Mr. Sergio Marchi (York West):

Mr. Speaker, when it was time to stand up to be counted with my Leader's efforts to let the people decide the fate of the Mulroney trade deal, the NDP ran away from the challenge. Not only did the NDP's weekend retreat represent a reversal of its initial position of support, it also depicted a Party lacking political backbone.

When the purpose of this political stand was to guarantee the people of Canada a say before the deal is finalized, the NDP ignored this principle and chose instead to attack the role of the Senate. Yet it was the same NDP which encouraged Senators in their crusade against an unjust drug Bill. It was the same NDP which cheered the Senate on as it studied and challenged the legitimacy of the Government's two refugee Bills. Does not this trade deal, which will alter the very fabric of our country, merit similar scrutiny by the Senate?

History will show that when the political going got tough with the trade deal, the NDP got going. Members of the NDP wimped out. They blinked. In so doing, they failed to stand up for Canadians' indisputable right to shape the destiny and future of their own country.

Mr. John Oostrom (Willowdale):

Mr. Speaker, there exists the strong possibility that Canada could become the North American testing ground for a controversial drug that will revolutionize abortions.

RU 486 is a pill which induces abortion without the need for a physician or medical facilities. This new drug will allow the killing of an unborn baby in the privacy of one's own home. This drug, if produced, would serve to cheapen further the value of life-for killing will become a simple act of taking medication to cure some ailment. The duty of all mankind is to protect all life, and any attempt to cheapen life must be challenged.

I intend to do whatever is necessary to fight any attempt to introduce RU 486 into Canada.

Mr. Cyril Keeper (Winnipeg North Centre):

Mr. Speaker, the residents of Winnipeg are being asked to celebrate the fact that the maintenance contract for the Airbus aircraft to be purchased by Air Canada will be done in Winnipeg. What we are being asked to celebrate is the fact that we have not been shafted by the Government. The 727 maintenance work is already being done in Winnipeg. By placing the Airbus work there we simply maintain the status quo.

At the present time promises are also being made to the effect that by having the maintenance work in Winnipeg we will become the North American centre for Airbus maintenance work. This echoes the promise that was made about the CF-5 when by doing the work in Winnipeg we were supposed to obtain global contracts for the CF-5. That has not materialized.

This sounds like another inflated promise. I wonder if the Government could give this one in writing. In that way we could have some assurance that, if we are going to be the North American centre for the maintenance of Airbuses, there would be a guarantee that the work will come there rather than be simply another inflated promise from a Government that is desperate for re-election.

Mr. Ross Belsher (Fraser Valley East):

Mr. Speaker, the young people of Canada who become Canadian Forces cadets serve us well and deserve recognition.

Within the last two weeks Royal Canadian Army Cadets have competed against over 2,400 young target rifle shooters at the annual competition in Bisley, England. Led by Colonel Bert Cafick and coached by Mr. Clem Tremblay, the team of 18 cadets from across Canada won team competitions against 62 other teams.

Special mention must go to Kirsten Watt of Orleans, Ontario; Cory Roberts of Regina, Saskatchewan; Tom Sutton from Baldonnew, British Columbia; and Jamie Metlin of Truro, Nova Scotia, who won medals in events. Cadets Watt and Roberts, in different events, both beat 2,460 other shooters for their gold medals.

These are some examples of the accomplishments of Canadian young people who are cadets. I am sure that all Hon. Members applaud these achievements. We must continue the support given to cadet programs across the country.

July 25, 1988

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to encourage the Government of Canada to ensure that the assembly of NSA helicopters takes place in Nova Scotia. This is a relatively short program. The suggestion of setting up new facilities in Quebec when there are already existing facilities in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and a workforce to go along with them, boggles the mind.

In Halifax the IMP group is designing a new hangar for the ongoing support of the Sea King helicopter and its replacement, the new shipborne aircraft. We have an experienced workforce to which we need to transfer the technology and we must maintain their jobs until there is sufficient maintenance type work for them to continue this traditional Maritime program which is the core of our aerospace industry in Nova Scotia.

Quebec has already been assigned two-thirds of this whole program. Quebec also has the Airbus contract of over $1 billion to look forward to, and the F-18. Nova Scotia has the manpower, the training, the technology, and the infrastructure to do the assembly and maintenance work; Quebec has none of these. In fairness and equity this contract must go to the workers in the Province of Nova Scotia.

December; and it is now an excellent deal and worthy of speedy passage through both Houses of Parliament.

Mr. Andre Plourde (Kamouraska-Riviere-du Loup):

The

real face of John Turner! Mr. Speaker, in his editorial in La Presse of July 22, Claude Masson qualified Mr. Turner's decision to oblige the Senate to delay passage of the Free Trade Bill as inconceivable and unpardonable. He even described Mr. Turner's gesture as undemocratic.

Personally, as a Member of this House, I believe that by this action Mr. Turner has once again shown he is incapable of playing his role as Leader of the Opposition. His use of this cowardly subterfuge is positive proof that he has no respect for this House and even less for the Canadian people.

How can he claim to have the qualifications for being our next prime minister, when at the first opportunity, and this only as Leader of the Opposition, he hides behind an institution like the Senate whose members are not even elected? He hasn't fooled Canadians, and I am sure that Mr. Turner will not prevail over their common sense.

Mr. Gus Mitges (Grey-Simcoe):

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in its submission to the House of Commons legislative committee respecting Bill C-130, the free trade agreement between Canada and the United States, stated that it sees the FTA as a means whereby more Canadian jobs would be created, with a higher standard of living for present and future generations, and greater wealth and opportunities for our children.

The Chamber emphasized that the Canadian community must be prepared to step forward and compete internationally, that we cannot afford to sit on our hands and let the opportunities offered by the FTA be squandered. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has faith in the skills and ingenuity of Canadian business, and in the confidence and strength that Canadians have as a people.

It emphasized that the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement was a good deal for Canada when it was announced in October, 1987; it was a good deal when it saw the fine print in

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Ms. Audrey McLaughlin (Yukon):

Mr. Speaker, Public Works Canada has recently released a pamphlet on "Driving the Alaska Highway". It states: "A trip along the Alaska Highway can be a once in a lifetime experience".

I would agree that it is a wonderful trip, with unsurpassed scenery. However, since 1982 the former Liberal Government, followed by the present Government, continued to cut the funds for the maintenance and construction of this one vital link to the Yukon and northern British Columbia, to the tune of 42 per cent.

The Association of Yukon Communities, Chambers of Commerce, and the Yukon Territorial Government have made numerous pleas to the Government to prevent further deterioration of the highway which impacts on tourism, transportation costs, and the long-term goal of self-sufficiency in the North. All to no avail.

July 25, 1988

In the past two weeks unseasonable rains have resulted in washouts, long delays, and sections of the Yukon being cut off from any road access.

The 50th anniversary of the highway will be in 1992, just a few short years away. I urgently call on the Minister of Public Works (Mr. Mclnnis) to restore funding for this historic highway so that it can truly be, as this pamphlet states, "A great highway of the North".

Mr. Reginald Stackhouse (Scarborough West):

Mr. Speaker, the Trudeau Government did not have an election mandate for wage and price controls in 1975. Although it had no such mandate and had actively campaigned against such controls, although its program affected every working person and business in Canada, the Liberal majority in the Senate did not block it. It made no demand for approval by the electorate. It let the program go by.

The argument now that the Senate is entitled to block the free trade agreement, on the basis of a 75-year old precedent from the semi-colonial past, defies belief.

Are those people correct who think that the Liberal majority in the Senate works hardest when it is protecting the chartered banks and the Liberal Party?

Hon. Bob Kaplan (York Centre):

Mr. Speaker, as August 6 approaches, Canadians are wondering whether the Government will change its policy with respect to the South African athletes who will be playing at the Player's Tournament for Tennis Canada, which is in my riding. For us, it is a great affront to see the federal Government have a policy which permits South African athletes to play in this tournament under any guise whatsoever.

Whether visas are the issue, whether federal government financial backing for Tennis Canada is the issue, a way must be found for the Government to prevent these athletes from participating. This is what the spirit of the Gleneagles Accord among Commonwealth countries calls for, and I call on the Government now to act so that a racist Government will not be represented, directly or indirectly, at the Player's Tournament in my constituency of York Centre, Toronto.