausted their
agendas and wish to use the throne speech to set a new tone. All of
this is business hallowed by long and valued tradition. It has served
Canada and other parliamentary democracies well. It should be
220
changed only after it has shown clearly that it no longer serves such
democracies.
The change in tradition introduced in 1991 and continued with
the present motion threatens to destroy the basic purpose of
prorogation: the opportunity for government to start parliamentary
business anew with a new throne speech.
With the quasi-automatic reintroduction of unfinished bills from
the preceding Parliament, all we have left of this tradition is a
throne speech with its accompanying expensive pomp and vacuous
media hype. The essential element of a clean legislative slate is
gone. The historic modification of permitting the reintroduction of
selected pieces of previous legislation is nullified by the insistence
that all such previous legislation be reinstated without proper
debate on each.
(1240)
Perhaps it is more efficient in our times to have such omnibus
motions. During the 1990s in one debate one the members of the
present government, then in opposition, suggested that such an
innovation should be embodied in a bill brought before the House
before prorogation. Reformers agree and are ready any time to be
persuaded that changing this or any other parliamentary tradition is
in the interest of all Canadians. We were never given the
opportunity by the government to vote on this matter.
Now here we are in the enjoyable position of being able to cite
for all some of the remarks made by individuals now on the
government side of the House, citations which show how power
corrupts.
The former member for Ottawa-Vanier, now in the other
chamber, said in a speech given on the occasion of prorogation in
1991, page 647: ``I cannot understand why this government, these
government bullies now want to impose their will on the House of
Commons through force of numbers and then would have us
believe that they are sensitive to parliamentary reform and want
Canadians to see this House work in a friendly, co-operative way''.
I continue with a remark by the hon. member for Kingston and
the Islands:
I want to deal with the propriety of the motion that the government has
introduced. I suggest that it is contrary to all the practices of this House for the
last 124 years. It is a breach of the proprieties of this place. I suggest that it is
morally wicked of the government to proceed with this motion and particularly
then to apply closure to the motion and thereby curtail the debate on it. What the
government is doing by this, and let us make it perfectly clear what is happening
here, is short-circuiting the legislative process.
I suggest that this is wrong. It is wickedly wrong. It is a gross violation of the
constitutional principles on which this House has operated since Confederation.
Indeed it is contrary to the whole practice of British parliamentary tradition for
900 years. Nothing like this has ever been tried before. I suggest it is wrong. The
government knows it is wrong.
These are remarks made and recorded in Hansard by members of
the present government in the House to a motion identical to the
one before us today when they were opposing it.
Let me continue with another quotation by the hon. member,
now a minister, for Cape Breton-East Richmond: ``I contend that
the motion is in principle unacceptable in that it seeks to
circumvent, indeed to subvert, the normal legislative process in
this House''.
How can these members of Parliament look us in the eye when
they stand to vote in favour of closure, in favour of this motion
which they opposed with such strong words in the past?
The hon. member for Kingston and the Islands a few days later in
1991 said, commenting on this motion: ``In other words there was
always a debate allowed at third reading of every bill that was
reinstated, but here in this motion today we have a bill that is
deemed passed by this House, so there will be no debate at any
stage on this bill''.
(1245 )
The record notes an hon. member interrupted the speech saying:
``That is terrible''. The hon. member who had the floor said: ``It is a
national disgrace''. Another hon. member yelled: ``It is a travesty''.
These are the same members who have the affront today to get up
and vote for a motion which they had a short five years ago
condemned in such strong words. Let me continue with the speech
made by the hon. member for Kingston and the Islands. He said:
If this kind of thing was reported in parliamentary journals around the world,
the Canadian Parliament would become a laughing stock because of the
outrageous conduct of the government in introducing this motion. It violates all
the constitutional principles of debating bills at three readings in the House of
Commons. That is the standard practice in every British parliamentary
institution and has been for hundreds of years, and this government is violating
this practice.
Who is to blame for this practice aside from all the members on the other
side? The government itself had a choice.
They had a choice. Remember those words. The members opposite may
remember them because they came up in a debate. They had a choice. They
chose to prorogue the last session and leave the business unfinished on the
Order Paper. They sent us away through April and early May and said: ``We do
not want you in Ottawa. We do not want questions every day. We do not want to
listen to you. We do not want our sins exposed to the people of Canada on
national television here on the floor of the House of Commons''.
I could not have said it better. The only thing I would change in
order to make this a speech relevant for today's situation is to say:
You have kept us away from here and the opportunity to do things
221
for Canadians by debating the issues on the floor of the House until
February 27, when we were supposed to return much, much earlier.
The situation has not changed. These kinds of rulings and
motions simply show how people change once they get power.
Once they are sitting on one side and they see the interest of the
people in continuing with traditions that have served the country so
well, they argue one way and in the strongest fashion one can
imagine. The words were used by the same individuals who are
now in power. We all know power corrupts. What do the Liberals
do? They have the nerve to stand up and look us in the eye and do
exactly what they have condemned so strongly in the past.
Another favoured member in the government had a few words to
say on this. It is the hon. member for Halifax. I can just see her
demeanour when she read into the record the following:
I can only say that the government should hang its head in shame. One
wonders today why the government prorogued the House of Commons last
time. Why did it prorogue? We heard a speech from the throne which did not
appear to tell us anything new or different. It did not appear to give us any new
blueprint for Canadians. It was remarkably low on specifics about its programs.
Yet we had the prorogation. One presumes it was because the government
wanted to get away from here, take some time, regroup and come back with
some fresh ideas.
Instead of fresh ideas, we have today this pernicious-and I underline that
word-motion of the House leader ramming through five bills. We are just
supposed to pretend that prorogation did not take place. We are just supposed to
accept the government's decision that these bills will come to this Parliament in
the state in which they were supposed to have died in the last Parliament.
(1250)
I challenge the member for Halifax to look me in the eye,
remembering the words I have just read which she said on the
occasion when the government pushed on the House a similar
closure motion that is under discussion today. It is very revealing
the way power corrupts.
I have a few more quotations. Some of them are quite delicious. I
must say I am disappointed to read that this is the way these
individuals talked. The member for Winnipeg North Centre said:
The role of the opposition is to be a thoughtful opposition and a thoughtful
critic of what the government is trying to do. But the lack of opportunity as
posed to us in this case makes it very difficult for an opposition party to continue
to deal with the government when we do not feel the government is being honest
in its motives.
I cannot help myself but read this. It is from one of the most
articulate and argumentative members of this House who has
departed for higher callings. Now the premier of a province, the
former member for Humber-St. Barbe-Baie Verte said:
The governing party of the day, regrettably for the country-a country in
desperate need of leadership on the constitutional front, a country in desperate
need of leadership on the economic front-does not have the confidence of the
people. Even as a member of the opposition, one who wants to replace the
governing party, I say it is regrettable for Canada that at this time in our history
only 14 per cent or 12 per cent or 8 per cent of Canadians have confidence in the
government of the day.
What does this government do? Does it attempt to lay bare before the people
of Canada its agenda? Does it attempt to persuade the people of Canada and the
elected representatives of the people of Canada of the value of its agenda? Does
it say it has a vision for Canada and such a profound belief in our vision for
Canada that we are prepared to debate it and to defend it?
No, it uses the tyranny of the majority. It uses the temporary trust given to this
party as a consequence of an election two and a half or three years ago to
bulldoze its legislative measures through the Parliament of Canada, to deny the
people of Canada a chance to be heard, to deny the elected representatives of the
people of Canada-not an opportunity to speak, but their obligation to speak,
their responsibility to be heard in the proper examination of bills.
This is merely a sample of the kinds of words and arguments a
group of people while they were in opposition used to oppose a
motion that now has been introduced in this Parliament. But the
tables have turned. These same members are now part of the elite.
They are part of the government. They have power.
We can see how much power corrupts. The principles they
enunciated and the strength of the convictions they had at that point
have gone down the drain. I challenge each and every one of the
hon. members who made such strong statements, when they stand
up to vote, to acknowledge that they are voting against their own
words and their own arguments.
(1255)
[Translation]
Mrs. Christiane Gagnon (Québec, BQ): Mr. Speaker, the
government motion before us would allow a minister or member to
reinstate, in the first 30 sitting days of this session, a bill to the
legislative stage it had reached at the time of prorogation, as soon
as he or she proposes the motion for first reading. In theory, this
would enable the government to resuscitate all bills before the
House at the time of prorogation. Private bills would be treated the
same way.
The amendment put forward by my colleague from
Berthier-Montcalm is aimed at dividing the process in as many
parts as there are bills, since a member could object to the
reinstatement of any bill. The bill would then have to go back to
square one, especially if it is challenged and opposed by the public.
I am thinking in particular of the bill respecting employment
insurance in Canada.
I think that the government motion is irregular and
undemocratic. When a government ends a session, it means that it
has done its job or that it faces new challenges and wants to give its
mandate a new direction. The Liberals, who are now in power, held
a very
222
different view in 1991: they felt that such a motion was irregular
and undemocratic when the Tories tried to use it for the first time.
I will quote a few statements made by the same people who are
now sitting on the government side of this House. Let us look at
some members' statements. I will start with the hon. member for
LaSalle-Émard, who is now Minister of Finance, and I quote:
``We find ourselves in the situation we are now in. The bill died on
the Order Paper. In its supreme arrogance and lack of
understanding, this government comes to us and says: `we would
like to reinstate it'''. He called a bill similar to the one now before
the House arrogant and incomprehensible.
I continue with another quote. For his part, the hon. member for
Cape Breton-East Richmond felt that the government was ``trying
to reinstate legislation which has fallen dead as a result of the
government's own ineptitude and subsequent action with regard to
proroguing this Parliament''. That is exactly what this government
is doing. It ended the last session by proroguing Parliament.
One last quote, because I do not want to quote them all. I will
conclude with the hon. member for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell,
who is still a member of Parliament and an influential government
member. He said: ``The implications of ruling this motion in order
would be such that I fear we could render-if a government wanted
to, and I am not saying that it does-this House of Commons
totally irrelevant and redundant.'' That is what members of this
government had to say on the issue back in 1991, when they were in
opposition.
If this practice was described as unacceptable in 1991, what
makes it acceptable today? If the Conservatives called certain
Liberal opposition members stupid and self-righteous for doing
this, how are the Liberals different from the Conservatives?
Personally, I can see no difference as far as this bill is concerned.
If the government decided to prorogue Parliament, it must have
had good reasons for doing so: to renew its legislative agenda.
What does it need this kind of procedure for then? The bills that
could be reintroduced are not, by definition, new. If the
government wants to reintroduce one or two of its old bills, it can
do so through the normal process, which includes debating. But
there is more. Some of these bills are unacceptable to the Bloc
Quebecois as well as to the people of Quebec and Canada.
(1300)
A case in point is one the major pieces of legislation that died on
the Order Paper, namely Bill C-111, the employment insurance bill.
This bill is unacceptable to us. Clearly, and we all read the papers
and watch the news on the tube, protests are on the rise. As far as I
can see, the people of Quebec and Canada are horrified at the
current situation and at the decisions made by this government.
Bill C-111 penalizes the unemployed, those who do not have a
job, and it penalizes women, a group that I have the honour of
representing in this House. Let me tell you how it penalizes
women; you will see what I mean.
An impact assessment carried out by the federal government
shows that the hardest hit will be individuals earning less than
$25,000. It is a well known fact that the low income earners of our
society are women, women and young people also. Second,
eligibility requirements would be tighter, eligibility being
determined on the basis of the total number of hours worked over a
given time instead of the number of weeks worked. In addition, it
will be much more difficult for first-time claimants to qualify,
which means women re-entering the labour force after having been
away for a long time and young people will be hit hard.
The program set out in Bill C-111 would greatly limit the
number of people eligible for benefits. Moreover, while not being
eligible for benefits, these people would still have to make
contributions, thereby growing poorer. That is not employment
insurance.
It is also proposed that workers who hold precarious and
seasonal jobs would receive less benefits. The fact is that close to
70 per cent of part time workers are women. There are 1.5 million
of them in Canada.
The bill is also unacceptable because the spouse's income would
be taken into account in determining whether a person is entitled to
the supplement. In other words, a woman whose spouse earns an
income would not be eligible for such a supplement. This creates
two forms of discrimination: one against all women, and the other
against those who have a spouse, as opposed to living alone.
Finally, this bill seeks to reduce the maximum number of weeks
of benefits. This measure would inevitably result in making people
turn to welfare more quickly, and as such shifts the load onto
another level of government. As we know, once a person ends up
on welfare, it becomes very difficult for that person to find a job. In
my own riding, it is a pity to see, on the one hand, the lack of
available jobs and, on the other hand, the increasingly large number
of welfare recipients.
The bill would also maintain duplication and overlap, something
which does not promote the development of an efficient
employment policy, nor employability for workers and women. As
we know, there is a consensus in Quebec on the need to implement
an effective employment policy.
Bill C-111 died on the Order Paper when Parliament prorogued,
and it is a very good thing. The government should go back to the
223
drawing board and take responsibility for its indecisiveness,
because this is how I see this legislation.
Since it was elected, this government has shown a remarkable
lack of vision. It goes nowhere and everywhere at the same time.
Last week's speech from the throne did nothing to improve the
situation. Its main feature is that it is as vague as possible, so as to
lend itself to any number of interpretations.
(1305)
There is a truism in Canada that says that when everyone agrees
with a statement, it is because that statement is totally meaningless.
To let the government's motion go through today would be
tantamount to encouraging the confusion that, unfortunately, has
prevailed since the beginning of this Parliament.
The government must go back to the drawing board. It must try
to come up with a new and consistent legislative agenda. After all,
this is what prorogation is all about, is it not?
The amendment proposed by my colleague seeks to give this
House some democratic control over the issues that we debate. It
provides for the speedy passing of those bills for which there is
unanimity, while excluding such a possibility for the more
controversial ones. This amendment is a true reflection of the
democratic spirit that must govern the proceedings of this House.
This is why I ask all members to support it.
I also ask the Minister of Justice to reinstate Bill C-119, on
genital mutilation. Even though this measure could be improved
on, it deals with an issue for which a degree of consensus already
exists in the House. Therefore, it would certainly be appropriate for
the minister to take advantage of this opportunity provided by the
hon. for Berthier-Montcalm.
Unlike Bill C-111 on employment insurance, Bill C-119 does not
perpetuate, nor does it increase, discrimination against women. On
the contrary, it seeks to ensure that women can continue to hope
that their bodies will not be subjected to harsh treatment. We are
grateful to the minister, and we urge him to continue his work in
that respect.
I therefore ask the government to withdraw this bill and to come
up with a new agenda that would take into account certain social
and economic realities, as well as the realities of the labour market.
[English]
Mr. Ian McClelland (Edmonton Southwest, Ref.): Mr.
Speaker, I would like to confine my comments to three general
areas.
First, I would like to speak to the notion of why we are debating
this in the first place, rather than the how. Quite a lot of the debate
has dealt with the mechanics of how bills are introduced or
reintroduced and not a whole lot of thought has been given to why
bills are introduced or reintroduced.
Second, I would like to spend a couple of minutes talking about
the difference between private members' business and government
business and why, in my opinion, private members' business
should be treated discretely and differently than government
legislation.
Third, I would like to touch on what really should be the power
of the government, exactly how encompassing and how
overpowering is the power of the government.
I will begin with the third point. Those of us in the Chamber are
acutely aware of how this place works, but many Canadians are
not. After being elected I came here full of hope, inspiration and
with the brightest of lights shining in my eyes. I thought as the
member of Parliament representing the people of Edmonton
Southwest, I was going to have a say in how the government ran the
country. Well, was I surprised. I am sure many Liberal
backbenchers found themselves in quite the same state of surprise.
As a matter of fact I think some of the cabinet ministers may have
been surprised. I am not suggesting that the government is alone.
To my knowledge, all governments in Canada run on a premise
which is: ``How do we go about getting re-elected?'' The first
objective after being elected is how to get re-elected because power
is everything. If one does not have power in politics one might as
well be washing floors somewhere because not very much is
accomplished. Yes, one can have some influence with luck. That is
what private member's business is all about. It is all of the
backbenchers on the government and on the opposition sides who
are trying to make our country work not a lot better but a little bit
better, just incrementally to trying to do something worthwhile.
(1310)
The path of private members' business through the House to
become legislation is laborious and long. There are all kinds of
checks and balances. Private members' bills very rarely become
law. It is not part of the government agenda.
When the throne speech was read there was not one single word
about the government saying: ``We know we have 295 people in the
House of Commons, most of whom are here for the right reasons:
to make our country work better. Therefore, we are going to see
what we can do to use private members' business to create
legislation''.
It has never been that way. If good private members' legislation
is introduced very often it is co-opted by the government and we
will see it rearing its head again as government legislation. Perhaps
that is not all bad. It does not matter. If the legislation is passed it
has to go through this process.
However, private members' business is very different from
government business. When government puts out an agenda it is
its agenda to get re-elected. If that means it is going to do whatever
it has to do to meet the requirements of the perceived wants of the
224
body politic that is what it is going to do. That is why governments
change direction from time to time. That is why there are
traditionally in a country different opinions of different values
represented by different political parties.
In Canada we do not really have that differentiation. The Liberal
Party changes its spots to meet whatever the expectations of the
body politic are. It has worked successfully for most of our time as
a country and it is likely that is the way it is going to be in the
future. It does not really matter whether the left and the right or the
yin and the yang is met because the country changes political
parties or if the political party that is in power changes to meet the
demands of the people. That happens. The government has the
ability, the authority and the responsibility to bring forward
whatever legislation it wants because it has a majority. It will
introduce that legislation and that legislation will be passed.
Nothing the opposition has to say will change that. Absolutely
nothing will change the opinion of the government once it has its
mind made up and it has a head of steam.
Therefore, the only possible way that any backbencher from the
government side or the opposition side is able to have meaningful
input into the affairs of the nation is through private members'
business. These bills may be very meaningful or they may be
relatively small but they are evidence of the fact that people have
been elected who represent their constituents.
I have a vested interest in this debate because I have a private
member's bill that made it through committee. If one is playing
Snakes and Ladders, that is all the way up to just about the top of
one set of ladders. The problem is that when one makes it over the
top one is on the downhill slide again which is what happens with
House business. When the the House prorogues and all of the
business dies on the Order Paper that means all of the private
members' business dies as well.
When I first heard that the government was planning on
changing legislation to bring back its own business as well as
private members' business, my immediate reaction was that we
should be careful what we say because whatever is said on this side
of the House is likely going to come back to haunt us when we get
to the other side of the House. We have stacks and stacks and stacks
of words that Liberal members on the government side, most of
them cabinet ministers, said when another government tried to do
exactly the same thing, that the government business should die
and it should be brought back again. If they want to do so they
should bring it back starting from square one.
(1315)
My original reaction was that there is a fair amount of work to go
through to get these things done. It goes through the legislative
branch of the House of Commons. There is a lot of work to get
legislation here. If the government has a majority, it is going to
come back sooner or later, why not bring it back sooner rather than
later? They are the government. We will do whatever they suggest,
so why not just do it?
That brings us to the how and why of this debate and why we are
having it in the first place. I think that most people on this side of
the House see the reasonableness in the argument that if you are
going to bring back legislation, why not bring it back in the way
that is the most cost effective and the easiest, leaving aside the fact
that the government very probably has absolutely nothing on its
platter other than the legislation it had in the last session. We are
waiting of course.
The government woke from its great slumber and has decided
that national unity is going to find its place on the front burners.
The problem is that the government does not have any legislation
so let us reintroduce the legislation that was on the books. Fine, but
if this is the plan, would it not make sense for the House leaders to
get together?
I could spend all kinds of time going through the hypocrisy of
the litany of members opposite. They stand on that side of the
House and say black is black when on this side of the House we are
saying white is white. I know that if I get too far down that road,
sooner or later the same thing will happen to me. Imagine what the
people who are watching this debate as it unfolds today are
thinking.
An hon. member: Stop dreaming.
Mr. McClelland: To the member opposite who just said to stop
dreaming, it is his nightmare and my dream. They never thought
they would see themselves back over there on that side of the
House either.
I understand the way the government works. It is the right and
the responsibility of the opposition to oppose and the government
to propose and very much of what we do here sometimes goes by
rote. We automatically oppose because that is what we are
supposed to do. It is supposed to test and strengthen the legislation
the government proposes.
Mr. Penson: What about accountability? They were here and
they have to be held accountable.
Mr. McClelland: Members surrounding me are saying that
perhaps the government should have been held accountable and
should be accountable.
(1320 )
Mr. Abbott: No, they are Liberals. You cannot count on them.
Mr. McClelland: They will be held accountable.
225
I apologize to members opposite if they are trying to find some
thread to what I am saying. I am trying to find it again as well.
The power of the government in our House of Commons is
absolute. I was quite surprised to learn just exactly how absolute
that power is. I thought there would be an opportunity for not just
members of Parliament in opposition and in the House but
members of Parliament in committee to work in a much more
collegial atmosphere in order to try to improve legislation. We are
here for the benefit of the taxpaying Canadian citizen, for all of the
citizens.
Given the fact everything the government does is considered a
question of confidence, I was somewhat disappointed to learn that
the whole notion of being able to lose a vote or to lose an argument
or to look at legislation as a possible win-win rather than a win-lose
is missing. It is missing here; it is missing in committee.
Members on this side feel frustrated as I am sure members
opposite do when they are asked by constituents: ``Why do you not
do something about this or that? Here is a situation that obviously
does not make sense. Why can you not do something about it?''
When we say that we are not the government, people reply: ``You
are the government, you are a member of Parliament. You are part
of the government''. We say that yes we are, but we are not the
people in charge and they ask: ``Well, who is in charge?'' The
Liberals are in charge.
Mr. Silye: We are not sure.
Mr. McClelland: The problem is this Parliament as with
previous Parliaments is really run by the strategists in the parties
and they are trying to figure out how to get re-elected.
Mr. Penson: The PMO.
Mr. McClelland: The Prime Minister's Office. That is the way
our system works so we have to accept it.
During the last Parliament one of the promises the Liberals made
to the people of Canada in order to get their support, to get their
vote which gave them a majority in the House of Commons, was
that they were going to change the way Parliament worked. They
would make it more inclusive and would involve opposition parties
in the day to day operation and would give opposition members as
well as backbench Liberal members a say and a feeling they were
participating in the affairs of the country. They promised to take the
affairs of the government out of the backrooms and put the affairs
of the country and government into the House of Commons and
into the committee rooms.
Those promises were genuinely made and genuinely felt because
the Liberals had just come through eight years in the wilderness.
They had spent eight years atoning for the sins they committed
while they were in government and in power.
Is it not funny how times change. It did not take very long before
the government decided it was going to be absolute in its authority
and in its control over all of the happenings here in Parliament. For
the first two years in government, the Liberals knew they were
facing a referendum in Quebec. The referendum would be on the
question of whether Quebec should stay or go.
Mr. Penson: The neverendum.
Mr. McClelland: In those first two years the Liberal
government bent over backward to ensure it did not do or say
anything that could in any way be interpreted as offending anyone
in Quebec, more particularly the Bloc. The Bloc, whether the
Liberals like it or not, represents many voters in Quebec, just as the
Reform Party represents many voters in other jurisdictions. They
were totally afraid of doing or saying anything that could in any
way be interpreted as offending the Bloc. This included the election
of officers in committee.
(1325)
Think about it. There is a political party in the House of
Commons, the Bloc, whose raison d'être is to take the province it
represents out of Confederation. The Bloc's raison d'être is to
break up the country. Its members have the perfect right to do so
and they have the perfect right to be here. It is an expression of the
strength of our democracy that they can be and that we can debate
it. Nobody is shooting at anybody. That is a sign of strength in our
democracy, not a sign of weakness. It is certainly my hope that at
the end of the day Quebec will continue to be a province within
Canada.
I will say that we are having a much more honest and open
debate about the future of Quebec and the future of Canada today
than we have ever had in the House. It is only through addressing
things honestly that we are ever going to resolve the problems we
have as a country.
While I do not concur and I did not appreciate it, I can
understand the fact that the government in the first two years of its
mandate bent over backward not to offend the Bloc, particularly in
committee. However today is another day. The referendum was
held in Quebec; the separatists lost. They lost on a question that
was fuzzy. Here we are in the House of Commons today and have
we started to take on the Bloc or the separatists head on? No we
have not. The Liberals have gone right back to their attitude of not
saying or doing anything that could in any way offend any member
of the Bloc.
It seems to me we should be putting our efforts into making sure
there is an honest representation of what the rest of the country
feels rather than bending over backward to appease the people who
would break up the country. It is time that everyone put all of their
cards on the table and dealt with the issues as they are. I suspect
that might be something the Liberals might be thinking of doing
now because they know that appeasement has not worked. The
problem is that the Prime Minister said this when he was out west.
He mused about it, and now all of a sudden this is no longer part of
the debate. What is part of the debate? Where is the debate? Why
do we not have this on the table?
226
I will conclude by coming back to the fact that the government
has the right and the responsibility to bring forward legislation it
promised during the election campaign under which it was able to
get the support of the people who voted for the Liberals. They
should keep the promises they made and which they put in writing,
like getting rid of the GST. Having made it, that is one of the
promises they should keep. They have the right and the
responsibility to bring that legislation forward.
The only avenue for the rest of us to have meaningful input into
what we do here in representing our constituents is through private
members' business. Private members' business and government
business should be treated discretely. They should not be lumped
together in an omnibus bill or motion and we are forced to vote
against private members' business that we support. It is a kind of
blackmail.
I will spend a couple of seconds talking about the how and the
why. There is not very much that cannot be done here in the House
of Commons with all parties if we treat each other with respect. If
the government has an idea that it wishes to change the way the
House of Commons works and how legislation is brought forward,
then it would be appropriate for the government to come to the
whips of the other parties represented in the House and say this is
what it would like to do. Why can we not work together collegially,
rather than having the government use the power of its majority,
sort of a jackboot diplomacy, over the backbench MPs of its own
side and of the opposition?
(1330)
Mr. Jake E. Hoeppner (Lisgar-Marquette, Ref.): Mr.
Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in the House today to speak on some
of the issues the Liberals have tried to convince us are right. Finally
we see the light of day and they see the light of day.
We are seeing that the electors in the last election were kind of
double crossed. They are finding out they elected a party that does
not keep promises, that is, a party that is not of action. It is a party
of misguiding the constituents and the electors. That will change in
the next election. It will be back in the opposition benches if at all.
One thing that really surprises me is that members on the other
side were so honest and probably sincere with their comments in
the last legislature that they were not afraid to get up and call a
spade a spade, and try to run on that basis during the election.
As a farmer it has been a disappointment to me when I see they
have made huge promises of how they would reorganize
agriculture, how they would go to the farmers for some input in
marketing, how they would allow these people to make the needed
changes and yet did not fulfil those promises. I do not think they
ever intend to.
When I see what is happening in the agriculture field today, they
are trying to more or less digress from what they said and put more
government rules and regulations into the system to get more
control over food processing and agriculture marketing.
It was astounding to me when I read an article in the Ottawa Sun
about a year ago when the former agriculture minister was a little
upset. Mr. Whelan, a man I always respected very highly in
agriculture during the early years when I farmed, said: ``We have
gone from a corporate, capitalist, democratic system to a
non-democratic, czarist, socialist system''.
Hold it a minute, boys. That is something I thought I would
never hear from an agriculture minister who served in the House, a
Liberal saying we had gone from a democratic, corporate system to
an undemocratic, czarist system. That is what eastern European
countries have experienced and we know what the results have
been there.
Is this something the Liberal government will keep promoting in
the House when I see, during the elections of the standing
committees, we do not even have a ballot to elect a vice-chair?
Somebody from the hierarchy dictates to the Liberals on the
standing committees how to vote.
What does that remind us of? That reminds us of a Hitler or a
Stalin telling his people exactly how to vote. Is that not correct?
Democracy to me means voting by ballot in seclusion where
nobody knows how we vote. It is supposed to be free.
(1335)
Look at what has been done in the House over two
reorganizations. Last fall we went through the same issues and the
same principles. People were told how to vote. ``We would rather
have a separatist party siting as official opposition than you real
Reformers''.
Real reform is what the House needs; not just the word reform, it
needs real reform. That is the only way we can start addressing
some of the problem in the House. It will not be done by
backbenchers moving their heads in conjunction with the rope
those on the front benches pull. It is like puppetry.
That is not a democracy. That sounds more like a kids game,
which is what I see happening a lot of times in the House. It seems
we are not really trying to run the country, we are trying to control
the minds of the people and their ideas by the way we influence one
another, the same way cabinet influences backbenchers.
227
Backbenchers for some reason are trying to influence the
opposition into seeing they are correct. They are trying to make
us believe we really do not know what the issues are. That is very
sad. When we start manipulating minds and ideas we go back to
what the former agriculture minister said, an undemocratic csarist
system. That really scares me. In all the countries where there has
been that type of democracy, a csarist system, people began
starving not just for food but for ideas and freedom to vote.
An hon. member: The Liberal benches are starving for that
same freedom.
Mr. Hoeppner: They have been starving for 30 years now, ever
since the Trudeau era. Mr. Trudeau ran not on ideas, not on
philosophy but on charisma.
That is what we are trying to determine today. Can another
election be won on charisma or on ideas? Which are we going to go
for? It looks to me as though charisma and ideas are dead, and so
Reformers will have to take over because we have something that
has not been seen before in the House: honesty, accountability and
the freedom to do what one thinks is right, not what the hierarchy
tells us.
Democracy comes back to the idea that we vote on a ballot and
nobody knows how we vote. Publicity can be put out saying: ``I
was against the government and I did not vote for it'', but what was
done behind closed doors? That is what I see in a lot of the
backbenchers.
We do not agree with the frontbenchers. We do not agree with
what the government is doing. When it comes time to make a
decision, it is not willing or able or capable. Why? Has anyone ever
thought why? The Prime Minister says: ``If you do not do what I
told you to do in the House, I will not sign your nomination papers
in the next election''. Does that not sound like coercion or
intimidation? I would hate to have a leader who would tell me he
will not sign by nomination papers because I am going after the
wheat board and the commodity exchange because they are the sole
entity of what I am doing.
Why are we even debating this? We should prorogue the House
for the rest of the two years. We would probably do more good
outside of the House than sitting here debating things we know are
a fact and that we cannot change. That is the problem in the House.
What can I say to a Liberal government that does not want to
listen?. We can tell the Liberals what was told to the Conservatives
in the last election. The Liberals were not elected, the
Conservatives were defeated. In the next election history will
change and we will defeat the Liberals because the people will vote
for the Reform Party. We will throw the Liberals out of the House
once and for all. We will have a reformed House that is honest and
accountable and that will really do something for this country.
(1340)
[Translation]
Mr. Osvaldo Nunez (Bourassa, BQ): Mr. Speaker, I am rising
of course in opposition to the government motion, the motion
tabled by the Liberal government, a Liberal party which was
outraged against a similar motion by the Conservative government
in 1991.
The Liberal government has tabled Motion No. 1 which allows a
minister, during the first 30 sitting days, with a mere statement
when proposing a motion for first reading, to restore that bill to the
same stage in the legislative process as it was during the previous
session. The bill needs only be in exactly the same form in every
detail as it was in the previous session. That is the rule.
The government has incorporated into the motion amendments
concerning the period for examination of the Main Estimates for
the fiscal year 1996-97. These amendments are related to
prorogation of the House and are of a technical nature. There is no
precedent for such a motion. The only precedent that exists dates
back to 1991, when the Conservative government tabled a motion
for debate on March 28 and moved closure on May 29.
Prior to 1991, Parliamentary precedent required such a motion to
have unanimous consent of the House, and this was democratic. If
all parties were in favour of this motion, there would be no problem
in proceeding case by case.
It is interesting to review the speeches made in 1991 by various
Liberal members, who were then in opposition. I will begin with
the member for Cape Breton-East Richmond, today a government
minister, who stated that they were opposed to the government
motion because ``the motion attempts to place before the House
five separate and distinct legislative matters which do not lend
themselves to being considered together. The government should
have given notice of five individual motions and this motion seeks
to circumvent, indeed to subvert, the normal legislative process of
this House''.
The hon. member for Kingston and the Islands, who often rises
to speak in this House, not so much since prorogation but during
the past two years at least, said in 1991 ``They have to be reinstated
in the usual course, but they ought to have been introduced and
dealt with as new bills in this session''. That is the tradition, the
rule, the custom. He added that ``any irregularity of any portion of
a motion renders the whole motion irregular. For this House to
adopt a bill without any debate, without any discussion at any stage
is completely irregular and improper''.
In 1991, the hon. member for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell
said ``The implications of ruling this motion in order would be such
that I fear we could render-if a government wanted to-this
House of Commons totally irrelevant and redundant''.
228
(1345)
The member for Cape Breton-East Richmond, whom I already
quoted today added, on pages 657 and 659 of Hansard: ``The
motion before us today in its substance is totally
unacceptable-[and] is designed for the sole purpose of subverting
the legislative rules of the Parliament of Canada''. What the hon.
member said at the time was pretty significant and fairly serious.
Today, however, they are doing an about face and are saying the
total opposite. Really coherent.
He went on to say: ``-trying to reinstate legislation which has
fallen dead as a result of the government's own ineptitude and
subsequent action with regard to proroguing this Parliament''. This
is exactly what is happening today. The Liberal government
decided on February 2 to prorogue the session. It knew where the
bill was at. Why was it not debated in the previous session? Why
did it not decide to prorogue at some other point?
The member for LaSalle-Émard, now the Minister of Finance,
said, again in 1991: ``We find ourselves in the situation we are now
in. The bill died on the Order Paper. In its supreme arrogance and
lack of understanding, this government comes to us and says: `we
would like to reinstate it'''.
Next, I would like to quote the member for Halifax, who said in
1991: ``The government should be ashamed. We are wondering
today why there was a prorogation-the House leader is presenting
us this pernicious motion-and I emphasize the word-in order to
speed up the passage of five bills, in total disregard for the
traditions of the House and the British parliamentary procedure and
in disregard for the Canadian people''.
The former fisheries minister, influential member of the Liberal
Party, the member for Humber-St. Barbe-Baie Verte, now the
Premier of Newfoundland said, again in 1991: ``Parliament is being
systematically destroyed by the government-in hundreds of years
of evolution of parliamentary government, such a motion has never
been put before any parliament-because [such a motion] is a form
of executive dictatorship-Parliament belongs to the
people-[government] uses the tyranny of the majority-to deny
the elected representatives-[their responsibility] to be heard in the
proper examination of bills''.
I come back now to the member for Kingston and the Islands,
who said: ``The government wants to impose a new definition of
democracy on Canadians, one of the greatest affronts to the House
in years. It is immoral for the government to introduce this motion.
The government is short-circuiting the legislative process to
consider five bills. This behaviour is reprehensible. The
government knows it. It has not produced a single tittle of evidence
to support this gross breach of our practice, and I suggest that it is
totally inappropriate''.
Next, I would like to quote the member for Winnipeg St. James,
who said: ``No government would want to resurrect a bill that was
deemed dead some time in the past-if the government in effect
says to heck with this House, to heck with the opposition, to heck
with precedent, if that is the view of the government, how much
more down the road can it go?''
(1350)
Finally, to quote the member for Saint-Léonard, the riding
neighbouring mine, and now the Minister of Labour: ``If the
government really intended to examine these bills, it should have
done it before the prorogation of the House and that should have
been negotiated.''
In my opinion, this motion is anti-democratic. It runs counter to
the rules, customs and traditions of British parliamentary
procedure. I see no reason whatsoever for the government's
decision to introduce this motion when two opposition parties are
against it.
This motion will affect several bills, bill C-111 in particular.
This bill on unemployment insurance I described in a previous
speech as a bill on poverty insurance or destitution insurance, since
its ultimate objective is to reduce benefits to the unemployed and to
attack the jobless rather than joblessness, contrary to the Liberal
red book's promise of ``jobs, jobs, jobs''.
Instead of creating those jobs, it has tabled Bill C-111 which is
also anti-union and anti-worker and has been criticized across
Canada. We have witnessed demonstrations in New Brunswick, in
Quebec, in Ontario, and last week in British Columbia. The
unemployed from the Outaouais region came here to demonstrate
against the bill. I personally took part in a regional demonstration
against the bill held in Montreal by three labour federations.
Everyone felt that the bill would be considered to have died on the
Order Paper. But now with this motion we find ourselves faced
with the bill at the same stage, as if there had been no prorogation.
This is unacceptable to all those who have worked against this bill,
which is anti-worker and anti-union.
For all of the foregoing reasons, I am vigorously opposed to this
government motion.
[English]
Mr. Ray Speaker (Lethbridge, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, on this
government motion there are two issues that absolutely must be
dealt with and addressed. First is the lack of integrity the
government has demonstrated on this issue. My colleagues have
said very clearly that when government members were in
opposition they made a commitment not to do what they are doing
today. That is issue number one, the lack of integrity the
government has shown on this issue.
The second point I would like to make is with regard to the
appropriateness of this motion relative to private members'
business. Can private members' business be tied into this
resolution as part of government business? The point I would like
to
229
make is that private members' business is just that; it belongs to the
private members.
Everything we do in this House, or in any legislative assembly
should be to give the private member the opportunity to express his
or her opinion on a special item, or an item relative to constituents,
or an item relative to a special interest. In a free way, a private
member should be able to express his or her thoughts without
government control; without the government saying when
something should be done or when it cannot be done; or the
government taking away the agenda or giving the agenda to the
private member.
(1355 )
That is exactly what is happening. The government has
intervened in private members' business. Those are the two topics I
will cover in my remarks in the few remaining moments.
First I will deal with the integrity of the government. As some of
my colleagues have done, I will quote some of the remarks made
by hon. members of the government when they were opposition
members in 1991.
I quote the remarks of the current premier of Newfoundland, the
former member for Humber-St. Barbe-Baie Verte, Mr. Brian
Tobin, when he stood in this House. He spoke very clearly on a
motion quite similar to the one we have here today. He said: ``We
see the decision by the government today to put this motion before
the House as a confirmation of the destruction, and that is what it
is, of our parliamentary system''. No truer words have been spoken
from this side of the House. If they are good on this side, they
should be just as good on the other side of the House.
Mr. Tobin went on to say that by such a motion as we are looking
at here today, the parliamentary system is being systematically
destroyed by government. He went on to say that Canadians
watching this debate are wondering what the fuss is all about. It is
about destroying the parliamentary system.
We can look at what other participants in that debate had to say
about the matter. I refer now to a current minister, Mr. David
Dingwall, the member for Cape Breton-East Richmond-
The Speaker: I know we are just getting back in shape, but I
would ask you please not to mention hon. members who are
currently in the House by name.
Mr. Speaker (Lethbridge): Mr. Speaker, the current Minister of
Health made these remarks while he was a member of the loyal
official opposition. He said very clearly to the House at that time in
words well spoken, as they usually are by our Minister of Health:
``Third and finally, I contend that the motion is in principle
unacceptable in that it seeks to circumvent, indeed to subvert, the
normal legislative process of this House. In the past, this kind of
thing has been done only by unanimous consent. Now the
government is seeking to establish an omnibus precedent by
attempting to force this procedure on the House. This is an
offensive and dangerous departure from the practices of all
parliamentary bodies and it is, I believe in accordance with
Beauchesne's citation 123(1) and Standing Order 1, unprecedented
violation of the checks and balances written into the rules
governing the normal legislative process''. That says it.
I could go on to quote other members of the House-
The Speaker: It being 2 p.m. we will now proceed to Statements
by Members.
_____________________________________________
229
STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS
[English]
Mrs. Jean Payne (St. John's West, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the
future of the aquaculture industry in Newfoundland is very
promising. Announcements made by the federal aquaculture
development strategy is evidence of this.
Also, the aquaculture steering committee's strategic plan for the
development of Newfoundland and Labrador is further evidence.
Additionally, a $100 million economic renewal program has
committed $20 million to the industry to foster development.
Aquaculture in Newfoundland is entering a growth period where
production is expected to rise dramatically over the next two to
three years and well into the future. With this new growth, new jobs
will be created in my riding of St. John's West as well as many
other rural and coastal communities where limited opportunities
exist.
* * *
[Translation]
Mr. Bernard Deshaies (Abitibi, BQ): Mr. Speaker, I speak on
behalf of thousands of citizens who consider the mining sector vital
to the economy and the lifeblood of many regions in Quebec and
Canada.
In December, the Bloc Quebecois supported the positions of the
Standing Committee on Natural Resources in an interim report.
The committee proposed practical solutions for improving
mining's environmental accountability while improving the
environmental assessment process to include, as in the Quebec
scheme, firm deadlines for the various stages of the procedure.
Although we opposed federal interference in environmental
assessment, the Bloc Quebecois must, for the good of the mining
industry, ask the new ministers of the environment, fisheries and
230
transport to use better judgment than their predecessors with
respect to the Canadian and Quebec mining sectors.
* * *
[English]
Mr. Randy White (Fraser Valley West, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, let
me quote criminal defence lawyer Russ Chamberlain of Richmond,
British Columbia: ``Victim impact statements are just venting the
spleen and don't serve justice and should be outlawed, banned
completely''. He also said that victims want to blame everyone else
for their ``pathetic'' lives.
These kinds of lawyers and Liberal politicians-what is the
difference?
Let me identify just a few of the unconditional victims' rights
that will exist in a Canada governed by the Reform Party. Victims
must have the right to choose between giving oral or written impact
statements. Victims must be informed in a timely fashion of the
details of the crown's intention to offer a plea bargain before it is
presented to the defence, and victims must also know why charges
were not laid if that is the decision of the crown or the police.
Criminals have far too many rights under the Liberal
government. We must devote ourselves to victims' rights as we
should have done in the first place.
* * *
Hon. Audrey McLaughlin (Yukon, NDP): Mr. Speaker, on
March 4, 1986, 10 years ago, then Minister of Justice John Crosbie
promised his government would put sexual orientation into the
Canadian human rights code. Ten years later we still have not seen
a federal government willing to prohibit discrimination against
gays and lesbians in the Canadian human rights code.
The current Liberal justice minister said initially that it was
pretty hard to do in pre-election time. Then he said we had to fight
separatism and that is why he could not put it in the human rights
code. The Prime Minister said he would like to see it in the human
rights code but we were just running out of time.
We are not running out of time. The Liberal government has run
out of guts, and I challenge the Minister of Justice for once to
prohibit sexual discrimination in the Canadian human rights code.
Seven provinces and one territory have done it. Surely the Liberal
government can do it as well.
* * *
Hon. Roger Simmons (Burin-St. George's, Lib.): Mr.
Speaker, the government's new employment insurance package
has the support of the majority of Canadians, and so it should
because the old UI was desperately in need of reform.
However, certain measures in the new plan, including the
intensity rule and the divisor method, must be changed, as the new
HRD minister has agreed. Without that change the very people who
are most in need of our assistance will be hurt. People such as
seasonal workers, substitute teachers and others who live in areas
of high unemployment would rather be working full time, year
round but cannot through no fault of their own.
I support their cause. The long standing Canadian practice of
fairness and equality for all must prevail as the government puts its
finishing touches on its new employment insurance reforms.
* * *
Mr. Elijah Harper (Churchill, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, in January
the hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs announced the launching of a
new agency to promote the port of Churchill, the Gateway North
Marketing Agency.
The launching of this agency is good news for the port and good
news for Canadian farmers. For the first time we have an agency
devoted to connecting shippers and producers with the cheapest
way to ship from the prairies to Europe and Latin America. The
launch of Gateway North will help to make our northern ports
self-sufficient and save western farmers money.
Gateway North is good news for all of us.
* * *
Mr. Jesse Flis (Parkdale-High Park, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, nine
days ago Canada condemned Cuba for shooting down two civilian
aircraft. It was an unwarranted act resulting in the tragic death of
two U.S. citizens.
Without question the United States has the right to respond to
this incident, but the passage of the Jesse Helms-Burton bill, which
poses a direct threat to Canadian companies doing business with
Cuba, is itself an excessive use of force.
(1405 )
The United States has every right to determine its own trade
policy with Cuba, but the Helms-Burton bill oversteps legal
boundaries and violates the purposes and principles of the UN
charter. It furthermore infringes on the sovereignty of Canada and
that of other friendly trading nations in the Caribbean basin.
The Prime Minister of Canada speaks for all Canadians when he
says: ``Friends are friends and business is business''. However, the
Helms-Burton bill is no way to do business nor is it a way to treat
your friends.
231
Therefore I urge the U.S. Congress to kill such an irresponsible
piece of legislation.
* * *
Mr. Jack Ramsay (Crowfoot, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, I will read
from an article that appeared in the Toronto Sun referring to Paul
Bernardo and the mollycoddling of other sadistic criminals in this
country:
In our society, it's the criminals who really count. Violent criminals get an
inordinate amount of our attention. They are celebrities, and so they have all the
trappings of success. For them, room service and cable. For them, counselling,
university education, exercise equipment, health care, clothing, mail service,
hot showers and central heating.
Commit something big enough and get your own room away from the other
riff-raff, which will ensure that you are not subjected to the same sorts of abuse
you have been shelling out to others.
The bottom may drop out of the social safety net for the rest of us but one
sociopath and many other criminal deviants will be safe and warm.
I commend my colleague from Fraser Valley for his initiative in
introducing a motion calling on the government to draft a victim
bill of rights.
* * *
[Translation]
Mr. Don Boudria (Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, Lib.): Mr.
Speaker, on March 1, the Quebec minister of transport announced
the second stage of highway 50, between Mirabel and Lachute. The
work, over a distance of 11 kilometres and estimated at over $19
million, will be completed over the next three years. We are taking
the trouble to point out this good news because we feel it important
to stress the fact that this work is being done as part of the
Canada-Quebec agreement on highway improvement.
The government of Canada has long been the favoured partner of
communities in the Outaouais and in eastern Ontario. We are
delighted that the Government of Quebec has finally decided to
back us in our efforts to provide the appropriate tools for economic
development to this important region of Quebec.
* * *
Mr. Nick Discepola (Parliamentary Secretary to Solicitor
General of Canada, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, last week, the Prime
Minister of Canada appealed for solidarity and co-operation from
all Canadians. Our country's economic recovery requires a
concerted effort by all stakeholders to help make the various
government initiatives efficient and cost-effective.
We must all do our part to set our country back on the road to
growth and prosperity. Governments across Canada are working
hard to address the problem of our crippling debt and deficit.
Governments are shrinking to an acceptable size and becoming
more efficient. Citizens, business and labour must in turn support
our efforts to create jobs and stimulate the economy. The Prime
Minister is holding out his hand to all our Canadian partners.
Together, let us grab it so that all Canadians can be better off.
* * *
Mrs. Christiane Gagnon (Québec, BQ): Mr. Speaker, the
Minister of Finance picked international women's week as the time
to table his new budget. It is therefore with great confidence that
women are waiting to see what the minister has in store for them in
the future. As you may recall, the upcoming budget comes only a
few months after the fourth international conference on women,
where Canada made a formal commitment to continue to help
women in their efforts to achieve equality.
What women want from their government are concrete and
positive measures that will improve their situation and that of their
children. The Bloc Quebecois supports all women's groups in
Quebec and Canada. We hope that the minister, especially during
international women's week, will honour his government's
commitments and show some initiative. Given his track record, he
has a lot of catching up to do.
* * *
[English]
Ms. Maria Minna (Beaches-Woodbine, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, it
is a great pleasure for me to commemorate International Women's
Week. Its origins can be traced to labour strikes in both 1857 and
1908 in New York city. Workers were protesting the dangerous
working conditions and exploitative wages of women employed in
the textile industry.
(1410)
Later, women's rights and suffrage also became issues of
concern. In 1911 the first International Women's Day was
celebrated to acknowledge women's struggles.
March 8 marks a global celebration of women's
accomplishments and of advancements toward gender equality. It
is also a time to focus on issues that affect women's lives. The
government is determined to address these issues. I stand proud of
our efforts to counter violence against women, inequality in the
workplace and gender discrimination.
Imagine a world in which true equality is no longer a distant
dream.
232
Mr. Keith Martin (Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca, Ref.): Mr.
Speaker, today another suicide bombing occurred in Israel,
murdering over 20 people and injuring countless others. We
deplore this atrocity in the strongest possible terms and our deepest
sympathies go to the victims of this terrible crime.
This is the second attempt in two days to derail the Israeli peace
process and I urge the Israeli and Palestinian people to continue to
pursue the path to peace, for by not doing this will only lead to war.
To Mr. Arafat, bring the murderous element of Hamas to swift
justice. Work with the Israelis to supplant the social organization of
Hamas and build up the economic situation of the Palestinian
people, for by doing this you will cut the legs out from Hamas'
support.
Those who commit these crimes are the enemies of peace. Their
intention is the pursuit of war, pit person against person and
neighbour against neighbour. You must not let this happen. You
must not let the dove of peace be slain by its enemies for the sake of
all the people in the Middle East.
* * *
[Translation]
Mr. Michel Guimond (Beauport-Montmorency-Orléans,
BQ): Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Bloc Quebecois, I want to
condemn the new terrorist incident that has struck hard at Israel's
population today, and jeopardized the peace process in the Middle
East.
The bombing in Tel-Aviv, for which the Hamas fundamentalist
movement has claimed responsibility, is the fourth such incident to
occur in less than ten days in Israel and it has claimed several
dozens more innocent victims.
This senseless violence not only jeopardizes the long and
difficult peace process, but also adversely affects negotiations on
the eventual status of Palestinian territories.
We wish to express our deep sympathy to the families of the
victims and to the Israeli people.
The Bloc wishes to stress the need to resist the temptation to
retaliate, and to carry on the peace talks. It is the fight against
violence, and not the fight against peace, that must prevail.
[English]
Mr. Rey D. Pagtakhan (Winnipeg North, Lib.): Mr. Speaker,
the committee on alcohol and pregnancy of the Manitoba Medical
Association is to be recognized for its healthy baby month project
aimed at increasing public awareness on the ill effects of alcohol
during pregnancy.
During this special month, which ends March 15, many
community groups throughout Manitoba are volunteering their
time and expertise, holding panel discussions, displaying posters
and making public service announcements to further this cause.
Consumption of alcohol during pregnancy is the leading
preventable cause of mental retardation. Hence, this project by the
multi-disciplinary committee under the chairmanship of Dr. Oscar
Casiro merits the support of the House.
Preventive strategies such as this one will help reduce the
occurrence of fetal alcohol syndrome and thereby help ensure the
well-being of our youngest Canadians, the future of our nation.
* * *
Mr. Andrew Telegdi (Waterloo, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, in
December Statistics Canada reported the rate of people charged
with impaired driving dropped in 1994 for the 11th consecutive
year. More important, over the last decade there has been a steady
drop in the number of alcohol related deaths.
Statistics Canada attributes the decrease mainly to a slow change
in social norms brought about by government campaigns and the
involvement of community groups such as Mothers Against Drunk
Driving.
Many of the people involved with Mothers Against Drunk
Driving are volunteers who have lost relatives and loved ones to the
senseless carnage of drunk drivers. The efforts of these volunteers
are most praiseworthy and laudable.
Impaired driving is the most frequently committed violent crime
in this country. It has a far greater impact on society than any other
crime.
We are still losing four Canadians a day because of impaired
driving. These are preventable deaths.
We must continue the campaign until all Canadians know that
impaired driving is not acceptable in Canada.
233
Mr. Myron Thompson (Wild Rose, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, I
appreciate this opportunity to pay tribute to two Mount Royal
College criminology students, Marino Mihoc and Sean Mulligan.
These two individuals have developed a community oriented
policing program which aims to build a stronger community by
establishing innovative crime prevention projects in the middle
schools and ultimately to teach kids how to become better citizens.
(1415 )
This is a unique project in that it has not been tried anywhere else
in Canada. I strongly encourage all members of Parliament to
become advocates of this project in their own constituency and to
begin by contacting my office for further information.
This could be a project that would provide a reduction in crime
throughout Canada. Crime prevention must begin at an early age.
This program provides the guidance necessary to those children
leaning toward destructive behaviour.
Best wishes to these two young men for this community oriented
police program in Airdrie, Alberta.
* * *
[Translation]
Mr. Ronald J. Duhamel (St. Boniface, Lib.): Mr. Speaker,
today marks the beginning of International Women's Week. I
encourage all Canadians to join with the international community
to emphasize women's achievements and to reflect on the
initiatives that need to be taken in the coming years.
I also want to point out that Canada was awarded the world prize
for greatest progress made in the last decade, regarding the status
of women. The prize is awarded by the International Federation of
Business and Professional Women.
We are making significant progress in the promotion of equality
for women. However, we must pursue our efforts, particularly as
regards violence against women. We must recognize that violence
against women violates human rights, something which is
unacceptable in Canada.
Governments, media, businesses, communities, families, as well
as social, educational and religious institutions all have a role to
play in making our world a safer place.
233
ORAL QUESTION PERIOD
[Translation]
Mr. Michel Gauthier (Leader of the Opposition, BQ): Mr.
Speaker, in Quebec and in the maritime provinces, a growing
number of demonstrations are being held to oppose the reform of
the unemployment insurance system, whose net result will be to
exclude thousands of workers from the scheme. In the middle of an
employment crisis, the government is cutting benefits to the
unemployed and, in order to reduce its annual deficit, is creaming
off the surplus from the UI fund although it has not contributed to it
since 1990.
My question is for the Minister of Human Resources
Development. Could the minister, whose role should be to protect
the unemployment insurance system, tell us whether, on the eve of
the budget, he has received guarantees from his colleague, the
Minister of Finance, that he will stop using the fund surplus to
artificially lower his deficit?
Hon. Douglas Young (Minister of Human Resources
Development, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, as regards the proposed
unemployment insurance program, we are all aware of the concerns
that have arisen pretty well throughout the country and we have
said clearly that, as soon as the parliamentary committee resumes
its deliberations, we will raise, properly I hope, the question of
calculating benefits for the unemployed and the intensity rule.
As to the surplus, I am sure that the hon. Leader of the
Opposition is aware that, last year and two years ago, we were in a
deficit situation with unemployment insurance.
Frankly, I would reassure the Leader of the Opposition that the
surplus has nothing to do with the changes we are going to make to
the unemployment insurance program. This program must reflect
reality for both people looking for work and the labour market.
Mr. Michel Gauthier (Leader of the Opposition, BQ): Mr.
Speaker, is the Minister of Human Resources Development daring
to claim that the $5 billion surplus already being counted on by the
Minister of Finance does not come from two main sources: the cut
in unemployment benefits and the exclusion of hundreds of
thousands of unemployed from the plan?
Hon. Douglas Young (Minister of Human Resources
Development, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, at the moment, the program has
not undergone the changes proposed in Bill C-111. The present
surplus is the result of a fairly dramatic change in the country's
employment rate.
No doubt the Leader of the Opposition is aware that, in recent
years, the job situation has improved in the country, though it
remains painful for those unemployed.
234
(1420)
I would point out to the hon. Leader of the Opposition that, over
the past three years, there has, each year, been a fairly small
reduction in the contributions made by employees and employers
to the UI program.
Mr. Michel Gauthier (Leader of the Opposition, BQ): Mr.
Speaker, I must point out to my hon. colleague that the Minister of
Finance, in last year's budget, counted on annual surpluses of $5
billion in the coming years. Now they tell me that they will cut
payments to the unemployed and the plan's benefits without taking
into account the changes to the plan. Now I really do not
understand.
My question is as follows: Does the Minister realize that, by
cutting benefits to the unemployed in order to create a huge surplus
in the unemployment insurance fund, he will continue to unload the
federal government's deficit onto the provinces, since it is the
provinces that will have to look after the many unemployed who
are no longer eligible for benefits under the plan with the
government's proposed changes?
Hon. Douglas Young (Minister of Human Resources
Development, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, we are very aware of the
possibility that the changes proposed in Bill C-111 could indeed
result in a number of people being denied the benefits they have
enjoyed for many years.
This is why my predecessor before Christmas and I, since I have
been asked to take on the department, confirm that, with the
resumption of the deliberations of the parliamentary committee-I
am certain of it, because all members of the House have heard their
constituents' claims and concerns-the members of the committee
representing all parties in the House will sit down at the table later
this week to begin the work that is part and parcel of the legislative
process and which consists in making the necessary changes to Bill
C-111, thus reflecting some of the concerns raised by my hon.
colleague.
Mrs. Francine Lalonde (Mercier, BQ): Mr. Speaker, my
question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development.
The proposed unemployment insurance reform, that the Minister
of Human Resources Development seems stubbornly determined to
bring back instead of letting it die on the Order Paper as he should,
contains many unacceptable measures, which we will apparently
discuss, including the reduction of the maximum yearly insurable
earnings from $42,400 to $39,000, when what is required is an
increase.
My question is the following: Given that employers would no
longer have to contribute beyond this $39,000 ceiling, does the
minister not realize that this will act as a very strong incentive for
all businesses, and those so-called capital-intensive operations that
pay high wages in particular, to make as many employees as
possible work overtime?
Hon. Douglas Young (Minister of Human Resources
Development, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, this legislation contains several
elements that seek to do the exact opposite of what my hon. friend
has just described. In fact, I think there is ample evidence across
the country that many people believe that the UI program is being
abused and that there is not enough incentive for people to go out
and look for a job.
We have taken the approach of having every hour worked count
and including in the program right from the start anyone who has
worked at least one hour. I do not quite understand the question
about limiting the contributions made by high income earners.
Naturally, by reducing the maximum payable, we hope to protect
low income earners. It is always interesting to see how systems
evolve, because today's newspapers report that Quebec plans to
increase the insurance premiums paid by those with the highest
salaries.
It is obvious that various people have many solutions or options
in mind, and I can assure my hon. friend that, when committee
work resumes, we will gladly listen to all your suggestions and, if
any of them seem to meet the needs of the workers-after all, they
are the ones we should be trying to help-we will pay serious
attention to what you are saying.
(1425)
Mrs. Francine Lalonde (Mercier, BQ): Mr. Speaker, if the
minister realizes that Quebec's proposal, and not his own, may be
the way to go, perhaps he should do what everyone is asking him to
do, that is to say, withdraw the bill and review its basis, as it does
not make any sense under the present circumstances.
Does the minister realize that, with this lower ceiling acting as
an incentive for businesses to increase overtime, he is running
counter to the growing consensus about the need to reduce
overtime, put in place conditions conducive to job creation and
make room for young people? This bill runs counter to this, as we
will keep pointing out, and the minister will have to account for
this.
[English]
Hon. Douglas Young (Minister of Human Resources
Development, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, one of the fundamental
elements in all of these proposals is that everyone in Canada
recognizes the need to make sure that everybody takes up every
hour of work that is available to them no matter where they live in
the country.
I want to assure my hon. colleague that whatever we do when
modifying the present elements of the law, under no circumstances
235
are we going to consider any approach that will make it easier for
people to take advantage of the system.
I do not think that anyone in the country, other than the hon.
member, who has listened to what we have had to say, would
believe that somehow it is going to be easier to take advantage of
unemployment insurance.
What we are saying, which has offended a great number of
people in the industries and in the businesses to which I think the
hon. member was referring, is that they are concerned about first
hour takeup. They are concerned about the fact that the legislation
is going to take care of everybody in the country immediately when
they go to work, whether or not they are working part time. The
current legislation allows people to perform work for less than 15
hours a week which leads to the abuses to which the hon. member
just referred.
Do not think it will be any easier. You might be a little surprised
that it will be substantially tougher than it is now.
* * *
Miss Deborah Grey (Beaver River, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, last
week the Prime Minister said that his job was done. He was
satisfied with a $17 billion deficit projection and that now it was
time to create a few jobs.
What the Prime Minister does not seem to grasp is the fact that
deficit elimination is job creation. Thirty-three cents of every
taxpayer dollar goes to pay just the interest on the federal debt.
That is 33 cents that cannot go to health care, post-secondary
education and pensions.
Does the government really feel that its job is done when 33
cents out of every taxpayer dollar ends up in the hands of money
traders? Why will the finance minister not announce a firm date for
a balanced budget?
Hon. Douglas Peters (Secretary of State (International
Financial Institutions), Lib.): Mr. Speaker, we have consistently
believed that a two-year rolling target is the best system to get to a
balanced budget.
Mr. Abbott: Some people believe in Santa Claus too.
Mr. Peters: The finance minister has consistently said that.
I would like to read something from the Globe and Mail in case
the hon. member missed it. It states: ``It is worth noting that Mr.
Martin has yet to report a deficit bigger than the one he predicted.
This week he will probably say the deficit was less than that, which
works out to 4 per cent of GDP or less than any deficit since
1976-77''. That is not a bad record. It is a darn good record.
The Speaker: We are back into the second week now and I
would ask members please to refrain from using names instead of
ridings or titles in the House.
Miss Deborah Grey (Beaver River, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, when
the minister talks about rolling targets, how long are we going to
roll along until this thing gets balanced?
If somebody puts the high jump level at one foot I would say
anyone could trip over that kind of low and ridiculous target. The
Liberal government says that it wants to create jobs, especially for
young Canadians. However, in the upcoming budget with its $17
billion projection, more jobs will be created on Wall Street than on
any university campus: $250 million for young people versus
$50,000 million for interest payments alone to international money
lenders.
(1430)
Why will the government not offer young Canadians real hope
and a chance at a real long term job by simply balancing the
budget; no rocking, no rolling, just balance it?
Mr. White (Fraser Valley West): You don't know what rock
and roll is, so let's go back a few years.
Hon. Douglas Peters (Secretary of State (International
Financial Institutions), Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the Reform Party is
not willing to listen to answers, they just want to ask questions.
The real answer to the question is that we will. If the hon.
member listened to the throne speech, youth unemployment was a
key part of it and she will have to listen to the results that come up
later on.
We have committed to a balanced budget. We have committed to
two-year rolling targets. We have not only done that, we have met
our targets which is something new in this country.
Miss Deborah Grey (Beaver River, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, youth
unemployment is key but there is no sense lending money to kids
and then charging it back later, that much plus interest. It is
scandalous.
The government has tried to make a $17 billion deficit sound
like a victory and a $12,000 a year internship amount sound like the
key to fighting and winning against a 16 per cent youth
unemployment rate.
The reality is that Canadian young people are less likely to find a
job now than when the government took office in 1993. What is
more, any young person lucky enough to even find a full time job
will be paying more taxes than they can ever expect to receive in
benefits from health care, social assistance and public pensions.
Why is the government condemning Canadian youth to a life of
unstable employment, higher taxes and reduced benefits by its
stubborn refusal to balance the books now?
Hon. Douglas Peters (Secretary of State (International
Financial Institutions), Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I would love to to see
their budget this year. We did not get a chance to.
236
Last year they put out their ideas and those ideas would have
condemned Canadians to lower pensions. It would have
condemned Canadians to less social benefits. It would have
condemned Canada's youth to even higher levels of
unemployment. We are doing something. The Reform Party is just
talking.
* * *
[Translation]
Mr. Gilles Duceppe (Laurier-Sainte-Marie, BQ): Mr.
Speaker, the U.S. government has decided on certain measures
against Cuba in retaliation for the destruction of two civilian
aircraft on February 24. If the Helms-Burton bill is passed,
Canadian companies doing business with Cuba will be liable to
prosecution and their directors will be denied access to the U.S.
Thousands of Canadian jobs will thus be at risk.
Can the Minister of Foreign Affairs report on the current status
of discussions between his government and that of the United
States on this matter?
[English]
Hon. Lloyd Axworthy (Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lib.): Mr.
Speaker, as the hon. member knows, today the Minister for
International Trade is in Washington meeting with his counterpart,
raising the serious objections that we have expressed since we
knew the bill was being considered by Congress.
The Prime Minister is at a meeting of the Caribbean leaders in
Grenada where he is working actively to try to gain their support
for a statement. We are undertaking a number of initiatives with
other countries to mount international pressure against the
implementation of this bill.
Within the bill itself-it has not been passed-there is room for
discretion. The U.S. president can waive those parts of the bill that
apply specifically to countries outside their boundaries.
At this time we are really taking the leadership internationally in
mounting pressure against the bill to convince the U.S.
administration that the implementation of all articles of the bill
would not be in its best interest internationally.
[Translation]
Mr. Gilles Duceppe (Laurier-Sainte-Marie, BQ): Mr.
Speaker, considering that the American bill would obviously be in
violation of international trade laws, will the minister commit to
defending Canadians before the appropriate courts in this
connection, should the U.S. Congress and the President pass this
bill?
[English]
Hon. Lloyd Axworthy (Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lib.): Mr.
Speaker, there are a couple of hypotheticals in that question: one, if
the bill is passed and two, if the president does not implement the
bill.
Our position is that the most effective protection for Canadians
is to insist that those parts of the bill that apply to Canadians and
other countries not be implemented. That would save having to get
into major legal wrangles or countermeasures.
(1435 )
However, it is quite clear from what the Prime Minister and
other spokespersons of the government have said that we will
protect the interests of Canadians. We will look at all measures that
are necessary to have that protection, but the first and most
effective way of doing it is to see if we can convince the Americans
not to go ahead with implementing those parts of the bill that apply
extraterritorially.
* * *
Mr. Monte Solberg (Medicine Hat, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, this
weekend the environment minister said of the GST, ``to deny that
it's not an issue would be incorrect. People remember us taking a
very firm position''.
My question is for the Minister of National Revenue. Exactly
what would be today's firm position on the GST? Would it be the
pre-election position that her caucus came up with, which was to
axe, abolish or kill the GST? Or would it be today's position, to
replace and harmonize the GST into what amounts to a new super
tax on consumer spending?
Hon. Douglas Peters (Secretary of State (International
Financial Institutions), Lib.): Mr. Speaker, our position on the
GST remains completely unchanged. We said in the red book that
we would replace it with a tax that generates equivalent revenue,
that was fairer to consumers and to small business, that minimizes
disruption to small business and promotes federal-provincial
co-operation and harmonization. That was our position in the red
book. That is our position now.
Mr. Monte Solberg (Medicine Hat, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, I really
wish the Prime Minister would embrace the merit principle when
he picks his cabinet.
I remind the revenue minister that two years ago she said of the
GST: ``As Liberals we were elected to change the tax, abolish the
tax, scrap it''. That is what the revenue minister said two years ago,
six months after the election.
Why is she and her government weaselling out of their
commitment to abolish this hated tax? Why has she changed her
mind?
237
Hon. Jane Stewart (Minister of National Revenue, Lib.): Mr.
Speaker, I am pleased to respond to the question because nobody
is weaselling out of a commitment to reform the GST.
We talked about harmonizing that tax. I know the Minister of
Finance is working diligently with all the provinces to find a
solution. I worked with members of the hon. member's party on the
finance committee and we agreed that finding a harmonized tax is
what Canadians want, and we will do that.
* * *
[Translation]
Mr. Jean-Marc Jacob (Charlesbourg, BQ): Mr. Speaker, my
question is for the minister of Defence. The events surrounding the
mock terrorist attack on the Quebec Citadel, in 1992, brought back
into the limelight the rather suspicious circumstances in which
private Jonathan Brunet found a tragic death, in February 1994, at
the Quebec Citadel. His mother does not believe he committed
suicide and is asking for an independent investigation.
Can the minister explain why the Canadian forces gave the
soldier's mother three different accounts of her son's death, and
why several reports, documents, and personal effects have not yet
been turned over to the family following the department's
investigation in this matter?
[English]
Hon. David M. Collenette (Minister of National Defence and
Minister of Veterans Affairs, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, normally I
would not want to discuss matters of such a personal nature in the
House of Commons. This deals with the very unfortunate death of a
former member of the armed forces.
There were a number of investigations. We particularly wanted
to assure that the mother of the deceased was comfortable in
knowing that the armed forces had dealt with the matter in the most
appropriate of ways.
There has been some concern about the personal effects of that
individual. Those are being addressed. That is all I can really say at
this time.
[Translation]
Mr. Jean-Marc Jacob (Charlesbourg, BQ): Mr. Speaker,
contrary to the minister's answer, who wants to be reassuring and
claims that an in-depth investigation was conducted, it has been
confirmed by several sources that there was no such investigation.
Unfortunately, these recent revelations bring back to mind the
wave of suicides which was revealed last year and was, to say the
least, highly suspicious. Is the minister going to act at long last and
order an investigation independent from his department to get to
the bottom of this matter once and for all?
[English]
Hon. David M. Collenette (Minister of National Defence and
Minister of Veterans Affairs, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, if I felt there
was need for an independent inquiry into such a matter I would
have no hesitation, as the hon. member knows. We have launched
an independent inquiry into the deployment of the Canadian Armed
Forces to Somalia in 1993 so that is not really at issue.
(1440)
I do take umbrage with some of the comments made by the hon.
member with respect to a suicide wave. We have dealt with this in
the House of Commons. These unfortunate deaths plague society at
large, not just in Canada but worldwide and run about half the rate
of Canadian society as a whole. We have made documents public
which show there is no undue tendency of members of the armed
forces to take their lives out of step with the rest of Canadian
society.
* * *
Mr. Bob Mills (Red Deer, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, all Canadians are
shocked and saddened by yet another bombing just a few hours ago
in Israel. We join with all Canadians in sending our condolences to
the families.
We are also outraged that terrorists receive support and funding
from certain foreign countries. What measures will the Canadian
government take to lead, I repeat lead, to punish the countries that
fund such terrorism?
Hon. Lloyd Axworthy (Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lib.): Mr.
Speaker, I know all members of the House and all Canadians echo
the sympathies extended by the member for Red Deer.
I should report to the House that the Prime Minister has already
written to the Prime Minister of Israel on behalf of the Canadian
people to express his deep sympathy and his outrage at the actions
that have taken place. Unfortunately there was another bombing
attack this morning, the third in a row. In many cases the injured
and dead are children which makes the situation even more serious.
I will be making a statement in the House immediately following
question period. We will outline the concerns we have as a
government and the steps we will be taking as a country to help
support the peace process in Israel and to counteract the very
malicious and violent acts of terrorism that seem to be so rampant
and which are so destructive to all.
Mr. Bob Mills (Red Deer, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, it seems to me
that every country should condemn such sickening bombings. I do
not think civilians are ever a legitimate target for such attacks.
238
We all think of Mr. Gerry Adams and his refusal to condemn
the IRA after the bombings.
Will the minister take it upon himself to contact the ambassadors
in Canada for all of these countries? If even one of them refuses to
condemn these actions we could then call for an investigation and
make it public in Canada and at least take some action. These
activities demand some sort of action.
Hon. Lloyd Axworthy (Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lib.): Mr.
Speaker, there is no doubt at all that the increasing incidents of
terrorism do demand the most intense and active international
action we can possibly muster.
I remind the House that just a few months ago my colleague the
Solicitor General hosted a meeting of the P-8 countries in Ottawa
to deal with counterterrorism. It was a major conference which
looked at a number of aspects.
It would certainly be our intention to promote some of those
measures at the G-7 meeting which will take place this spring. It is
something we can take some leadership on in trying to get the
international community to act. As well, there are actions which we
can take within our own country. As I said, I will outline some of
those actions in a statement I propose to make later in the House.
I certainly welcome the points of view expressed by the member
for Red Deer on behalf of his party. We all want to look at ways in
which we can try to stamp out terrorism or restrain or limit it so
that it does not become something that will destroy what is good in
the country. It is a case of the bad driving out the good. We will
certainly look very carefully at the representations from the hon.
member.
* * *
[Translation]
Mr. Yvan Loubier (Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot, BQ): Mr.
Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance.
In the speech from the throne, the government clearly states that
it intends to create a Canadian Securities Commission.
Is the Minister of Finance aware that the securities business is a
field of exclusive provincial jurisdiction in which he is not allowed
to interfere?
[English]
Hon. Douglas Peters (Secretary of State (International
Financial Institutions), Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the Canadian
Securities Commission was mentioned in the speech from the
throne. Its genesis was from the suggestion of the provinces. We
were quite clear that it is a provincial jurisdiction but several
provinces have been asking us about it. We have put forth an
optional proposal to the provinces and they will be allowed to opt
in or opt out. Anyone who has ever worked in the securities
business in Canada realizes that the proliferation of agencies one
has to go through is a dreadful thing. A national Canadian
securities commission would be appropriate and would be of great
benefit to Canadian business and the Canadian people.
(1445)
[Translation]
Mr. Yvan Loubier (Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot, BQ): Mr.
Speaker, I listened to the secretary of state. It is incredible. He said
that there is a proliferation of agencies and yet, the federal
government is going to create new ones, top-loading the securities
business. Mr. Daniel Johnson, who was Quebec Premier in 1994,
wrote a letter to the minister or to the secretary of state, stating that
Quebec and the then labour minister were adamantly clinging to
the securities area. So, why this plan to create securities
commissions?
How can the government say in the speech from the throne that it
is going to withdraw from areas of provincial jurisdiction and, at
the same time, that it is going to interfere in these areas, claiming
there is a certain proliferation? Such an argument does not make
any sense.
[English]
Hon. Douglas Peters (Secretary of State (International
Financial Institutions), Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the hon. member
forgets that the provinces that do not want to follow this can opt
out. Is that a compulsory system? Certainly not. Many provinces
have wanted to opt in to a Canadian securities commission. It will
replace the provincial securities commissions for those provinces
that do want to opt in. It is an excellent measure and one that all
Canadians should support.
* * *
Mr. John Murphy (Annapolis Valley-Hants, Lib.): Mr.
Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Agriculture and
Agri-Food.
During the last year the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture
has expressed serious concerns over how the feed freight assistance
transition fund would be paid out. The federation has identified
direct payments to producers would be the most useful option to
help the industry adapt during this transition period.
Can the minister assure the members of the House that the
concerns of the Nova Scotia producers have been listened to and
when can we expect a final decision on this matter?
Hon. Ralph E. Goodale (Minister of Agriculture and
Agri-Food, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I certainly appreciate the hon.
member's important question. As he knows, for the past several
months a task force has been at work consulting with all of the
affected FFA
239
stakeholders and offering advice about how the FFA adjustment
process should proceed away from subsidization.
The task force has been guided by the able leadership of my
friend the Secretary of State for Agriculture and Agri-Food. The
final report has been received. We will be in a position to respond
in detail this afternoon. I am pleased to say that we have been able
to respond favourably to the vast majority of the task force's
recommendations, including the specific point mentioned by the
hon. member.
* * *
Ms. Val Meredith (Surrey-White Rock-South Langley,
Ref.): Mr. Speaker, Malachy McAllister is a former member of the
terrorist organization Irish Nationalist Liberation Army. He was
convicted of attempted murder of a Belfast police officer in 1982.
In 1988 he arrived in Canada and claimed refugee status which was
denied and he has been ordered deported. However instead of being
deported, McAllister has been working here in Ottawa as a
stonemason on yes, the Peace Tower.
I ask the Minister of Immigration: Does this government believe
that a way of keeping track of people facing deportation is to give
them a job on Parliament Hill?
[Translation]
Hon. Lucienne Robillard (Minister of Citizenship and
Immigration, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, it is very normal for the person
in question to use any legal means he can find in our Immigration
Act. So he did use all the remedies permitted by law. In February,
the federal court gave a ruling on the removal of this person. At this
moment, the removal process is being finalized.
(1450)
[English]
Ms. Val Meredith (Surrey-White Rock-South Langley,
Ref.): Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to hear that the minister is
adamant in having this terrorist removed from the country.
On Friday the parliamentary secretary for immigration assured
us that Bill C-44 was looking after all of these and preventing these
types of individuals from using the appeal process. Will the
minister continue in this vein and make sure that anybody
convicted of terrorist activities in other countries will immediately
be deported and be prevented from using the appeal system?
[Translation]
Hon. Lucienne Robillard (Minister of Citizenship and
Immigration, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, it is clear that the priority of the
department of immigration is first and foremost to guarantee the
security of Canadians. As a country, we definitely will not
welcome people with a criminal or terrorist past.
However, our Canadian laws allow some legal recourse that we
must respect. Once all legal means have been used, as in the
present case, we must proceed with the removal of the person and
this is what we will do in this situation.
* * *
Mr. Jean-Guy Chrétien (Frontenac, BQ): Mr. Speaker, my
question is to the Minister of Agriculture. Once more, Canada is
having a commercial dispute with the United States with regard to
the agri-food sector. Some 138,000 Canadian jobs are at stake,
including 45,000 in Quebec.
Could the government commit itself to do its utmost to make
sure that custom tariffs determined by the World Trade
Organization in the area of milk, poultry and egg productions are
not tampered with in any way because of false American claims?
[English]
Hon. Ralph E. Goodale (Minister of Agriculture and
Agri-Food, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to say that in the
face of the NAFTA challenge launched by the United States with
respect to Canada's supply management system, all of the relevant
farm organizations, all of the provincial governments and the
Government of Canada are totally united in putting forward the
most vigorous, articulate and thorough defence of this valuable
made in Canada system for the supply management of our
agricultural products.
We are launching that vigorous defence in the face of the
American action for three very compelling reasons: first, because
supply management has served this country very well; second,
because we firmly believe we are right as a matter of trade policy
and trade law; and third, because this government promised
Canadian farmers, including Quebec farmers that we would defend
our system of supply management. We will keep that promise.
[Translation]
Mr. Jean-Guy Chrétien (Frontenac, BQ): Mr. Speaker,
contrary to what it did in the area of lumber, could the Liberal
government promise not to make any concession to the Americans,
but rather to use all its resources and all the means at its disposal to
force the Americans to abide by the rules of the WTO?
[English]
Hon. Ralph E. Goodale (Minister of Agriculture and
Agri-Food, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, over the course of the last year or
so the United States has repeatedly invited us on the Canadian side
to renegotiate these tariff equivalents with respect to supply
management. The Canadian government with the full support of
all the provinces and the full support of Canadian supply
management
240
agencies has consistently said no to the request from the United
States.
We believe the United States is trying to obtain by the
mechanism of the dispute settlement process what the United
States could not obtain through the negotiating process. Canada
intends to stand firm. Canada will not blink.
* * *
Mr. Dick Harris (Prince George-Bulkley Valley, Ref.): Mr.
Speaker, my question is for the minister responsible for the Royal
Canadian Mint.
At the launch of the $2 coin, the minister said: ``In our efforts to
reduce the deficit, we are examining every expenditure for
potential savings''. Despite this promise of frugality we find that
the mint is spending in excess of $2 million to advertise this new
coin.
(1455)
Considering that the coin was already a fait accompli, can the
minister explain how spending $2 million to promote the coin
contributes to saving money? Is there a hole in the minister's logic?
Hon. Diane Marleau (Minister of Public Works and
Government Services, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, when I viewed the ads,
as the hon. member did, I had some concerns. had some concerns. I
contacted the Canadian Mint and am pleased to say that the ads
stopped last Tuesday.
Mr. Dick Harris (Prince George-Bulkley Valley, Ref.): Mr.
Speaker, I am so happy the minister has given me that answer.
If the minister has taken such swift action to stop these ads, will
she also take quick action to stop the ads currently being run by
Canada Post which promotes how far we can send a letter in
Canada for 45 cents? Canada Post is the only way we can send a
letter for 45 cents and if it is the only option that Canadians have,
why do we need to advertise it?
Hon. Diane Marleau (Minister of Public Works and
Government Services, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I will certainly look
into this matter as well and take whatever action is necessary.
* * *
Mr. Harold Culbert (Carleton-Charlotte, Lib.): Mr.
Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Revenue.
As most of us are fully aware, this is currently that wonderful
season for tax filing. Taxpayers throughout New Brunswick would
like to know what if anything Revenue Canada officials could
possibly do to make the tax filing chore a little easier this year in
New Brunswick and throughout Canada.
Hon. Jane Stewart (Minister of National Revenue, Lib.): Mr.
Speaker, the member has put his finger directly and clearly on a key
focus of Revenue Canada which is to find the strategies that make it
as easy as possible for Canadians to pay their taxes.
Certainly the member is aware that we are using new technology,
E-filing and electronic transfer of funds. Most specifically, I am
pleased to announce the expansion of a pilot in the member's own
province of New Brunswick whereby 65,000 residents of his
province can now use the telephone to file their tax returns.
I look forward to working with the member and others in the
province of New Brunswick and their constituents to streamline
that program to make sure that it is available to all Canadians in the
near future.
* * *
[Translation]
Mrs. Pauline Picard (Drummond, BQ): Mr. Speaker, my
question is for the Minister of Health.
The Minister of Health has recently added a page to this
government's book of horrors when he stated that the health care
system would be severely threatened once Quebec has achieved
full sovereignty.
Since his department is a perfect example of duplication through
federal interference in an area under provincial jurisdiction, will
the minister not agree that it would be preferable to make cuts
within his own department, which has 8,000 employees and spends
more than $1 million a year, rather than in health services to the
public?
[English]
Hon. David Dingwall (Minister of Health, Lib.): Mr. Speaker,
I am sure the hon. member is aware that the people in the province
of Quebec overwhelmingly support the five principles of the
Canada Health Act. In point of fact, in excess of 63 per cent of the
people of the province of Quebec support medicare in Canada.
I want to say to the hon. member that it is vitally important for
all Canadians regardless of where they live, regardless of their
socioeconomic status, that they have access to good quality health
care. Many royal commissions which have been put in place by
provincial governments across the country have said that the
question is not one of funding, the question is one of management.
There is no duplication between the various levels of government,
and if there were we would move forward to correct it.
241
(1500)
Mr. Grant Hill (Macleod, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, when the health
minister was in opposition there was a huge uproar every time cuts
to medicare took place. Now that he is in a position to put his
money where his mouth is, will the minister stop this slow bleeding
of health care? Do your job.
The Speaker: I presume that statement was meant for me, and I
will.
Hon. David Dingwall (Minister of Health, Lib.): Mr. Speaker,
we on this side of the House, Canadians in the province of Alberta
and those people over there have been waiting patiently to ascertain
the policy position of the Reform Party on medicare.
On two separate occasions the leader of the third party as well as
its critic have made conflicting views and statements with regard to
medicare. It is high time the Reform Party came clean and told
Canadians where it stands.
* * *
Mr. Bill Blaikie (Winnipeg Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my
question is for the regional minister from Winnipeg or for
whomever else might answer for the proposed sale of Union
Station in Winnipeg.
The minister will be aware of allegations made in the local
media that a proposed sale of Union Station was not only not
tendered but that Liberal insiders were given privileged
information with respect to the building.
This deal fell through. However, can we have assurances that if
this building continues to be for sale, although I do not think it
should be, it will be for sale in an openly transparent tendered way
so that everybody is given the same information? Will the
government be asking the auditor general to investigate what
happened the first time the place was put up for sale?
Hon. Jon Gerrard (Secretary of State (Science, Research and
Development)(Western Economic Diversification), Lib.): Mr.
Speaker, the hon. member is making a whole series of largely
unfounded accusations.
The government has set up a number of instruments for
economic development and we are using these in the most
independent and impartial way possible to make sure Canadians
have jobs and that our young people are better off. The hon.
member will see those results.
* * *
The Speaker: I draw to the attention of the House the presence
in the gallery of Mr. Roberto Pedraza Martinez, President of the
Commission of Indigenous Affairs of the United Mexican States
and accompanying delegation.
Some hon. members: Hear, hear.
The Speaker: I also draw your attention to the presence in the
gallery of the hon. Dr. Ron Stewart, Minister of Health of Nova
Scotia.
Some hon. members: Hear, hear.
_____________________________________________
241
ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS
[English]
The Speaker: It is my duty, pursuant to section 23(2) of the
Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, to lay upon the table
certified copies of the 1994 reports of Electoral Boundaries
Commissions for the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta,
Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova
Scotia and Newfoundland.
(1505 )
These reports are deemed referred to the Standing Committee on
Procedure and House Affairs.
* * *
[Translation]
Hon. Ron Irwin (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern
Development, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order
32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, copies
of the first annual report of the Gwich'in land claims agreement
implementation committee.
* * *
[English]
Mr. Paul Zed (Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the
Government in the House of Commons, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, in
accordance with subsection 198(3) of the Canada Elections Act,
and pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I wish to table, in both
official languages, copies of recent amendments to the Federal
Elections, Fees, Tariff. Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), this
document should be deemed permanently referred to the Standing
Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.
* * *
Mr. Paul Zed (Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the
Government in the House of Commons, Lib.): Mr. Speaker,
pursuant to Standing Order 36(8), I have the honour to table, in
both official languages, the government's responses to six petitions
presented during the first session.
242
Hon. Lloyd Axworthy (Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lib.): Mr.
Speaker, in the last eight days we have witnessed with horror and
heartache repeated acts of terrorism in Israel.
Today in the heart of downtown Tel Aviv a terrorist yet again
carried out an attack against innocent individuals. Worse still,
many of the casualties appear to be children.
[Translation]
All Canadians vigorously condemn these acts of terrorism. We
are with the people of Israel at this tragic time. The Prime Minister
has written to Prime Minister Peres. I have also written to the
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Barak, to express our support.
Today, the Prime Minister of Canada asked the other heads of
state meeting in Grenada to condemn the attacks in Israel and they
agreed to.
[English]
Later this afternoon I will be meeting with members of the Israel
committee to discuss their concerns. I will also be writing directly
to PLO chairman Yasser Arafat to urge him to take all steps within
his power to prevent further acts of terrorism.
I acknowledge very clearly, as we all must, that Canada must
also do its own part. I will be speaking to my colleague, the
solicitor general, and to other ministers to review what steps can be
taken by Canada to ensure terrorists find no home here.
The issue of terrorist funding was raised in question period
regarding the extent of the problem in Canada. We do not know
how far, how modest or how great, but whatever the amount we
know they can be important to groups themselves. Therefore we
are committed to doing all we can to deprive terrorists of this
funding.
We will also be discussing with our counterparts in the P-8 group
of nations what further actions we can take to root out terrorism.
There is no doubt the terrorists who carried out these attacks had
in mind one basic target, the Middle East peace process. It is tragic
in today's world that the bad drives out the good and the extremists
can force what was a positive, constructive development to turn
this way.
We should remind ourselves today of all that has been
accomplished in the peace process. Israel is at peace with its
neighbours Egypt and Jordan. It has with PLO chairman Yasser
Arafat found a partner. Now these partners must work together to
defeat those who seek to destroy all the peace process has
accomplished so far.
[Translation]
We think that the peace process must continue. It is the best
response to terrorism.
(1510)
Mr. Peres has carried on Yitzhak Rabin's peace efforts with
courage and determination.
[English]
We have learned that there are people who believe they can
achieve acts of change by the sword. I think all of us in the House
are of the opinion that it really is through words, discussion and
dialogue that peace is brought about. The events that so deeply
penetrate our hearts, just as the shrapnel and weapons penetrated
bodies, we have to continue to ask why such senseless acts. We are
a generation that has witnessed far too many such acts of violence
and terrorism and have seen so many cut down.
I am reminded of the words of Robert Kennedy when his brother
was assassinated: ``What has violence ever accomplished, what has
it ever created? No martyr's cause has ever been stilled by an
assassin's bullet. No wrongs have ever been righted by riots and
civil disorders. A sniper or a terrorist is only a coward, not a hero.
An uncontrollable mob is only the voice of madness, not the voice
of the people''.
We are reminded this day of how fragile our societies are and
how vulnerable to extremists, fanatics and true believers each of us
really is. Even in our own country we receive some overtones of
this.
We offer our great hope for the continuation of that peace
process. We offer to the people of Israel and to all the Middle East a
great hope that this terrorism can be brought to an end and that we
can all work together to bring lasting peace and stability to this
very tortured and troubled region.
It is my understanding that my parliamentary secretary has
discussed matters with members of the opposition and they would
be prepared to entertain a unanimous motion condemning the acts
in Israel and offering our support for the peace process. We will
circulate those for consideration during the period of motions. We
ask the House to join us in expressing our deep concern.
[Translation]
Mr. Gilles Duceppe (Laurier-Sainte-Marie, BQ): Mr.
Speaker, on behalf of the official opposition, I wish to condemn
this new terrorist attack against the Israeli people, which threatens
the Middle East peace process.
This bombing, which killed or wounded dozens of innocent
victims, is the fourth one in Israel in less than 10 days.
243
The Bloc Quebecois wishes to express its profound sympathy
to the families of the victims, to the people of Israel, and to all
Jewish people around the world, including the Jewish community
in Quebec.
This gratuitous violence threatens not only the long and difficult
road to peace but also the negotiations on the eventual status of the
Palestinian territories. We want to stress the need to resist
provocation. The peace talks must continue. The fight against
violence must prevail over the fight against peace.
We cannot let Yitzhak Rabin's tragic death take with it the hope
of a lasting peace between Israel and her Arab neighbours. The best
response to radicalism is to continue and strengthen the peace
process.
The Bloc Quebecois hopes that these tragic and violent events
will not hamper the pursuit of Messrs. Arafat and Peres' diplomatic
efforts to establish a peace plan in the region. The process initiated
must prevail over the radical currents that flout democratic values
and promote violence.
We were therefore happy to hear the PLO chairman state, and I
quote: ``Today's crime reinforces our determination to pursue our
policy of fighting terrorism here and abroad. We must work with
Israel to destroy their structure and eradicate terrorism''.
Chairman Arafat's Sunday announcement banning the military
wings of the Muslim fundamentalist movements in the West Bank
and Gaza also demonstrates this commitment.
The Canadian government must offer its full co-operation in
thwarting the efforts of those who seek to destroy the peace
process. It can count on the official opposition's support in this
regard.
Mr. Speaker, I seek the unanimous consent of the House to
observe a minute of silence in memory of the innocent victims of
the fundamentalist movement Hamas.
(1515)
[English]
Mr. Bob Mills (Red Deer, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, what can I say
that would give meaning to the senseless bombing of civilians that
has taken place in Israel for the third time in the last week? Friends
and families of victims have once again had their hearts broken by
despicable terrorists.
These cowardly acts are inexcusable and, while the vast majority
of people throughout the world will condemn them, I would like to
address those people and those countries who do not. To all those
who make excuses for the bombers or who sit on the sidelines and
give silent approval, you should look in the mirror. Do you like
what you see? Do you not realize that you are the moral
accomplices in the murder of women and children? We must hold
these people accountable.
The time has come for the international community to take
strong, unequivocal steps to crush terrorism worldwide and
severely punish those individuals and countries that finance
terrorism.
We all know that bombs, guns and supplies are not cheap. The
money has to come from somewhere. Often it comes from abroad.
If the world community can work together to cut off this financial
backing, then hopefully many terrorist organizations will wither.
Therefore I urgently request that the Minister of Foreign Affairs
take a leadership role in punishing those individuals and countries
that support terrorism worldwide. The Reform Party will support
him in this measure and so will all Canadians. There is no time to
waste. The victims of terrorism are demanding action now, and it is
through our decisive action that we will create a deserving
memorial in their honour.
Once again, I would like to send my deepest condolences to the
people of Israel and the Canadian Jewish community. I assure them
that we will work with them to find justice for the victims and
punish the terrorists who never should be allowed to hide and get
away with their crimes.
Mr. Bill Blaikie (Winnipeg Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, on
behalf of the federal NDP caucus, I would like to express our
outrage at this series of events, the most recent one being a few
hours ago. I would like to express our condolences to the people of
Israel and say that we share with them that sense of powerlessness
that sometimes comes over us in the face of this kind of terrorism,
in the face of radical evil, in the face of extremism.
At the same time as we share that sense of powerlessness, we
want also to share with them a determination to see the peace
process through and to make sure that the terrorists do not succeed
in derailing it.
We say to the Israeli people, do not be divided by this event. Do
not turn on each other. Let us not hear any cries of Perez next or the
kinds of things that we have heard from certain elements in Israeli
society. In spite of the pain, in spite of the terror, we want to see an
Israeli people united and determined to see the peace process
through.
I think there is a special place in hell reserved for people who use
children as hostages and who make children the objects of terrorist
attacks. I do not care whether it is a Muslim hell, a Christian hell or
a Jewish hell. It is a special place in hell that is reserved for people
who do this.
We ought to reflect perhaps on the way in which we are all part
of the same mentality when we consider the way in which we held
each other's civilian populations, including children, hostage to the
nuclear deterrent for 40 years. It is part of the modern age and it is
something we all have to shake. When we see it in its raw, brutal,
obvious form we condemn it. Let us condemn it wherever we find
it.
244
[Translation]
The Deputy Speaker: My colleagues, the House has heard the
motion put forward by the Leader of the Opposition in the House.
Does the House give unanimous consent for the motion to be tabled
and adopted?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
[English]
[Editor's Note: The House stood in silence.]
(1520 )
Mr. Axworthy (Winnipeg South Centre): Mr. Speaker, in
consideration of these very important matters, as I indicated in my
statement, I would like to move a motion with the unanimous
consent of the House which would express the point of view of this
House concerning the events in Israel. We have not reached
motions yet but considering the timing I would ask for consent to
do that.
The Deputy Speaker: The minister is quite correct, we have not
reached motions yet. Is there unanimous consent to proceed with
the matter?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
Mr. Axworthy (Winnipeg South Centre): Mr. Speaker, I thank
the members of the House for their courtesy and response. I seek
the unanimous consent of the House for the following motion to be
moved and adopted without debate:
That Canada strongly condemns repeated acts of terrorism against the people of
Israel, and that the Government of Canada and the people of Canada make every
effort to ensure that the enemies of the peace process will not prevail.
(Motion agreed to.)
* * *
Hon. John Manley (Minister of Industry, Minister for the
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Minister of Western
Economic Diversification and Minister responsible for the
Federal Office of Regional Development-Quebec, Lib.) moved
for leave to introduce Bill C-4, an act to amend the Standards
Council of Canada Act.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)
* * *
[Translation]
Hon. John Manley (Minister of Industry, Minister for the
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Minister of Western
Economic Diversification and Minister responsible for the
Federal Office of Regional Development-Quebec, Lib.) moved
for leave to introduce the bill entitled: ``An act to amend the
Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the Companies' Creditors
Arrangement Act and the Income Tax Act''.
(Motion deemed agreed to, bill read the first time and ordered to
be printed.)
* * *
[English]
Hon. Ron Irwin (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern
Development, Lib.) moved for leave to introduce Bill C-6, an act
to amend the Yukon Quartz Mining Act and the Yukon Placer
Mining Act.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)
* * *
Mr. Herb Grubel (Capilano-Howe Sound, Ref.): moved for
leave to introduce Bill C-213, an act entitled the Constitution Act,
1996 (balanced budget and spending limit).
He said: Mr. Speaker, the Parliament of Canada is limited in its
freedom to pass legislation by the charter of rights and freedoms.
The private member bill I am introducing today is designed to
limit parliamentarians in their ability to run budget deficits, which
in effect provide benefits for voters today at the expense of unborn
generations who have no vote and representation in today's
Parliament.
(1525 )
The record shows that Parliament has been totally irresponsible
in its disregard of the interests of future generations. My bill will
make it responsible by prohibiting deficits, limiting the growth of
spending and imposing fines on MPs who vote for deficit budgets
and excessive spending growth.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)
* * *
Mr. Alex Shepherd (Durham, Lib.) moved for leave to
introduce Bill C-214, an act to provide for improved information
on the cost of proposed government programs.
245
He said: Mr. Speaker, I am happy to reintroduce my bill dealing
with government financing.
Members of the House are often required to vote on various
pieces of legislation. It occurs to me that quite often members of
Parliament and the general public have no idea of exactly what the
cost will be or its future impact on taxpayers.
The bill would require that prior to all legislation being voted on
that it be properly costed and the costing be attested to by the
Governor General. I believe if we had had this type of legislation in
the past we would not have the debt and deficit problems which
now exist.
I am pleased to introduce the bill which will provide an
awareness and a better focus among parliamentarians on some of
the debt and deficit problems we have.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)
* * *
Mr. Alex Shepherd (Durham, Lib.): moved for leave to
introduce Bill C-215, an act to appoint a taxation ombudsman and
to amend the Income Tax Act to establish certain rights of
taxpayers.
He said: Mr. Speaker, it pleases me once again to reintroduce my
private members' bill which I have entitled a taxpayers bill of
rights. Basically the bill would provide for an ombudsman who
would act as an adjudicator between taxpayers and the government.
Revenue Canada has become more and more desirous of
increased revenues from taxpayers. It has used some of its
authoritative mechanisms to, I believe, infringe on the civil
liberties of Canadians to the extent of unnecessary seizures and
other onerous acts.
This bill will protect widowers and widows from having to sell
their properties in restitution of back taxes or taxpayers from
having to relinquish their homes. It also provides a window of
opportunity for restitution and compensation for wrongful acts by
Revenue Canada. It provides for $50,000 compensation for
wrongful acts by Revenue Canada on the taxpayers of Canada.
The United States and the United Kingdom have similar acts. It
is long overdue here in Canada.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)
* * *
Mr. Roger Gallaway (Sarnia-Lambton, Lib.) moved for
leave to introduce Bill C-216, an act to amend the Broadcasting Act
(broadcasting policy).
He said: Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to introduce this bill to
amend the Broadcasting Act. As more players enter the
marketplace to provide television programming services to
Canadians, it is necessary that the CRTC understand that the
consumer's interest is paramount.
(1530 )
To this end I am introducing this bill which will amend the
broadcast policy section of the Broadcasting Act to direct the
CRTC never again to permit negative option billing or other such
practices.
Clearly the potential for this still exists, but in the interests of
Canadian consumers the bill will level the playing field between
supplier and consumer of services, something over which
Canadians expressed strong opinions last year during the consumer
revolt against cable companies.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)
* * *
[Translation]
Mrs. Pierrette Venne (Saint-Hubert, BQ) moved for leave to
introduce Bill C-217, entitled: ``An act to amend the Criminal Code
(protection of witnesses)''.
She said: Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure of tabling today this
bill to amend the Criminal Code so that every person who testifies
in proceedings relating to a sexual offence or assault, or in which
the offender allegedly used, attempted to use or threatened to use
violence, is afforded the same protection as witnesses under 14
years of age are currently afforded under the Criminal Code.
During this kind of proceedings, the accused will not be able to
question the victim. In such cases, the judge will appoint counsel to
conduct the cross-examination.
(Motion deemed agreed to, bill read the first time and ordered to
be printed.)
* * *
[English]
Mr. Jay Hill (Prince George-Peace River, Ref.) moved for
leave to introduce Bill C-218, an act to amend the Criminal Code
and the Young Offenders Act (capital punishment).
He said: Mr. Speaker, the purpose of the bill is to impose the
death penalty on adults convicted of first degree murder. Canadians
are demanding fundamental changes to our criminal justice system,
and almost 70 per cent have called for the reinstatement of capital
punishment.
The bill provides additional safeguards against miscarriages of
justice by allowing questions of both fact and law to be considered
throughout the appeals process. Evidence for whether capital
punishment is a deterrent for other murderers is not conclusive, but
at least criminals guilty of premeditated first degree murder will
not be back on the streets to kill again.
246
Too many Canadians have died at the hands of violent criminals
who show no remorse for the victims of their crimes. These people
will never be rehabilitated, no matter how long they stay in prison.
The bill also addresses the growing public concern over light
sentences for violent young offenders. It calls for a range of stiffer
minimum penalties for youth convicted of first degree murder.
I recommend that the government allow a free vote on the bill
and encourage all members to seek actively the views of their
constituents on this important issue.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)
* * *
Mr. Lee Morrison (Swift Current-Maple
Creek-Assiniboia, Ref.) moved for leave to introduce Bill
C-219, an act to amend the Canada Labour Code (severance pay).
He said: Mr. Speaker, the purpose of the bill is to remove from
the Canada Labour Code the provision that denies severance pay to
employees who at the time they are terminated from employment
are entitled to a pension under certain plans or legislation.
Currently, no matter how inadequate a pension may be, it
deprives an employee of the right to severance pay. Passage of the
bill would end an injustice and would end the enshrinement of age
discrimination in the Canada Labour Code.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)
* * *
(1535 )
Mr. John Solomon (Regina-Lumsden, NDP) moved for leave
to introduce Bill C-220, an act respecting the Energy Price
Commission.
He said: Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to introduce the bill
respecting the energy price commission. The bill responds to the
concerns and complaints of millions of Canadians about unfair gas
pricing, unjustifiable price increases for gasoline and government
tax hikes on gasoline.
The bill establishes an energy price commission to regulate
wholesale and retail prices of gasoline. The purpose of price
regulation is to avoid unreasonable increases that affect the cost of
living, agricultural production costs and depressed business
activity.
The bill will facilitate reasonable consistency in prices from
province to province, allowing for production and distribution
costs. The regulation further minimizes the risk of collusion in
pricing and prevents dominant suppliers from setting unreasonable
prices.
The bill also links the issue of price control to competition. Any
investigation of an alleged offence under the Competition Act that
is related to gasoline pricing is remitted by the Competition
Tribunal to the commission for investigation and a report to the
tribunal before it makes a determination or order on the matter.
Every one penny increase in gasoline takes about $375 million
out of the economy. This commission will make sure the money is
either justified or not.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)
* * *
Mrs. Rose-Marie Ur (Lambton-Middlesex, Lib.) moved for
leave to introduce Bill C-221, an act to amend the Competition Act
(illegal trade practices).
She said: Mr. Speaker, the bill would amend the Competition Act
by creating an offence for manufacturers and distributors of motor
vehicles and farm equipment to engage in certain marketing
practices with their dealers. In most cases franchise agreements
provide that a dealer shall not carry any other line or ``dual''
without the written permission of the manufacturer. In practice that
permission is rarely forthcoming.
The consequences of this restrictive arrangement are that the
dealer's investment in one line of motor vehicles or farm
equipment may substantially exceed the investment actually
required to efficiently supply the sales and servicing demands
faced by a particular dealer in his or her market.
By allowing the dealer to offer one or more new lines of new
motor vehicles or farm equipment I believe the bill would produce
two positive results. First, the investment of the dealer would be
utilized more efficiently and effectively and, second, the public in
the dealer's market would be better served.
I urge all members to support the bill for the benefit of Canada's
business community.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)
* * *
Mr. Don Boudria (Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, Lib.): Mr.
Speaker, I move that the first report of the Standing Committee on
Procedure and House Affairs, presented to the House on Friday,
March 1, be concurred in.
247
Mr. Bob Ringma (Nanaimo-Cowichan, Ref.): Mr. Speaker,
I understand the motion before us is a debatable motion and
therefore I would like to offer the following in debate.
(1540)
If adopted by the House, the motion would establish the
membership of the standing joint committee of the House. The
Reform Party does not oppose the membership of any of the
committees, but we do oppose the way the committees have been
run over the first session of the 35th Parliament.
We have every reason to believe that there is nothing likely to
change in this regard during the second session. The main question
we are asking here is why this love-in between the Liberal benches
and the Bloc Quebecois. We cannot answer that question. That is
why we have taken the route to have a debate on the matter to
expose some of the problems we see.
This situation is particular galling when it comes to the public
accounts committee of the House which can be chaired and is
chaired by a member of the opposition. In spite of our efforts we
have found that the Liberal benches have deliberately contrived to
have that chair taken by the Bloc Quebecois.
We have nothing against the individual members of the Bloc
Quebecois. They are competent, professional people. What we
have against it is that they are separatists. They want to divorce
Quebec from Canada and we as federalists say this is wrong. It is
wrong for the government benches to be saying yes, let they have
all the vice-chairs, particularly the chair of the public accounts
committee.
This is being done, led by the chief government whip, in spite of
some of the quotes from the Prime Minister. In January 1994 he
said: ``I know very well that if members of the official opposition
keep talking about separation and constitutional problems they are
not living up to why they are here''.
More recently he also said: ``My blood is boiling when I see
those separatists in front of me because I fought them all my life''.
The Globe and Mail quotes the Prime Minister as admitting that he
would rather have the Reform Party leader as his official opponent.
It was one of the few times that the Prime Minister has been so
publicly clear about his displeasure over the powerful separatist
role in Parliament. The words of the Prime Minister obviously do
not square with the actions of his party, led by the chief government
whip.
During the first session we attempted to bring these concerns to
the attention of the House through various points of order. Each
time our concerns fell on deaf ears. The Speaker's refusal to
entertain our points of order has left us in a catch 22.
When we raised questions about the election of committee chairs
and vice-chairs at the committee, we were told the Liberals were
simply backing the Bloc because it was tradition. We have then
been summarily dismissed by the Liberal majority. This leaves us
with no choice but to take the issue up as points of order in the
House. Having done that, they have all been summarily dismissed
to date. We have been on this merry-go-round for two years and our
members are frustrated. One can tell by the look on their faces that
they have had it.
It is important for me to clarify once again that this frustration is
not personal but is professional. Reform members are frustrated
not for themselves but for the vast majority of Canadians who
support a united country yet cannot have their views adequately
represented in the committee hierarchy because of the persistent,
unexplainable love-in between the government and the Bloc
Quebecois.
(1545)
Mr. Szabo: Mr. Speaker, on a point of order. The member raised
an issue which is completely contradictory to the ruling of the
Chair with regard to the position of the official opposition. Given
the ruling by the Chair as to who constitutes the official opposition,
the rules of procedure and the House rules clearly state the
provisions with regard to chairs and vice-chairs of committees. The
member clearly is arguing a matter which is challenging the ruling
of the Chair and contrary to the standing orders.
The Deputy Speaker: With great respect to the member for
Mississauga South, I think the matter he is raising is one of debate.
However, when the member for Nanaimo-Cowichan uses words
like ``summarily dismissed'' it seems they are a veiled reflection
that the Chair did not rule carefully on the matter. I ask him to
avoid terms in further remarks that suggest the Chair was not doing
its job.
Mr. Ringma: The summary dismissal I was talking of was on
the part of the government benches and not of the Chair.
Incidentally it may be clear that I simply do not accept the last
argument put forward either.
From day one of the 35th Parliament the Liberals have displayed
a total lack of regard for the legitimate election process by blindly
backing the Bloc candidates while under the watchful eye of the
government whip. In election after election of committees we have
seen Liberals dismiss qualified Reform candidates. This trend has
continued into the second session.
For example, on February 29th the procedure and House affairs
committee held its organizational meeting for the purpose of
electing a chair and two vice-chairs. At that meeting my Reform
colleagues and I again attempted to secure the opposition
vice-chair position. During the election process last week not one
Liberal member attempted to determine which candidate was best
248
qualified for the post. There were no questions about the candidates
background or character, only the same tired arguments we have
heard for more than two years.
The main argument put forward by the Liberal whip in defence
of his unabashed support of separatists over federalists is one of
tradition. According to the chief government whip it is
parliamentary tradition for the opposition vice-chair to be filled by
a member from the official opposition. To hear the government
whip argue this point one would think the practice of electing an
opposition vice-chair goes back hundreds of years. This is simply
not the case.
Standing Order 106(2) governs the election process and in part
states:
Each standing or special committee shall elect a Chairman and two
Vice-Chairmen, of whom two shall be Members of the government party and the
third a Member in opposition to the government.
No reference to official opposition; simply opposition. This
standing order came into effect only in May of 1991, not five years
ago. Later that month the committees were established and held
elections for chairs and vice-chairs. During those elections a
member of the NDP, the third party in the House at that time, was
elected the vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Human Rights
and the Status of Disabled Persons. A reading from the minutes of
that meeting of May 29, 1991 will help illustrate my contention
that this position is not reserved for the official opposition.
Following the election of Dr. Bruce Halliday to the chair he stated:
I believe the new standing orders call for two Vice-Chairmen, one of whom shall
be from an opposition party.
Notice the chair referred to an opposition party, not the official
opposition.
(1550 )
I will quote from the same chair moments later: ``We need a
second vice-chairman who should be somebody from one of the
opposition parties''. The minutes of that meeting then indicate the
member for Beaches-Woodbine, a representative from the third
party, the NDP, was elected opposition vice-chair.
The minutes of this meeting clearly counter Liberal arguments.
They demonstrate a precedent and show this practice has been in
effect only since May of 1991. Further research shows that since
this standing order was adopted in the third and last session of the
34th Parliament there was only one round of elections. That is
because the committee chair and vice-chair appointments from the
initial election of May 1991 were continued until the dissolution of
that Parliament through a motion adopted by the House on
September 21, 1992.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines tradition as a custom,
opinion or belief handed down to posterity; an established practice
or custom. Given the evidence I have just laid out it is clear the
Liberal claim of tradition is faulty at best. The only tradition is the
one the Liberals are creating and have been creating these last
couple of years, and it is a dangerous one.
I also believe it is important for unity minded Canadians to know
which Liberals are supporting separatists over federalists. We will
continue to keep count. At the meeting of procedure and House
affairs last week, which I referred to earlier in my speech, the
following government members rejected a federalist in favour of a
separatists: the members for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell,
Mississauga West, Kingston and the Islands, Ottawa Centre,
Ottawa-Vanier, Ottawa West and Edmonton North. So listen in,
Canadian public, to your members who are supporting a separatist
vice-chair.
I will have to throw in another little bit to illustrate some of the
intrigue that goes on in committees when they are electing chairs.
Committees are masters of their own fate. For example, their
members can agree to a secret ballot. We have proposed secret
ballots in these committees to give the Liberal backbenchers who
might be inclined to support a Reform vice-chair a chance to vote
without incurring the wrath of their whip or their leader.
On every occasion we have proposed a secret ballot it has been
rejected and the whip has put his firm hand on the Liberals saying
no secret ballot.
What we are talking about is democracy, our ability as an
opposition party to function properly within the committees of the
House. We are being frustrated in them and we resent it.
I move:
That the motion before the House proposed by the government be amended
by deleting all the words after the words ``March 1, 1996'' and substituting the
following: ``be not now concurred in, but that it be recommended to the
Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs''.
(1555)
The Deputy Speaker: The motion is receivable.
[Translation]
Mr. Gilles Duceppe (Laurier-Sainte-Marie, BQ): Mr.
Speaker, I simply want to make a few comments. Let us go back to
the beginning of this Parliament, after the election held on October
25, 1993, because some discussions took place between the parties
at that time.
I want to tell you about two statements that were made back
then. One was to the effect that the Bloc Quebecois was coming to
Ottawa to impede the proceedings of Parliament. However, as we
have seen for a little over two years now, those who are guilty of
filibustering are not Bloc members, but Reformers.
Since the very beginning, we have complied, rather closely I
would say, with British parliamentary tradition. To be sure, our
views differ from those of the Liberal Party. However, we agree to
play by the rules. This is obvious to me, and I should point out that
Quebec's National Assembly, which is the oldest parliament in
249
America, agreed to follow the same rules as the British Parliament
as early as 1791.
I also want to say that I participated in the negotiations that took
place between the parties to bring some changes in this House. We
tried to settle the issues of office allocation, and Heaven knows
how long that took, House agenda, speaking order in the House, as
well as committee membership. At that time, the Bloc Quebecois
showed that it was very open-minded and said: ``Yes, we are
prepared to give up a number of vice-chair positions''. The Reform
Party told us: ``We want to provide the chairperson for the public
accounts committee and the vice-chairpersons for finance, foreign
affairs, national defence, agriculture and trade. Period. We will not
accept anything else''. How about some apple turnover with that?
This proposal made no sense. And with its ``we take that or
nothing'' position, the Reform Party ended up with nothing,
because it did not know how to negotiate.
Now, we are told about a love affair between the Liberals and the
Bloc Quebecois. Those who see a love story between the members
opposite and the Bloc Quebecois certainly do not follow current
politics very closely. Sure, we respect each other, but our views and
our goals are certainly different. The only such attempt took place
between the hon. member for Sherbrooke and the Reform Party.
Mr. Robichaud: It was not consummated.
Mr. Gilles Duceppe (Laurier-Sainte-Marie, BQ): It was
never consummated, no. Absolutely not. It was wishful thinking,
but they never got together. Out of sight, out of mind. The House
was not sitting when this came up.
Looking at the way things have developed since then, we see that
the Liberals in committee have just about all voted the same way,
with a few exceptions when they could not agree on who to elect as
chair or vice-chair.
The Bloc has always voted the same way and in each of the
committees Reform members have all taken the same position and
voted the same way. All the same. I would imagine then, if they are
able of their own free will to think things through themselves and
reach the same conclusions, that others are allowed to do so as
well.
What is in question here and what is more problematical, I might
say even with the potential to become dangerous if taken to the
extreme, is that, regardless of personal qualities, regardless of the
fact that they have been elected like everyone else, what is being
said is that positions will be awarded according to what people
think. From the outset, it will be decided that access to positions
away will be denied certain people. That is the situation. They will
say: ``The people in the Bloc are competent and hard working, but
they are separatists''. Such a situation would be dangerous.
(1600)
I suppose there is the risk that we would win all of Parliament
over to our point of view. We do not expect that much, but we do
think we have a point of view that deserves to be heard and that it is
worthwhile for Canadians to hear, for the first time.
But now they have gone so far as to say that the ideas we espouse
would keep us from those positions and, when it comes down to it,
the whole concept of democracy is being jeopardized. What is the
solution? They tell us there will be a secret vote. That is the only
solution I have heard for changing the procedures, but it is
tantamount to preventing the public from knowing how its elected
representatives have voted. We, however, are not afraid to rise in
this House to express our ideas, to be judged on our ideas, because
there will be an election some day-there is one about every four or
five years. We would then be told that we can sit in the House of
Commons but, when the time comes to vote, we would not dare
make a public statement. That is the Reform Party's position.
I think that this would be dangerous for democracy. There is an
assumption that members who are not from the Reform Party
cannot vote as they see fit, that we should hold secret ballots
instead of publicly expressing our ideas. I will close by saying that
this may be why an editorial in the Montreal daily The
Gazette-which, as you know, is a staunchly sovereignist
newspaper-expressed the hope that the Bloc Quebecois would
win the election in Lac-Saint-Jean. Although it was an easy wish to
make, The Gazette nonetheless felt that, at least, they would then
be sure that the Reform Party would not be the official opposition.
[English]
Mr. Jim Silye (Calgary Centre, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, I would
like to speak to and support the motion to amend the government
motion concerning the list of chairs and vice-chairs of all the
standing committees from the Standing Committee on Procedure
and House Affairs.
The points I want to make are all about common sense and
fairness. The House leader of the Bloc Quebecois seemed to be
saying that we were picking on the Bloc party. That is not the case
at all. At least I am not speaking on this issue for the purpose of
picking on the Bloc.
I want to point out that what is important in parliamentary
tradition in a democracy is fairness, common sense and looking at
the total number of seats in the House. As we all know, the
government of the day is formed by the party that has the greatest
number of seats. In this Parliament that is the Liberal Party. Thus,
we have Mr. Chrétien as Prime Minister.
250
The Deputy Speaker: It must be monotonous to hear, but we
are not allowed to refer to colleagues by their first or last names
in the House.
Mr. Silye: Mr. Speaker, I stand corrected. I would have been
okay if we had had only four weeks off. That extra three weeks
totally threw me and I have forgotten some of the rules.
The party that forms the official opposition is the one that has the
second highest number of seats. When we came here in October
1993 that was the Bloc Quebecois and they formed the official
opposition. We were the third party. Any party that has less than 12
members is not recognized as an official party in the House of
Commons. Those are the rules and they are good rules. I stand by
them and I would defend them.
Now there has been a drop in numbers. Representation in the
House has changed since prorogation and at this time both
opposition parties, the Bloc Quebecois and the Reform Party, have
the same number of members. We both have 52 members. I
personally do not disagree with the ruling of the Speaker as to
which party should be the official opposition.
Now I proceed to standing committees. There is a difference
between how the rules operate here in the House and how they
operate in standing committees. As the House leader of the Bloc
tried to point out, we negotiated in October 1993. The Bloc
negotiated from a position where they had two more members than
the Reform Party. Now we have the same number of members.
When it comes to standing committees, each committee elects its
own chair. It makes sense to me that the chair of each of those
committees should be a member from the government side with the
exception of public accounts because that would be construed as a
conflict of interest. The chairman of the public accounts committee
should be a member of an opposition party.
(1605)
It does not say a member of the official opposition should be
vice-chairs anywhere in Beauchesne. The standing orders do not
refer to official opposition, it just says opposition. I wish members
opposite in the government would look that up. I challenge them to
quote me differently and quote me the standing order that says
official opposition.
An hon. member: It does not say official.
Mr. Silye: It has now been acknowledged that it does not say
official, it says opposition party. To apply some common sense, if
Reform has 52 members and the Bloc Quebecois has 52 members,
somewhere along the line out of 27 standing committees just one of
the vice-chairs should be a member of the Reform Party. That does
not happen. Not one committee has a Reform Party member as a
vice-chair. The Reform Party and the Bloc Quebecois have the
same number of seats. We have never had that.
We may have negotiated away one or two vice-chairs in October
1993, and I do acknowledge that did happen, but the Bloc members
then had 54 members and we only had 52 members.
The House has been prorogued, now it is back and all new
members and new chairs have been assigned. Some parliamentary
secretaries were fired, chairmen of standing committees were fired
so new ones were needed. That has been done and all new members
were assigned.
In those standing committees now vice-chairs are supposed to be
picked. There is a procedure to follow. The same procedure was
followed as the first time around. They did not have any kind of
duly conducted election that allowed members of both opposition
parties because when it gets to committee we are not talking now
about official opposition and third party, we are talking about
opposition parties. It just so happened that all the vice-chairs went
to the Bloc Quebecois again.
In defence of this the chief government whip, and boy does he
ever change his mind when he is in government from when he was
in opposition. Witness his defence of Motion No. M-1 that is also
being debating today and how he flip-flopped on that issue. Now all
of a sudden it is democratic to do that.
He is arguing that what the government is doing in naming all of
the Bloc members as vice-chairs is democratic and is based on
tradition. Tradition says opposition. That does not mean official
opposition. If tradition says whoever is official opposition gets all
the vice-chairs, fine, but we are now tied.
The Bloc has been named by the Speaker as the official
opposition but in standing committees we have 52 members, they
have 52 members. Why would the chief government whip not
concede or consent, in the spirit of fairness, in the application of
common sense, that maybe one or two Reform Party members be
vice-chairs. There is precedence for this.
I do not know if my colleague, the current whip, has mentioned
this but a member of the third party was a vice-chair in a standing
committee of human rights and status of disabled persons on May
29, 1991. There are lots of examples where members other than the
official opposition were vice-chairs. The chief government whip's
assertion that they are just following tradition is faulty at best.
In the history of this country it has never been so crucial that we
have some people representing the interests of all of Canada. If the
Reform Party cannot be the official opposition, that is fine because
of numbers and incumbency, but at least in standing committees
perhaps Reformers could have a couple of vice-chairs. That would
make sure the interests of all Canadians are being looked after, not
just those interests that the separatist party of Quebec now
represents. They would be only dealing with those issues, only
trying to get those witnesses, only asking those questions which
help to tear this country apart, not to hold it together. They are only
interested
251
in showing that it is in their best interests to break away from
Canada and to break up this country. Because it is not traditional to
have this kind of a quirk in parliamentary history, we have a party
sent to Ottawa from a region that is unhappy with the intrusion into
their lives by the federal government, and justly so. In fact they are
so unhappy that they sent a lot of them here to send this
government a message. The message is: Do something about our
problem. Do something to protect our interests.
(1610)
That is no different from the Reform Party where the majority,
with the exception of one lone Reformer from Ontario, my
colleague who sits beside me, are all from the west. We were sent
here to send a strong message to the federal government that it has
intruded into our lives and that we want changes.
This is all about change. It is also all about change in the
standing committees. It is about time that some of the government
members grew up and applied a little common sense and fairness to
this whole business. They cannot continue to believe in one thing
and say another. I do not believe they can be in opposition and say
that they believe in one thing-for instance, about reintroducing
government bills after prorogation and the hue and cry that they set
out here when they were in opposition-and then go over to the
other side and say it is okay. At which point were they right? Are
they right now and wrong when they were in opposition or are they
wrong now and right when they were in opposition?
I state unequivocally that it is wrong when two opposition
parties are tied, each having 52 members, that one party gets all the
vice-chairs and the other party gets none. There has to be
something wrong with that. Somebody coming from the outside
who knows very little about it would say: ``What are the rules?
How come the Reform Party has none?''
The Prime Minister has even said that he would like to see more
balance in the House of Commons. As a matter of fact when I first
looked into what the Liberal members said when they were in
opposition they also held the view, Mr. Speaker, that in the position
that you are in right now that the Speaker should come from the
government, duly elected, unlike what the House leader for the
Bloc said. It should be by secret ballot, which is very democratic.
The Deputy Speaker should be from the government side and
perhaps an assistant deputy speaker should be from the government
side. However they also maintain, and there is a paper to this effect
that some cabinet ministers and Liberal members have written and
believe in, that the other two speakers, deputy or assistant deputy
speakers should be, guess what, from the opposition parties. That is
what they said in opposition.
It is now two and a half years later in the second session of the
35th Parliament. The House has prorogued and come back. The
Liberals had their second opportunity, their second chance to get it
right. This is their second chance to keep the promises they made,
the systemic changes they put in their red book. It is in the red book
where they talk about giving more recognition to the opposition
parties in Parliament. Do you know why they said that, Mr.
Speaker? Because they sat on this side of the House for eight years.
They were frustrated by closure. They were frustrated by time
allocation. They were frustrated by how they were assigned
vice-chairs and how they did things. They were frustrated by who
got to sit in that chair to monitor proceedings and to make sure the
rules were followed.
They made all these promises to the Canadian public and they
have not kept one. On democratic reform they have not kept one of
their promises.
Perhaps I should write the Prime Minister a letter on the red
book and ask him where he stands on these promises. Where does
the Prime Minister stand on these promises he made of changes in
the House and in the deputy chairs?
What I feel as a member of Parliament is very unfortunate. There
is no way that we can hold the government accountable for the
promises it made until the next election. It seems to me that the
Prime Minister is proud of that. It seems to me that the Prime
Minister is happy that he has all this time to not keep those
promises, to renege on those promises.
He will not get another chance now to fulfil the promise he made
on how we should be operating the Speakers in the chair and how
two of them should be from the opposition parties. He will not get
another chance to keep those promises that he would protect the
civil service, yet 45,000 of them were let go.
(1615)
When people make promises, when they say that this is what
they plan to do, will do, given the opportunity to do it should they
not do it? Should people not follow through on their promises?
Here we are with two opposition parties equal in the number of
seats yet in standing committees, each and every one of them
belongs to one party. Had the ruling been the other way, had the
Speaker ruled that the Reform Party was now the official
opposition, does anyone think for a minute that we would have
asked for every vice-chair in the committees? The Bloc would have
had some vice-chairs.
The irony is that here we have an important standing committee
like public accounts where there are audits and reviews of the
government expenditures. The auditor general submits a lot of
work to that committee. I must admit right now that the member
who represents the Bloc was the chair of that standing committee
252
and he did a fine job. He was an excellent chair of that committee.
I am not picking on him as an individual. I want to make that very
clear.
Having said that, I do not believe that in the public accounts
committee the chair should go to a member of a party that has the
equal number of seats as another party but which only represents a
small regional, specific interest which is to take a part of the
country out of this democracy, out of the union. I object to that.
That is one area where the Reform could have been chair. Once
again, the chair of that committee has done an excellent job. He
was a good chair. That is not my point. I want to make that
perfectly clear, because I do not want to hurt anybody's feelings.
The feelings I want to hurt are the Prime Minister's and those of
the chief government whip because of the promises they made.
They are the ones who are breaking their promises. They are the
ones who are operating this House in a dictatorial fashion. Even the
backbenchers cannot say anything. Government backbenchers
cannot criticize the government. We see what happens to those
members. They are left out; they are shoved out; they are put out.
That is not the way democracy should work. How can it ever hurt
to have a few people who want to have a flat tax, to have a few
people who want to get rid of the GST, to have a few people who
want to protect the civil service? How can it possibly hurt when the
government has the majority of members? It cannot.
To summarize, the tradition of the committee election process
needs review. This whole issue should be reviewed by the
procedure and House affairs committee. We have had filibusters in
the past two years. In the year that I was the whip for this party I
had to attend some fiascos in some of the standing committees.
Autocracy and heavy handedness was used by some of the
chairmen from the government side, probably through ignorance
because they did not know the rules. Nevertheless, they treated all
members with disdain, just appointing and going through the
election process without a concern. I was there. The chief
government whip walked into the meeting and would say that this
person would be the vice-chair: Bloc, vice-chair; Bloc, vice-chair;
Bloc, vice-chair; Bloc, vice-chair; 23 times.
That is not a process whereby members of the standing
committee are empowered to elect their chair and vice-chair. We
know who should be chair; that is not a problem. But we could have
had a couple of elections for vice-chair. We never had a serious one
to put a member of the Reform Party there and we are now tied. It
did not happen. It was all a sham and a scam.
No matter what the chief government whip tries to say to defend
this, he knows what he told his people. The chairman of each and
every standing committee, with the exception of public accounts,
knows what he was told to do. What happened is a distortion of the
democratic process. It is unfair now because we do have 52
members, the same as the Bloc.
(1620 )
Yes, the Bloc is the official opposition and it is welcome to the
job, but in standing committees we should have a few vice-chairs.
That is all we felt we should have. The signal and the sign we
wanted to see from the government was that perhaps it was willing
to accept the fact that some standing committees could use a
vice-chair from the Reform Party. However, Liberal members were
told what to do from on high and on high said no. They were not
allowed to make vice-chairs of any of the Reform Party members
who wanted and who sought to attain that position.
As it turns out, this government is behaving in the worst fashion.
It is even worse than the previous government of the eight years
before the Liberals took power. With all the things this government
when it was in opposition said about the Conservative government
and what it attacked the Conservative government about, prime
ministerial travel, time allocation, closure, the Tory GST, nothing
has changed. Only the faces have changed. We have not changed
the system and until that happens, this country will pay a heavy
price for it.
[Translation]
Mr. Pierre de Savoye (Portneuf, BQ): Mr. Speaker, what I have
been hearing here for a little while now is both surprising and
disappointing to me. I have heard two of our friends from the
Reform Party claim that, because we advocate the sovereignty of
Quebec, we Bloc members do not have the interests of Canada at
heart, that we want to break or destroy Canada and that we are,
therefore, not making a full contribution in committee but
defending only very narrow interests instead.
I take issue with such statements because every Bloc member
who sits on a committee carries out competently and honestly, not
only as an individual but also as a representative of our party, the
Bloc Quebecois, the duties that we have been assigned as the
official opposition.
In committee, members take turns examining the various
witnesses who come and share their views with us. Each opposition
party usually has about ten minutes to examine a witness, with the
official opposition party leading off, followed by the second
opposition party; then, the government party, the Liberal Party,
gets to examine the witness.
Sometimes our questions complement one another, they are
along the same lines. Other times, one party or another asks
questions which, while going in a different direction, benefit the
debate and broaden our outlook on the issues raised by the people
who appear before us. But in any case, we are committed to
identifying the informative parts of the evidence presented to us.
Of course, we are also committed to identifying those aspects
253
which have an impact on our region in particular. This is true not
only of Bloc members, but also of members of all parties. I have
seen-and there was nothing wrong with that-members from the
Toronto area represent views and argue matters that were of more
particular concern to the people of their ridings. That is their duty,
and it is my duty to raise issues of more pressing concern to my
constituents.
(1625)
When I hear Reformers claim that it is not right for me to do so, I
tell myself that they have an extremely narrow view of what true
democracy is all about. This concerns me; it makes me sad. I
cannot accept it in this House. This is the reason why I rose today: I
want to set the record straight.
Let me also say that a Bloc Quebecois member has as much right
to fill the position of vice-chair as a Reformer. I have nothing
against a Reform member being a vice-chair, but do not tell me that
Bloc members cannot do a good job as vice-chairs because they
happen to be sovereignists. I strongly object to that. This is not only
totally inaccurate, it is also an insult to our integrity and to
democracy itself.
Mr. Speaker, you will recall that in the days of the iron curtain,
people strongly condemned those communist countries that
prevented individuals from expressing themselves on the grounds
that they held dissenting opinions. Some people were imprisoned.
Thank goodness this is not the case here, but I refuse to be muzzled.
Mr. Speaker, you and I know-and so do many members
here-that civilization and society thrive on the exchange of ideas.
If everyone held the same views, this would still be the cave age. It
is because someone, somewhere, said ``We must get out of the
cave'' that civilization started to make progress. The Bloc's role in
this House, and within the Confederation right now, is to promote
an idea and put it up against other ones, in a democratic, respectful
and constructive fashion.
This is why I refuse to be muzzled by Reformers, simply because
we do not share the same views. I respect the fact that they do not
share our views, but they should do likewise.
[English]
We have been accused of wanting to break up Canada. Nothing is
further from the truth. What we have been offering and
reoffering-I am bidding it once again-is a new partnership,
politically and economically with the rest of Canada.
The actual political situation we live in through Confederation is
outmoded and obsolete. It is very expensive and unsatisfactory
from sea to sea to sea. We are offering a new vision of what the
economical Canadian space could be. We want to confront it
verbally and democratically with those who have other ways of
seeing things. This should construct a better solution. It is not as
Reform members would suggest in saying to all Canadians that we
want to break up the country that they are helping the solution to be
found. On the contrary, it is through constructive debate that a
solution will occur.
I cannot accept the attitude of the Reform Party toward the Bloc
Quebecois. The electors, the voters, the people from my riding
have the same democratic values as the people from the riding of
any Reform Party member. The fact that half the Quebec
population thinks sovereignty is an avenue to be pursued just
stresses how important this vision is and it should be respected by
all members here, including my friends from the Reform Party.
(1630)
[Translation]
From a democratic standpoint, people in my riding have the
same value as those from the riding of a Reform Party member.
Again, I have nothing against a Reform member being vice-chair of
a committee, but I ask that we respect the integrity and honesty of
Bloc members; I ask that we respect democracy.
[English]
Mr. Jim Abbott (Kootenay East, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, I should
like to put a question to the member for Portneuf whom I have
enjoyed getting into debate with outside the Chamber. I consider
him to be a reasonable person, although obviously I do not
appreciate the direction he would take Canada.
I bring him back to the question at hand. He has said, and this
was by translation: ``We do not accept that we be muzzled''. It is
not the intention of the Reform Party to muzzle the Bloc
Quebecois. Unlike the Liberals who have chosen to muzzle the
Reform Party in committee, it is not the idea of the Reform Party to
muzzle the Bloc Quebecois.
Is it not rational, reasonable and responsible, as put forward by
the member for Calgary Centre, that if his party and my party have
52 seats each, the Reform Party should not be muzzled as is
presently happening because of the collusion of the Liberals?
Mr. de Savoye: Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question of my
colleague. However, as he well knows, the Reform Party is not
muzzled within a committee. The fact that we are a vice-chair just
gives us the right to ask the first question in the first 10 minutes.
After that they are second. They are not really muzzled. That is the
answer to item a.
On item b, I have never believed that the Reform Party should
not be a vice-chair in any committee. As far as I can see, it is up to
Bloc members to decide whether they can or cannot be vice-chairs.
We have one member in most committees whereas the Liberals
254
have many members. When the vote is taken we are not the ones
who decide.
Why have they favoured us? That is the right question to ask.
You should find the right answer; you might be in for a surprise.
Why are we preferred as a vice-chair rather than you? What have
you not done right to impress them? That is the right question. It is
up to you.
The Deputy Speaker: My hon. colleague has spoken such good
English that I hate to suggest he should not use the word you. He
should refer to them.
Mr. Paul Szabo (Mississauga South, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I have
a great deal of respect for the hon. member for Portneuf. We have
worked together on committees before and on a number of other
parliamentary affairs.
He said something today which I think is very important and
took be aback. He said in his intervention that the Bloc Quebecois
was not here to break up Canada. I believe that is very important.
There are people who purport to speak on behalf of the Bloc.
This past weekend, on a political commentary panel which
discusses these issues week after week, Josée Legault of la Presse
said that the Bloc had been fighting. She tried to find words. It was
not distinct society. It was not veto. It was not special partnership,
as the member would suggest. Josée Legault said very clearly that
in her view Quebec wants nationhood. That statement flies directly
against what the member has said.
Would the member address the position of Ms. Legault regarding
nationhood and what he said today to the House, that the Bloc is not
here to split up Canada?
(1635 )
Mr. de Savoye: Mr. Speaker, we are just on the edge of the
motion but it is an interesting debate. I will try to answer the
problematic question my hon. colleague has put forward.
Whatever Ms. Legault thinks or writes are her own beliefs. I
cannot read her thoughts so I will not try to do that. However, I
know the specific agenda of the Quebec government and the one
we are proposing. It is a partnership with Canada.
When the member talked about nationhood, the Quebec people
as a whole are a people. As such they have a culture of their own, a
way of seeing things of their own which does not preclude alliances
with other people in Canada. I am not only talking about English
Canada but also about the aboriginals.
We have to open our minds and find a way to build something
that will answer the needs and the expectations of all people on this
portion of the continent, not only for ourselves but for our children
and the children of our children.
If I were to go any further I would certainly go beyond the nature
of the motion in front of us, so I will stop now.
Mr. Jim Abbott (Kootenay East, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, it is
important for Canadians to understand the significance of these
vice-chair positions and the chair position with respect to public
accounts which the Reform Party is talking about in the House.
We are talking about the group, the chair and the two vice-chairs
who form the core of the steering committee for the committee as a
whole. These are not just window dressing positions, or certainly
should not be just window dressing positions.
Therefore the fact that the government whip and the Liberals
have chosen to freeze the Reform Party out of vice-chair positions
on committees is to freeze the Reform Party out of the ability to be
able to act as an effective opposition in the absence or in the
vacuum of an official opposition because of the specific regional
interests of the Bloc Quebecois. The significance is that the
Liberals have chosen to freeze the Reform Party out of the ability
to be an effective opposition.
It has been said that a government is only as good as its
opposition. It is for that reason the Liberals do not want the Reform
Party to have any ability to come forward, to take charge and to be
involved in any area of control within their jurisdiction. It is doing
everything it can at the expense of our nation to freeze us out of that
ability.
Lest there be any question about this point, I have in my hand the
report of the public accounts committee on September 27, 1995. It
is particularly instructive. I went to that committee as a member of
that committee and took the floor at the start of the meeting which
was convened to vote for and appoint the person who was to be the
chair of the public accounts committee.
To expand on the comments of the member for Calgary Centre,
the purpose of the public accounts committee is to take a look at
well over $1 billion of current public spending that happens
annually in Canada. The public accounts committee works very
closely with the auditor general so that the people of Canada and
their affairs are being looked after from a fiscal point of view.
It seemed grossly illogical to myself and to my colleagues in the
Reform Party that the Liberals would be forcing a situation where
we would have a separatist who would be the chair of that
committee, because of the very confined and defined interests of
the Bloc Quebecois as they have come to Ottawa.
We went to the meeting. We immediately put forward the name
of my colleague, the hon. member for St. Albert, for the position of
chair. It was really quite instructive because neither the
government whip nor the Bloc Quebecois were in the room at the
time I made that motion. Immediately following that there were
people scurrying around, running around all over the place: ``Oh,
my, what are we going to do? What is going to happen now?''
Whereupon the
255
government whip appeared in doorway and all was saved. Very
shortly behind him came the Bloc Quebecois whip.
(1640)
We then entered into a process of debate on the issue. My
colleague, the hon. member for Fraser Valley East, had the floor.
For simplicity and so that we do not run afoul of the rules of the
House, I will refer to the whip and I will refer to the Reform
member. The whip said:
I was wondering if our colleague would entertain a brief question. If this is an
attempt to filibuster the committee, and he can indicate so right now, quorum
will immediately cease.
Before I quote him further, the absolute arrogance of the
government whip should be noted when he came walking into the
room and said: ``If this is not going the way I want then I am going
to cease quorum''. He went on:
There was an agreement between whips duly approved, ordered, and signed
that we were meeting today to elect chairs. If this is a breach of that agreement,
which it is on the verge of becoming, I'd like to know now. My colleagues and I
will leave the room and quorum will cease. This meeting will not exist. Yes or
no.
The absolute arrogance of this man is quite astounding. My
colleague said:
I don't think you can ask me questions anyway-I don't think that's your
place.
The whip said: ``Thank you''. My colleague said:
You can do what you like. I'm trying to address the concerns of the people-
The whip said:
You don't need a Hansard any more, clerk.
Now he is telling the clerk who is in charge of this committee:
``You don't need Hansard any more. I am here; I have taken over''.
Terrific.
Then my colleague said:
-about the election of the vice-chairs. So it's certainly within my prerogative
to do that.
An hon. member said:
You can talk all day long. You're alone.
Then the government whip got his members in line and they
dutifully followed him out of the room. The hon. member for
Fraser Valley East was continuing to talk in the meeting when the
whip from the Bloc Quebecois said:
Mr. Chairman, on a point of order, I would like to see if we have a quorum. If
we don't, we should end this meeting.
The clerk said: ``We only have three members here. I guess
everybody has left''.
We should note the absolute arrogance of the government whip
representing the Liberals, coming into that meeting, taking over
that meeting and saying: ``It is not going the way the Liberals
wanted so therefore we are down''. For the Liberals to turn around
and try to convince Canadians that they are not completely in bed
with or in total collusion with the separatists is bit beyond
description.
Let us talk about the Canadian heritage committee; I think that is
the title of the committee. The decision was made there by the
Liberals to anoint a Bloc Quebecois member as a vice-chair of that
committee. Let us see what happened in that committee if only
from the point of view of the record of attendance. I have in my
hand the record of attendance which shows that the chair of that
committee was there 13 times. Presumably there were 13 meetings.
We then have the record of myself, the hon. member for
Medicine Hat and the hon. member for Edmonton Strathcona,
totalling 11 of the 13 meetings. We have zero for the Bloc
Quebecois member from Quebec. The person who was anointed to
be the vice-chair of that committee by the Liberals, the hon.
member for Rimouski-Témiscouata, was there five times.
It has been reported to me by the hon. member for
Edmonton-Strathcona that the Canadian heritage committee
could not even have had a meeting and that there would not have
been a member of the opposition had the Reform Party not turned
up. Yet the Liberals have the audacity to keep on putting the Bloc
Quebecois into these positions with the specific idea of freezing the
Reform Party out of the ability to be able to do the job of an
effective opposition. There can be absolutely no other reason I can
think of that the Liberals might have.
(1645)
I believe that the Liberals want to keep Canada together every bit
as much as the Reform Party wants to keep Canada together. They
may not have any idea how to do it. They may keep on flying trial
balloons. They may keep coming up with all sorts of wonderful
ideas, flying flags and all sorts of things because they do not have
anything of any substance, but I do not question their fundamental
intent to keep Canada together.
What I do question is the wisdom of the government whip. I do
question the wisdom of the so-called brain trust of the Liberal Party
in continuing to freeze the federalist Reform Party out of the ability
to be an effective opposition.
I speak in the most forceful terms. I consider the actions of the
Liberal government whip to have been out of control and over the
top. I would hope, because the Reform Party has brought this
matter so forcibly to the floor at this time, that as we get down to
appointing committee chair and vice-chair positions that they
would rethink their very foolish and ill thought position.
256
Ms. Bonnie Brown (Oakville-Milton, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I
find it strange that the previous speaker, who obviously is a new
member of the heritage committee, probably appointed in
September 1995, would choose to use the attendance record as
reasoning behind his quest to have a member of the Reform Party
as the vice-chair of that committee.
As a person who sat on that committee for the 18 months
previous to his arrival, I would like to point out that should he have
regarded the attendance records of the first 18 months, he would
have found that the Bloc Quebecois members were most regular in
their attendance and surprisingly it was the members of the Reform
Party whose attendance was highly questionable.
May I also point out that the Bloc Quebecois members in the
first 18 months not only attended the public hearing sessions of that
committee, not only attended the briefings by department officials,
but they also attended the in camera sessions when for weeks we
were seriously working on a written report about the future of the
CBC. It seemed rather strange to me that the Reformers came to the
meetings when the press was in attendance but not one meeting
when the press was not in attendance.
As far as I am concerned, I think the vice-chairs of committees
must be committed not just to those sessions of the committee
meetings when the press is in attendance but also when the solid,
quiet work of the committee is done in camera.
Mr. Abbott: Mr. Speaker, perhaps that says something about the
content of the meetings that took place last fall when only five out
of thirteen meetings were attended by the vice-chair of the heritage
committee, the member for Rimouski-Témiscouata.
Furthermore, the member for Quebec did not turn up at all. I can
only guess that in the judgment of the Bloc Quebecois, the heritage
committee meetings in the first 18 months actually had some
substance whereas in the second half, according to the way the
member is thinking, only five out of the thirteen meetings had any
significance.
Mr. Grant Hill (Macleod, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, I would like to
take a slightly different attack on this problem.
In my mind, the issue of who should become the vice-chairman
of a committee is one that rests with the committee. With respect to
the election of a chairman and vice-chairman the standing orders
state: ``Each standing or special committee shall elect a chairman
and two vice-chairmen, of whom two shall be members of the
government party and the third a member in opposition to the
government''.
(1650 )
This can become a very partisan debate, trying to weigh one
opposition party against another. Frankly I do not think it should be
just that. My suggestion for the government is very
straightforward, that the election of the vice-chairmen be just that,
an election and not a coronation. How many Bloc members would
likely be vice-chairmen in that instance? Maybe all of them.
Surely there should be an opportunity in Parliament for a proper
election, an election with hands raised so that the individuals
making the choice would be known. My real question is: Why not
an election? Why not an opportunity to at least say that these two
parties, which are very close in numbers-after the byelections we
hope to be ahead-would have that opportunity? Is that not fair?
Why not be fair?
To the Canadian public, why would this choice even be in doubt?
Why would we not have this election? Could there be a reason that
is better for the Liberal Party? Could there be a reason that is better
for the country?
I drew a little graph. Down one side of my graph, I put some of
the reasons: balance, a powerful federalist opposition. Would it be
better for a Bloc member to be a vice-chairman? Would it actually
be better for the Liberals to have the Bloc in those vice-chairs?
How could it possibly be better in every case to have that party as
the vice-chair? Is there no room for an alternate?
I have come to the House with a fresh view of Parliament, a view
that I hope is balanced. I have asked myself what the committee
structure is really designed to do. Before I came here I had heard
that the committees were the spot where the real work of
Parliament was done. I have stood back from that and asked
whether that is true. Are committees where the work of Parliament
is really done? My answer is: Not true. They are not where the
work of Parliament is really done.
I am going to give an example of an experience in committee.
Our committee was faced with a challenge. We had order in council
appointments placed before us which were to be voted upon. These
were for individuals holding positions on very important boards. I
asked when there had been a review of an order in council how
often the appointee had been turned down. The answer I received
surprised me: never in Canadian history had that occurred. There
had never been a single appointee turned down.
The obvious question I asked then was why we did the review.
What was the purpose of a review if there has never been an
individual turned down? The response was that this system was not
like the committee review system in the U.S. I then asked, should
we not be reviewing order in council appointments at the
nomination stage rather than at the appointee stage? A committee
was struck to review that very issue but I said it was surely
something the committee could decide that day.
(1655)
It makes sense that if we are going to committee to review this
issue that we bring the appointees to the committee. The committee
257
would look at them all and say which individuals were acceptable
to the committee. The committee would go back to the PMO which
would from those names pick the number of individuals needed. If
the committee found that there were one or two people who were
not acceptable for whatever reason, the residual names could be
sent back. The power would still rest with the PMO. No power
would be taken away.
However, a committee had to be struck. It sat through the
summer and reviewed the issue with all the previous order in
council appointments. It came to the very same conclusion in five
minutes: that the review of orders in council should take place at
the appointee stage rather than at the nomination stage.
I did a little review with a high school class at home. I asked
them: How long would it take you to figure out at what stage to do a
review of a group of people who were coming to sit on a committee
of Parliament? Would you review it at the appointee stage or at the
nomination stage? It took these grade 11 students about 15 seconds
to decide the issue. And how long does it take the Parliament of
Canada to come up with a decision? It has been six months in
review.
I have watched very carefully. What has happened to the
decision of the health committee on that issue since? We are now
another 18 months down the road and the decision has fallen into
the black abyss, the black hole of parliamentary gobbledegook.
Who knows where it has gone? It was to go to the committee on
procedure and House affairs. It was to be reviewed, but it is gone.
And for what? So that the PMO can say that nobody can review any
of the names, that the review is not real? This a problem with the
committee structure. I tell that story so that no one can say I think
the committee structure is perfect.
Since I am talking about committee structure problems, I
watched to see how witnesses came to the committees. I sat on the
HRD review committee which was looking at social program
renewal in Canada. I tried to figure out who called and how the
witnesses reached the committee.
I was disappointed to find that most of the individuals who had
access to the committee were non-governmental agencies that had
a lot of connection with government. Many received funding from
the government. Many received payment from the government to
come to the committee. I believe that their testimony may have
been skewed. It is difficult for the average citizen who knows
nothing about these issues to have a fair hearing. I do not think they
have the lobby groups that would allow them to get a fair hearing.
The committee structure would be very easy to improve. It
would be very easy to look at it from the standpoint of what should
happen in Canada. Let me now go to what I think in a positive sense
we should do to improve the committee structure.
The government is going to control the committee. The
government will have a chairman and the first vice-chairman.
Accept it. That is what the numbers allow. Why would we not have
an election for the position of second vice-chairman which would
usually go to the official opposition but might go to a meritorious
individual in another party, the fourth party, another party
completely? A meritorious election for vice-chairman.
(1700)
I would hope order in council appointments could be made at the
appointee stage rather than the nomination stage. I am convinced
we could seek witnesses at these committees who are not so biased
or narrow and who are not tied into the government agenda.
Is this a partisan issue? For me it is not. This is an issue of
balance and fairness, for if every single vice-chair came from the
official opposition and nowhere else, on merit, I would nod my
head to those members and say bien.
[Translation]
However, if a committee vice-chair absolutely must be a Bloc
member, that is certainly not equality. In my opinion, it is very
clear that we ought to have the opportunity to vote in order to elect
another member to the position of committee vice-chair.
[English]
The Canadian people are not willing to stand idly by and watch
Parliament function in a way that is not fair. That is all this issue is
about.
I ask, directly to the government, to allow for, conduct, and
appropriately oversee a proper election for each vice-chair. That
would satisfy me. It would satisfy my party. More important, it
would satisfy the people of Canada.
[Translation]
Mr. Yvan Bernier (Gaspé, BQ): Madam Speaker, allow me to
be the first member to make reference to your presence as the new
Deputy Speaker of this House.
In response to the representative of the Reform Party, I must
state that I am somewhat astonished to see in this House today that
the Reform Party is concerned about will form the official
Opposition and who will be vice-chairs, when we will be engaged
this week in a debate of the highest importance on the budget
speech. I must say that I would have expected instead that the
members of this House would have focussed their energies, or
husbanded their energies, for addressing the real problems Canada
is facing, that is the attitude the Liberals across the way have taken
toward managing the debt. In this connection, I believe that the two
parties on this side can combine their actions to force the
government to move, or
258
at least to reflect. But I have trouble understanding how there can
be a drawn out debate on the choice of vice-chairs.
I thought Canada operated according to a certain tradition, with
this or that responsibility for the official Opposition. That this was
normal and that was how we operated.
As far as I am concerned, I can tell you that being from Quebec ,
yes, and I have nothing to hide in this regard, being a representative
of the Bloc Quebecois, I defend a certain ideology, whether certain
people like it or not, and it is important for the rest of Canada to
know that. If we have become the Official Opposition and have
certain related responsibilities to assume, that is not our choice but
how democracy works. So I have difficulty understanding why
there is this protracted debate. It seems to me to be superfluous.
Once again, as Mr. Bouchard himself has said in this House,
perhaps the Reform Party is short on ambition. Rather than
focussing on becoming the official Opposition, rather than seeking
what goes along with that position, they ought instead to be seeking
to combat the true scourge here, in other words attacking the
Liberals, the Government. But no. It might be said that they have
set their sights too low.
I would like to again express my astonishment on this, but this
time about both sides.
(1705)
While the third party in the House tries to diminish the
importance of the work of the official opposition by saying that you
do not have to be a member of the official opposition to be
vice-chairman in this House, the new Minister of
Intergovernmental Affairs-I think I am allowed to mention his
name since he has not been elected yet, Stéphane Dion-says:
``The distinct society status is not really a special status and will
not bring any special powers''.
The third party in the House says that the official opposition does
not really have the attributes of the official opposition. At the same
time, a government spokesperson says that what was voted on
before Christmas does not really mean what it means.
So allow me to express my surprise as a member of the Bloc
Quebecois and to ask: How is it that the bills that were voted on do
not mean what they mean? How is it that the attributes of the
official opposition, such as the office of vice-chairman, do not
necessary apply because we are the official opposition? Maybe the
time has come to tackle the real issue, to call a spade a spade, to go
back to the basics, to look at who built Canada, that is the notion of
two founding peoples, to try to understand and to respect the rules.
There are a lot of things I do not agree with in the way Canada is
run, but I respect the rules. I hope that the third party in the House
will respect the rules also and that we will close this debate which,
I must say, I find totally useless. I hope we can get on with what is
important, that is to prepare our response to the budget speech.
Mr. Hill: Madam Speaker, there is no question in this speech,
but if possible I would like to read the following paragraph from
our Standing Orders:
Each standing or special committee shall elect a Chairman and two
Vice-Chairmen, of whom two shall be Members of the government party and the
third a Member in opposition to the government-
It does not say a member of the official opposition, but simply a
member in opposition.
-in accordance with the provisions of Standing Order 116, at the
commencement of every session and, if necessary, during the course of a
session.
Why is it always a member of the official opposition? It is not in
the Standing Orders. I simply want a vote in private on the subject.
Is it not possible? I personally think it is necessary.
Mr. Pierre de Savoye (Portneuf, BQ): Madam Speaker, to start
with, I would like to congratulate you on being elected to this
position you are occupying this afternoon for the first time. We are
doubly fortunate in that it is an Acadian and a woman who was
selected to preside, at least in part, over the proceedings of this
assembly.
This being said, I would like to ask my hon. colleague a
question. I assume that when he mentions that he would like the
vote to take place in private, he is referring to a secret vote.
However, members of Parliament are accountable to their voters.
People in my riding have the right to be aware of the decisions in
which I took part and to know how I voted. As soon as a vote is
secret, people in my riding will no longer be able to find out how I
voted and, consequently, whether I represent their interests
appropriately. The whole democratic process must be transparent.
Transparency requires open votes where each and every one clearly
expresses his or her opinion.
If the kind of private vote my colleague is referring to was to
deprive my voters, the citizens of my riding, of the ability to know
how I voted, then I would say that it violates democratic principles.
I would like him to clarify his position.
(1710 )
[English]
Mr. Hill (Macleod): Madam Speaker, the issue for me on this
vote is so that each member might be able to vote for somebody
with merit. I am trying to get away from the idea that this must be a
specific party member.
Surely merit is better than party membership. The rules have
said very clearly the second vice-president should come from a
member of the opposition. We in Reform are members of the
opposition.
259
The Canadian public would accept very well for every single
vice-chair to be a member of the Bloc if there were an opportunity
for that election to be based on merit, for surely there are members
from the Bloc of great merit; but equally the chance that there
might be a member in the Reform Party with some merit.
Mr. Ray Speaker (Lethbridge, Ref.): Madam Speaker,
welcome to the chair. We wish you the best in your new
responsibilities.
The debate before us focuses on two very basic things. One is the
question of parliamentary reform with respect to committees. The
question must arise of whether the committees have the authority
and the independence to choose their chairs, their vice-chairs and
other such formats of the committees independently of external
authority either from the Prime Minister's office or through the
Liberal government whip.
The other question is what we observe as this unfortunate
support the government gives to the separatist party for the
positions in those committees, the vice-chair positions, chair
positions with regard to the public accounts committee.
The member for Mississauga South earlier said that by tradition
the vice-chairs went to members of the official opposition. I can
understand why he said that. The Liberal whip continually gives
the impression that is the way it is, that other opposition members,
representatives of the Reform Party or from the NDP or the
Conservative Party, are not part of the official opposition and
cannot be one of the vice-chairs. That is the presentation the
Liberal whip made to his own caucus and it is believed that is the
way it is.
It is not that way. Some of my hon. colleagues have pointed out
very clearly in the House that it is not tradition that the official
opposition gets the chair or the vice-chair positions. I make that
very clear. It is just one of the ways the Liberal whip is able to
again have this love-in, as I call it, with the separatist party and
provide it support in having a position of authority or power in the
Parliament of Canada. I do not accept that in any way.
Speaking to these two points, parliamentary reform and more
independence for the committees to choose who should be their
chairs and vice-chairs, that is where the authority should lie. My
hon. colleague from Macleod pointed that out very clearly.
In the 33rd Parliament the McGrath report was presented.
Through that report a number of parliamentary reforms were
brought into the House of Commons. I commend that report. I
commend the 33rd Parliament for accepting a number of those
recommendations.
(1715 )
One of those recommendations related to the independence of
the committee. It also said the committee could establish its own
agenda without interference by the government. Prior to the 33rd
Parliament the government set the agenda for the committees. Any
subject or matter referred from the House of Commons by the
government to the committees was discussed. The committee had
no latitude beyond that to make decisions, which was wrong.
In the 33rd Parliament the McGrath report changed that so that
committees could set their own agenda, call the witnesses they
wanted and at the same time elect their chairs and vice-chairs in an
independent way. It was set up with that mind, but did it happen? It
did not happen.
My time spent on the finance committee was a good experience.
The chair was a good leader and allowed for flexibility within the
committee work. We carried out a number of the recommendations
of the McGrath report in a responsible way. Beyond that, what was
happening?
I say to the people at home watching, they should be aware of
how committee chairs are chosen by standing committees. The
rules allow for an election, which is the way it should be. A
member is nominated and then there is an open vote. If that motion
is defeated another name is put forward until someone is elected
chair.
Although our committee system has evolved with respect to
what a committee can do, the Prime Minister in the instances here
and during the current 35th Parliament, through his whip, still
controls who shall become the chair. That person is told by the
Prime Minister's office. The other Liberal members on the
committee have to vote for the Prime Minister's choice. We in the
committee do not operate independently or have the right to choose
who that person is.
The backbenchers on the Liberal side do not have the
opportunity to stand for chair if the Prime Minister has not chosen
them. That is it. They have no choice. There is a vote but it is just
going through the exercise. Certainly that is unacceptable.
We must well recognize that the Prime Minister has a lot of
authority in appointing his cabinet, in appointing parliamentary
secretaries, in appointing senators and in appointing a whole range
of other political appointees. That is a lot of appointees.
Why does the Prime Minister interfere with the choice of chairs
for House of Commons committees? That should be the
responsibility of the committees, not the Prime Minister. The
format is certainly there. Some of hon. members say that it is.
However, we well know that before we sit down as a committee the
Prime Minister's choice will be nominated by the Liberal whip, and
if anybody gets out of line the Liberal whip will deal with them
later.
260
All Liberals members are required by edict through the Prime
Minister's office to vote for his choice. The Liberal whip sees to
that in a very undemocratic way. That is the way it is and that is the
concern we have here as members of the House of Commons.
In what sense can a committee be really impartial when we have
such an external influence on our actions? There must be a change
in attitude with regard to that matter. It is time to free up the
backbenches of the Liberal Party so those members can choose
who they want for chair, who they want as vice-chair. It does not
happen.
If we really want parliamentary reform, if we want to again
implement or reimplement the McGrath report, there must be a
change in attitude and we must look at things differently in the
House. The Prime Minister, the Liberal government, the Liberal
backbenchers must look at this in a more open, democratic manner
so that parliamentary reform can be meaningful at the committee
level.
(1720)
I talked about the appointment of chairs. It is the very same type
of thinking for vice-chair positions. How much credibility does a
committee chair or a vice-chair have if two people, the government
whip and the whip for the Bloc Quebecois, get together and decide
on who the vice-chair positions will be and what the committee
positions will be?
Even a government backbencher should be offended by that kind
of action. If I were a government backbencher and thought I would
make a vice-chair, I would hope I would need only to seek the
support of committee members and not have to rely on this sort of
kowtowing to the government whip.
With a truly democratic process through which members would
be free to vote for whomever they wanted, all choices would be
acceptable because it would be done democratically. Even if a
member did not support the one who got elected, it would be
accepted because it was done properly.
Not all members of the House voted for the current Speaker, but
all members give him the respect he deserves because it was done
in a very democratic way. It was a secret ballot and not even the
Prime Minister could influence members in that process when we
first selected a Speaker for the 35th Parliament.
The other reform to our rules occurred in the last Parliament
where for the first time there was a requirement to have one
member from the opposition in either the vice-chair or the chair
position. In the beginning of this new procedure and the only other
time there was a set of elections outside this Liberal dominated
Parliament, a vice-chair went to third party standing. In that
Parliament, the third party had half the seats of the official
opposition compared with the equality of seats in this Parliament.
For some reason the precedent of that Parliament is not in this
Parliament. The Liberal whip and the Liberal members are
convinced that the only person who can fill the vice-chair is a
member of the separatist party.
There is precedent for something different. How can we continue
to say in this Parliament that it should not be that way again? Since
then, this Parliament has been operating on the notion brought
forward by the chief government whip that electing official
opposition members to all vice-chair positions was the tradition.
How is it a tradition when the only other time it was done it was
not done that way? There is a tradition here, the support of this
chief government whip on the other side of the House for the
separatist Bloc Quebecois. That is the tradition that is really being
set at this point.
We see it every day in committee and in the House. In any
procedural argument the government runs to the defence of the
Bloc. Even when Bloc members have little stomach for debate the
government whip and his former sidekick, the member from
Kingston and the Islands, come running to their aid. We saw that in
an earlier debate.
They have the experience and the procedural know-how. They
are absolutely happy to support Bloc members in their many
efforts. Parliamentary reform was moving ahead, albeit slowly.
Since the Liberals have taken over government, parliamentary
reform has gone backward in time to the days of Mr. Trudeau who
ruled his caucus with an iron fist.
That fist was beginning to loosen starting in the 33rd Parliament
with the McGrath report and a little more in the 34th Parliament
with other studies of the procedure and House affairs committee.
The Liberals do not know any means of governing except by way
of past experience. No wonder this has happened. They dismissed
and ignored not only all the parliamentary reform that was
discussed on the floor of the House and in committee for years but
also their own parliamentary reform ideas.
Let us not forget the recent reminder when the Prime Minister
refused to appoint opposition members to junior chair positions as
promised in the Liberal red book. This happened only a week ago.
(1725)
It is time government backbenchers had a look at what is
happening. There should be some consideration for back to
parliamentary reform. We should also look at freedom in
committees whereby committee members are free to choose chairs
and vice-chairs. It is also time in the House to stop, and Canadians
want it stopped, the bias between the government and the Bloc
Quebecois in all that happens on the floor of the House and in
committees.
261
Mr. John Duncan (North Island-Powell River, Ref.):
Madam Speaker, every member of Parliament knows the Bloc is
being favoured as official opposition. Any objective analysis
would also demonstrate and come to the very same conclusion.
This is a growing, daunting realization by the Canadian public.
Whenever we have that kind of circumstance there is a reaction
somewhere down the road. The government should think about
that very seriously.
The government has its own agenda and I am not exactly sure
what it is. However, with the majority the government holds it has a
unique time in our history to really create a circumstance for
democratic freedom and for improving the way this place works,
but it is blowing it.
We have heard some very weak arguments from the Bloc,
especially in my critic area of aboriginal affairs, as to how effective
they are in the rest of the country. The Bloc has been happy to run
around Canada encouraging spending and the inherent right to
self-government among aboriginals as long as they are not in
Quebec.
At the same time, I and other members in my party have as a
matter of course worked in Indian country in Quebec where the
Bloc has totally dropped the ball. Do we trumpet this from the
trees? Do we run around making speeches about what a great job
we have done in the province of Quebec? No. This is a much more
heartfelt item than that. This is beyond politics. The whole area of
aboriginal affairs should in many respects be beyond politics.
There is hardly a single thing done by the Bloc where the
motivation is not to further the separatist vision of Quebec.
Why should I have to go into committee knowing full well that
as an opposition member the government wants to favour that other
party member over me? I have sought to remedy the electoral
unfairness or favouritism which I observed in committee last
September. This was very difficult. Committees are supposed to be
masters of their own house and, for very good reason, the Speaker
is reluctant to interfere.
The problem starts with the numbers. Government members on a
committee outnumber the combined opposition members. The
whip can orchestrate what happens in committee.
We obviously need a secret ballot in committee. How the House
of Commons, where our federal democracy is supposed to be
expressed, does not adopt this bit of progress to prevent the
possibility of government backbench coercion is beyond me, other
than the government likes everything that happens around here to
be in its full control. To elucidate some of my concerns, I would
like to read a bit from my submission of September 20 last fall to
demonstrate my observations on trying to even nominate a Reform
chair or vice-chair to the Standing Committee on Aboriginal
Affairs.
This committee has a history of past irregularities, including the case to
which I have drawn your attention. The irregularities from yesterday are as
follows.
First, as soon as the clerk's gavel fell I submitted a motion to elect a chairman.
As Your Honour knows, under the standing orders the first item of business for
an organizational meeting is the election of a chair for the committee. However,
the clerk acknowledge my speaking and asked me to wait until he had read his
first item of business. I asked that he recognize that I had given notice of a
motion. After the clerk read the item of business he proceeded to recognize
someone else first.
(1730)
Mr. Solberg: Typical. Very typical.
Mr. Duncan:
Second, once the chair was elected my colleagues repeatedly attempted to
move a motion to elect a vice-chair, but the chair appeared to be intent on
stalling so that a motion to elect a member of the Bloc could be put forward by
the Bloc or by the government for the so-called opposition vice-chair.
The chair stalled by insisting that we were going to consider motions for
government vice-chair. This is a false distinction. The standing orders do not
recognize a government vice-chair per se. The standing orders only require that
two of the three positions go to the government side.
As soon as a motion to elect a vice-chair is put forward, whether to elect a
government or opposition member, that motion is surely in order. The chair
made it clear that he was accepting no motions from the Reform.
Third, once a member of the government moved to elect the Bloc to the
vice-chair, my colleagues and I asked for debate on the motion. We were not
only cut off; we were not allowed to debate at all. As Your Honour knows,
Standing Order 116 makes clear that there is no limit on debate on a regular
motion in committee.
Fourth, when we put forward a motion to overturn the election of the Bloc
member as vice-chair, the chairman refused to entertain the motion, which was
surely in order. The chairman then summarily adjourned the meeting.
We appeal to you, Mr. Speaker, to uphold the standing orders and our rights.
This kind of conduct by committee chairs is surely less than acceptable.
This is just one more time when we ran into this but it is one that
is documented. That is why I thought I would re-enter it into the
record.
Why does the government want to regulate and control every
aspect of activity in Parliament? Canadians are not being served.
There is no long term vision being displayed of how non-regional
representation can lead to the irrelevancy of this place. In the minds
of many Canadians this place is irrelevant now and by carrying on
this kind of behaviour it is only contributing to that perception of
irrelevancy.
262
Why do the procedure experts in the Liberal government take
such great delight in supporting the Bloc at every move and in
every one of their tricks in this place to the detriment of
democracy?
(1735 )
As I explained before, with the majority the government has, it
has a unique opportunity, one that has not been seen for a dozen
years, to implement considerable improvements in how
committees work. That opportunity has not only been lost, but the
committee structures, committee elections, and all that goes with it
have taken a step backward. As long as this charade continues those
committees are becoming more and more irrelevant.
When I go to committee I have very little influence on the
agenda and subject matter to be looked into. The committee that I
sit on, aboriginal affairs, has a whole classification of people who
live under the Indian Act. They live under one department. There
are no checks and balances beyond that department. The
government is not only in control of the committee and the
department, they are in control of those people's lives. If there is
one place where opposition members need an opportunity to pry off
the lid, to really try and get to the bottom of the serious things
going on that are counterproductive to the aboriginal community
and Canadian society as a whole, it is that committee.
Mr. Solberg: Right on.
Mr. Duncan: The non-partisan things that go on there are
controlled and manipulated by the government. I am sorry, there is
no other way for me to say it.
Our committee wasted a long time, in my opinion, looking into
what was really the minister's prerogative, which was
co-management in Saskatchewan. Because the minister obviously
has an agenda, the opposition role becomes one of damage control
rather than trying to be a productive member of the committee,
particularly if we have a point of view that is obviously quite
different.
This gets away from the whole system of checks and balances
that are crucial to the proper operation of government on an
ongoing basis. The checks and balances in the Canadian system
are, assuming that the committee system worked properly, already
much less than the checks and balances built into other
democracies. One that comes foremost to my mind is the one due
south of us.
We need to scrutinize what this place is all about and where it is
going. This is a crucial time in Canada's history. We are a young
country. This is the wrong time for us to be creating so-called
traditions that are anti-democratic, that we have been hearing about
for the last while on this debate.
Mr. Monte Solberg (Medicine Hat, Ref.): Madam Speaker, I
want to speak against the motion. Like my colleagues, I am very
concerned about the message that this motion sends. There is a real
cynicism in the country today that is caused by many factors, not
the least of which is the perception, and the fact, that MPs have
become very unaccountable. Governments have become very
unaccountable.
(1740 )
That perception can only be strengthened by what the
government is proposing to do, continue on with same slate of
vice-chairmen that we currently have in the standing committees. It
is absolutely ridiculous. To illustrate why that is so wrong it is
important to go back through what happened on the committee I
was sitting on when we chose a vice-chair last time to show where
some of the problems are.
I was sitting on the Canadian heritage committee. It is important
to remember what committee I was on. When it came time to
choose a new chairman and vice-chairman the hon. member for
Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, the chief government whip,
showed up at the meeting. That never happens. When the whip
shows up in a committee you know the fix is in. The whip is there
to keep people in line and that is exactly what happened. The whip
is there to crack his whip.
The whip came in, sat at the table and the Liberal members were
sitting beside him. The chair was chosen first. The chair took his
place and we immediately moved a motion asking that a Reform
member be nominated to sit as the vice-chair. We were told no, that
was not going to happen. The chairman was not ready despite what
the standing orders say, despite what the rules say, and our motion
was ignored.
The Bloc motion was recognized and subsequently a Bloc
member was chosen to be vice-chair of the Canadian heritage
committee, the one committee that is dedicated at least in part to
helping keep the country together. Where is the common sense in
that?
Madam Speaker, if you go to Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Bathurst,
New Brunswick, Sooke, B.C. or Brooks, Alberta and you ask
people if that makes any sense at all they are going to ask what is
the matter with MPs? No wonder Canadians are so cynical about
this place. Should we have a separatist sit as the vice-chair of the
Canadian heritage committee? That is ridiculous.
Last fall the committee was to travel across the country to hear
from Canadians about how to keep Canada together. Are we really
going to have a separatist chair that committee going across the
country to talk about how we can keep the country together? Do
you think that makes sense? Do you not think it is really contrary to
what most people would regard as common sense? I certainly do.
In the wake of the referendum we heard that certain hon.
members from the Bloc Quebecois were talking to members of the
Canadian military about starting an armed forces in Quebec after
the referendum campaign. Does it really make sense in the wake of
the referendum to have a vice-chair on the defence committee from
263
the separatist party? That is absolutely nuts. It is crazy and yet here
are these members across the way defending it.
We are sitting in Parliament, an institution that should reflect the
wishes of Canadians. It should be an institution where the rules and
procedures allow for the scrutiny of government, allow people to
have their say through their elected representatives, first with
respect to the issues, but also with respect to whom they want
representing them on the various committees that are an offshoot of
the House of Commons. Of course we do not have that despite the
commitments that the government made in their red book.
The Liberals were elected because of the red book. They
appeared in ads and said: ``We have the people, we have the plan''
and they flashed the red book around. In the red book was a
commitment to change the way committees work. They said: ``We
want to make them more democratic. We want to give committees
more power''.
(1745 )
What did they do? They said they wanted to make them more
democratic and wanted to give them more power, but what they did
was completely different. They brought the chief government whip
in, the member for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell who seems to
have a love affair with the separatists. They sat him down in the
Canadian heritage committee, and he made sure the Liberal
members voted for a separatist to sit as vice-chair of the Canadian
heritage committee. That is absolutely ridiculous.
There we go again, another broken Liberal promise. Just like the
GST, just like the NAFTA and just like all the others, it is another
broken promise. How cynical of them to sit over there and assert
that we should accept that again in this session of Parliament. It is
absolutely ridiculous.
Often we send delegations around the world to monitor elections
in other countries as though we have some special expertise on
democracy. What would happen if someone sat in on one of these
committee meetings and watched how things were conducted,
particularly when it is time to elect chairmen and vice-chairs for
the committees? This is after we have seen the Liberal red book
commitment which said that the vice-chairs would come from the
opposition parties. We saw that even in the event of the debate over
the Speaker's chair, but we need not go into that again. They made
that kind of commitment. How ironic that we should be sitting here
voting to send people around the world to monitor other people's
elections. It is absolutely crazy. All we have to do is go to one of
these committee meetings to see how ironic that is.
Not very long ago the Deputy Prime Minister, who is now the
Minister of Canadian Heritage, argued that we needed to return to
the spirit of 1967. She was referring to the year that Canada
celebrated its 100th anniversary, the year when there was a great
national celebration. We all felt very patriotic about our country
and very sentimental about some of the things we valued in the
country. That is a very noble idea. Some of the government's
approaches toward achieving that are completely out to lunch. It
seems to think somehow heritage flows from the government down
to the people and not the other way around.
Setting that aside for a moment, I want to ask the Deputy Prime
Minister rhetorically how this decision to have a member of the
separatist Bloc Quebecois sit as a vice-chair of the Canadian
heritage committee squares with her sentiment that we should
return to the spirit of 1967.
Mr. McClelland: Maybe a Reformer should sit on the
membership of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society.
Mr. Solberg: There is an idea. Maybe we should have a
Reformer sit on the membership of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society.
I do not know. Perhaps that makes complete sense. As somebody
said, maybe it makes sense to have Jack the Ripper in charge of a
knife store. I do not know.
That is the argument members across the way are making. We
need to have the separatists in charge of Canadian heritage. It is
completely ridiculous. We should have the separatists in charge of
the defence committee which, in light of what happened after the
referendum or just before the referendum, is something that needs
serious examination. If I were the defence minister I would be a bit
concerned about that. I would be questioning my own members and
saying: ``Are you sure you really want to do that?'' He has a
responsibility to do that, in my judgment, after what happened.
Let me conclude by saying the Liberals made some promises.
They made a promise to reform institutions like committees so that
they were allowed to reflect the wishes of members of the
committee. In other words, they wanted to give members of
Parliament more power. They denied that by giving the member for
Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, the chief government whip, almost
absolute power to go in there and say: ``If you don't support the
separatists then you will be in big trouble''. We have seen what has
happened to members in the past, where they have been kicked off
committees because they voted the wrong way.
The second point I want to make in conclusion is that we have a
situation today where people are deeply cynical about the way
politics work. They are deeply cynical and very pessimistic about
their futures. When we have a situation where promises of all kinds
made in the red book are completely forgotten two years later we
can understand why they feel that way. The government has helped
contribute to the great pall of pessimism that has fallen across the
land.
264
(1750)
Third, this is a democratic institution. In this place of all places
people should have the right to elect the people they want to elect
without interference from the government. We raised a question of
privilege the other day on the issue of the government interfering in
the business of Parliament. In that case there was a very serious
accusation, but we see it happen in all ways, shapes and manners in
this place because the government keeps resisting the need to
change.
The fourth point I want to make is from a common sense point of
view. We have a separatist vice-chair on the Canadian heritage
committee, the committee that is supposed to be in charge of
helping to keep the country together. We have a Canadian unity
committee that has sprung out of the Canadian heritage committee
and we have a separatist vice-chair who is part of that committee,
who will be helping to run that committee. It is absolutely nuts. We
will have a separatist as a vice-chair on the defence committee as
well. In light of what has happened that is ridiculous.
In conclusion, the attitude of the government was betrayed when
Mr. Speaker very wisely ruled not long ago that based on
parliamentary precedent the status quo had to be accepted in terms
of leaving the Bloc-
Mr. Hill (Macleod): Unfortunately.
Mr. Solberg: It was very unfortunate, but he very wisely ruled
that according to precedent he had to maintain the Bloc as the
official opposition.
However what happened after that spoke volumes. When
members of the Liberal Party applauded it said more in a few
seconds than all the members in the House could say in an eternity.
They applauded because they favour the separatists in the official
opposition chair, none more than the hon. member
Glengarry-Prescott-Russell who has made it a point to make
sure every vice-chairmanship has gone to the Bloc Quebecois, the
separatists, no matter how damaging it has been to the country.
Mr. Pierre de Savoye (Portneuf, BQ): Madam Speaker, I have
heard enough of this information. I have heard that separatists are
unfit to vice chair the Canadian heritage and defence committees.
I pay taxes. The people of Quebec pay taxes to Canada, up to $30
billion a year. Moreover, soldiers from my riding have given their
lives in Bosnia. As long as soldiers from my riding or from Quebec
are giving their time, their health and their lives for Canada, Bloc
Quebecois members should be and will be able to be vice-chairs of
the defence committee. They have that right and no one can take it
away from any Bloc Quebecois member.
Furthermore, 400 years ago ancestors of many Bloc Quebecois
members arrived in this country. They started a relationship with
the autochtones. The heritage we have from sea to sea to sea is not
only the one they have in the west. It is also the one we have in the
east and which our ancestors have built over centuries.
(1755)
Who in the House has defended culture more than the Bloc
Quebecois, whether in the printing business, the CBC, Société
Radio-Canada or any other subject. Culture is something we
understand and have understood for centuries. My father and
grandfather were from the west. They were French speaking and
contributed to that heritage in French.
I believe we have a right to contribute to the defence and the
promotion of Canadian heritage because a large part of it is Quebec
heritage, the heritage of our ancestors.
For Quebec taxpayers, our ancestors who donated all they had to
build what we have today and the soldiers from Quebec who gave
their health and their lives, the member's apology should be in
order.
Mr. Solberg: Madam Speaker, the hon. member will be waiting
a long time. The one who should be making apologies in the House
is the one who is trying to rip the country apart.
The hon. member is arguing on the one hand that they should be
allowed to sit as vice-chairs on these committees because of the
great Canadian heritage they have helped to uphold. On the other
hand he is saying that he would take his province out of Canada.
Let us not look backward for a moment; let us look forward. Are
we saying that we want to put someone in charge of the Canadian
heritage committee when we are sending a Canadian unity
committee of that committee across the country to talk about ways
to hold the country together? That is absolutely nuts. That is
ridiculous.
We would be irresponsible if we did not note that leading up to
the last referendum the defence critic for the Bloc Quebecois wrote
a letter on his leader's letterhead to the Canadian military in
Quebec and asked them to consider coming over to them in the
wake of a referendum. If we did not take some steps to protect
ourselves from what could happen as a result of that, we would be
completely irresponsible.
The member is talking about talking Quebec out of
Confederation, but let him not think that we should accept that. In
his words, because he and the members of his riding are taxpayers
somehow they have the right to sit as a vice-chair on any
committee to propose things that would rip the country apart. That
is nuts.
265
[Translation]
The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais): There are four
minutes remaining for questions and comments. Does anyone else
wish to speak? The hon. member for Charlevoix.
Mr. Gérard Asselin (Charlevoix, BQ): Madam Speaker, I think
that, this afternoon, the Reform Party has been attempting to skirt
the issue. Before the House recessed for Christmas and before the
prorogation of Parliament, they had put forward a motion in which
they asked to be recognized as the official opposition. You will
recall that they had asked the Speaker to rule on a motion claiming
the status of official opposition.
Last week, the Speaker of the House of Commons came back
with an excellent ruling, stating that the Bloc Quebecois had
achieved official opposition status in 1993, after the elections, and
was the second party in the House of Commons. In the event of an
equality of seats, and this is purely mathematical, and of our losing
one seat or of the Reform Party gaining one, they will become the
second party, or we might remain the second party.
(1800)
I suggest that we wait for the result of the March 25 byelection,
at which time the Bloc Quebecois' position will be consolidated,
with at least 54 seats.
I think that the masks should be taken away from the Reform
Party members. I think that playing this role, this afternoon, and
raising this issue about the chairmanship or vice-chairmanship of
committees, is basically a back-door method of showing that the
Speaker was wrong and should have designated the Reform Party
as the official Opposition. They are trying to send to English
Canada the message that the Speaker made a mistake.
Again, I maintain that the designation of the official opposition
is purely mathematical. The advantage for us of having a Bloc
member as vice-chair of a committee is, as the member for
Portneuf explained, that it gives us priority for the first five
minutes of questions to witnesses who appear before the
committee. The vice-chair also sits on the steering committee that
determines priorities on the agenda.
We have wasted a lot of time. We have been discussing this issue
since oral question period ended, at 3 p.m. The Reform Party
makes an issue of who should be vice-chair and who should be
chair.
We are told that the interest on the national debt increases at the
rate of $1,000 per second. The Reform Party should realize that,
while we are arguing about who should fill the positions of
vice-chair and chair, the interest on the debt has gone up $10,800.
We should be discussing job creation, programs and the future of
our young people. Instead, the Reform Party is using roundabout
means to try to show Canadians that the Speaker erred when he
ruled that the Bloc Quebecois will remain the official opposition.
[English]
Mr. Solberg: Madam Speaker, obviously I will not respond to
everything because it would take too long. It is understandable that
the Bloc members would like to assume all these chairmanship
positions. That makes sense to me. I understand why they want
that. Ultimately they want to go and become emperors in their own
country. That is fine. They can pursue that.
The point I want to make and which we have been trying to make
here is they should not be aided and abetted by the Liberals. They
should not be turning the rules on their head for a party is
committed to the separation of Quebec from this country. That
party should not be using those rules to seek its own ends.
That is exactly what the Liberals have done. They have entered
into this alliance, into this little intrigue with the Bloc Quebecois,
with the separatists. They applauded them when the Speaker ruled
that they should be maintained as the official opposition.
That speaks volumes of what is happening here about the
commitment of these people to have federalists sit in the opposition
and help guide the agenda. I understand where these people are
coming from. We will never agree with them. We will never agree
with the Bloc, but the conduct of the Liberals is unbelievable.
[Translation]
The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais): Is the House
ready for the question?
Some hon. members: Question.
The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais): The question
is on the amendment tabled by Mr. Ringma. Is it the pleasure of the
House to adopt the amendment?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
Some hon. members: No.
The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais): All those in
favour will please say yea.
Some hon. members: Yea.
The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais): All those
opposed will please say nay.
Some hon. members: Nay.
The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais): In my opinion
the nays have it.
(1805)
Some hon. members: On division.
The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais): I declare the
amendment negatived on division.
(Amendment negatived.)
266
The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais): Is the House
ready for the question on the main motion?
Some hon. members: Question.
The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais): Is it the
pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
Some hon. members: No.
The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais): All those in
favour will please say yea.
Some hon. members: Yea.
The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais): All those
opposed will please say nay.
Some hon. members: Nay.
The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais): In my opinion
the yeas have it.
Some hon. members: On division.
The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais): I declare the
motion carried on division.
(Motion agreed to.)
* * *
Mr. Pierre de Savoye (Portneuf, BQ): Madam Speaker, my
colleague from Saint-Jean had to leave and, on behalf of the people
who gave him this petition, I would like to present it to the House.
Taxes account for some 52 per cent of what Canadians pay for a
litre of gasoline while the excise tax rose by 1.5 cents a litre in the
last budget. Moreover, a parliamentary committee has
recommended that this tax be further increased in the next budget.
In the last 10 years, the price of gasoline has gone up by a
whopping 566 per cent.
The petitioners therefore urge Parliament not to raise the federal
excise tax on gasoline in the next federal budget. I am pleased to
table this petition, which I think makes a lot of sense.
Mr. Don Boudria (Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, Lib.):
Madam Speaker, before tabling these petitions, since this is my
first opportunity to do so, I would like to congratulate you on your
appointment to the position of Acting Speaker.
I would like to table a number of petitions.
[English]
The first petition is from the electors of
Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, petitioning not to have an increase
in the tax on gasoline.
Mr. Don Boudria (Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, Lib.): Mr.
Speaker, I also present a petition signed by 7,150 people from the
constituency of Hull-Aylmer.
[Translation]
These people from the riding of Hull-Aylmer present these
petitions through their member of Parliament, who is doing such a
good job of representing them in the House of Commons, and the
minister has asked me to table them on his behalf.
The petitioners urge the government to ensure that the Gatineau
employment centre will continue to provide people in the
Outaouais, Hull-Aylmer, Buckingham, Campbell's Bay and
Maniwaki with full employment, UI and income security services.
As I said earlier, these petitions were signed by 7,150 people.
[English]
Mr. Bernie Collins (Souris-Moose Mountain, Lib.): Madam
Speaker, I have the pleasure to present to the House petitions on
behalf of a number of schools in my riding. Their concerns are with
regard to the Young Offenders Act.
The schools are Hillside school, Bienfait school, Kennedy high
school, St. Mary's school in Estivan, St. John's school, Torquay
school, Langbank elementary, Glenn McGuire, Alida and Carlyle.
Mr. Bernie Collins (Souris-Moose Mountain, Lib.): Madam
Speaker, I also have petitions to present on behalf of a number of
constituents of Souris-Moose Mountain appealing against any
hikes in the fuel tax.
Mr. Mac Harb (Ottawa Centre, Lib.): Madam Speaker, my
constituents are outraged at the fluctuation of gasoline prices
moving up and down like a yo-yo on a regular basis. My
constituents are calling on the government for action.
(1810 )
Today they have given me a petition to table on their behalf
calling on the government not introduce any federal taxes on
gasoline.
Mr. Paul Zed (Fundy-Royal, Lib.): Madam Speaker, I
congratulate you on taking the chair. All of us from New
Brunswick are very proud of you as you fulfil your new
responsibilities.
I am pleased to present on behalf of motorists in and around the
Windsor, Ontario area the enclosed petition with 37 names from
Windsor, Amherstburg, Kingsville, Essex county, La Salle and
Tecumseh, Ontario. They request that Parliament not increase the
excise tax on gasoline.
267
Mr. Jay Hill (Prince George-Peace River, Ref.): Madam
Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I present today a petition
signed by hundreds of people from my riding of Prince
George-Peace River. They are completely opposed to further tax
increases in the upcoming budget and specifically request that
Parliament not again increase the federal excise tax on gasoline
as the government did last year.
Taxes on gasoline are not luxury taxes and additional increases
unfairly discriminate against northerners.
[Translation]
Mrs. Francine Lalonde (Mercier, BQ): Madam Speaker, I
would like to table a petition from people who do not want the
upcoming budget to increase taxes on gasoline. There are 25 of
them, and I know more are getting ready. So I table this petition
before you.
* * *
[English]
Mr. Paul Zed (Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the
Government in the House of Commons, Lib.): Madam Speaker, I
ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais): Is that agreed?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
_____________________________________________
267
GOVERNMENT ORDERS
[English]
The House resumed consideration of Motion No. 1.
Mr. Dick Harris (Prince George-Bulkley Valley, Ref.):
Madam Speaker, I am pleased today to address government Motion
No. 1.
As we are well aware, Motion No. 1 would reinstate bills which
died on the Order Paper at the exact same stage they were at prior
to prorogation. According to Précis of Procedure, 4th edition,
prorogation means that the pending legislation would be abolished.
The government seeks to overturn that practice through motion 1.
Motion No. 1 would see bills resurrected as though prorogation
had never really occurred. Beauchesne's sixth edition, citation 235
states:
In recent years it has become common, by consent, to reinstate certain bills on the
Order Paper of a new session at the same stage that they had reached before
prorogation.
This practice was started by the previous Tory government. As
we have noticed over this 35th Parliament, there does not seem to
be much difference between the policies of the old Tory
government, which Canadians came to hate so much and which the
Liberals when in opposition railed so much against, and the
practices of the Liberals now that they are in government.
Coming back to citation 235, we should pay particular attention
to the phrase ``by consent''. As members know, particularly
members of the Liberal Party, many of whom have been here for
quite some time, unfortunately, anything is possible in the House
by the means of unanimous consent. However, did the Liberals
seek any consent from Reformers with respect to the resurrection
of the bills for the second session? The answer to that is they did
not. We discovered the Liberals' true intentions in an article in the
Hill Times one day. In the article the government House leader
discussed the possibility of introducing such a motion. At no time
did the government contact the other parties in the House to discuss
the possible reinstatement of the bills.
(1815)
Some of the things I am going to say have been said before by
some of my colleagues in this debate but they were so profound I
think they bear repeating. The Liberals gave a tough time to the
Tory government over this same thing in the last Parliament. When
the Tories bowed to these tactics in 1991 there were howls of
outrage from the Liberals when they sat in opposition. They
complained of anti-democratic measures and the destruction of
parliamentary traditions. Perhaps it would do them some good
tonight to reflect on some of their own protestations and arguments
against the use of these tactics.
I am happy to see that the member for Kingston and the Islands
is present tonight. He played a huge part in this. He always gets a
real charge out of hearing his words reflected once again in
Parliament. We will attempt to do that again tonight.
The member for Kingston and the Islands has been known for his
bombastic outrage and outpourings and his pious reflections. In
May 1991 he said to the Tories: ``It is still morally wicked of the
government to proceed with this motion and particularly when it
applies closure to the motion''.
As a Reformer, I agree with that 100 per cent. I am happy that in
1991 the member for Kingston and the Islands had the integrity and
the fortitude to stand up and demand that democracy be done, to
talk about how morally wicked and wrong it was. I congratulate the
member for saying that. He went on to say: ``I suggest it is perhaps
one of the worst outrages that has been perpetuated in this House in
many years''. Again, I congratulate him for those profound
utterances.
268
The member for Kingston and the Islands did not stop there.
He went on and it got even better. The lamentations of the member
for Kingston and the Islands climbed to even higher levels. He
said that the Tory motion represented a national disgrace and that
the Canadian Parliament would become the laughing stock around
the world because of the outrageous conduct of the government
in introducing the motion. That was a wonderful oratory he gave
in 1991. I am so impressed.
I would like to summarize the arguments put forward by the
member for Kingston and the Islands. Motions of this nature are
atrocious, unethical and unparliamentary. They make the Canadian
government look disgraceful both here and at home. I wish I could
claim originality to those words but unfortunately I cannot. I
borrowed them from the member for Kingston and the Islands. He
spoke them so eloquently here in 1991 as he railed against the
outrageous, the morally wicked and the morally wrong practices of
the Tory government. I could not agree with him more. I can think
of no better.
Let us bring it to the present using that member's very own
words when he sat in opposition to the despicable Tories who had
control of the country back then. I can think of no better words to
use to describe the government and its behaviour over the course of
the entire 34th Parliament. But he was not alone in his criticism of
the former government's actions. He had a lot of help from other
Liberals when they sat here. The member for Halifax stated that the
Tory government should ``hang its head in shame for daring to
introduce such a motion''. I love that one.
(1820)
I am sure some of the great defenders of democracy who have
left this earth and gone on to the great Parliament in the sky are
hanging their heads in shame right now, particularly if they
happened to be Liberals when they were in this place. They must be
hanging their heads in shame when they see the undemocratic
policies of the government.
I am getting to the best part. I have to quote the member for
Glengarry-Prescott-Russell who is my very favourite Liberal. In
1991 when he talked about the Tory motion, he wondered out loud:
``If this precedent is allowed to proceed, then what on earth is
next?'' What could follow? Mr. Speaker, let me tell the member for
Glengarry-Prescott-Russell exactly what is next. Next is the
Liberal government saying and doing exactly what it denounced
five years ago. This is déjà vu all over again.
Considering the comments from the member for Kingston and
the Islands, the member for Halifax and the member for
Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, I have reason to believe, and it has
been confirmed, that fried crow was served for lunch in the
government lobby today. Considering the behaviour of the
government, one truly must believe that the Liberals are getting
accustomed to eating crow.
It is funny how when sitting on this side of the House the
Liberals had a monopoly on political morality. They had a
monopoly on democracy. They had a monopoly on talking about
integrity, honesty and doing things right. It was so easy to talk
about it when they sat over here. Once transferred to the other side
of the House however their democracy became bankrupt, their
integrity became bankrupt and as a government they have become
morally bankrupt.
Turning back to the issue of Motion No. 1, the government will
argue that it is necessary to save time since all these previous bills
will not have to be reintroduced again. However the government
has done nothing but waste time during its entire term in this
Parliament.
Proroguing the House removed the entire month of February
when we could have been dealing with government business. The
fall 1995 session was filled with take note debates and
inconsequential bills. In fact, the government has done nothing of
any value since becoming the government. We have done nothing
but house cleaning since the government took office. Canadians
want more than that. Important issues have been left on the back
burner and Canadians have been left with no sense of direction
from the government.
I assume that prorogation provided the government with an
opportunity to deliver another throne speech in order to provide
some sense of direction, but Canadians will take little comfort from
the contents of the throne speech we heard the other day. The
government had a lot of time to prepare for this but the throne
speech only differed slightly from the one delivered on January 8,
1994. The Liberals' record on delivering on the promises made in
the first throne speech quite frankly does not inspire much
confidence in their ability to deliver on the promises made in the
second throne speech.
(1825)
The first throne speech stated that the highest priority was job
creation and economic growth. We found out in the second throne
speech how the Liberals really felt about that. We found out what
they intend to do. They intend to take their failed job creation
program and pass it on to the backs of the private sector. That is
typical for a tax and spend government. If the government cannot
deliver through its own ingenuity, creativity and programs, then
pass it on to those it can wrest a buck from.
Since the Liberals took office the Canadian debtload has
increased about $70 billion. During the campaign I told the electors
of Prince George-Bulkley Valley that in the term of office of the
Liberal government, according to the Liberals' red book and using
their very own figures, the national debt would increase by $100
billion and the interest payment on that debt would increase by $10
billion. Many people said it could not be true because the Liberals
269
said they were going to get the economy in shape. I told them to
get a calculator and do a little figuring.
This government has made what I say come true in spades. I can
go back to the people in my riding and tell them that we are only a
little under three years into this Parliament and already we are up to
$70 billion.
The Liberals have raised taxes. Here is a government that agreed
with Canadians before the election that taxes were too high. They
listened to Canadians. They heard the cries of the Canadian middle
class worker who is paying most of the bills in this country. They
heard the cries about the high taxes and they said they were going
to do something about it. They did. Since the government has taken
office, it has raised taxes by $11.4 billion and unemployment
hovers around 10 per cent.
The Tories brought in the much hated GST. Go back in Hansard
and there are volumes of what the Liberals said about the GST.
Many members in this House spoke most eloquently about this
disgusting extra tax that the Tories were bringing in.
During the pre-election campaign the Liberals were saying: ``We
are going to abolish the GST. We are going to scrap it. We are going
to do away with it. We are going to send it to that happy hunting tax
heaven in the sky''. However, when the Liberals got to writing that
down, when they got to having to put it down on paper and in a red
book, all of a sudden the words abolish, scrap, do away with, end,
cease, desist got magically replaced by the word replaced. They
were going to replace it. They used the word harmonize. They used
words that meant something totally different from scrap, abolish.
The Deputy Prime Minister said in her election promises that if
the government did not get rid of the GST in the first year of its
term in office, she was going to resign. Reformers and many
Canadians are still waiting and she is still very much here in the
human form. We wonder if they do not understand the words,
abolish, scrap and do away with. Obviously they cannot understand
the word resign.
(1830)
The best the Liberals have come up with is the word
harmonization. They are going to take that tax and put into some
other tax. But a tax is a tax is a tax. It does not matter what it is
called or where it is put. As long as the Canadian people still have
to pay it, it is still a tax. Replacing it or harmonizing it or changing
the name really does not accomplish anything. It certainly does not
give any credibility to the words the Liberals spoke: abolish, do
away with or scrap.
The first throne speech also talked about the need to bring down
interprovincial trade barriers, something Reformers have been
talking about for years. Interprovincial trade barriers cost
Canadians about $5 billion within our country.
The 1982 Constitution mentions having a process to do away
with interprovincial trade barriers. That is 14 years ago. The
Liberals wrote the Constitution and they have spent some time in
government since they wrote it.
We have a party here that says one thing and does another. It is a
typical Liberal government that sits on the fence and is afraid to
make any firm commitments that can be counted on by Canadians.
Again I remind the House of the words of the member for
Kingston and the Islands in 1991 when he said: ``It is still morally
wicked of the government to proceed with this motion and then to
apply closure to the motion and thereby curtail debate on it''.
Profound words then. But this is now. When the Liberals resort to
these kinds of tactics somehow it is no longer morally wicked.
In conclusion, I believe that Canadians are getting tired of this
hypocrisy. They want a government that not only promises to
govern with integrity but does govern with integrity. They want a
government that not only makes promises but keeps them. They
want a government that not only talks about democracy but also
practices it.
The member for Kingston and the Islands said in 1991 of the
Tory government: ``I must say that I am getting rather tired of
having to deal with closure and its effects and the way that this
government mistreats the precedents and the practices of this
House''. With the government's behaviour would anyone expect
Reformers to say anything less?
Mr. Jim Abbott (Kootenay East, Ref.): Madam Speaker, it is
interesting when you come to this Chamber that there are many
references one can make for speech content. Probably one of the
most profound orators, certainly he waxed eloquent as Captain
Canada, was none other than the the Hon. Brian Tobin in this
Chamber on May 29, 1991. The only thing I am changing here is
the reference to the Conservative Party because Liberal-Tory, same
old story. I am just going to be putting in the words Liberal Party
instead of Conservative Party.
Here goes the speech. And what does this government do? Does
it attempt to lay bare before the people of Canada its agenda? Does
it attempt to persuade the people of Canada and the elected
representatives of the people of Canada of the value of its agenda?
Does it say that it has a vision for Canada such as a profound belief
in our vision for Canada that we are prepared to debate it and
defend it? No. It uses the tyranny of the majority. It uses the
temporary trust given to this party as a consequence of an election
two and a half years ago to bulldoze its legislative measures
through the Parliament of Canada, to deny the people of Canada a
chance to be heard, to deny the elected representatives of the
people of Canada not an opportunity to speak, but their obligation
to speak, their responsibility to be heard in the proper examination
of bills.
270
(1835 )
We may as well be blunt in this Chamber. What do we have? We
have in Canada today the worst possible combination of
governmental systems. We have a Prime Minister who wants a
presidential system, a Prime Minister who wants to rule with
absolute power and assumes that the members of the Liberal Party
are automatically supporters of every government measure, a
Prime Minister who takes for granted that the members of the
Liberal Party will support any and every government measure, a
Prime Minister who sees not a government with all it entails, but
sees purely a majority, a Prime Minister who has hauled off the
velvet glove and exposed the brutal fist of a party with a majority in
a parliamentary system who wants to behave in a presidential
fashion.
How prophetic are those words. Here we are repeating them only
five years later. They were spoken by that great orator of this
Chamber, the Hon. Brian Tobin, about the then most hated Prime
Minister of his day, Brian Mulroney. I ask the members in the
House, what is the difference or indeed is there any difference
between the actions of the Liberals and this Prime Minister and the
actions of the Conservatives and their Prime Minister?
It is absolutely astounding to me that the member for Kingston
and the Islands can laugh in the face of the member for Prince
George-Bulkley Valley saying: ``Let us hear those words some
more'', when he was railing against the government of the day. He
is sitting in his chair laughing. The Deputy Prime Minister, the
Minister of Canadian Heritage, laughs every time she is reminded
that she said that she would resign if the GST was not replaced, not
harmonized, but the word she used was abolished. When we bring
up the word abolished she sits there and laughs.
I suggest that the government has shown absolute and total
contempt for the people of Canada in the way it has conducted the
affairs on this, the very first motion of the second session of
Parliament. Liberal members have shown absolute contempt.
When they were on this side they made speech after speech
condemning the former government. Now they turn around and
walk away from what they said. Is there any wonder that the people
of Canada are so cynical about somebody who would call himself
or herself a politician?
What about the person who carries out the will of the Prime
Minister in this House? What about the whip of the Liberal Party?
His words on May 28, 1991: ``Finally, if this precedent is allowed
to proceed then what is next? I ask the question rhetorically. If one
can resuscitate five bills with this motion or four bills, what stops
one from resuscitating all legislation from the past? That is a good
question. Why do we not just get everything back together and the
things we like we will just resuscitate it''.
He raises a very logical point. He says, carrying it to the next
level: ``What stops us from adopting a motion today deeming that
all bills have reached third reading? What stops us from
resuscitating a bill from 1977 saying that a particular bill has now
reached third reading and we are going to vote on it right now? As a
matter of fact, we could actually pass a motion stating that it has
completed third reading and debate.
``What we are in fact doing is amending completely the rules of
the House by adopting this motion were we to do so. Or were this
motion to be ruled in order, the implications of ruling this motion
in order would be such that I fear we would render, if a government
wanted to, and I am not saying it does, this House of Commons
totally irrelevant and redundant''.
What prophetic words. The whip of the Liberals when he stood
in this House said that if the Speaker of that Parliament ruled the
motion to be in order that it would make the House of Commons
totally irrelevant and redundant. How prophetic because he in fact,
as a result of the former Speaker making that ruling, has done
exactly that.
(1840)
This government whip has made the House irrelevant and
redundant. We would simply deem everything and anything to have
been passed, to have been at third reading or to have been at any
stage if for any reason the government did not want to proceed with
other stages of the bill.
It is very frustrating. It is exceptionally frustrating. It is
frustrating not only because of the heavy handed approach of the
Liberals, not only because of their gross arrogance. We expect that
of them. What is frustrating is for them to have sat on this side of
the House and to have said these words and then to move to that
side of the House for us to have a stack of things they have been
talking about, and what have they done? They have laughed all day
long at their words being thrown back at them.
This is a very sad way to start the second session of the 35th
Parliament of Canada. We can only hope the people of Canada will
not only pay attention but will talk to each other and say it really is
Liberal-Tory, same old story. It really is government as usual. It
really is politicians taking us for granted. It really is the
government running a four-year dictatorship.
When the people of Canada start to realize this is what is
happening in the House of Commons, these people will feel even
more heat back in their constituencies when they go home.
I guess we will find out what the legislation will be between now
and June. They assume all of their trained seals will stand up and
bark at the appropriate time, the legislation will go through, and
there you go. It is a very sad realization that in Canada this
Chamber has stooped to this level.
271
[Translation]
The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais): Is the House
ready for the question?
Some hon. members: Question.
The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais): The question
is on the amendment standing in the name of Mr. Bellehumeur. Is it
the pleasure of the House to adopt the amendment?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
Some hon. members: No.
The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais): All those in
favour will please say yea.
Some hon. members: Yea.
The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais): All those
opposed will please say nay.
Some hon. members: Nay.
The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais): In my opinion
the nays have it.
And more than five members having risen:
The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Ringuette-Maltais): Call in the
members.
(The House divided on the amendment, which was negatived on
the following division:)
(Division No. 5)
YEAS
Members
Abbott
Ablonczy
Asselin
Axworthy (Saskatoon-Clark's Crossing)
Bachand
Bélisle
Bellehumeur
Benoit
Bernier (Gaspé)
Blaikie
Breitkreuz (Yellowhead)
Brien
Brown (Calgary Southeast/Sud-Est)
Chrétien (Frontenac)
Cummins
Dalphond-Guiral
de Jong
de Savoye
Deshaies
Duceppe
Duncan
Epp
Fillion
Frazer
Gagnon (Québec)
Gauthier
Godin
Grey (Beaver River)
Grubel
Guay
Guimond
Hanger
Hanrahan
Harper (Simcoe Centre)
Harris
Hart
Hoeppner
Jacob
Lalonde
Landry
Laurin
Loubier
Manning
Mayfield
McClelland (Edmonton Southwest/Sud-Ouest)
Mills (Red Deer)
Morrison
Nunez
Penson
Picard (Drummond)
Ramsay
Ringma
Rocheleau
Schmidt
Scott (Skeena)
Silye
Solberg
Solomon
Speaker
St-Laurent
Taylor
Tremblay (Rimouski-Témiscouata)-62
NAYS
Members
Adams
Alcock
Assadourian
Axworthy (Winnipeg South Centre/Sud-Centre)
Bakopanos
Barnes
Bélanger
Bertrand
Bethel
Bevilacqua
Bodnar
Bonin
Boudria
Brown (Oakville-Milton)
Brushett
Bryden
Calder
Campbell
Cannis
Chan
Clancy
Cohen
Collins
Comuzzi
Cowling
Crawford
Culbert
DeVillers
Dingwall
Discepola
Dromisky
Duhamel
Dupuy
English
Finlay
Flis
Fontana
Gagliano
Gagnon (Bonaventure-Îles-de-la-Madeleine)
Gallaway
Gerrard
Godfrey
Goodale
Graham
Gray (Windsor West/Ouest)
Grose
Guarnieri
Harb
Harper (Churchill)
Harvard
Hopkins
Hubbard
Iftody
Irwin
Jackson
Jordan
Keyes
Kirkby
Knutson
Lastewka
LeBlanc (Cape/Cap-Breton Highlands-Canso)
Lee
Lincoln
Loney
MacLellan (Cape/Cap-Breton-The Sydneys)
Malhi
Maloney
Manley
Massé
McCormick
McGuire
McLellan (Edmonton Northwest/Nord-Ouest)
McTeague
McWhinney
Mifflin
Minna
Mitchell
Murphy
Murray
Nault
O'Brien
O'Reilly
Pagtakhan
Peric
Peterson
Phinney
Pickard (Essex-Kent)
Pillitteri
Proud
Reed
Regan
Richardson
Ringuette-Maltais
Robichaud
Robillard
Scott (Fredericton-York-Sunbury)
Shepherd
Sheridan
Simmons
Skoke
Speller
St. Denis
Stewart (Brant)
Szabo
Telegdi
Thalheimer
Torsney
Ur
Valeri
Vanclief
Walker
Whelan
Wood
Young
Zed-115
PAIRED MEMBERS
Anderson
Assad
Augustine
Bergeron
Bernier (Mégantic-Compton-Stanstead)
Blondin-Andrew
Caccia
Caron
Catterall
Cauchon
Copps
Crête
Debien
Dubé
Dumas
Fewchuk
Gaffney
Laurin
272
Lebel
Leblanc (Longueuil)
Leroux (Richmond-Wolfe)
Leroux (Shefford)
MacAulay
MacDonald
Manley
McKinnon
Ménard
Mercier
Milliken
Mills (Broadview-Greenwood)
Paradis
Paré
Pomerleau
Sauvageau
Stewart (Northumberland)
Tremblay (Rosemont)
Venne
Wells
[English]
The Speaker: I declare the amendment defeated.
The next question is on the main motion.
[Translation]
Mr. Boudria: Mr. Speaker, if you were to seek it, I believe there
would be unanimous consent for applying the vote on the previous
motion in reverse to the motion now before the House.
Mrs. Dalphond-Guiral: Members of the official opposition will
vote against the motion.
[English]
Mr. Ringma: Mr. Speaker, Reform members will vote against
the motion except for those who might choose to vote otherwise.
Mr. Axworthy (Saskatoon-Clark's Crossing): Mr. Speaker,
New Democrats this evening will vote against the motion.
(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the
following division:)
(Division No. 6)
YEAS
Members
Adams
Alcock
Assadourian
Axworthy (Winnipeg South Centre/Sud-Centre)
Bakopanos
Barnes
Bélanger
Bertrand
Bethel
Bevilacqua
Bodnar
Bonin
Boudria
Brown (Oakville-Milton)
Brushett
Bryden
Calder
Campbell
Cannis
Chan
Clancy
Cohen
Collins
Comuzzi
Cowling
Crawford
Culbert
DeVillers
Dingwall
Discepola
Dromisky
Duhamel
Dupuy
English
Finlay
Flis
Fontana
Gagliano
Gagnon (Bonaventure-Îles-de-la-Madeleine)
Gallaway
Gerrard
Godfrey
Goodale
Graham
Gray (Windsor West/Ouest)
Grose
Guarnieri
Harb
Harper (Churchill)
Harvard
Hopkins
Hubbard
Iftody
Irwin
Jackson
Jordan
Keyes
Kirkby
Knutson
Lastewka
LeBlanc (Cape/Cap-Breton Highlands-Canso)
Lee
Lincoln
Loney
MacLellan (Cape/Cap-Breton-The Sydneys)
Malhi
Maloney
Manley
Massé
McCormick
McGuire
McLellan (Edmonton Northwest/Nord-Ouest)
McTeague
McWhinney
Mifflin
Minna
Mitchell
Murphy
Murray
Nault
O'Brien
O'Reilly
Pagtakhan
Peric
Peterson
Phinney
Pickard (Essex-Kent)
Pillitteri
Proud
Reed
Regan
Richardson
Ringuette-Maltais
Robichaud
Robillard
Scott (Fredericton-York-Sunbury)
Shepherd
Sheridan
Simmons
Skoke
Speller
St. Denis
Stewart (Brant)
Szabo
Telegdi
Thalheimer
Torsney
Ur
Valeri
Vanclief
Walker
Whelan
Wood
Young
Zed-115
NAYS
Members
Abbott
Ablonczy
Asselin
Axworthy (Saskatoon-Clark's Crossing)
Bachand
Bélisle
Bellehumeur
Benoit
Bernier (Gaspé)
Blaikie
Breitkreuz (Yellowhead)
Brien
Brown (Calgary Southeast/Sud-Est)
Chrétien (Frontenac)
Cummins
Dalphond-Guiral
de Jong
de Savoye
Deshaies
Duceppe
Duncan
Epp
Fillion
Frazer
Gagnon (Québec)
Gauthier
Godin
Grey (Beaver River)
Grubel
Guay
Guimond
Hanger
Hanrahan
Harper (Simcoe Centre)
Harris
Hart
Hoeppner
Jacob
Lalonde
Landry
Laurin
Loubier
Manning
Mayfield
McClelland (Edmonton Southwest/Sud-Ouest)
Mills (Red Deer)
Morrison
Nunez
Penson
Picard (Drummond)
Ramsay
Ringma
Rocheleau
Schmidt
Scott (Skeena)
Silye
Solberg
Solomon
Speaker
St-Laurent
Taylor
Tremblay (Rimouski-Témiscouata)-62
PAIRED MEMBERS
Anderson
Assad
Augustine
Bergeron
Bernier (Mégantic-Compton-Stanstead)
Blondin-Andrew
Caccia
Caron
Catterall
Cauchon
Copps
Crête
Debien
Dubé
Dumas
Fewchuk
Gaffney
Laurin
Lebel
Leblanc (Longueuil)
Leroux (Richmond-Wolfe)
Leroux (Shefford)
MacAulay
MacDonald
Manley
McKinnon
Ménard
Mercier
273
Milliken
Mills (Broadview-Greenwood)
Paradis
Paré
Plamondon
Sauvageau
Stewart (Northumberland)
Tremblay (Rosemont)
Venne
Wells
The Speaker: I declare the motion carried.
It being 7.30 p.m., the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at
10 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).
(The House adjourned at 7.25 p.m.)