Jean Chrétien

[Labour Market, September 24th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, he certainly did not lie because next year I will no longer be the Prime Minister; therefore I will no longer be signing any agreements.

[The Environment, September 24th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, given that the member is from Windsor, he should be happy to have people from Windsor in the news: Mr. Eves and the member for LaSalle--Émard.

In terms of the environment, the government has done a lot. We have signed Kyoto, and those people accused us of not having the courage to do that. We have done that and now the people in Alberta are happy because they have future security. They know that it is doable and at the same time we can still have a good economy in Canada.

[The Environment, September 24th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, it is a very interesting presentation but I do not know what the question is.

[Liberal Government, September 24th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, he talks about a registered person. Everybody knows that he is registered, and they can talk. I know the Clerk of the Privy Council knows very well what he can or cannot talk about. Because one is the Clerk of the Privy Council, one can have a civilized discussion, and Mr. Himelfarb is a very civilized person.

[Liberal Government, September 24th, 2003]

Absolutely not, Mr. Speaker. Everything is running normally. There will be a new prime minister in coming months. Everything should go smoothly. Decisions will be made by the new government. In the meantime, they are our decisions too. There is nothing abnormal in being able to communicate a bit and provide certain information, just as we do here in the House of Commons.

Moreover, the hon. member himself is involved in negotiations. I do not know if he is consulting with Mr. Orchard during his current negotiations with the Leader of the Opposition .

[Municipalities, September 24th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, we do have programs, as the finance minister has said, which have applied to municipalities for a long time. We are, for example, involved in housing and, through local organizations within the municipalities, in providing people with subsidized housing. There are all manner of programs, and always in collaboration with the provincial governments.

As far as the fiscal imbalance is concerned, we have of course succeeded in balancing budgets for the past seven years. As a result, today there are very low interest rates in Canada, and this does a great deal to help the municipalities and provincial governments service their debt.

[Government Policies, September 18th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, bills have been passed here on many issues. They are on the books and they will be there. But it is normal that in future years, for example, in 30 years from now the Conservative Party might form a government, they might change a few bills. I would not be surprised.

[Voyageur Colonial Pension Funds, September 18th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member said that he wrote a letter to the organization so he should wait for the answer.

[Voyageur Colonial Pension Funds, September 18th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the accusation is without any foundation because the minister of finance at that time was not in charge of the file. It was the secretary of state attached to his department.

[Government Programs, September 18th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, everybody knows that this element is part of the program of the government. It is that we want to make sure that the laws are modernized. We will proceed in due course. It is part of the agenda that is in front of the House of Commons.

I am not interested in becoming the leader of that party because it changes leaders too often.