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THE HERALD Wednesday March 13 11 Page Ottawa Report Canada and Quebec marriage worth saving Over the lest couple of months I held six Town Hall meetings around the riding of in Burlington Bolton Georgetown Acton Camp- and Palgrave In every one of them we talked about Quebec And when we started talking almost always there was anger along with some confusion Peo ple told me they thought wanted too much out of the rest of the country Quebec wanted to be considered distinct like The Lake Accord said and a lot of people took that to mean special or more important than the rest of us Other said they didnt believe the prime minister and others when they warned that the death of would mean tough times for Canada And then there were some folks who just stood up and said Let them go Well last weekend in Montreal the Quebec Liberal party the one in power in that province spelled out what it wants now that Meech was defeated by what they call English Canada And its not a pretty picture It goes far beyond what was in the first ac cord which collapsed last June Quebec now wants separate powers transferred from the federal government to the pro vince leaving Ottawa politicians with little control over anything except interest rates and the armed forces The province want a stronger freer Quebec with a special relation ship to the rest of the country This of course is not going to meanwhile would control things like social affairs culture educa tion housing natural resources health unemployment in surance communications energy industry and the environ ment Premier Robert Bourassa and 2800 other Liberals at the weekend convention endorsed this position Quebec now says it mil give the rest of Canada months to hammer out a new deal along these lines At the end of there will be a referendum in that province to either ap prove a new deal within Canada or to decide on becoming in dependent says his first choice is for Quebec to remain a part of Canada and he will try to negotiate that with Ottawa The man is reflecting what public opi nion polls in that province say A clear majority of people up to When a majority of English Canadians thought that Meech Lake went too far in just calling Quebec a distinct society how can people now agree to gut the federal government and give Quebeckers virtual control over their own lives I wrote here a week or two ago that there are as Mulroney call ed them dream merchants in Canada on both sides of the debate In Quebec the dream merchants last weekend told Liberal delegates they could be free of Canadian rule but still en joy all the economic benefits of being Canadian In the rest of the country in cluding our own community there are dream merchants who say Quebec can leave the country and there wont be any economic consequences They say six million taxpayers and a quarter of the economy makes no dif ference to the health of Canada And I think theyre wrong I have no intention as an MP of sitting back while the map of Canada is gutted and muttering that we may be better off as a result Dont get me wrong I have no idea what would happen here in Georgetown or Milton or Bolton if Quebec took a walk And I dont want to find out In one of the Queens Park Report NDP initiatives discussed I would like to begin this weeks report by outlining current developments to two government measures which I discussed in previous reports In December my column dealt with three new initiatives one of which was the announcement by Community and Social Services Minister about four stages of a plan aimed toward addressing poverty in On tario I had indicated that Ms Akande had asked the Advisory Group on New Social Assistance Legislation to report back with advice on those recommenda tions of the Social Assistance Review Committee SARC that could be implemented without legislative changes On March the Minister released Back on Track the first report of the committee It includes action items designed to significantly improve and update the social assistance system and be more responsive to the needs of people Many of these items are based on the recommendations from the SARC Report entitled Tran sitions Ms will review the report and consider what changes can be implemented One of my reports in January explained the proposed changes to the Pay Equity Act 1967 and the commitment by Labour Minister Bob Mackenzie to release information papers on proportional and proxy com parisons On February 15 the Minister released the paper Extending Pay Equity by Pro portional Value and Proxy Com parisons which consists of two parts The first section developed after extensive con sultations presents the govern ment policy on proportional value comparisons The second part dealing with proxy comparisons for the public sector only outlines the approach the govern ment proposes to take and raises issues Tor consultation Public sector unions employee associa tions employers and individuals are invited to provide input on implementing proxy com parisons According to Mr Mackenzie both approaches will be included when our govern ment introduces amendments to the Act during the spring session Noel Duignan North New Democratic Party of the Legislature He also af firmed our commitment to fin ding other venues to make equitable wages a reality for all working women in Ontario a goal to be pursued through addi tional public consultation Copies of the paper are available on re quest by calling the Ministry at There are also numerous new initiatives which have been an nounced and I would like to outline two of them The Ministry of Energy has awarded in grants for two regeneration plants one of which will be built In Mississauga Cogeneration is an energyefficient technology that involves the production of two or more types of useful energy from a simple source Both proposed cogeneration plants will use natural gas the cleanestburning fossil fuel to produce thermal and electric energy The grant will allow Resources Corporation of Markham to demonstrate the technology of the two plants and to assess its possible application to other Ontario sites is Important because it can help to Increase our energy supply and will have a low impact on the environment announced Energy Minister Jen ny Carter The plants are scheduled to be completed in late The plant will be built at the McDonnell Douglas Canada Ltd manufac turing complex in Malton and is expected to generate 106 megawatts of electrical power On February 22 1991 Skills Development Minister Richard Allen announced a program to help registered apprentices who have been laid off during the recession When these employees lose their jobs they may also lose the opportunity to bcome fully qualified and the workforce loses individuals im portant to postrecession recovery The initiative will assist up to apprentices con tinue their training and will in clude accelerating the inschool portion of apprenticeship train ing and helping apprentices find a plae with one or more employers The program also provides technical training at an alternative location that resembles the workplace Counselling will be offered to help these individuals determine what options are available to them Assistance will be delivered locally by community organiza tions across the province co ordinated by the Ministrys District Apprenticeship Offices For more information call the Mississauga office at 8971551 or the Training Hotline at MARCH IN AND SAVE w THIS WEEKEND IN THE HERALD community papers last week I was called a fearmonger for even cautioning that sepaiation could end up hurting people on both sides of a new border Well I just dont see what anybodys got to gain from this I dont agree with Robert Bourassa that the federal government should be holed and all that power shifted to Quebec City I also dont agree with people who say the country has to stay just like it is and if Quebeckers dont like it they can take a hike We can get angry at the separatists We can question there isnt a Canadian flag in Quebecs National Assembly We can ask why it is Quebeckers feel so mistreated in this country which gives them one of highest standards of living in the world But we also shouldnt let anger or dismay blind us The marriage has got some problems right now but its marriage worth saving Id appreciate your thoughts on how we might do that LADIES Fletchers bring you THE ULTIMATE walking shoe To get maximum potential out of walking you need shoos that fit feel good and are made just for walking or exercise Thats why Naturallzer created the Performance Walker and shoes with their special fourpoint comfort system advanced sports cushioning overall light weight supple flexibility and leather uppers Their special design supports and cushions your feet as you walk Get the most out of walking with I AEROBICWALK Spitfire NAJURALIZER PERFORMANCE WALKER Charger FLETCHERS IS THE FOOT SB MAIN ST DOWNTOWN GEORGETOWN fFOORTHIST ON STAFF