Mr. Pelletier:

Mr. Speaker, I want to emphasize first of all that Quebec withdrew quite civilly and without banging any door. I want to assure the hon. member that the Rimouski area will not be deprived of anything by the federal government. As to the steps which may be taken in this respect by my Quebec counterpart, because I decided long ago not to try any longer to predict what they will be from one week to the next, I cannot assure the hon. member of anything. He will have to seek any such assurance from the Quebec minister of communications.

Hon. Gerard Pelletier (Minister of Communications):

Mr. Speaker, I was going to say that I thought the hon. member had not read the papers carefully, but I have just been reading them and I understand his being utterly confused as, depending on the paper you read, the outcome of the conference was a success or a failure. I might tell him though that I do not agree personally, after attending the whole meeting and even presiding over it, that an impasse was reached. I regret the province of Quebec decided to withdraw, but we did take a positive step in agreeing to establish the Council of Communications ministers of Canada. There will be an empty seat, and as 1 said I regret that, bur eight and even very probably nine of those seats will be occupied, so that our discussions can progress. The province of Quebec decided to remain outside the council and to go its own way. Unfortunately, I cannot help that, and I can barely take it as a fact. As to the suggestions at the conference, I would tell the hon. member that the ones which were put forward by the federal government have been deemed acceptable, at least for further discussion, by nine out of ten provinces, which in baseball would be a fairly satisfactory batting average.

Hon. Gerard Pelletier (Minister of Communications):

Mr. Speaker, I understand the concern of the hon. member. The allocation of Channel 10 in the Vancouver area is a serious matter and that is probably why the CRTC has deliberated so long. I told the hon. member when he first expressed this concern, that I would make representations to the CRTC and ask them to expedite as much as possible the release of the decision. They told me that this is exactly what they are doing. They find the problem complex and want to make the most adequate decision they can.

Hon. Gerard Pelletier (Minister of Communications):

Mr. Speaker, it is not directly to the government that Bell Canada has to present its arguments on that matter, but to the Canadian Transport Commission's Telecommunications Committee. I think that is what the company will be asked to do by the committee. The government will then weigh the decisions the commission will have to make.

Hon. Gerard Pelletier (Minister of Communications):

Mr. Speaker, I do not think there is any question of the Minister of Communications trying to suspend hearings initiated by CTC. The minister does not have such powers. Regarding some parties appearing before CTC who would think they are denied their most normal rights, I think recourses are provided in the legislation and they could take advantage of them. Instead they chose to withdraw.