Mr. Lome Nystrom (Yorkton-Melville):

Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of Agriculture. Of course he is aware that farm prices have been falling on many fronts, that costs are up, and that bankruptcies are up. Also, on the weekend he called for a general tax cut to stimulate the economy. Since he believes in a tax cut, is he ready to recommend to his Cabinet colleagues a cut in federal gasoline taxes on farm fuels, which amount to around 30 cents a gallon? Will he take that recommendation to Cabinet in order to help the farmers and to stimulate the economy of the country in general?

Hon. E. F. Whelan (Minister of Agriculture):

Mr. Speaker, the Hon. Member referred to one of my views I have expressed, one of the planks in my platform.

Hear, hear!

Mr. McDermid:

That's not a plank, that's a two by four.

Mr. Whelan:

I say to him that I have also made my views known with regard to taxes on fuel used in the production of food. I am sure he is aware of that. We are having ongoing discussions on this.

Mr. Lome Nystrom (Yorkton-Melville):

Mr. Speaker, I have a supplementary question for the best known politician in the world.

Hear, hear!

Mr. Nystrom:

I noticed the Prime Minister next to him a few minutes ago talking about a transfer of power, but he had better wait a few weeks.

Because of the urgency of the question and the urgency of the situation that farmers across the country now face, will the Minister take to Cabinet a proposal that, before the end of

June, the Government will bring in a Bill to end gasoline taxes, which amount to around 30 cents a gallon on farm fuel? In fact I will make him a deal. If he does that for the farmers, I will lobby any Liberal delegate I can find in my riding for him in his leadership campaign.

Hon. E. F. Whelan (Minister of Agriculture):

Mr. Speaker, I want to say to the Hon. Member that I have already talked to all the Liberal delegates in his riding. They tell me I should not make any commitment to him because he will not be here after the next election.

My concern about making food production profitable for the producers, and reasonably priced for the consumers, still stands. Anything that I can do to make sure that that comes about will be done.

Mr. Speaker:

I call the attention of the House to the presence in our gallery of the Hon. D. N. Mwakawago, the Minister of Labour and Manpower Development of Tanzania.

Hear, hear!

Hon. Allan B. McKinnon (Victoria):

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Public Works. The Minister signed a lease purchase contract with a Toronto developer, Rampart Enterprises, for the DVA headquarters building in Charlottetown. The Government spent some $7 million on the building and then turned it over to Rampart, which spent some $16 million. The lease runs for 35 years and requires the Government to pay $2.2 million per year in rent, for a total of $78 million over the term of the contract. Will the Minister admit that this is overly generous to Rampart Enterprises?

Hon. Romeo LeBlanc (Minister of Public Works):

Mr. Speaker, it would be totally irresponsible to try to give that sort of judgment without knowing the amount of space, the management conditions of the contract, and so on. Obviously the Hon. Member does not expect me to carry that kind of information in my head.

Mr. McKinnon:

If the Minister signs these contracts, I would expect him to know something about them.

May 23, 1984

Hon. Allan B. McKinnon (Victoria):

Mr. Speaker, will the Minister confirm that, unlike most landlord/tenant leases, in this case the tenant, which is the Government, will pay all maintenance, heating, tax and other costs, which come to over $1 million a year and which will run the rent for this $22 million building up to over $100 million during the term of the lease?

Hon. Romeo LeBlanc (Minister of Public Works):

Mr. Speaker, the Hon. Member is using every inflated arithmetical figure he can find. Obviously we cannot discuss this sort of issue without having all the figures in front of us. If the Hon. member wants me to appear before the committee and discuss this contract, I will do so.