Mrs. Gabrielle Bertrand (Brome-Missisquoi):

Mr. Speaker, November is National Osteoporosis Awareness Month.

A number of people, and I am one of them, are familiar with this health problem, while others are not. Osteoporosis thins the bones and makes them brittle so that they fracture easily. In many cases it can cause serious incapacity, and it can even be fatal.

Educating the public is important, and the Osteoporosis Society of Canada has been doing this since 1982. The funds collected by this organization are also spent on the research that is essential to fight this disease.

The federal government also supports the Osteoporosis Society of Canada through its subsidy program for national volunteer health organizations.

The many volunteers who play an important role in our society are to be commended for their dedication. Thanks to them, the quality of life of people afflicted by this health problem has improved. I urge you all to take part in the activities organized this month to increase public awareness of this health problem.

Mrs. Gabrielle Bertrand (Brome-Missisquoi):

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General's Report tabled yesterday in the House of Commons reflects his commitment to focusing on the real problems.

As the Auditor General admitted himself, there is no easy solution to some of these problems. However, he

stressed the need for a better understanding of their impact and for taking constructive measures to deal with them.

I would like to read to you what he said in the first paragraph of his introduction, and I quote: "For several years now, Canada has experienced slow economic growth, business closures and high unemployment. Canada is not unique: other industrialized nations have experienced similar downturns. As Auditor General, and as a Canadian, I am deeply concerned about the economic challenges Canada faces both nationally and internationally, and about their impact on individual Canadians. Canadians are very worried about the impact of annual deficits and the accumulated debt on their standard of living and that of future generations of Canadians. At the same time, they expect the government to provide more, not fewer, services. The government's dilemma, which is not really new, is that its financial resources are constrained, while demands on those resources increase".

The Auditor General is the government's watchdog for the administration of our public finances, and that is as it should be.

Mrs. Gabrielle Bertrand (Brome-Missisquoi):

Mr. Speaker, I want to compliment my colleague on an extremely instructive and well documented speech. It is going to take a while to digest all that.

I listened carefully and with interest because, in my riding many high-tech industries greatly benefited from all these manpower training initiatives. Thke for instance IBM, General Electric, Mitel, Insdana, Econo-Bell, all those companies seeking manpower, that need skilled manpower and were able to take advantage of our programs.

I would also like to mention another organization, the TCIT. This acronym stands for Townships Corporation for Industrial Training. This group of business people, mainly entrepreneurs, got together with the teaching community to communicate their needs, saying for instance: "We would need so many welders in our company. Could you please train them". School is there to train welders, and it is the same in several other fields.

I am thinking of another group called Passage Yamas-ka; my colleague spoke about training for women. Passage Yamaska is for women between the ages of 30 and 45 who have left work for all sorts of reasons or to raise their young children or for other women who never worked and are now free and wonder about their future and go to Passage Yamaska to find a way into the working world. These are all examples. You talked about the co-op program, which is still wonderful. Students spend three days a week in school and two on traineeships in business and actually see what the world of work is like.

What I wanted to tell my colleague is that further to all these programs and this whole labour force training policy the Minister of Finance announced a prosperity agenda very recently. This plan was developed by an

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independent group of men and women, business people, union leaders, educators who wanted to promote a learning culture. Six of their ten recommendations directly concern labour force training. I do not know whether my colleague would like to elaborate on that at a time when the competitiveness of our companies is so vital because of the globalization of markets. I would like my colleague to show me that this prosperity agenda really meets a need.

Mrs. Gabrielle Bertrand (Brome-Missisquoi):

Mr. Speaker, I was glad that my colleague started her speech by reading the motion before us today, and I will do the same because I want the Canadian people to know exactly what we are dealing with today.

The motion reads:

That, in the opinion of this House, the government is incapable of

providing leadership and direction in the economic and social affairs

of the nation -

The opposition has been clamouring for elections. When you call for elections to be held, you do so because you intend to campaign and win and eventually come to power. God forbid this political formation was to come to power with the same leader today.

Twice in the past this leader had the opportunity to put goverment finance in order. Each time-and I think that many share this view-he failed. Let me give you a couple of examples. The Leader of the Opposition was the President of Treasury Board from 1974 to 1976. Normally, the role of Treasury Board is to veto the expenditures the various departments are planning. However, government expenditures increased by 16.3 per cent in 1975-76 and 14.6 per cent in 1976-77. Within two years this Leader of the Opposition who aspires to become Prime Minister of Canada authorized the following increases in expenditures: a 34 per cent increase in salary and wages; 18 per cent in communication and

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transportation expenses; 43 per cent in government rent expenses; 53 per cent in expenses associated with machinery and equipment, and, finally, 38 per cent for professional and special services.

That is not all. Later on, the Leader of the Opposition became Minister of Finance from 1977 to 1979. During 1978-79 expenditures went up 10.3 per cent and for 1978-79 the defict grew because of an increase of the national debt in excess of 50 per cent within two years.

As you can see, Mr. Speaker, this parliamentarian, this Leader of the Opposition, likes to spend and to borrow. In this House he has opposed just about every expenditure restraint measure put forward by this government, while requesting additional financing for a slew of programs and other expenditures.

The prospect of this political formation coming to power worries me. I would like to ask the hon. member if the Canadian people can afford such a leader in terms of the management of government finance?

Mrs. Gabrielle Bertrand (Brome-Missisquoi):

Mr. Speaker, I would like to clarify several misconceptions going around in the media about the proposed changes to unemployment insurance. There were references to a confrontation between the minister and the Quebec caucus, even a revolt. Such allegations are unfounded.

Of course it is only normal that we question the minister on behalf of our constituents, which we did and continue to do in a spirit of close collaboration and mutual understanding.

We are all in agreement on the principle of the measures announced by the Minister of Finance in his economic statement of December 2,1992 and reports are to the effect that the vast majority of Canadians and Quebecers are also in agreement.

However, my colleagues and I want to make sure that these measures will not be unfairly implemented. The members on this side of the House are faithful to the same basic principles of fairness, economy and, above all, justice.