Over the past 20 years Dr. Curran has ably served on committees of the environment, forestry and fisheries, health and welfare, as well as others. Dr. Curran has authored reports on a wide range of topics including cloning, AIDS, global warming, gene therapy and acid rain. Dr. Curran is one example of the highest quality of support the Library of Parliament provides to parliamentarians in helping us deal with complex issues in service to Canadians.
I ask all members to wish him well in his retirement, as well as all others who are retiring.
To my constituents for having resided their trust in me to represent them in Parliament.
To you, Mr. Speaker, to your deputy and to your assistants, for your advice and forbearance with me, particularly early in the session.
To the clerk and the table. They have given a lot in advice and counsel to me.
To the pages for their courtesy and their efficiency.
To my caucus and my staff. They have been very supportive and very good in advising me on things to do.
To the other members of this House. I may disagree with them politically and philosophically but I respect most of them for their commitment to their constituents and to the House.
And lastly, to my family. The job of an MP is not an easy one for the family. They give up a lot and I respect them very much for having done so.
Our family came from the camps of southeast Asia to Regina, Saskatchewan in the early fifties and that community has honoured me by re-electing me since 1979.
The House of Commons is a tremendous institution that serves Canada well. It does need to change and as an organic institution I am sure it will. In the future I hope that some members will come here through proportional representation because the voices of hundreds of thousands of Canadians are not heard in this Parliament because of our electoral system.
Also, I hope in the future that the committee system will be strengthened because it is in the committee system that ordinary members of Parliament, regardless of what political party they are from or whether they are in the government or in the opposition,
can have an opportunity of making a contribution in developing the laws of this land.
I suggest that those two reforms are needed. I hope that this institution will serve Canada for many more years to come.
Mr. Perron, who was elected to the National Assembly in 1976 and re-elected without interruption since that time, was close to his constituents, had an abiding concern for the future of his riding and was deeply convinced of the need for a sovereign Quebec. Hailing from the North, from iron ore country, Denis Perron was a man of integrity, known for his frankness, generosity and sense of duty.
I had the privilege of his acquaintance, and I imagine that his untimely passing will leave a sense of great loss in his own family and throughout Quebec.
We wish to extend our sincere condolences to his family, his wife Marie and his children Michel, Gisèle and Christian, his staff, his friends and his constituents who supported him in his riding.
Some would call it a labour of love, sustained by the hearts and souls of dedicated teachers and staff, tireless volunteers and talented young people who have one driving sacrifice, a dream to dance well.
Under the capable directorship of Brian Scott, the Quinte Ballet School has produced some of the best young dancers in the world. Keep up the good work everyone, and congratulations. We are proud of this cultural jewel in Belleville.
CMHC is promoting flexhousing as new concept in residential design. Instead of the occupant changing homes, homes can change to suit the occupant. A home office, a private suite for aging parents or growing children, features that meet the special needs of a single parent or a person with a disability, flexhousing homes can accommodate all of them.
CMHC launched a competition last year to encourage designers and builders to create flexible, adaptable and affordable homes that are both comfortable and attractive. Mr. Varias' winning design reflects CMHC's flexhousing principles of adaptability, accessibility and affordability, and incorporates a number of healthy housing features such as environmental responsibility, energy efficiency and occupant health.
Canadians home builders, as always, are at the forefront of change and true leaders in the world.
They include the enslavement of thousands of black Africans, military offences against civilians in the south and Nuba Mountains and wrongful imprisonment, torture and extrajudicial executions in the north. One and a half million people have died and over five million have been displaced. Those suffering include Christians, Muslims and Animists.
Will the Canada government increase its efforts to support all initiatives to bring an end to these abominable practices?
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Quebec, however, will establish a broader and more generous parental insurance system. To do so, the Quebec government has to
recover, as provided under the Employment Insurance Act, the amounts budgeted for parental leave so they can be administered by the province. It filed an official request last fall.
When will the Chrétien government act on this urgent request from Quebec? We hope the government will not drag its feet as it did in the case of section 93 of the Constitution Act, 1867. We hope it will deal with this request on a priority basis.
An election is in the air. Voters will remember this in the next election.
In spite of the endless promises from the Prime Minister to return integrity to the political process, we already have Liberal candidates out there promising to repeal the gun law, save medicare, end subsidies to business and get tough on crime. The list goes on.
Actions speak louder than words. Look at the Liberal record. If a Liberal MP dares to speak up for his constituents against gun control, he has been and will be punished by his leader. Is cutting funding for medicare by 40 per cent what the Liberals mean by protecting medicare? Remember the interest free loan to Bombardier, which just announced record profits?
What about the B.C. court case for the man who beat, raped and sodomized a young woman and did not even receive a jail sentence as a result of the justice minister's alternative measures act?
Yes, actions do speak louder than words.
Dr. Sica will be using a laser radar system developed at the University of Western Ontario, in co-operation with the mirror telescope system developed in Quebec, to help improve forecasting and measurement of global warming.
The project brings together Canadian ingenuity and serves as an excellent example of the benefits of scientific research. The investments we make today will produce benefits for the future, ensuring a thriving, innovative research community in Canada which all members support.
From the Canada Foundation for Innovation to the support of the work being conducted by Dr. Sica and his peers, the government has demonstrated a continuing commitment to research. I congratulate the federal government for its leadership in this area.
ANZAC day originally commemorated the landing of the Australian and New Zealand army corps at the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey on April 25, 1915.
Since that time and with the battles of the second world war and the ensuing battles in Korea and Southeast Asia, those countries have chosen this to be their remembrance day, similar to our remembrance day.
The significant feature about ANZAC day in Gallipoli is the little known fact that the Royal Newfoundland Regiment played a significant part in that battle. This regiment suffered tremendous casualties at Gallipoli, both from Turkish gunners and from the terrible flood which swept through their encampment.
The Royal Newfoundland Regiment has served with great honour at Gallipoli and in France. It made great sacrifices. We want to thank them for their contribution.
This historic agreement is proof that the Government of Canada is committed to helping unemployed Canadians get back to work.
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It is a made in Nova Scotia agreement. The province will assume full responsibility for benefits and employment measures designed to meet the needs of Nova Scotia workers and employers.
The Government of Canada will provide more than $200 million over the next three years for these measures from the employment insurance account.
This agreement is also proof of a new approach to renewing Canadian federalism. It delivers on the Prime Minister's promise to
withdraw from labour market training and negotiate new partnerships with the provinces and territories.
Similar agreements have been signed with Alberta, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Manitoba and Quebec. The Government of Canada is continuing to negotiate with other provinces and territories.
In partnership, we will ensure together that the right things are done in our communities to achieve our common goal, getting Canadians back to work.
This is indeed proof that, beyond the political discourse of hard line federalists, there are two levels of government ready to assume their respective responsibilities so that the will of the people of Quebec, as expressed democratically in a referendum, can be realized in an atmosphere of calm and trust.
Yesterday, on the occasion of the Quebec-Maine joint venture trade mission, the senator for the State of Maine told the premier of Quebec that, in the event of sovereignty, and I quote: ``We intend to maintain a strong relationship with Quebec''. As for the governor of that state, it would be ``business as usual''.
With the Plan B scare tactics they are using on a people whose only wish is to fulfil their own destiny, if the federalists need a secret financial plan after the next referendum, it will be to clean up a mess of their own making.
Before each of nine elections, she prepared herself for the vigorous schedule of the campaign, knocking on doors, the thousand-plus phone calls, dealing with the content and the discontent.
Thirty-odd years of having breakfast, dinner and quiet evenings interrupted by a concern in somebody's life, but seven days a week on the job was a good reason to stay young and let 34 years escape so quickly.
My wife and I can say that in 30-some years of political life together, we leave this part of public life with a good feeling of remembering every experience, whether with an individual, a group or an organization as positive and memorable. We leave with no hurt in our heart.
Today, I want to pay tribute and give my best wishes to all the spouses who will work side by side with their partners in this election. I also want to thank the spouses who have sacrificed for us in this Parliament and who were always there when we needed that quiet word of encouragement.
Today I want to say a special thanks and pay tribute to my wife, Ingrid.
The Speaker: Ray, you have served your province and your country well. I thank you for your great service to Canada.
Some hon. members: Hear, hear.
The Fund's director said, and I quote: ``There is a very solid base, not only for rapid growth this year, perhaps the strongest among industrialized countries, but for a solid and healthy performance for many years to come''.
In recent months, a great many analysts have observed with satisfaction that the annual inflation rate in Canada is 2 per cent. Short term interest rates are lower than in the United States and the Canadian deficit is shrinking.
This astonishing economic outlook is no accident. It is the direct result of our policies and of our responsible management of the public purse.
There are two excellent reasons in favour of Lucien Bouchard's staying out of the federal election. The first is that the majority of Quebecers are demanding it, and the second is that, if he had a bit of confidence in the capacity of the Bloc and its leader to survive without him, he would mind his own business and look after his own provincial affairs.
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Yet the legislation permitting exclusion of persons of Chinese origin was abolished only on May 1, 1947. This week we shall be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Citizenship Act, which finally enfranchised Chinese-Canadians. In order to commemorate the abolition of this discriminatory act, and to encourage equal opportunities to participate in, and contribute to society, the Chinese Canadian Council is organizing a series of events this week.
I join with them in recognition of these generations of Quebecers and Canadians of Chinese origin who fought against discriminatory legislation and battled for citizenship.
As I stand here I look around and see all my colleagues. I have learned a deep respect for parliamentarians and their work. I have come to respect not only members of my party but I have a new respect for members of all other parties. I think particularly of members of the Bloc who have a vastly different political agenda than we do. However I respect them as individuals and wish we could stay together.
I think highly of the support staff in the House. They have served us well. I am pleased to say so. One group that is often unnoticed in our committee meetings and in the House are those behind the glass doors in the little cubby holes. They are the people who do the interpretation. They are important to those of us who are unilingual. I thank them. I have great admiration for anyone who can hear in one language and simultaneously speak in another. My thanks go to all.
Local recycling programs have tremendous support. Organic waste represents 30 per cent to 50 per cent of Canada's total waste. It is imperative that greater attention be placed on diverting this valuable material to a more productive usage.
Reclaiming the organic waste from landfill by applying compost to our soil will result in many benefits including improved plant growth. No longer must organic waste be thought of as garbage but rather as a valuable renewable resource.