Miss Carney:

Mr. Speaker, I think the answer of the Hon. Member for Oshawa is unhelpful. I am speaking to the rules of this House, and the rules of this House do not permit such aspersions to be made against other Ministers, any Minister who, under the rules of this House, is not in a position to make a response. I think the cheap, shoddy shot of the Hon. Member for Oshawa contributes to the degrading of the atmosphere of the House, and I wish to bring this to your attention, Mr. Speaker.

Hon. Pat Carney (President of the Treasury Board):

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order arising out of Question Period which relates to the answer given by the Hon. Member for Oshawa (Mr. Broadbent) in response-

Hon. Pat Carney (President of the Treasury Board):

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Hon. Member for York East for the care and attention he is giving to the activities of the Auditor General. As Hon. Members know, the Auditor General reports directly to Parliament and is independent. He himself has raised questions about who watches the watchdog. I think the scrutiny the Hon. Member for York East has given to his activities indicates that this particular Hon. Member can really get his teeth into the issue.

In terms of the point he has raised today, I have asked my officials for an update on this issue. It was last dealt with by the Public Accounts Committee in May of 1986, and, as the Hon. Member says, the committee did indicate that there should be more frequent reporting. I will respond when that update is completed.

Hon. Pat Carney (Minister for International Trade):

Mr. Speaker, the Hon. Member should be aware that the Trade Bill has not yet been presented in the United States and therefore we do not know what it contains. It is perfectly true that our Ambassador has been making representations to the Americans to ensure that there are not elements in the Trade Bill that would cause problems for us. I am happy to report to the House that we know that, so far during the process, many elements have been dropped from the Trade Bill.

March 29, 1988

We will continue to make representations on those items that we feel could impact on Canada but we could not possibly address the Hon. Member's request because we do not have a Bill before us. I urge him to wait and see what is in it before he attacks it.

Hon. Pat Carney (Minister for International Trade):

Mr. Speaker, I am certainly not backing down. I am pointing out in a very realistic fashion that we do not have the Bill so we do not know what is in it. We are sure it will be compatible with the free trade agreement negotiated between the two countries.

I urge the Hon. Member to hold his temper and wait until the Bill is before us and we can see whether or not his concerns are justified.