Hon. Bob Kaplan (York Centre):

Mr. Speaker, I would like to make some observations about yesterday's Question Period. The Auditor General's Report had just come out and that led the Official Opposition to obvious and necessary questions about the multimillion dollar payment to the West Edmonton Mall Fantasyland authorized by the present Deputy Prime Minister (Mr. Mazankowski) when he had the responsibility for the regional expansion portfolio.

The record is clear that the Minister's authorization overruled decisions by the former Liberal Government, the Minister's predecessor, officials in the Department, and the Government of Alberta on the matter. Taking that into consideration along with the criticism of the Auditor General, the questions were certainly justified.

The Minister's reply was to the effect that the Liberal question was motivated by an anti-western attitude. I suggest that it is unworthy for the Government to make any suggestion that this was based on anti-western feeling. It reminded me of the suggestion that the amendments proposed to the Meech Lake Accord were motivated by anti-Quebec or anti-francophone feeling.

The Government should remember that this type of answer is particularly damaging to the national unity of Canada because it always gets a bigger market than it deserves. Canada is a country of great regional diversity with a multicultural society.

When authentic racism and regional bias occur, it is bad enough and we have to deal with it, but to invent anti-western feeling and racism out of whole cloth, and to hide behind it, when the real issue is the Minister's decision, is damaging to Canada and despicable. Canadians of goodwill must wince

whenever this happens and must hope that the Government will find some more-

Mr. Speaker:

Order, please. The Hon. Member for Park-dale-High Park (Mr. Witer).

Mr. Andrew Witer (Parkdale-High Park):

Mr. Speaker, Josy Terelya has dedicated his life to the pursuit of religious freedom in Ukraine. His life is a living testimony to his faith, and an inspiration to all who value freedom of worship. The strength of his faith has sustained him in his long and arduous fight for the restoration of all rights to the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Ukraine.

Because Terelya had the courage of conviction to stand up to those who would deny religious freedom, he has spent most of his life, 23 years and four months, as an inmate of Soviet labour camps, prisons and psychiatric asylums.

Terelya has become a beacon of hope to the five million Ukrainian Catholics who reside in Ukraine, and a symbol of their commitment to the church, which remains strong, even in the face of an official ban.

Earlier this month, Terelya and his family were allowed to leave the Soviet Union, and later today he will appear before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Rights. I ask you to join me in welcoming this brave and inspiring individual to Canada, as he joins us here in the House today.

Hear, hear!

Mr. Vic Althouse (Humboldt-Lake Centre):

Mr. Speaker, the Government expects Canadian grape producers to be competitive with their California counterparts within seven years. Regrettably, our free trade negotiators did not include

October 28, 1987

mention of the various man-made advantages provided to American growers which are not available to us.

Grape growers ask: Can Canadians get all the irrigation water they want at $1 an acre? No, they cannot, but Americans can. Can Canadians write off losses in excess of $5,000 if they are working at off-farm jobs? No, they cannot.

Do Canadians pay pickers similar low wages? No, they cannot. Can Canadians get land at comparably low cost and maintain control of it by paying low levels of land taxation? No, they cannot.

Our grape growers can compete, given similar pricing policies, but our Government has signed a trade accord which has left them with a deal which is extremely unfair.

Mr. Brian White (Dauphin-Swan River):

Mr. Speaker, any Canadian who understands the economy of western Canada will know that the Canada-U.S. trade agreement is of enormous importance to the west.

However, Premier Howard Pawley of Manitoba, having received his marching orders from Bob White and Shirley Carr, has taken a position diametrically opposed to the wellbeing of my Province of Manitoba.

He and his cabinet have begun a series of meetings across Manitoba, closed, by invitation only, no questions allowed. He has said: "I am not going to pretend that we have an open mind at this point". That is, regardless of what happens in the discussions with Manitobans, his Government will not bend on its opposition to the treaty.

Howard Pawley's vision of Canada is not shared by the vast majority of Manitobans, those who are not the pawns of the central union leaders. He does not speak for the cattle producers of Manitoba. He does not speak for the hog producers of Manitoba. He does not speak for the countless companies in Manitoba that are eager to compete in a North American market.

Howard Pawley, show some courage and stand up for Manitoba and western Canada. Support the trade agreement for which there is no alternative.

Mr. John Gormley (The Battlefords-Meadow Lake):

Mr. Speaker, the tendency of the New Democratic Party to mislead Canadians has once again reared its ugly head, but this time with darker motives.

In a letter today, the Member for Thunder Bay-Nipigon (Mr. Epp) denounces our Government's free trade agreement.

This Member attempts to instil fear and uncertainty by deceitfully claiming that hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost and by predicting the end of social programs.

Why would the NDP write this letter? At its conclusion, the NDP Member exhorts the reader to sign the attached petition. So it seems the New Democratic Party's real reason for spreading this false propaganda is to solicit enough petitions in order to try to paralyze the work of the House of Commons. Instead of sabotaging debate in the House with this kind of letter, the NDP should democratically participate in a free and open discussion.

To the New Democratic Party I say stop underestimating the intelligence of the Canadian people. Get off your antiCanadian bandwagon and stand up for Canada.

Mr. David Berger (Laurier):

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Employment and Immigration (Mr. Bouchard) will have to decide this week whether there will be a place in the Tories' blue heaven for non-profit organizations.

Mr. Speaker, the very survival of a number of agencies in Quebec depends on the Job Development Program, which enables them to provide certain services to the community and to have someone on duty at all times. Some of these agencies are specifically concerned with womens' needs. For instance, some outstanding work is being done by Alternative Naissance, a group that is trying to humanize the whole process of giving birth.

Employees of non-profit agencies are often women with families who have decided to work as volunteers for the benefit of their sisters and of society as a whole. Mr. Speaker, these women, like you and me, are entitled to live and work in an area that meets their personal and social aspirations.

Today I want to ask the Minister of Employment and Immigration (Mr. Bouchard), the Government and all

October 28, 1987

Conservative Members to help guarantee the survival of these agencies that are so essential to the well-being of our society.

Mr. Gordon Taylor (Bow River):

Mr. Speaker, why do the New Democratic Party and the Liberals want to keep western Canada in bondage? For years we have had the highest freight rates in the country which have made us pay extra for everything we import from Ontario and Quebec and, in addition, high freight rates have been a major obstacle to our industrialization.

Manufacturers flee in haste when they hear about the freight rates on anything made in the west destined for the east. The competition will force down the freight rates to and from eastern Canada. In other words, free trade will let western Canada escape from bondage. Is that why the Liberals and the NDP are so vehemently and so unfairly fighting free trade? Why do these two Parties want to ensure that western Canadians will always be hewers of wood and carriers of water?

Free trade will be a major factor in providing western Canada with a new challenge and with the freedom to pursue it. I give notice now to the Liberals, the socialists, and to Premier Peterson that western Canada wants free trade and we are determined to get it.

Ms. Margaret Mitchell (Vancouver East):

Mr. Speaker, I am ashamed to report that the Premier of British Columbia plans to undermine Canada's medicare system. Recently he announced that British Columbia could soon have a system where those who can afford it would jump surgical waiting lists by paying to be treated at private hospitals. This is a twotiered health care system, one for the rich and one for the poor. It contravenes the very principles of medicare Canadians support which require that high quality universal affordable services must be available for all Canadians regardless of incomes.

Canadians know that this American system which the Premier is copying is far inferior to Canada's medicare. Canadians overwhelming support the Canada Health Act. I

appeal to the federal Minister of National Health and Welfare (Mr. Epp) who has a responsibility and duty to ensure that provinces comply with the Canada Health Act, to require that the full cash portion of the federal contribution only go to those provinces that conform.

Recent reports of the Auditor General have pointed out that this Minister has been negligent in his duty. He has not reported correctly to the House of Commons. I call upon the Minister to investigate this situation in British Columbia immediately and to ensure that future reports to Parliament contain full details as required by the Auditor General.