Brian Pallister

[Gasoline Prices, May 13th, 2004]

It has become pretty clear, Mr. Speaker, that the government has no intention of providing Canadian drivers with any relief on the exorbitant gas prices and taxes. Perhaps the lack of motivation is understandable, given the fact that every cent increase in a litre of gasoline puts $32 million into its pile of revenue. It even adds insult to injury by forcing Canadians to pay GST on the excise tax.

With this in mind, maybe the government should consider the fact that many Canadians will not be able to afford to start the car at the end of June to go to the polls. Why does the government not do the fair thing and axe the tax on the tax?

[Government Policies, May 13th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, this week we learned that the Liberal government could not come up with a title for its throne speech. After considering various titles, with no apparent frontrunner, the government opted for a generic white cover with no title at all, which illustrates the fact we can indeed judge a book by its cover.

Having a blank page was an ideal choice. However, one has to wonder why the government would give $50,000 to a Quebec research firm to tell it what everyone already knows: that it is adrift; that when it says everything is a priority, it means that nothing is; that when the Prime Minister says, “Let me be perfectly clear”, he most often is not; and that when the Liberals rush out pre-election press releases and promises, they are insulting Canadian voters by assuming that they can be bought.

The Liberals erred in using white paper on their throne speech. There was nothing innocent or pure about this. The correct colour was scarlet.

[Employment Insurance, May 10th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I will give credit where it is due and that will be the private sector for creating those jobs, not the government.

The fact is it is no coincidence that swing voters in a number of ridings across Canada are seasonal workers. The fact of the matter is they are the ones who could make or break the Liberals in the next election campaign. The government has done absolutely nothing but neglect this file for years. Now it throws a Hail Mary pass in the direction of these seasonal workers who are struggling to make ends meet. It is heartless, it is cynical and it is typical Liberal.

Why will the government not admit that this is more an election strategy than it is an employment strategy?

[Employment Insurance, May 10th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, last week the government hinted at the possibility of loosening the qualifying rules for employment insurance. Last week Liberal MPs insulted Canadians who struggle in seasonal jobs by calling their EI concerns an irritant.

The HRDC committee recommended changes to modify EI over three years ago, and the government has ignored them. In a show of last minute compassion, the government is now miraculously ready to open the purse strings.

Why would seasonal workers believe a cynical pre-election ploy to try to buy their votes?

[Labour, April 30th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, that will not satisfy anybody. Those are just weasel words. The fact is that on the table right now is a proposal that will require forced unionization of Manitoba workers. Workers should decide whether they are unionized or not without the assistance of the federal and provincial governments.

Some 95% of Manitoba's construction industry is non-unionized. The federal government's silence makes it complicit in the forced unionization of construction workers that is going to increase costs.

It is time for Liberals to get off the fence they seem to be impaled on here and commit to vetoing any attempt to prevent non-unionized companies from participating in the construction of the Red River diversion.

[Labour, April 30th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, Manitoba's NDP government is trying to stop non-unionized construction companies from participating in the construction of the Red River diversion around the city of Winnipeg. Now the effect of this ideological misadventure will be to raise the cost of the project, some estimates say by as much as $65 million.

Given that the federal government is a fifty-fifty partner in this project that will cost $700 million, could the minister assure the House today that the federal government will not be party to any exercise in forced unionization of Manitoba construction workers?

[Railway Safety, April 30th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, there is an old baseball saying, “you can't hit what you can't see”, but when it comes to trains, one most certainly can. Fewer than one in four Canadian train cars has proper reflectors and Canadians are killed in preventable car-train collisions regularly because they simply did not see the trains. The railway companies like to blame driver error, but cars, trucks and farm implements have had to have reflectors for years, why not trains?

My urban colleagues need to understand that the rural crossings where most of these accidents occur are not equipped with flashing lights, with bells, with whistles, or with guard arms. The fact is no one in the Conservative Party is asking the government to equip each of the 50,000 uncontrolled crossings in such a manner. What we are asking for is that reflectors be placed on all trains.

I want the minister to immediately implement a rule which requires the immediate implementation of reflectors. The United States is planning a reflector program that will be phased in over 10 years. That is not acceptable to the Conservative Party. We--

[Canada National Parks Act, April 30th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, because auspicious occasions come and go here sometimes without acknowledgement, I would like to go on the record to compliment my colleague and thank him. He has been a mentor. He has been an encourager and good guide to a lot of us who came here in 2000 and those who came earlier. We really appreciate that.

As this may well be the last chance that he has, I think it would be only fair to point out that, as opposed to some who go off quietly into that good night, this gentlemen is working right until he hits the end of his career here. He is working with enthusiasm and spirit, as he always has, on issues affecting not only his constituents, but affecting people nationally. In particular, I have been impressed with his sincere concern for veterans and for widows of veterans. The work he has done on that issue is just exemplary. The people of southeastern Saskatchewan have been served tremendously well by this gentleman.

Is his concern for the national parks based on the fact that he and Mrs. Bailey will be spending an inordinately large amount of time in them over the next few months and years?

[Student Loans, April 28th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, it is too bad the government did not consider making an investment in post-secondary education.

The fact is that the minister fails to understand that too many Canadian graduates cannot afford a car for 10 years after they graduate. They cannot save for a home. They cannot afford any extras at all. If they live in a rural or isolated community, the barriers to education are that much higher and the debt is that much bigger.

The fact is that all the government has done is raise loan limits.

I would ask the minister to admit that all the government has done is make a big debt hole that much bigger.

[Student Loans, April 28th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, this week Statistics Canada released figures that show that the average Canadian student debt has nearly doubled in the past decade under the government. Figures show that today's graduates owe $20,000.

Now we hear from Judy Dyck, president of the Canadian Association of Financial Administrators, that the student loan system has deteriorated badly under the government, that it is a bureaucratic maze and that it is ruining credit ratings.

Will the Prime Minister admit that in reality all he has done on this file is increase our students' capacity to go deeper into debt?