House of Commons Hansard #59 of the 36th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was budget.

Topics

The BudgetOral Question Period

2:15 p.m.

The Speaker

Order, please. I ask hon. members to please address each other by their titles.

The BudgetOral Question Period

2:15 p.m.

Reform

Preston Manning Reform Calgary Southwest, AB

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister should have been outraged by the billion dollar boondoggle at human resources. Instead, he rewards the minister by giving her an additional $220 million of discretionary spending.

Why would the Prime Minister give a massive increase in discretionary spending to a minister who mismanages taxpayers' dollars?

The BudgetOral Question Period

2:15 p.m.

LaSalle—Émard Québec

Liberal

Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, when I hear the hon. member objecting to the increased spending, the $80 billion to which he refers, I have a lot of difficulty. This is spending for health care, for education and for research and development.

However I have really discovered the answer. He is not objecting to us spending money on health care, education, and research and development. He is objecting to Stockwell Day spending money on health care, education, and R and D. The leader of the Reform Party—

The BudgetOral Question Period

2:15 p.m.

The Speaker

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

The BudgetOral Question Period

2:15 p.m.

Calgary Southwest Alberta

Reform

Preston Manning ReformLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, for more than 21 years the auditor general has been warning and warning the government about misspending under grants and contributions. The Prime Minister is aware of these warnings but he chooses to ignore them.

This year an internal HRDC audit reveals more waste in the management just where? In exactly the same place. The Prime Minister's response to these warnings is to give the minister another $221 million.

Is the Prime Minister's contempt for the taxpayers so high that he did this out of spite, or did he do it so there would be more money around for the next federal election?

The BudgetOral Question Period

2:15 p.m.

Saint-Maurice Québec

Liberal

Jean Chrétien LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, the government over the last six and a half years has managed to take a deficit from $42 billion to being in a position to present a fantastic budget.

Of course we are spending more money for the poor, the underprivileged, research and development, education and health. At the same time we gave the Canadian people the greatest tax cut they have not had in the last 50—

The BudgetOral Question Period

2:15 p.m.

The Speaker

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

The BudgetOral Question Period

2:15 p.m.

Calgary Southwest Alberta

Reform

Preston Manning ReformLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, for once the Prime Minister got it exactly right, the tax cut the Canadian people have not had.

Under any normal circumstances a billion dollar spending boondoggle would send shock waves through an institution. All departments would be called to account. The brakes would be put on future spending. Management would be changed but not in this government. Sixteen out of nineteen departments got spending increases and not one manager has been changed.

Why should Canadian taxpayers give the government one more dollar when that department mismanages—

The BudgetOral Question Period

2:15 p.m.

The Speaker

The Right Hon. Prime Minister.

The BudgetOral Question Period

2:15 p.m.

Saint-Maurice Québec

Liberal

Jean Chrétien LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member had done his homework he would know that this money is going for a program that was announced in the House in December, giving more money for the people who are homeless in Canada. It was requested by the provincial governments and the mayors, and we have done it. He would know that this money has been given in order to give more money to the students in Canada.

We could go on and on. We always have causes that need help in Canada. I know the Reform Party, which might be another party with a very funny name in a few weeks, does not want to give money to the people at the bottom—

The BudgetOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

The Speaker

The hon. member for Medicine Hat.

The BudgetOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Reform

Monte Solberg Reform Medicine Hat, AB

Mr. Speaker, HRDC helping the homeless. I wonder if that means perhaps it will be allowed to use the fountain in Shawinigan to clean up a bit. Is that the idea?

Yesterday the government wrote a new cheque for $226 million to the HRDC minister. I guess a billion dollars mismanaged to spend on fountains and subsidies for Wal-Marts is not enough.

Why would the Prime Minister give even one cent to the human resources minister when she has proven to be so completely incompetent with the billion dollars she already gets?

The BudgetOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

LaSalle—Émard Québec

Liberal

Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, understand what that money is for. It is for the student loan program. Understand what that money is for. It is for grants to single parents who want to go back to school. That is what that money is for.

The fact of the matter is that the member for Medicine Hat and the leader of the Reform Party are the only two people in Canada to the right of Stockwell Day. One more step and they are going to fall off the side of the earth.

The BudgetOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Reform

Monte Solberg Reform Medicine Hat, AB

Mr. Speaker, words of wisdom from the president of the flat earth society and Canada's top tax refugee.

The minister of human resources has stumbled and bumbled her way through her department. She has knocked things over. She has set them on fire, burning up a billion dollars along the way. Why would the Prime Minister give one cent to this person who has become the Mr. Bean of Canadian politics?

The BudgetOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

The Speaker

Order, please. I would ask members on both sides to address each other by their proper titles.

The BudgetOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

LaSalle—Émard Québec

Liberal

Paul Martin LiberalMinister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, it is pretty clear that the Reform Party's questions are based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the budget.

Let me quote from the Reform Party website this morning: “The federal tax budget will continue to increase over the next five years due to bracket creep”. I just want to explain something. Yesterday when I said that indexation was back it meant that bracket creep was gone.

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Bloc

Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Human Resources Development thought perhaps she would not be facing any more questions with yesterday's budget, but we have a few more questions for her.

In the matter of the transfer of the project from Rosemont to the riding of Saint-Maurice—

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh.

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:20 p.m.

The Speaker

Order, please. One of our fundamental rights surely is to be heard in the House. I think it is just a common courtesy.

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Bloc

Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC

Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Minister of Human Resources Development regarding the Rosemont project that was transferred to the riding of Saint-Maurice.

She spoke of lack of space, but that did not stand up. Mr. Goldberger, the company president, confirmed this. He has been the subject of legal proceedings on this matter since April 1999.

How can the minister ignore these facts and argue the lack of space contention, when she has been in the job since August 1999 and keeps saying that she is responsible for everything that goes on in her department?

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Brant Ontario

Liberal

Jane Stewart LiberalMinister of Human Resources Development

Mr. Speaker, this is really quite incredible. Probably the most important document in the parliamentary calendar was tabled in the House yesterday and this party is still asking about questions that were raised weeks ago.

I have said on this particular file that we have asked an outside auditor to come in and make sense of the facts, but we know that Canadians, including those living in Quebec, are interested in what is in this budget. They will be very surprised why this hon. member is not asking about our investment in parental benefits, about our investments in Canadians and their children.

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Bloc

Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC

Mr. Speaker, we are asking questions because the budget tabled yesterday is in the hands of ministers like her, whom we do not trust exactly. This is why we ask her questions. We want to know what she has done with the people's money, because money has disappeared.

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Liberal

Denis Coderre Liberal Bourassa, QC

Louder, louder.

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Bloc

Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC

Mr. Speaker, could the member for Bourassa stop his Elvis Gratton routine while we ask a question?

Human Resources DevelopmentOral Question Period

2:25 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh.