Hon. Marc Lalonde (Minister of Finance):

Mr. Speaker, this is of course a matter the Parliamentary House Leaders will have to discuss. The House is not going to be forced to do anything. The Hon. Member knows perfectly well that any measure adopted by the House requires the co-operation of the Parties. Thus, the matter is in the hands of the Parliamentary House Leaders.

Mr. Jack Shields (Athabasca):

Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of State for Small Business. How many projects have been approved under the Western Economic Development Fund of the Native Economic Development Fund, the $345 million which was approved over a year ago?

Hon. David Smith (Minister of State (Small Businesses and Tourism)):

Mr. Speaker, after that fund was established we

Hon. David Smith (Minister of State (Small Businesses and Tourism)):

Mr. Speaker, the proposals are in the form of agreements. We have to negotiate those agreements with the various groups.

Mr. Shields:

When?

Mr. Smith:

When they sign.

Mr. Shields:

When are you going to sign them?

Mr. Smith:

I have already signed them.

Hon. Bud Cullen (Sarnia-Lambton):

Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Minister of Transport. Concern is emanating, not only from the United Transportation Union but from several municipalities, about the intention of CN and CP Rail to discontinue the use of cabooses. When dangerous goods are being transported through communities, this demands every safety precaution. Will the Minister intervene in the CTC hearing, or indicate to the CTC that it will not be acceptable to permit CN and CP to discontinue the use of the caboose?

Hon. Lloyd Axworthy (Minister of Transport):

Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that the railways have not made any specific proposal other than to raise the question that, in the United States, a number of railway operations there have replaced the old caboose system with more sophisticated technology for the detection of safety problems. From discussion with the railways, I thought their intention was to raise the issue simply as a matter of negotiation with the unions during the bargaining sessions, and then they will have to determine what the acceptability would be under those conditions, leaving that kind of determination up to the collective bargaining system. At this time that kind of examination is best left to

June 18, 1984

Oral Questions

those kinds of examinations between the two. If there were any problem related to actual safety we would, of course, take action.

Mr. Bob Ogle (Saskatoon East):

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister. I am one of the millions of Canadians who took an interest in and watched the Liberal leadership convention this past weekend. Without doubt it was a time of emotion, elation, and foofaraw. If I could say a little bit, Mr. Deputy Prime Minister, today it is coming down from the mountain into the valley of darkness, to the reality of what is going on.

At the very same time that the convention was going on, the Community Information Centre in Toronto was receiving more calls than ever from people who have no jobs and no finances. At the same time 1,460,000 Canadians are without a job. I do not believe any of them were at the convention. What is the Deputy Prime Minister going to advise the new Liberal leader on how to solve that problem?

Hon. Allan J. MacEachen (Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for External Affairs):

Mr. Speaker, the Hon. Member has asked a question that has more to do with the internal operations of the Liberal Party than it has to do with what ought to be asked in Question Period. Because he does raise a very important matter, namely, unemployment, I would refer him to the numerous answers which have been given by the Minister of Finance on this question, not only today but in previous Question Periods, in which he has laid out policies which he has been following in attempting to reduce unemployment.

Mr. Speaker:

Could the Hon. Member's supplementary be of a more precise nature?

Mr. Bob Ogle (Saskatoon East):

Mr. Speaker, the reality of Canadian life is that there are 1.5 million unemployed people. What went on last weekend did not address that question. I would like to ask what the Government plans to do to address that question. In Saskatoon this week-

Mr. Speaker:

With all due respect to the Hon. Member, questions in Question Period should be such that they can be answered in the relatively brief time constraints available. The Chair has difficulty. When a question like that is answered, how does one allocate time to the reply? It is very difficult for the Chair to be fair and reasonable under such circumstances. Will the Hon. Member please ask a more specific question?

Mr. Ogle:

Mr. Speaker, there was a 70 per cent increase in the number of unemployed in Saskatchewan from April, 1982,

to May, 1984. What is the Government of Canada going to do to address that question?