Educating our children is a vital task that often receives far too little recognition. Not only is education fundamental to our future economic success, it also lays the foundation for our successful democracy and the development of a more tolerant and caring society.
All too often we focus on the negative when discussing our education system and ignore the wonderful contribution of all the dedicated teachers who, despite all the challenges of a rapidly changing society, manage to instil a love of learning.
I am sure all members will join me in saying thank you to all Canadian teachers for their dedication and hard work educating our children.
Since the centre is built in the middle of a cranberry production facility, visitors will be able to see how this fruit is harvested. Under a huge tent, many charts and pictures will help them get to know everything about this fruit.
The cranberry in a small wild fruit from North America. Natives had called it atoca.
At present, in Quebec, some 1,000 acres have been set aside to grow cranberries.
In fact, 95 per cent of Quebec's cranberries are grown within a radius of 20 km around the municipality of Saint-Louis-de-Blandford. Furthermore, the neighbouring municipality of Villeroy hosts an annual cranberry festival.
Consequently, the riding of Lotbinière is the best location for the production of cranberries in Quebec.
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Farmers in Prince George-Peace River are accustomed to tough years and hard conditions. As someone who has been directly involved in agriculture for most of my life, I am well aware of what a year like this means to a farm family.
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After suffering years of low returns the future was finally beginning to look a bit brighter with the improvement of grain prices, but then crop year 1996 came along. A long cold winter and a late wet spring, followed by almost continuous rain over the growing season, have resulted in a dangerously late harvest.
Hundreds of thousands of Canadians from coast to coast depend on the successful grain harvest for their livelihood. Farmers not only in my riding but across Canada are struggling to bring in the crop. I ask all colleagues to join with me in wishing them the very best in their endeavours.
I got a cute answer. The minister got up and said: ``Not yet''. It seems that the Trudeau shrug is back in style.
The fact of the matter is there is a good case to be made for doing an environmental assessment of these various rail line abandonments and what effect they have on the environment by increasing truck traffic and a variety of other things which need to be considered.
I would urge the government, pursuant to its commitment to the Bruntland commission, to do these kinds of environmental assessments. That is what governments around the world committed themselves to do when they endorsed the work of the Bruntland commission to environmentally assess all major policy initiatives; not just the environmental ones, but transportation and all kinds of
other policy initiatives. That has not been done by this government and it should be done.
I could stand here and reflect on the bitterness and the frustration that the victim's family has experienced through this whole traumatic episode, but rather I am standing here to urge women across the country who find themselves in situations of domestic abuse, who find themselves brutalized, terrorized, demoralized and compromised daily, to find a secure, safe haven for themselves and their children.
We can also talk about restraining orders and all the paperwork that abounds in supporting our legal structure, but for Kelly Howe that restraining order had about as much value as this paper airplane.
According to Jim Craig, the high school English teacher, 99 per cent of his students go on to university despite the fact that most came as immigrants from non-English speaking communities. Sadly, many came as refugees from war zones.
Recently these students have compiled a collection of prose and poetry describing their views of life, Images of Parkdale.
Images of Parkdale is truly unique in that it allows us to see life through the eyes of young people who have endured very difficult times and have yet gone beyond this by putting together a truly remarkable and inspirational book.
I fully commend the staff and the students of Parkdale Collegiate Institute for their excellent work.
On April 4, 1942 Leonard Birchall was on air patrol off the coast of Ceylon, where the British navy was stationed. He was turning around when he spotted the whole Japanese fleet heading toward Ceylon. It is said the Japanese were planning an attack similar to the one at Pearl Harbour. Leonard Birchall managed to signal the British fleet before the Japanese shot him down. He was captured and survived four years of beatings and torture in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.
Sir Winston Churchill hailed Leonard Birchall as the saviour of Ceylon. Had the Japanese attacked, they could have wiped out the British navy, with unknown consequences for the outcome of the war. Air Commodore Birchall is truly a great Canadian war hero. He was well saluted last Sunday.
In my riding of Saint-Denis I have organized a drawing contest for the second year in a row to encourage elementary school children to rediscover their family strengths. Last year's contest was a success and this year's will have even greater participation.
[Translation]
As members of Parliament, we have a responsibility to teach and show young people, tomorrow's decision makers, how important family is in our society.
Family values are our greatest resource. Without the love and support of our families, it would be difficult if not almost impossible to realize our full potential and achieve our own goals and those of our society.
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Indeed, without the love, support and strength of my parents, my husband and my two daughters, I could not do my job as well as other colleagues in the House.
Let us rediscover our family strengths and rejoice in our families not only this week but all year long.
Day in honour of the men and women who dedicate their lives to teaching.
For teachers, the vision of a world where people will live in a climate of harmony, tolerance and mutual understanding is more than a dream; it is a goal.
The president of the international educational association, Mary Hatwood Futrell, said this: ``When a student's developed potential meets a teacher's liberating art, a miracle occurs''. This miracle happens every day.
On behalf of all my colleagues, I want to thank the men and women who make this miracle possible.
The RCMP recommended that Elisabeth Roux be charged because she, by trickery, lies, or other misleading methods, defrauded the Government of Canada of more than $5,000. The justice department has refused to lay charges against the senator or her daughter even though federal employees point to the numerous examples where other Canadians have been prosecuted for UI fraud.
Consequently, by refusing to lay charges, this Liberal regime is sending a message to Canadians that the law applies to everyone unless you are a political friend of the government. In the senator's case she was a former provincial Liberal cabinet minister.
Shame on the justice minister for allowing two tier justice to reign in Canada. Shame on the justice department lawyers who quashed the RCMP charges. Shame on this Liberal government for demonstrating its contempt for the principle that all Canadians are equal before the law. Charge the senator and her daughter.
This international event will be an economic and cultural boon to Calgary, Edmonton and Canada, drawing tourists from around the world, and will serve as a showcase of our great country and people.
Traditional western hospitality will certainly transform all visitors into Stetson wearing, roving ambassadors of Canada who will proclaim to all who listen what a special country we are privileged to live in.
So widespread is the support for this bid that even the city of Edmonton, Calgary's traditional rival, is strongly supporting our southern neighbour's bid. Combine this support with that of the province of Alberta, the campaign for Canada sponsored by the Calgary Sun, and the future looks very bright for Calgary.
Once again, I applaud Calgary's bid for Expo 2005 and encourage my fellow members to take up this challenge for our country's benefit.
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Five hundred land mines explode weekly. The vast majority of victims are innocent civilians, often women and children. At the IPU Canada worked to pass a strong resolution to have a total ban on anti-personnel land mines.
I want to congratulate the Minister of Foreign Affairs who has taken a leadership role in convening a conference here and following it up in December.
I wish him the best of success to have a total global ban on anti-personnel land mines.
This great demonstration of democracy in action resulted in the election of transportation minister Keith Milligan as the new leader of the Liberal Party and premier of the province of Prince Edward Island.
I want to take this opportunity to congratulate premier-elect Keith and his organization on a superb effort which produced his weekend victory.
I want to congratulate Wayne Cheverie, Tex MacDonald and Daniel Mullins for running great campaigns and making a major contributions to the revitalization of the Liberal Party on the island.
As the convention concluded it was heart warming to hear that all factions were united behind the new leader and anxious to contribute to a Liberal victory in the upcoming election.
I want to wish Keith and his family well and to give my heartfelt thanks to Premier Callbeck for a job well done.
Having retired from teaching after 46 years, I wish to mark this day in a special way. Many members of Parliament, including some 20 members of the official opposition, a few ministers and yourself, Mr. Speaker, have worked in that sector. The vast majority of politicians used to come from professional environments. We now see how teachers can also influence the future of a country.
Teaching is the greatest profession in the world, since our social values and assets depend on its quality. On the eve of the third millennium, teachers assume a major responsibility.
On behalf of all my Bloc colleagues, I wish to thank them for their commitment and professionalism.
Fact one: the entire deficit reduction of $25 billion is matched by $25 billion extra collected from the taxpayer. Fact two: the cuts in program spending needed to pay extra interest on the debt were achieved mainly by downloading on the provinces. Soon cuts in transfers for health and education will account for 84.3 per cent of all the federal government's cuts.
Ontario's minister of intergovernmental affairs put it this way: ``Well, Mr. Minister, it is time to come clean. You will reduce transfers to the provinces by 42.2 per cent while you have only reduced other federal program spending by 1.3 per cent''.
Downsizing of government is largely a Liberal myth. Revenue grabs and deficit shifting are despicable facts.
Upon returning from a journey in Asia, Simard observed that, in Asia, the business culture relies heavily on governments and that government assistance is necessary to support the economic stakeholders. ``Agreements must first be entered into by the various countries for the foreign business community to have access to this market. It is a matter of trust. That is the only way to do business in Asia'', he said.
We are happy to see that the Quebec minister responsible for international relations recognizes how important the presence of and role played by Canadian first ministers was in Team Canada's first mission to Asia.
Hopefully, next time, they will be able to convince Lucien Bouchard to come along, in the best interest of all Quebecers.
In essence, Lucien Bouchard reiterated the main economic principles that have guided our government since we came to office. Fighting the deficit must be our top priority in order to protect our social benefits, create jobs and improve the competitiveness of our economy.
However the separatist leader should not look too far for the reasons explaining his province's financial distress. Since his party took office in 1994, there has been one referendum after another and it is threatening to hold a referendum when the circumstances are favourable.
Lucien Bouchard must eliminate the climate of economic insecurity created by his plan to achieve sovereignty. That is the price to pay to ensure Quebec's future and prosperity. Two referendums is already two too many.
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The Speaker: Colleagues, before we begin question period today, I noticed that in the statements over the last few days we have been using the term ``you'' as if speaking directly to another person or a minister. I have been loath to intervene, but we do not use that particular word when we are having questions or answers. I wonder if you would consider putting it in a more roundabout way rather than attacking directly.