Mr. Jim Peterson (Willowdale):

Mr. Speaker, last evening Members of Parliament were guests at a reception hosted by Canada's Armenian community. This reception served a number of purposes. Yesterday, May 28, was the 66th anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Armenia, which subsequently fell on December 2, 1920, to the combined invasion of communist and Turkish forces. It provided an opportunity to reflect on the genocide of 1915, when the Turkish government slaughtered 1.5 million Armenians. This was the first genocide of our century, yet, while documented and accepted as fact throughout the international community, it has not been acknowledged by subsequent Turkish governments. Lastly, it enabled us as parliamentarians to pay tribute to the great contributions made to our nation by the more than 50,000 Canadians of Armenian ancestry.

Such occasions as last evening serve to rekindle friendships, and re-emphasize the need for a peaceful resolution of the Armenian question, based on the spirit of the unanimous resolution of this House passed on February 25, 1982.

Mr. Joe Reid (St. Catharines):

Mr. Speaker, no less than four Ministers of Fitness and Amateur Sport have had high-minded but false praise for the Sports Pool. Each Minister spoke of the great benefits the Sports Pool lottery would bring to fitness and amateur sport, the Calgary Olympics, arts and culture, and even medical research. Well, the reality is much different from the rhetoric. Eleven months after the passage of the legislation, following one week of sales, Sports Pool officials report that they do not have the foggiest idea how many tickets were sold, who is selling them, or where they can be purchased. However, they do know that no one won the jackpot.

Canadian taxpayers are on the hook to the Sports Pool to the tune of over $30 million. For that amount the taxpayers should expect something better than shrugs from Sports Pool officials. The beneficiaries of the Sports Pool were also expecting a good deal more. Instead of seeing cold, hard cash, they are seeing a patronage-ridden common betting operation tainting the image of all associated with it. Friends of the Government may not strike out with the Sports Pool, but it is clearly a wash-out for beneficiaries and taxpayers alike.

Mr. Andre Maltais (Manicouagan):

Very shortly the Hon. Minister of Transport (Mr. Axworthy) will have to make a decision concerning the Nordair resale, Mr. Speaker.

In view of the fact that Nordair was born in Quebec, that it has expertise in the air transportation business and that it operates in the Manicouagan riding through the Montreal-Fort Chimo flight, Mr. Speaker, I suggest that the Minister of Transport should examine and weigh very carefully the various offers that have been made so far. As a matter of fact, I feel that Innocan has made a most interesting offer for the purchase of Nordair; besides, this firm wants to keep its head office in Montreal and is currently managed by Quebecers; therefore I think that all these historical and economic factors should be closely weighed.

Moreover, I think that in the context of this resale, we should look into a possible merger with Quebecair, or at least an agreement whereby both airlines could work together to the benefit of the people of both Ontario and Quebec, since these two airlines are operating in both provinces.

May 29, 1984

Mr. Derek Blackburn (Brant):

Mr. Speaker, in my constituency of Brant a strike has been going on for over six months at Hussman Store Equipment Limited. The union has not been on strike for over 31 years. In that time there have been only three cases of arbitration. All the workers wanted was a continuation of the existing contract, plus COLA. The company countered with about 25 concessions which were totally unacceptable to the workers.

The reason I raise this in this Chamber is because the company is owned by Illinois Central, I believe, of the United States, and has been causing a great deal of anti-American feeling not only among the trade union movement in Brantford, but among the populace as a whole. In fact even the newspaper is sympathizing with the strikers. The union believes that the company is out to break the union, and the negotiator from the United States, Mr. Hawley, certainly has indicated that is possibly the direction in which they are going.

I call upon the Secretary of State for External Affairs (Mr. MacEachen) and the Minister of Labour (Mr. Ouellet) to get together and try to persuade the company to come back to the bargaining table so that these workers, who have not been on strike for 31 years, can get back to the negotiating table, get the strike settled, and get back to work.

Mr. Jean-Guy Dubois (Lotbiniere):

Mr. Speaker, the old saying: "Plus 5a change, plus c'est pared" fits the Quebec Minister of Finance, Mr. Jacques Parizeau, like a glove. When he brought down his Budget last week, Mr. Parizeau said once again that if there were any problems, it was all the federal Government's fault, because federal transfer payments were being cut by $100 million, which would destabilize Quebec's economy.

Mr. Speaker, I have before me a document published by the Minister of Finance of Canada, the Hon. Marc Lalonde, in which he says that on the contrary, federal transfer payments to the province of Quebec will amount to nearly $5.9 billion during the current fiscal year, which means an increase of more than $220 million over payments for 1983-84.

On the weekend and the days following Mr. Parizeau's Budget Speech, people were saying: Another squabble about figures started by the people in power in Quebec City, by those people in the Parti Quebecois who are always saying the same old thing, and basically, blaming the other guy.

Mr. Speaker, I think Quebecers have had enough of these statements. The Department of Finance and the Minister of Finance of Canada set the record straight in a speech the Minister made not long ago. I should like to say to Quebecers that once again, some people are trying to start a war of figures, which is not justified because in fact some increases are involved. I would urge Quebecers to be discerning and see where the truth lies, and that is what they will do and that is what they are doing ...

Mr. Speaker:

The Hon. Member's time has expired.

Mr. Gus Mitges (Grey-Simcoe):

Mr. Speaker, it was shocking to read in the media that almost 800 Canadian heart patients learned that their pacemakers are ten times more likely to fail than expected. Along with this, Canadian doctors and patients learned of defects in about 400 artificial heart valves.

What is equally astounding is that more than 10,000 new medical devices that flood the Canadian market every year get no pre-market screening. The only requirement for 95 per cent of devices used in Canada is that manufacturers be able to provide data on the safety and effectiveness of a product should the Government ask for it.

It is a situation that often sees health officials asking for data after someone has either been killed, seriously injured, or there has been a fatal malfunction of the medical device. Worse still, most hazards and misleading claims involving the devices still go unreported and therefore unresolved.

I find this a shocking state of affairs, to say the least. The constant worry alone by those whose very lives depend on these devices, not knowing when some malfunction may speedily and unexpectedly snuff out their lives, must be indeed a daily fearsome and traumatic experience. Therefore I appeal to the Government to take whatever action is necessary to resolve this enormous problem and to make certain that all medical devices can be used with dependability and safety.

Mr. Gerry St. Germain (Mission-Port Moody):

Mr. Speaker, a major league baseball team would mean $85 million of stimulus to British Columbia's economy. Yet the federal Government jeopardized B.C.'s chances for a major league base-

May 29, 1984

ball franchise by promoting and pursuing its questionable sports pool.

Major league baseball has deep, well founded concerns about gambling. So should the Canadian Government, but instead it continues to gamble with B.C.'s prospects for a major league baseball franchise.

Its actions raise deep questions about what the Government's priorities are. Its priority does not seem to be sport. It does not seem to be economic stimulus for B.C. which is sorely needed. Rather, its priorities seem to be a regressive tax and Liberal patronage, jobs funded by those least able to pay.

In British Columbia the Sports Pool Corporation hired Lauris Talmey, President of the Liberals' National Women's Commission, as its general manager; Bev Hendrickson, executive assistant to Senator Jack Austin, as its B.C. manager of administration, and Ian Howard, whose company handles the marketing and promotion for the B.C. Sports Pool, was the Liberal Party's public relations director.

Betting in the Sports Pool is a poor investment, as the laws of probability and statistics clearly demonstrate, for everyone but the Liberals who get the jobs. Instead of creating jobs and real hope for Canadians, it only provides another chance for the gritty piglets to eat at the Liberal trough.