Ken Boshcoff

[Petitions, June 5th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, this petition is with regard to the broken promises from the Government of Canada on income trusts. The petition represents another group of citizens who have been hurt by the income trust fiasco and the broken promises. The petitioners are mostly concerned with the recklessness of this and the fact that there was an emphatic promise that there would be no tampering with income trusts.

With expert witnesses now providing clear evidence that the finance minister's decision has been based on flawed methodology, the petitioners trust that the government will rectify income trusts and make good and undo their broken promise.

[Drought Assistance, June 1st, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the Thunder Bay, Rainy River, Kenora and Algoma districts have been suffering from a severe drought for nearly 12 months.

Cattle producers have been forced to sell down their stock and farmers have no money with which to buy supplies for the spring seeding.

The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and his parliamentary secretary have both indicated that money is available. The minister stood in the House on April 17 and said he had put forward a disaster relief framework to which all provinces have agreed.

It has been three long weeks since the minister announced $7.5 million in drought relief funding for Prince George, British Columbia, but the farmers across northwestern Ontario continue to wait for help.

I call on the minister to stop the delays and provide funds to help the farmers in Thunder Bay, Rainy River, Kenora and Algoma districts.

[Hockey, May 16th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, this past weekend residents of my riding of Thunder Bay—Rainy River beamed with pride as Thunder Bay's own Staal brothers exhibited their superb hockey skills.

Jordan and Eric Staal won the gold medal with Team Canada at the World Hockey Championships in Russia.

The win is a historic one as Jordan and Eric became the first brother combination to ever win gold medals for Canada since our participation in the event began. Jordan is also the youngest Canadian ever to win a gold medal at the tournament.

In the OHL, their younger brother, Marc of the Sudbury Wolves, was awarded the Wayne Gretzky Award as the Most Valuable Player of the Rogers Championship Series.

The youngest sibling, Jared, is anxiously awaiting his chance to join his brothers in the big leagues.

Please join me in recognizing the Staal brothers of Thunder Bay—Rainy River on their superb hockey excellence and in wishing them continued success.

[Competition Act, May 15th, 2007]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-441, An Act to amend the Competition Act (protection of purchasers from vertically integrated suppliers).

Mr. Speaker, this bill amends the Competition Act to provide for the enforcement of fair pricing by a supplier who sells a product at retail either directly or through an affiliate and also supplies the product to a purchaser who competes with the supplier at the retail level so as to give the purchaser a fair opportunity to make a similar profit.

The bill also provides that a supplier who coerces or attempts to coerce a customer in relation to the establishment of a retail price or pricing policy may be dealt with as having committed an anti-competitive act.

This bill seeks to address concerns raised by my constituents about unfair gas pricing.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[May 8th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, let us make it very clear. Today, there has been another casualty in Mexico. How many more will it take before a travel advisory is issued?

The parliamentary secretary mentioned that they were no longer prime suspects, yet only a few weeks ago, on prime time television, the W-FIVE program showed the Mexican authorities identifying Dr. Cheryl Everall and Kimberly Kim as the prime suspects.

He mentions the honorary consul, yet none of us have had contact with this gentleman, and neither have the people we are talking about. So, how many hours has he logged? Probably very few. Has he talked to them? I do not know.

If the government knows that they are innocent and if the Mexican authorities are truly stating that they have not been charged or are no longer suspects, why can we not get some formal documentation that would allow them to travel abroad even to the United States or Europe? That would be very simple.

If the government can clear their names, if the government can do that and show that it compassionately cares about innocent people, then I believe that Dr. Everall and Ms. Kim would also feel the same, as would all Canadian citizens.

So, I am asking very plainly. Let us not let this go all the way to the foreign affairs committee. It can be dealt with if the minister acts.

[May 8th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, today there was news of yet another Canadian who was beaten into a coma in Mexico. What other country is recording such physical atrocities against Canadians? Why will the minister not warn Canadians?

When the Mexican president passed judgment on two young ladies from Thunder Bay, if ever there was a diplomatic faux pas that occurred, that was it. Yet the Prime Minister and the foreign affairs minister did absolutely nothing to counter that. There has been a request for a formal diplomatic protest and still there has been nothing. What is to stop the Mexicans from producing fraudulent evidence given the passive role of Canadian due process?

The minister frequently states that he cannot interfere in an active investigation. Canadians are not asking for that, but that he look at the evidence that has already been prepared. The federal government refuses to assist. It even advised Dr. Everall and Ms. Kim that they should hire a Mexican lawyer to find out whether there are arrest warrants in their names.

It appears that the minister will have to be subpoenaed to answer the following questions. The parliamentary secretary can either answer them now or face the subpoena of interrogation. The questions are:

Should the government go to bat for Canadians with sincerity and full weight, especially if they are falsely accused in a foreign country?

Why have the Everall and Kim names not been cleared yet?

Why has the Prime Minister not spoken in their defence to counterbalance the Mexican president's accusations?

Why has the minister not verified their innocence?

Why has the minister not ensured their names are removed from any international watch lists or no-fly lists?

Why does the minister have to be subpoenaed to appear as a witness? Why does he not just appear and answer these reasonable questions?

These innocent women came to me for help. One would think the minister would do everything possible to help them. Canadians need the assurance that their government will protect the innocent. Why must these women continue to live in fear and uncertainty? Why will the minister not tell Canadians that a priority for him is their security and helping the innocent?

I ask again, why has the Prime Minister not announced in this very House that these young ladies are no longer prime suspects in Mexico and that they are truly innocent? How seriously can Canadians take this when that has not occurred yet?

Why has there been no follow up by the minister's office since December?

What questions were asked of the Mexican government? What pressure has been put on it and why is this case still unresolved?

[Business of Supply, May 8th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, there is currently much concern in the national community of organizations and groups of individuals who want to stage protests against oil companies. There is a big concern, though, that if there is a boycott of one service station or another that we may actually inflict some serious damage on an independent franchise or someone who really cannot afford to take the hit as opposed to a corporate store or a corporate outlet. Of course, we do not want to cause damage to individuals. The goal here is to expose the deception of the Prime Minister and also the collusion of the oil companies.

[Business of Supply, May 8th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, it has been pointed out that the Competition Bureau has the authority to do all these investigations and yet when many of the regions and small communities in Canada have made overtures when they have seen the huge price differentials between the outlying regions and the large centres, the Competition Bureau simply pays lip service. It comes back saying that there is no collusion and that there has not been any gouging. However, people who live in areas such as northwestern Ontario, and I am sure your own region, can see it very vividly every day.

In support of the motion, I am asking you if you have any record of any effective work done by the Competition Bureau that has actually achieved some exposure of this gouging?

[Business of Supply, May 8th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is on record as stating that after 85¢ a litre the GST would be dropped. That came out loud and clear many times during the campaign. Many candidates in this chamber and members of Parliament said it often and in fact threw it in people's faces.

The other campaign promise which the Prime Minister is known to have misled Canadians very seriously on is the double taxation on the excise portion. Does the hon. member recall any of these statements by the Prime Minister and whether she believes he was saying them in jest, in campaign irony or was he serious in the very least?

[Questions on the Order Paper, April 30th, 2007]

With respect to the cut in funding announced in September 2006 for the Youth Employment Strategy (YES): (a) what was the 2005-2006 fiscal budget for YES; (b) what dollar amount was spent on each program and project offered by YES in 2005-2006; (c) what is the total dollar amount of funding cut to YES; (d) what is the new budget for each YES program and project; and (e) by providing a description of each program and project affected by the cuts, what will be the specific result of this cut in funding in terms of lost employment opportunities available through each program?