Mr. Deans:

That is not true.

Mr. Lalonde:

It had very large and broad support. The fact is that that is what ended up pushing the NDP into allowing the Bill to go through.

Oh, oh!

Mr. Lalonde:

They realized they were alone out there against that Bill.

With regard to the other question, I answered it at length while the Hon. Member was visiting throughout the country in the last two weeks. I invite him to read Hansard.

Hon. John C. Crosbie (St. John's West):

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance. There was a major increase in the Bank of Canada rate to 12.36 per cent today. In other words, Governor Bouey is carrying out the intention which he expressed in his speech in Charlottetown that the Minister approved yesterday. This will cause the fourth round of increases in interest rates in Canada in the last three or four months.

Output in Canada has barely reached its level of three years ago before the recession began. In view of the fact, how can the Minister justify allowing this increase in the Bank of

Oral Questions

Canada rate, and the subsequent increases we will experience in interest rates at this time? This will bring on the recession which we are just steps away from right now.

Hon. Marc Lalonde (Minister of Finance):

The best answer I could give to the Hon. Member would be to quote his statement of November 16, 1979 when he said: "Canada, quite literally, has no alternative to a temporary regime of higher interest rates." He should go back and read his own stuff.

Oh, oh!

Mr. Crosbie:

Mr. Speaker, the Minister has been there for four years and three months. That is not temporary. He has had lots of time to do something about the mess the Liberal Government left behind in 1980. The Leader of the unofficial Opposition puts the Liberal Government in, and then all he does is complain about the Liberal Government he has put in.

Hon. John C. Crosbie (St. John's West):

In addition to the increase in interest rates which is now going to go forward, the Minister has a tax increase going forward for Canadian consumers on October 1. In the next three years the Government is going to take $2.4 billion from Canadian consumers through the new special recovery tax, a 1 per cent increase in the sales tax. This year the government will take $300 million. How can the Minister justify these increased taxes on Canadian consumers whom he is crucifying with increased interest rates at the same time? How can he justify that, the unemployment it will bring, and the recession which will follow it?

Hon. Marc Lalonde (Minister of Finance):

Mr. Speaker, that question has been asked many times and I have answered it. I am afraid the Member must have been outside the House at that time.

Hon. John M. Reid (Kenora-Rainy River):

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Secretary of State for External Affairs. A delegation from the Canadian section of the Canada-U.S. Parliamentary Association met recently in Washington with the two Senators from the State of Alaska and the two Senators from the State of Washington, to discuss the stalled West Coast salmon treaty negotiations. One of the recommendations of the Canadian group was to have the Minister appoint a personal representative, just as the United States Secretary of State has appointed a personal representative. Would the Minister indicate whether or not he will accept this recommendation and if, in fact, he has appointed a personal representative to fulfil these duties?

June 28, 1984

Oral Questions

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

Mr. Speaker, at the last meeting which I held with Secretary Shultz, the question of the Pacific salmon negotiations was fully discussed. At that time I made the suggestion that we ought to take some new steps and inject some renewed impulse into the negotiations, and raised the idea of representatives along the lines mentioned by the Hon. Member.

Since that time Mr. Shultz has appointed a personal representative and I have asked the Hon. Mitchell Sharp to act as the representative of the Secretary of State for External Affairs. Mr. Sharp has accepted. I think that he is particularly qualified to act in this capacity because, through his experience as the Northern Gas Pipeline Commissioner, he has established a personal relationship with quite a number of the persons who will be involved in this negotiation.

I make particular reference to the Senators to whom the Hon. Member has referred, because without their co-operation I doubt whether it will ever be possible for Canada to reach an agreement. We have been very close to an agreement from time to time, but in each case we have had to draw back because of some new element that was injected into the talks mainly by one State or the other, in the person of one of the Senators.

Mr. Walter McLean (Waterloo):

Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister responsible for the Status of Women. According to a report published recently by the Canadian Congress on Learning Opportunities for Women, the female share of skill training places in the Canada Manpower Training Program has fallen from 39 per cent in 1981-82 to only 29 per cent in 1983-84. As the Minister knows, women constitute 40 per cent of the Canadian labour force. Will the Minister explain this shocking situation which has developed since the introduction of the National Training Act in 1982? Did she and her officials see this coming?

Hon. Judy Erola (Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs):

Yes, Mr. Speaker, I too am disturbed by the statistics. However, I must point out that it is not because there has been a decline in the availability but that there has been a decline in the demand. We had very serious discussions with the provincial Ministers responsible, regarding this decline in demand. We are looking into the matter more thoroughly at the moment.

Mr. McLean:

The Minister must know that the data suggest that this is a profound neglect on the part of her Government toward the women of Canada.