House of Commons photoLost her last election, in 2008, with 37% of the vote.
Cluster Bombs May 1st, 2008
Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday, the foreign affairs minister failed to explain why he will be missing in action next week when the international community meets in Dublin on the banning of cluster bombs.
Why will he give this issue no priority? Is it because he is afraid of offending Washington, which does oppose the ban?
Foreign Affairs April 29th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, we know the Prime Minister is on record attacking the Liberal achievement of a decade ago when he said that the Liberal government pushed forward with the treaty to ban landmines without giving due consideration to the United States' concerns.
Why is this government again taking orders from Washington, or is it simply afraid the foreign affairs minister will put his foot in his mouth again?
Foreign Affairs April 29th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, a decade ago a Liberal government proudly led the process to ban landmines.
Next month in Dublin the global community will be taking the next step, moving to ban cluster bombs. However, the government is not even sending the foreign affairs minister, only junior note takers, and it is failing to provide funds for the projects.
Is the government simply pandering to its Republican soulmates in Washington, who are boycotting the Dublin talks?
Government Flyers April 10th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I would like to add my voice to those who are fed up with this government's disregard for the rules that we have all agreed to live by.
As we all know, MPs are allowed to mail a given flyer at taxpayer expense to no more than 10% of their constituents. Yet the government is deliberately breaking this rule by forcing Canada Post to send their flyers out to 100% of constituents, increasing costs to taxpayers tenfold.
I will not comment on the juvenile nature of the flyers because we cannot legislate against bad taste. However, I will pass along the feedback I have received from my constituents, primarily self-proclaimed Conservatives, I might add, who are disgusted with the sleazy, misleading nature of these attack ads. They become even more outraged when they are told these flyers have been sent illegally and at their expense.
Government members may think they are above the law, but Canadians certainly know they are not.
Municipal Affairs February 27th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, that was then, but yesterday a top official at Treasury Board testified at committee that it was not Treasury Board that requested the contract from the City of Ottawa. Further, the official could not cite a single example of a major contribution agreement with the municipality being approved, then withheld until a yet to be elected council could sign off. We now know it was the minister acting alone.
If this was not purely political meddling, could the minister name one other contribution agreement that had to meet this same political test?
Municipal Affairs February 27th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, the environment minister is running radio ads that acknowledge that he personally meddled in the municipal campaign to help his friend Larry O'Brien get elected and that he, and he alone, killed the Ottawa light rail project.
The ad says, “he's bold, he's loud”, but the trouble is he abused his position, acted unilaterally, and cost the taxpayers money. Why did he violate his ministerial mandate and then pay to brag about it?
RADARSAT-2 February 1st, 2008
Mr. Speaker, MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates, Canada's leading aerospace company, has just decided to sell its space program to a large American arms manufacturer.
The sale includes RADARSAT-2, a state of the art satellite used for monitoring crops and forests, climate change, tracking ships at sea and mapping Arctic sea ice.
Canadian taxpayers paid $445 million, or about 85% of the total cost of developing this technology. In return we were promised large amounts of imagery and priority access to RADARSAT-2 in emergencies.
Once it is sold, Ottawa's ability to control what the satellite is used for and to use it in emergencies will be lost. Worse yet, the U.S. government would be able to use our satellite in ways that might contradict our interests. For example, it could assist its efforts to send a ship into the Northwest Passage without our consent.
The Harper government has indicated a desire to block foreign investments that threaten Canada's security interests. RADARSAT--
Manufacturing and Forestry Industries January 28th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, all the statistics the minister quoted are the ones he inherited from the previous government and then proceeded to empty the kitty, and Canadians know it.
Eighty per cent of Canadians believe the political leadership should be doing more to help prevent an economic slowdown in this country. It is not only manufacturing jobs. It is forestry jobs, jobs in the tourism industry and jobs in the livestock industry.
When will the government take action to help Canadians who are losing their jobs and their livelihoods and, in some cases, particularly in the auto sector, their homes?
Manufacturing and Forestry Industries January 28th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, more than 130,000 manufacturing jobs have disappeared in the past year under the Conservative do nothing approach.
With the high Canadian dollar, record energy prices and the downturn in the United States, the situation will only get worse.
Will the finance minister take off his blinders and concede that his government must respond with targeted assistance to those sectors that are hardest hit?
Manufacturing Industry December 13th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I get my statistics from Statistics Canada.
Tax cuts cannot help businesses that have already shut down or have no income left to tax.
What the manufacturing sector needs and what Canadians demand is an industrial strategy that will make this country competitive around the world and create jobs here at home.
Could anybody in the government tell Canadians what the government's strategy is? Does anyone in the government even care?