House of Commons Hansard #11 of the 40th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was coalition.

Topics

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

The right hon. Prime Minister.

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Calgary Southwest Alberta

Conservative

Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, as part of the culmination of the machinations of the leader of the NDP, we had those three parties together forming this agreement, signing a document and they would not even have the Canadian flag behind them. They had to be photographed without it.

They had to be photographed without it because a member of their coalition does not even believe in the country. As Prime Minister, it is not my responsibility to turn the keys of power over to a group like that. It is up to the Canadian people.

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Jack Layton NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON

Mr. Speaker, I did not hear any of this high and mighty language and moral indignation from the Prime Minister when he signed a document, along with myself and Mr. Duceppe, a few years ago and sent it to the Governor General.

He simply cannot be trusted. It is not real. What he did do was fail to put forward a plan for the economy and he failed the families of our country. That is the failure. He would not work with other parties to deliver a plan for the families of our country, who are suffering in the economic circumstances in which we are.

How can Canadians have any confidence in the Conservative government?

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Calgary Southwest Alberta

Conservative

Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, in an internal letter today, the leader of the Bloc Québécois says, “The coalition formed by the Liberal Party and the NDP, supported by the Bloc, will take control of the administration of the federal state. We will have the creation of a mechanism of permanent consultation empowering the Bloc Québécois on every question of importance, notably concerning the adoption of the budget”.

This Prime Minister, this government, this party has never and will never sign a document like that.

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Saint-Laurent—Cartierville Québec

Liberal

Stéphane Dion LiberalLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, I love this country and I have dedicated my life to Canadian unity. As part of this agreement, the Bloc has agreed to 18 months of political stability in Canada. That is what this agreement will bring to the country.

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Calgary Southwest Alberta

Conservative

Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, today, the leader of the Parti Québécois said that this arrangement proved that sovereignty is necessary. The members of the Bloc Québécois applauded when I quoted her.

If the leader of the Liberal Party believes in the country, he will walk away from this document and admit it is the worse mistake the Liberal Party has ever made in its history.

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Saint-Laurent—Cartierville Québec

Liberal

Stéphane Dion LiberalLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, the one who is dividing Canadians more than anybody else is the Prime Minister, and I will show him that again.

He is saying that the Liberals are selling Canada to the separatists. His Quebec MPs are saying that the separatists are selling their souls to the Liberals. He needs to choose between these two lies. Canadians are fed up with these lies.

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

Order, please. I am not sure what statement the Leader of the Opposition was referring to, but I am sure it was not the Prime Minister's statement. The Right Hon. Prime Minister has the floor.

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Calgary Southwest Alberta

Conservative

Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, there are two very clear choices. The Canadian people made a choice to elect the Conservative Party to govern, without the support of the separatists.

If the leader of the Liberal Party wants to become Prime Minister with the support of the separatists, he needs to put that option to the people of Canada.

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Saint-Laurent—Cartierville Québec

Liberal

Stéphane Dion LiberalLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, as a democrat, I know that when a government is elected as a minority government, it has the responsibility to behave accordingly.

The Prime Minister has failed to address the economic crisis. He has failed. If he was a democrat, he would allow the House to show how much he failed.

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

The right hon. Prime Minister. Order, please.

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Calgary Southwest Alberta

Conservative

Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Liberal Party--

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

Order, please. We will have a little order. I know members are enjoying engaging in a vigorous debate during this question period, but we do have to be able to hear the questions and the responses. The Prime Minister has the floor.

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Conservative

Stephen Harper Conservative Calgary Southwest, AB

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Liberal Party failed to convince Canadians in the wisdom of his platform or in the sufficiency of his judgment to be Prime Minister of this country.

If he wants to take the unprecedented step of scrapping the results of an election campaign and forming, for the first time in Canadian history, a government entirely dependent on the support of separatists to run this country, then he has the responsibility not to hide behind parliamentary niceties or deals, but to go to the people of Canada.

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Saint-Laurent—Cartierville Québec

Liberal

Stéphane Dion LiberalLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, when this Prime Minister was fighting to put firewalls around the province we all love, I was fighting for clarity for this country.

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Some hon. members

Hear, hear!

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

Order, please. The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Liberal

Stéphane Dion Liberal Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC

Mr. Speaker, while the Prime Minister was trying to build a wall around a province we all love, I was fighting for Canadian unity. Everything I do, I do to make my country stronger, not weaker or divided, and not to give his party's Quebec MPs grounds to contradict him, like they did in this House today.

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Calgary Southwest Alberta

Conservative

Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party respects federal powers and provincial powers. That is the basis of our federation, which the Conservative Party created.

This has nothing to do with federal-provincial powers. It is very simple. The leader of the Liberal Party wants to turn his back on the results of the last election. He wants to turn his back on the traditions of his own party and he wants to form a coalition with the Quebec separatists. He should either walk away from that or take it to the people--

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Some hon. members

Hear, hear!

Government of CanadaOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

The hon. member for Saint-Lambert. Order, please.

Employment InsuranceOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Bloc

Josée Beaudin Bloc Saint-Lambert, QC

Mr. Speaker, the agreement signed by the three leaders modifies the employment insurance system by eliminating the two-week waiting period. The Prime Minister needs to realize that people who lose their jobs are much better off with this agreement than with the economic statement delivered by his Minister of Finance.

Can the Prime Minister understand that that is another reason why he has lost the confidence of the House?