The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paproski):

It being one o'clock p.m., I do now leave the chair until two o'clock p.m.

At 1.04 p.m. the House took recess.

Mr. W. R. Bud Jardine (Northumberland-Miramichi):

Mr. Speaker, in these, my initial and brief remarks to the House, I should like to advise it of the end of an era in my riding of Northumberland-Miramichi. The 416 All Weather Fighter Squadron will be stood down as an operational unit at Canadian Forces Base Chatham at the end of December this year.

This weekend, in a special dedication ceremony, their colours will be encased, a pedestal mounted, and a CF-101 Voodoo aircraft will be dedicated to the base and to the people of Miramichi. The officers and men and women who served in this unit throughout the years have made their contribution to NORAD and to the safety and security of our country. Were it to be permitted by the rules of the House, I would indeed pay recognition to them.

Hear, hear!

Mr. Maurice Foster (Algoma):

Mr. Speaker, recent reports indicate that United States food industry groups are planning to curtail a wide range of Canadian farm products going to that country from Canada, worth some $1.5 billion. These reports also indicate that President Reagan has lent his personal support to the United States pork producers' drive to block Canadian exports to the U.S.A. Also they have petitioned the International Trade Commission to impose countervailing duties. The value of this trade to Canadian farmers is estimated at $500 million this year. The Canadian Government should take action immediately to prevent the imposition of these duties on Canadian exports to the U.S.A. Action at the highest possible level must be taken directly by the Minister for International Trade (Mr. Kelleher) and the Minister of Agriculture (Mr. Wise), with the Reagan administration in Washington.

The Prime Minister (Mr. Mulroney) has portrayed his relationship with the President as one of sweetness and light. If this is really true, why has the President cut off sugar exports from Canada to the United States? Why is the U.S. Government in the process of cutting off fruit exports from Canada to that country? Why is the United States conducting investigations to cut off fish exports from Canada to the U.S.? We have to ask ourselves whether the whole love affair between the Prime Minister and the President is a one-sided relationship.

November 22, 1984

Mr. Speaker, last month Canadians learned with horror about the death of over 10,000 caribou which were swept away while crossing the Caniapiscau and Koksoak rivers on their annual migration. Native peoples of Canada in that region depend upon caribou herds for their nourishment as well as their economic wellbeing. The tragedy is made that much greater by the fact that it could have been averted.

Over 10 years ago biologist Alexander Banfield predicted that the hydroelectric project at James Bay could lead to disastrous consequences, not only for the region's caribou but for other wildlife as well. In addition, native leaders had requested, prior to the disaster, that barriers be erected to protect the herds from high waters.

It is important that the causes of the caribou deaths be clearly established. Many different reasons have been given, but none are conclusive. Therefore we ask the Prime Minister (Mr. Mulroney), as the Member of Parliament from the area affected, and the Minister of the Environment (Mrs. Blais-Grenier) to urge their provincial counterparts in Quebec to launch a public inquiry to establish the exact causes of the disaster in order that this never happens again.

Mr. Tom Hockin (London West):

Mr. Speaker, I have seen a communication from Jonathan Mann, the Canadian journalist who was imprisoned briefly in India. It expresses his heartfelt thanks for the work of the Secretary of State for External Affairs (Mr. Clark) and members of his Department to secure his quick release after he was arrested for illegally entering the Punjab.

He states that during the six days he was in police custody he was in regular contact with the Second Secretary of the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi. Those efforts were discreet and little publicized. Also, careful diplomatic activity by the High Commission during those six days was extremely helpful in setting him free.

Because of the success of the Minister, his Department, and the High Commission in this regard, I hope that similar efforts, if they are appropriate, will be exercised on behalf of a husband of a constituent of mine, Mrs. Alice Kozumplik. Michael Kozumplik was arrested in Czechoslovakia for an offence which may also be relatively minor. He has been under arrest since mid-August.

November 22, 1984

Mr. Ernie Epp (Thunder Bay-Nipigon):

Mr. Speaker, this Thirty-third Parliament of Canada has been summoned to the work of national reconciliation. It is my duty this aftrenoon to remind Hon. Members of a long-standing injustice that cries out for remedy by the Government of Canada.

The National Association of Japanese Canadians yesterday informed Canadians that their community was attacked during World War II for political reasons, not for reasons of national security. The Liberal Government's dispossession and internment of Canadians of Japanese descent was opposed at the time by military and police authorities who were more concerned about racist attacks on this visible minority than about any subversive activity among them.

Noble principles of democracy were trampled underfoot as thousands of Canadians of Japanese origin were taken from their homes and lost their property to Canadian government authority. This fact was recognized by the former Liberal Government which regretted what had happened. The Prime Minister (Mr. Mulroney), then Leader of the Opposition, asked for more last June when he sought a formal apology from the departing Prime Minister. Now that he has the authority to offer redress to Canadians of Japanese origin, it is the solemn duty of the Prime Minister to ensure that a resolution stating a formal apology for the injustices perpetrated, and providing for proper negotiations to establish compensation, be placed before the Parliament of Canada.

Mr. Carlo Rossi (Bourassa):

Mr. Speaker, on November 8 of this year, the Minister of Finance (Mr. Wilson) raised the tax on gas by 10 cents a gallon or 2 cents a litre.

Surprisingly, this incredible and totally injustified increase in the price of gas is not being shared with the provinces or small retailers. What is even more surprising is the silence of the Member for Duvernay (Mr. Della Noce) who during the last election campaign claimed he was fighting for the rights of small retailers and now is sanctioning by his silence a measure that is a very real threat to retailers and car owners. The Hon. Member's silence, Mr. Speaker, is most eloquent.

Who would have thought that the Hon. Member, who was telling everybody he would make himself heard in Ottawa, would be doing just the opposite? Not one word, Mr. Speaker! He could at least have defended the Government's position, but not a word! He could have stood up for the retailers and car owners, but not one word!

Mr. Speaker, it would seem that the Member for Duvernay has bowed down to the rule of silence, probably imposed by the Deputy Prime Minister.

I suppose the next time we hear from the new Member for Duvernay will be the night he goes down to defeat in the next election.

Mr. Reg Stackhouse (Scarborough West):

Mr. Speaker, I rise to plead for an invisible minority, the middle-aged, unemployed men of Canada. Over 60,000 Canadians between the ages of 55 and 65 are receiving unemployment benefits. When added to the number of men between ages 45 and 55 in the same need, the total comes to about 200,000. That number can be expanded still more when we add those who have become too discouraged by relentless rejection to continue seeking work. Together they form Canada's largest prison. It has no walls, it has no bars. However, it holds more than a quarter million men fast. It incarcerates them by the despair that they may never work again. Together they form an unrecognized invisible minority.

Like women in the same age group, they need affirmative action to break down the barriers of "agism", that socially effective form of discrimination against which there has been so little protection.

I know many of these men, especially those in the constituency of Scarborough West. They do not look for grants, or subsidies, or incentives, or privileges. All they seek is opportunity.