Mr. Gus Mitges (Grey-Simcoe):

Madam Speaker, there is an application in place before the Canadian Transport Commission by the CNR to abandon the Collingwood to Meaford, Ontario, rail line located in the riding of Grey-Simcoe. The CNR claims that this section of the line has been a losing proposition as far as freight revenue and the cost of maintenance are concerned. However, what has not been realized by the CNR is that there is already a plan afoot to develop this portion of the line into a tourist railway operation to serve our four seasons tourist area, an area that depends heavily on tourism as a major part of its economy.

Therefore I call upon the CNR and the Government to withdraw this application and hold reconsideration of this decision in abeyance for some three years to give the area the necessary time to develop and to put into operation such a tourist railway oriented operation. This would be a shot in the arm which would not only benefit all aspects of the southern Georgian Bay area but other areas of the country as well.

Hon. Jake Epp (Provencher):

Madam Speaker, I rise to speak on a serious matter today which primarily concerns Canadians of Ukrainian heritage but in many ways affects all Canadians concerned with the preservation and enhancement of the multi-ethnic and multicultural nature of the country.

The facts are that two Cabinet Ministers, who were scheduled to address the Fourteenth Ukrainian Canadian Congress in Winnipeg on October 8, cancelled their speaking engagement without an explanation. Their replacement to speak to the Congress, the Minister of State for Finance (Mr. MacLar-en), would have done better to stay away. Instead, he delivered such an offensive address to the delegates of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress that it prompted 500 delegates to send a letter of complaint to the Prime Minister (Mr. Trudeau) describing the Minister's remarks as "inappropriate, condescending and ... totally lacked perception of the nature and tone of this Congress". One delegate, reflecting the views of many, said that passages of the Minister's speech were "patronizing and playing on stereotypes".

Also he was quoted as saying about Ukrainian ancestors:

-stalwart peasant in a sheepskin coat, born on the soil, whose forefathers have been farmers for ten generations, with a stout wife and a half-dozen children-

We on this side of the House call on the Prime Minister to demand a total public retraction of those statements from the

Minister concerned, and that the Minister of State for Finance be required to send a letter of apology to each delegate at the Canadian Ukrainian Congress for his discriminatory remarks.

More appropriate words would have been those of the Prime Minister in 1961, the late Right Hon. John Diefenbaker, when he said about multiculturalism:

__Canada is a garden ... into which has been transplanted the hardiest and

brightest flowers of many lands, each retaining in its new environment the best of the qualities for which it was loved and prized in its native lands.

That is the quote the Canadian Ukrainian Congress will hear when the Conservative Party and our new Leader form the next Government of Canada.

Hear, hear!

Ms. Lynn McDonald (Broadview-Greenwood):

Madam Speaker, it is about time Parliament faced a few unpleasant facts about the administration of criminal justice in the two northern Territories. The proportion of the population in prison is two, three and four times as high in the Territories as in the South, yet we have no reason to believe that northerners are any more immoral or criminal than anyone else in Canada. In fact a recent report of the Solicitor General (Mr. Kaplan) indicated very clearly that crime in the Northwest Territories "refers mainly to disorderliness and minor anti-social behaviour", unlike the case for the South where there is more serious, premeditated crime.

The prison population in the Territories consists disproportionately of native people, yet again we have no reason to believe that native people are any more immoral or criminal than non-native people. Indeed, common sense and humanity suggest otherwise.

The criminal justice system in the North is overwhelmingly our responsibility, from policing through prosecutions, to the courts, unlike the case for the rest of Canada where the Provinces have prime responsibility. Thus I have asked the Justice Committee of the House to take up the issue of the administration of criminal justice in the North as a subject for study and resolution. We must explore with our colleagues in the territorial legislatures, native organizations, and the people who run the current system, better ways to adapt it to the needs of the North. Experiments in the involvement of native people and their justice councils have begun and should be further explored.

October 13, 1983

Mr. Lee Clark (Brandon-Souris):

Madam Speaker, the Secretary of State for External Affairs (Mr. MacEachen) and the Minister of the Environment (Mr. Caccia) are scheduled to meet in Halifax this weekend with the Secretary of State for the United States and with other American environmental officials. It is an excellent opportunity for Canada to state strongly its objection to the Garrison Diversion Project which threatens our country's waterways, particularly in my home Province of Manitoba. Canada has not fared well in its efforts to halt the project, and I submit that the federal Government is largely responsible for that failure. Its efforts have been half-hearted.

This failure was most apparent when a contract was awarded for the construction of phase one of theLonetree Reservoir Dam. With this weekend's meeting in Halifax, and with the recent resignation of the American Secretary of the Interior who was an ardent Garrison proponent, Canada now has a real fighting chance of halting further construction. I strongly urge the Secretary of State for External Affairs and the Minister of the Environment to tell the United States in no uncertain terms that we want, at the very least, safety features built into phase one of the Lonetree Reservoir, and that we want the American Government to abandon future phases.

Mr. Stan J. Hovdebo (Prince Albert):

Madam Speaker, Members of Parliament such as myself, the Hon. Member for Churchill (Mr. Murphy), and the Hon. Member for The Battlefords-Meadow Lake (Mr. Anguish), find ourselves each year having to ask the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to allow the World Series to be shown in northern areas through the use of CBC microwave facilities. It seems incredible that the CBC, which prides itself on fulfilling its mandate of service to all Canada, should force this kind of game each year. No one is happy with the results. Northern viewers are kept waiting until the last moment before they know if the games are on. Northerners feel discriminated against again because of their place of residence.

Therefore I ask the Minister of Communications (Mr. Fox) to instruct the President of the CBC to begin a policy review which will cover the kinds of instances where the CBC has to break its schedule in order to broadcast major events to the North. A change in policy would allow northerners to enjoy the same service as southern Canadians and would give the CBC the necessary lead time to supply that service.

Mr. Gordon Taylor (Bow River):

Madam Speaker, this Liberal Government is all mixed up. With a lot of fanfare the Government appointed a commission to ascertain how to remove the economic distortion in the agricultural sector stemming from the statutory rate. Then, when Gilson and his committee said to pay the shortfall to the producers, the Government did the reverse and is paying it all to the railways-all $625 million.

Again, the Government spends money to increase jobs. Then the Minister of Finance (Mr. Lalonde) removes part of the capital cost allowance on farm machinery for the first year, with the result that scores of farmers cancel orders for new combines and put up with their old equipment, and hundreds of jobs are lost.

The Government talks about the private sector making investments, and then enacts a capital gains tax on instalment buying of land in western Canada where the retiring farmer is required to pay the total capital gains tax at once, so aging farmers cannot sell, and this freezes investment in land in western Canada.

Even when the Government comes out with a good policy, for example, the Canadian Home Ownership Stimulation Plan, it blows it by cancelling the program just when it is speeding up, leaving hundreds of Canadians with footings but no houses and no money.

This Government is as mixed up as Mulligan's stew. That is a bad example, as Mullingan's stew is good to eat and this Government is good for nothing, except to hand millions to the railways while a million unemployed Canadians exist on UIC and welfare. The Liberals are really a mixed-up crowd.

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