Mr. Guy H. Arseneault (Restigouche -Chaleur):

Mr. Speaker, in a fast changing but slowly expanding economy, education has become the surest way of acquiring and maintaining employment.

Education, not experience, increasingly determines one's ability to compete in today's labour market.

More and more young Canadians are feeling the impact of the high cost of education and high unemployment. The government's cuts in the student employment program have forced thousands of students to reassess their ability to afford a post-secondary education.

Students in increasing numbers are turning to the Canada Student Loans Program for assistance.

March 25. 1993

This government must begin to view post-secondary education as a long-term investment. I urge the government to undertake a comprehensive review of the Canada Student Loans Program with the aim of increasing the flexibility and accessibility of the program while permitting students to secure employment prior to establishing repayment plans.

Mr. Rene Soetens (Ontario):

Mr. Speaker, a socialist is a Liberal is a New Democrat is a socialist. Elijah Harper is now a candidate for the Liberal Party in Manitoba in the next election.

He is a former member of the New Democratic Party, a former NDP member of the legislature, and a former cabinet minister in the NDP Government of Manitoba. When he announced his candidacy for the Liberal Party he said that he would not have to compromise his principles from being a New Democrat to now being a Liberal.

That comes as no surprise to me. I have watched the opposition in this House for four years. There is no difference between a Liberal and a New Democrat. Socialism is alive and well in both parties.

Mr. John R. Rodriguez (Nickel Belt):

Mr. Speaker, it is with a great deal of pride that I announce that Canadian Auto Workers local 1990 has voted to affiliate with the New Democratic Party.

The local, representing 2,600 workers at Canadian Airlines and its partners, voted on the resolution at its annual convention in Port Elgin, Ontario. CAW President Buzz Hargrove said: "Workers of Canadian Airlines know which party has fought against privatization and deregulation. They know that the NDP is the only political party that stands up for working people and the Canadian airline industry. This is a grass roots decision. It was made after spirited debate by delegates from

across the country and is the first time these people have decided to throw their full support behind the NDP''.

Mr. Arnold Malone (Crowfoot):

Mr. Speaker, the Reform Party is cutting up again.

In the March 22 issue of The Globe and Mail it was reported that: "After asking its members to fill in questionnaires to help guide its policy, the Reform Party looked at only a small fraction of the forms and secretly shredded tens of thousands without reading them".

The Reform Party is not a grass roots party. It is a crab-grass roots party. How mean it is to ask people for their ideas and then to turn those ideas into mice nests. The report also indicated that other questionnaires are being read by laser reading machines. In my political party we have a program called Talk to a Tory; the Reform Party could have one called Liaison with a Laser.

The Reform Party is a bumper sticker party that tries to resolve major issues with slogans like the "The west wants in". Its next slogan should be "Read my laser".

Preston Manning, like the character in the Ninja Turtles, may now be called Shredder.

Mrs. Beryl Gaffney (Nepean):

Mr. Speaker, while the minister of minority rights of Pakistan is in Canada Canadians want to urge him to ensure that the human rights of Christian minorities in his country are respected.

Pakistan is an essentially Islamic state. Christian minorities number fewer than 1 per cent. There have been reports of growing anti-Christian violence and steps by the government to undermine their rights.

For example, Pakistan's blasphemy law states that anyone who does not accept Muhammad is a traitor to Pakistan. We are pleased however that the government has resisted taking other proposed repressive measures on several occasions.

Pakistan's Christians have been proud citizens since the founding of the country in 1947, and most resided in the area before the country was born.

March 25, 1993

The Government of Pakistan should take steps to assure maximum protection and full human rights for Christian minorities. Canada enjoys a good relationship with Pakistan and we want this to be continued. The best way is to ensure there are no religious and human rights violations of its minorities.

Hon. John Bosley (Don Valley West):

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay special tribute to the Greek community in Canada as it prepares today to celebrate Greek Independence Day.

The roughly 350,000 Canadians of Greek descent are proud to celebrate that day in 1821 when their ancestors rose against the Ottoman empire, which had held a stranglehold on their homeland since 1453.

The Greek national consciousness went through a period of reawakening, led by the poets, scholars, writers, and revolutionary leaders of the day.

The 1821 revolt in Moldavia and the Peloponnesus inaugurated a decade of revolution and civil war in Greece. Most of the population picked up arms, while the commercial fleets of Greek merchants and islanders built a navy.

With independence achieved, surely no nationality is more in tune with the passion for freedom than the Greeks. It is indeed an honour and a privilege that so many of them have chosen Canada as their home.

We are the better for them and we wish them all a happy Greek Independence Day.

Mr. Mac Harb (Ottawa Centre):

Once more, the NDP government in Ontario breaks one of its promises. This time, it is education.

After raising tuition fees, cutting bursaries and reducing funding for school-boards and universities, the NDP is now attacking second language teaching in Ontario.

The provincial education minister announced yesterday in Ottawa Centre, in my riding, and I quote: "We will have to soft-pedal French-language services in favour of other, more pressing needs".

My colleague from Ottawa-Vanier, Jean-Robert Gauthier, made the following point, and I quote: "There should be only one class of students in Canada. By denying Ontario's francophone minority access to education from grade one to university, the NDP is creating two classes of students and putting the seal of approval on linguistic discrimination".

The NDP government is also planning cuts in the budget for the Ontario Office of Francophone Affairs.

This is one more attack by the government on Ontario's francophone population. The NDP has demonstrated that protecting the French language is not a priority.

I want to join my Liberal colleagues in condemning this attack by the NDP on French language education in Ontario. '

Mr. Greg Thompson (Carleton-Charlotte):

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to remind the House that March is National Kidney Month in Canada. Fourteen thousand Canadians and their families live with kidney disease.

The Kidney Foundation of Canada is a national volunteer organization dedicated to improving their health and quality of life. It funds research and clinical education, provides patient services to those living with kidney disorders, advocates for access to high quality health care and promotes awareness and commitment to organ donation.

Incidentally, the first kidney transplant in Canada was performed in 1958. Such innovative life-saving techniques were made possible in large measure as a result of research funded by the Kidney Foundation of Canada.

This March drive is the foundation's major source of funding. This year 90,000 volunteers will try to raise $5 million.

March 25, 1993

I would like to urge all members of this House and all Canadians to give generously. I ask them to please remember to sign their donor cards.

Mr. Bill Blaikie (Winnipeg Transcona):

Mr. Speaker, on Monday I met in Winnipeg with representatives of the Air Canada employees' political action committee.

These employees of Air Canada in Winnipeg are rightly concerned about the future of the Canadian airline industry and the long-term effect of permitting American ownership in the Canadian industry.

They do not want to see the export of jobs to the U.S. or the demise of good airline and airline-related jobs in Canada. They believe that control of Canada's airline industry should remain in Canada and that a single Canadian-owned international airline would best be able to compete with other global carriers.

Too often the CAI/Air Canada debate is seen as a Montreal versus Calgary debate. The hundreds of Air Canada employees in Winnipeg are in the west too and they should be listened to. They have the interests of all of Canada at heart.

Mrs. Edna Anderson (Simcoe Centre):

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the House that the week of March 21-27 is the 14th annual Children and Hospitals Week, an event sponsored by the Association for the Care of Children's Health. This year's theme is "Commitment to Caring".

During the week programs will be sponsored to increase public, parental and professional knowledge of the special needs of children in the health care system. The week is celebrated by many events that will appeal to and inform both children and adults.

The Association for the Care of Children's Health is a multidisciplinary organization of more than 200 hospitals and organizations, as well as 4,000 health care professionals and parents. For more than 25 years it has worked to promote comprehensive health services for children.

Please join with me in wishing everyone involved a very successful Children and Hospitals Week.