Each year Encounters with Canada welcomes over 3,000 Canadian high school students to Ottawa where a one-week program of studies built around a central theme of Canadian institutions and a sub-theme of their choice.
This week I have the pleasure of welcoming one of my young constituents to Ottawa to participate in the program. James Buchanan, or Jimmy as his friends like to call him, attends Sir Winston Churchill Collegiate in my riding of Scarborough Centre. Jimmy was picked by his school for his outstanding achievement in both academics and extra-curricular activities.
I want to congratulate Mr. Buchanan on his accomplishments and encourage him to take full advantage of the program being offered to him this week. Congratulations, Jimmy.
The majority of those concerns, as members may guess, deal with their unjust treatment at the hands of this Liberal government.
News of the day issues like silencing of the Somalia inquiry, the mishandling of the Airbus affair, the blood scandal, the broken GST promise and the bungling of the Pearson airport deal are all at the top of their minds.
There are also a litany of concerns specific to my constituents. Coast guard cutbacks, de-staffed light stations and DFO mismanaged fisheries top the list in Prince Rupert. People living in Terrace, Kitimat, Stewart and the Bulkley Valley seem incensed with the government's cramming gun control, native land claims and increasingly punitive taxes down their throats.
However, the most frequently asked question in Skeena is: ``When is the Prime Minister going to call an election?'' They and Canadians right across the country want to start counting the days until they can hold this government accountable for its broken promises.
The UN recognizes and honours personnel of member states who participate in UN missions in support of its wider goal of maintaining international peace and security. Canada has been a stalwart support of the UN participating in nearly every UN peacekeeping mission.
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Canada has played a significant role in the international community's efforts to build peace in Haiti. The Canadian forces have done much to restore hope for those people.
Canada currently has 750 Canadian forces personnel deployed in Haiti, including members from Canadian Forces Base Val Cartier and personnel drawn from 427 Tactical Helicopter Squadron from my own home community of Petawawa.
We congratulate them and we are proud of them. As Canadians we wish them well.
I was pleased to present medals to athletes and to witness Collingwood events, including alpine skiing at Blue Mountain and cross-country skiing and snowshoeing at Duntroon.
The mission of the special Olympics is to provide year round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic type sports for children and adults with mental disabilities. Special Olympics gives these athletes continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, to experience courage and joy and to participate in sharing gifts, skills and friendship with other athletes from around the world.
Everyone involved with the 1997 Special Olympics World Winter Games should be proud of their success and inspired by the courage and talent of the athletes. A great deal can be learned from the special Olympics oath: ``Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt''.
Three cheers for Team Canada and especially for those athletes who represented the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. All three Newfoundlanders went home with medals from this major multi-sport event.
For nordic skier Janet Hanham of Fortune, a gold and a bronze medal; for snowshoer Louise Wall of Codroy Valley, a silver medal; for Gordon Reddy of St. John's, two bronze medals in nordic skiing. This is another fantastic accomplishment for our athletes, for our province and for the country.
Congratulations to all, the Olympians, their coaches, their families and all the volunteers who made dreams come true last week.
This year again, the village of Saint-Côme was literally turned into an ice sculpture museum, to the delight of tens of thousands of visitors who came from all over Quebec and beyond to admire the works of local artists.
This year again, the festival was a success, thanks to the solidarity, co-operation and team work of the organizers, the chamber of commerce, many volunteers and the sculptors themselves.
After two weeks of outdoor events and games, I want to congratulate all those who contributed to the immense success of this young but promising festival.
As honourary president of the fifth festival, I would like to thank the people of Saint-Côme for their warm reception, a tradition in this region.
Yes, Gilles Vigneault was right: ``Mon pays, ce n'est pas un pays, c'est l'hiver''. In Saint-Côme, we are proud of that, and we celebrate that pride.
Special Olypians from around the world came to Collingwood and Toronto to compete for medals in sports such as alpine skiing, speed skating, figure skating and floor hockey.
As with any event of this size, the Special Olympics required an enormous organizational effort and an army of volunteers. The residents of both cities should be commended for their efforts on behalf of the athletes, their coaches and their families.
Participants from around the globe return home this week with a renewed sense of accomplishment both in view of their personal successes and because of the efforts of the hundreds of volunteers and organizers who made the event possible.
However, the provincial governments did not wait for the federal government before taking action. In Quebec, as was pointed out by a member of the forum, Dr. Marc Renaud, we already have a head start in areas like home health care, family policies and drug plans.
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The government poses as a champion of the existing health care system while at the same time taking billions of dollars out of health care budgets. Once again, this government is not practising what it preaches. The Bloc will be glad to remind Quebecers of this in the next election.
This festival, which takes pride in being known as the largest winterfest in western Canada, celebrates the history, traditions and culture of the French and Metis people.
This is a time when Manitobans, other Canadians and people from all over the world come and visit Voyageur Park, Fort Gibraltar and the winter promenades to honour the contribution of the founding nations of Manitoba.
For two weeks, St. Boniface will host Franco-Manitoban, Quebec, Acadian and Cajun performers who will act, sing and dance, all in French.
Mr. Speaker, my colleagues, once again, I invite you to join us in celebrating the tenacity of the Metis and French speaking communities of western Canada. Have a great time.
A trailblazer in the Nepean high tech community, CDC has nearly 50 years of experience as a defence supplier to over 20 nations. CDC will lead an industrial team of companies from across Canada. Their task is the design, development, integration and manufacture of enough prototypes for an infantry platoon to extensively test the clothing and equipment in the field.
The project will draw from emerging technologies and systems integration such as a satellite navigation system and a wearable computer with a helmet mounted display.
I applaud CDC and other members of the industrial team. This contract enhances CDC's already strong international reputation. It is because of companies like CDC that Nepean and Canada are so well respected in the high tech sector.
[Translation]
With the vast majority of the social and cultural associations in his riding behind him, the new Liberal candidate for Bourassa can also count on the formal support of the three provincial Liberal members from his riding.
Joining him on the stage, Yvon Charbonneau, Jean-Claude Gobé and Marcel Parent made a strong plea for unity within Liberal ranks.
Mr. Charbonneau said that the provincial Liberals were fighting the same battle as the federal Liberals to get rid of the Bloc Quebecois.
Our pre-election campaign is under way in Quebec, and we will wage a relentless battle against those who have nothing better to propose than the separation of Quebec and the breakup of Canada.
Georges Groulx can be described as a great creator, an extraordinary actor and stage director, as well as an outstanding educator. During his career, this theatre personality deeply touched those who worked with him: Gilles Pelletier, for one, spoke about the humility and joviality of the man he considers the pillar of the Nouvelle Compagnie théâtrale; as for Françoise Faucher, she remembers him as an exceptional artist who was able to make fun of his own fears.
Georges Groulx worked with a number of seasoned actors in the Compagnons de Saint-Laurent company and helped train several Quebec actors at the Théâtre du Nouveau-Monde and the Conservatoire d'art dramatique. He was also a stage director at the Rideau Vert and a Radio-Canada producer.
The Bloc Quebecois joins the artistic community in mourning this great theatre personality, whose generosity was only matched by his talent.
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Prior to 1947 anyone who was born in Canada was not a Canadian citizen but rather a British subject resident in Canada. It is ironic that Canada has existed as a nation for almost 130 years, yet Canadians as a people have existed for only 50 of those 130 years.
While Canadian citizenship is something to be proud of, it is often difficult to celebrate. Just last year while filling out my census form I had the option of marking my ethnic background as Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Filipino. I could not say I was Canadian unless I marked ``other''.
Canadian citizenship should be something we can be proud of regardless of race, creed, colour, ethnicity or when our ancestors came to this land. Maybe we will even be able to indicate this pride during the census.
Our health care system is the pride of our country. The forum reaffirmed the belief of Canadians that the single tier, publicly funded health care system is the best model to deliver the best care for the best results for the best price.
The forum produced some excellent recommendations. Among some of the most interesting recommendations is that the government examine publicly funded home care and medication. The report also underlines the link between poverty and health, especially in children.
I support these recommendations, as they clearly indicate that health care as a prevention method is the best way to go.
The minister responsible pointed out the very positive economic and social benefits that resulted from the first infrastructure program. He also stressed the increased competitiveness of the communities that benefited from the program.
Our objective is to create more jobs during the 1997 construction season. We believe that extending the national infrastructure program should help create between 15,000 and 20,000 new jobs.
The program is a major success. To this day, it has helped create over 100,000 new jobs. Our government sees this as further proof that our federalist system is flexible and helps create jobs when the various levels of government work together.
Alberta was the first province to sign. I hope that ``la belle province'', the Province of Quebec, will not be the last one.
The plan has been very successful. That is why the government recently announced it would renew the full range of enforcement measures at a cost of $100 million.
As well, last Monday my colleague, the solicitor general, announced in Washington after meeting with American Attorney General Janet Reno that he will be creating a new, high level anti-smuggling co-ordinating group to work with the counterpart American group. The aim is to have an additional mechanism to work on border enforcement issues of mutual interest, thereby maximizing our activities against smuggling.
The anti-smuggling effort of this government is a prime example of how we work daily to safeguard the safety and security of Canadians.
Reformers call for balanced budgets and lower taxes that will create jobs and put more money into the real economy. They demand tax fairness for low income families and government policies that will strengthen the family unit.
The young Reformers are going to work tirelessly for Canadian unity, putting money back into the health care and education system and a massive overhaul of Canada's criminal system.
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What impressed me the most about these Canadians was their drive, determination and youthful enthusiasm. They have seen this great nation's future and it not only includes them, it is going to be built by them.