Joe Clark

[Points Of Order, September 28th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, in his preambular remarks, the House leader of the government inadvertently misrepresented the facts in question period. The question was about the receipt by the minister of the audit by the auditor general. Just so the record is clear, she answered in the affirmative, “yes”.

[Human Resources Development, September 28th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, there have been some consultations among House leaders and parties on this side of the House, and all parties on this side of the House would be prepared to agree to special permission to allow that document to be tabled now in the House of Commons.

Would the Deputy Prime Minister agree to tell the truth to the Canadian people, to stop hiding the facts, and agree to an all party agreement to let the minister table the document right now in the House?

[Human Resources Development, September 28th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Minister of Human Resources Development. Does the minister's department have a copy of the audit prepared by the auditor general, the audit of her department scheduled to be presented to the House of Commons on October 17? Does her department have a copy? Yes or no.

[Auditor General's Report, September 28th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, conscious as we all are of the proprieties of the House, will the Deputy Prime Minister right now commit his party to an all party agreement in the House to permit ministers to lay upon the table in parliament today the copies of the audits they have of the Downsview scandal and the HRDC scandal, so that the people of Canada will know what the ministers know, so that the Government of Canada will be prevented from hiding these facts from the people? Will he agree to that all party agreement in the House?

[Auditor General's Report, September 28th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, it is becoming clear that one of the reasons the government would call an election would be to hide the auditor general's report.

It is well known that the draft reports from the auditor general would now be in the hands of ministers for their comments.

May I ask the minister of HRDC if she is prepared to table today in the House of Commons the copy of the audit by the auditor general which otherwise would be hidden from the people of Canada?

[The Late Hon. Marcel Lambert, September 28th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I had the great privilege of serving in this Chamber with the late Marcel Lambert and am honoured to rise on behalf of the Progressive Conservative Party to pay tribute to a man who served this country and the House so well.

Marcel Lambert may not be well known in the House now. He was a soldier. He was an economist, a lawyer and a Rhodes scholar. He was a man whose talent and discipline would have led him to excel in any field he chose. He chose public life because he had a sense of commitment to the community around him.

Marcel Lambert was born and educated in Edmonton and later was educated in London as a Rhodes scholar. He was an effective member of the House of Commons for some 27 years, a Speaker of the House and a minister of the crown.

Mr. Lambert served in the second world war as a lieutenant in the tank division of the King's Own Calgary Regiment. He was part of the Dieppe raid and was feared lost and reported dead in that historic event. In fact he had been captured. He was held as a prisoner of war for three long years.

Marcel was elected the member for Edmonton West in 1957. He served Canada in the House for 27 years and is seen as one of the MPs who worked the hardest on behalf of their constituents. People lined up outside his riding office to speak to him. Appointed Speaker of the House in 1962, he acquired a reputation as a tough arbiter when debate was heated.

In his memoirs, Lester B. Pearson spoke of the fine job Marcel Lambert did as Speaker of the House. His detention as a prisoner of war and his experience in combat were instrumental in his appointment as Minister of Veterans Affairs in 1963.

During my years in the House as leader of the official opposition, Mr. Lambert undertook the thankless job of leading my party's scrutiny of the spending estimates each year. He held the government accountable for spending. I have to say he did that job with relish. Scrutiny of the estimates was much more intense in those days. Marcel Lambert also served the House as chair of the committee on miscellaneous spending.

If any of us sought a model as to the attributes that should come to the Chamber and the spirit in which Canada should be served here, we could do no better than to look to the example and experience of the late Marcel Lambert.

[Employment Insurance, September 27th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, he picked on the poorest of the poor. There are Liberal values.

Will the Prime Minister promise the House that there will be a full debate and a final vote on these employment insurance changes before parliament is dissolved? If not, this is an empty promise, as worthless as the Prime Minister's promise on the GST.

[Employment Insurance, September 27th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister. Seventy-five per cent of seasonal workers in New Brunswick earn less than $10,000 per year. The Prime Minister knew that when he attacked those seasonal workers with his employment insurance changes in 1996. What has changed since then to cause him to swallow his policy?

[Fuel Taxes, September 26th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I know it interferes with the Prime Minister's golf game, but there are a lot of cold months between now and February and Canadians who are harmed by high home heating fuels cannot wait until February.

When will the Prime Minister take some action to help Canadians who need help right now?

[Fuel Taxes, September 26th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister and relates to the high cost of home heating fuels. The Prime Minister indicated today that there might be another way, an alternative to cutting the GST on home heating fuels.

Will the Prime Minister tell the House whether his government is now seriously considering the direct rebate to consumers such as was proposed by the member for Pickering—Ajax—Uxbridge? In any event, will he take action this week on either a rebate or the elimination of the GST on home heating fuels so that Canadians, particularly senior citizens, will not face the terrible burdens—