Mr. Speaker:

Order, please. Pursuant to the House Order adopted yesterday, I recognize the Hon. Minister of Veterans Affairs (Mr. Hees).

Hon. George Hees (Minister of Veterans Affairs):

Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege as Minister of Veterans Affairs to remind all Hon. Members that next Sunday is Remembrance Day. This year we have been forcefully reminded of just how much we owe to those who served Canada in war. Last June, millions around the world looked back 40 years and recalled the D-Day landings. The role of our three services in that magnificent undertaking won further honour for our country.

Other nations have shown their appreciation for Canadian servicemen and women this year. Members of the first Special Service Force, that unique unit made up of Canadian and American soldiers, were again hailed as heroes at a special ceremony commemorating the liberation of Rome. Other Canadians went back to Belgium to be greeted and applauded as the men who had restored freedom to that country 40 years ago.

Whether Canadians gather at the National War Memorial or before a village cenotaph, they will also be remembering all those who never got to know the final outcome, the 110,000 Canadians who lost their lives in the two World Wars and in Korea. As a nation, we can only offer them our thankful prayers. However, for the 700,000 veterans living in Canada today, and for the widows and dependants of those who died, we can demonstrate that our gratitude goes beyond words.

Many returned home from the wars to face a lifetime of pain or inconvenience. Widows and orphans were left to cope with a lonely future. Even today the rigours of wartime service are only just catching up to veterans in their advancing years. It is impossible to put a price on these legacies of war, but we can all agree that veterans have earned the right to be treated graciously and generously by the Government of Canada.

Hear, hear!

Mr. Hees:

Particularly as they get on in years, our veterans are entitled to prompt and courteous service. Men and women who, in their youth, were expected to obey without question, should not now have to struggle against the "ifs", "but's", "although's" and "notwithstanding's" of officialdom. In all

their dealings with my Department, veterans will receive the benefit of any doubt.

Hear, hear!

Mr. Hees:

I know members of all Parties in this House share these sentiments. The men and women we will be saluting on Remembrance Day unsparingly volunteered themselves when Canada was in danger. In return we must regard them as a very special group worthy of our unsparing attention each day of every year.

Hear, hear!

Mr. Gaston Isabelle (Hull-Aylmer):

Mr. Speaker, as spokesman for the Official Opposition, I too wish to pay tribute to those whose memory we shall be honouring next Sunday.

Once again, across this country, Canadians will be asked to pause for a moment and remember the sacrifices made by generations of young Canadians who shed their blood and gave their lives in the defence of freedom, in two World Wars and the Korean War.

Time goes by and in passing, has marked the faces of those who survived those battles. The ages of those who died are marked for all time on gravestones in military cemeteries in France, Holland, Italy, Great Britain, Hong Kong or beneath the timeless waves.

Since the end of the Korean War in 1953, Canada has become a nation of peace. The concerns of Canadians have been directed towards peace, employment and growth. For many of those who gave their lives, the service was their first job. The promise of youth was snuffed out in the mud of Flanders, the rugged mountains of Italy, in Holland's flooded fields and in the waters of the North Atlantic. In death they have become a part of our history, for all time.

On each Remembrance Day, we attempt to find words that will give meaning to the supreme sacrifice made by Canadians in defence of freedom. We live in a free country, where the equality of all Canadians has never been questioned. We live in a country where Canadians are free to pursue their goals as they see fit. That is the true meaning of their sacrifice. [English]

The war memorials in the cities and towns of Canada, the wreaths placed upon them on Remembrance Day, and the minute's silence serve as reminders of the cost paid in full by the young men and women of Canada who answered freedom's

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Remembrance Day

call. That our nation itself is still open and is still seen as a land of opportunity is a lasting monument to their sacrifice.

[DOT] (mo)

Every year, fewer and fewer Canadians can recall from personal experience the deeds of 1914-18. Time has also begun to thin the ranks of 1939-45. They represent two generations of Canadians who defined Canada's nationhood with their valour and their blood.

Lord Byng, who commanded Canadian forces at Vimy Ridge in 1917, said that out of that battle "was forged a nation tempered by fire".

Out of the fire of the Second World War emerged a Canada able and ready to take its place as an equal among the independent nations of the world. And from the cataclysm of 1939 to 1945, came a Canada dedicated to peace.

The tragedies of war have created a firm commitment among all Canadians to peace and justice, for the people of this country and for all mankind. There comes a time when we must be prepared to defend our principles with our lives. Canadians have made this commitment in all parts of the world.

Mr. Speaker, when we pause for a moment of silence Sunday, let us promise to emulate their dedication to this country. That is the very least we owe them.

Mr. Neil Young (Beaches):

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to join with my two colleagues, and Members on all sides of the House, to remind all Canadians that Sunday, November 11, is Remembrance Day.

Sunday will mark the sixty-sixth anniversary of the ceasefire in the First World War. I suggest that the House pause a moment to reflect on the sacrifices made by Canadian men and women in that holocaust, in the Second World War, and in the Korean War. Our feeling for them is deep and it is everlasting.

More than 100,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and women served together and died for the ultimate goal, the goal of preserving our democracy and our country.

In these days, when many Canadians are concerned about the unity of our country, it is well to remind ourselves of those who gave their lives for its survival. These men and women fought, not for personal gain nor for glory or conquest. They fought for their homeland; this was their love. Duty was their creed. Truly they are Canada's unforgotten.

I would like to remind Hon. Members of the reference engraved on the Memorial Arch which connects the Veterans Memorial Buildings here in Ottawa. It reads: "All these were honoured in their generations and were the glory of their times". As Canadians we have a special obligation to perpetuate the memory of those who gave their lives for Canada. Let us in our time and in our way be worthy of them.

Before I conclude my remarks I would like to read something which was sent to my office a few days ago. It is entitled "A Prayer for Today", and was found among the effects of a Canadian infantry sergeant who perished outside Ortona, Italy, on a day in December, 1943. It reads:

Today a bird sang for me. Today I leaned against the strong trunk of a living tree ... So, I am not alone. When I get back to Canada I'll remember this. I will cherish all of life, for all life is really one. I will never again be a destroyer ... This is my dream, that we will learn to live in harmony, not between man alone, but with the whole living world.

Let us, the living, keep the faith of this Canadian sergeant so that the incentive of this day may speed us onward and toward a better world of peace, freedom, and justice.

Our purpose is not to glorify war, nor was it the purpose of those who died in war. This is also a moment when we should give thought to thousands of our fellow beings whose lives are ones of intense suffering. They look to us in the developed world for assistance and relief. We have a responsibility to do everything in our power to ensure that those who went forward in the fight for peace did indeed fight the war to end all wars. Let us remember them.

Mr. Speaker:

In the tradition of the House, I ask Hon. Members and those persons in the galleries to join us in a minute of silence, in remembrance.

[Whereupon the House stood in silence.]

Mr. Dave Dingwall (Cape Breton-East Richmond):

Mr. Speaker, during the recent election campaign the Prime Minister promised "jobs, jobs, jobs". The Minister of Finance (Mr. Wilson) alluded last night to the fact that his Government would attempt to be compassionate. But what do we have, Mr. Speaker, except "cuts, cuts, cuts"? This budget was conceived probably in Washington and Bay Street, and directly affects the poor regions of Canada, in particular the cuts as they relate to the Petroleum Incentives Program-$250 million.

The Minister of Finance laughs, but the Canadian people are not laughing as a result of those cuts. The Canada Student Summer Employment Program had an $85 million cut; RRAP was reduced by $29 million; DRIE has a reduction in excess of $175 million. Small businesses in Atlantic Canada, western Canada, and parts of Quebec, have had another cut-back. During the recent federal election campaign the Tories promised that they would reintroduce VIA Rail runs. What hap-

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pened there? A reduction of $93 million! Employment assistance and entitlement had a reduction of $200 million. With respect to national defence, another great Tory promise, there is a reduction of $154 million.

What about the general industrial training program? It had a $40 million cut. The young workers exchange program had another $3 million cut. The forestry research project in Newfoundland is cancelled for Corner Brook. The health and welfare office for Sydney is cancelled. The office building in Halifax is cancelled.

There is no compassion in this Government. There is no compassion in this Prime Minister (Mr. Mulroney), and in this Minister of Finance. It is Reagan economics. The Canadian people have been betrayed, and the Government will feel the wrath of the Canadian people as it moves forward in its mandate, because we will challenge it, Mr. Speaker, at every opportunity.

Mr. A. H. Harry Brightwell (Perth):

Mr. Speaker, I represent the County of Perth, a county that within its boundaries demonstrates everything good in Canadian agriculture. We produce more pork than any other county in Ontario. We are second only to Oxford in milk production. We have a large feather industry. We grow small grains, beans, corn, and fruit, on land which is very productive.

We have a moderate climate where crop failure is rare. Our people are family farmers, hard working and industrious, but I must report, Mr. Speaker, that many farmers in Perth are in trouble. They have not been ravaged by droughts, insects or disease; they have been ravaged by inflation, which the Liberal Government brought upon us, which caused them to over invest in order to protect their livelihood. They have been ravaged by interest rates which are a reflection of our deficit rather than the earning value of our dollar. They have been ravaged by low farm commodity prices and falling farm values. They have been victims of government policies and this cannot continue.

I want to tell my colleagues that farmers in Canada are becoming desperate and need assistance. The move by the Farm Credit Corporation to stall foreclosure is a welcome relief but does not solve the problems. Farmers are a tough breed, but they have been trampled on-

Mr. Speaker:

I regret to advise the Hon. Member that his time has expired.