Joe Preston

[Finance, February 1st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the member talked a lot about budget surpluses, which has certainly been a bit of an issue here today. We have talked about the experts hired by the government and how they cannot seem to get it right. I might suggest, then, that we have hired the wrong experts and we need to do a little shopping for others.

If the member walked into a local business and was charged twice as much as the suggested selling price of the item, would he be willing to pay it just so that business could be in the black at the end of the year? In his commentary he stated that the Liberals will always err on the side of the black so that they do not get into a deficit situation. I will give him that, but they have erred on the side of huge surpluses to the point of deceiving Canadians. The budgets have purposely been set to take more out of Canadians' pockets than we need to run this country.

How does he feel? Is he finally admitting to the House that Canadians have been deceived and budgets are being set in order to take more money out of the pockets of Canadians?

[Finance, February 1st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite talks about a balanced approach to budgeting. What I am looking for is a more accurate approach.

The citizens of Elgin--Middlesex--London have shared many stories with me about taxation woes. The greatest worry it seems is that either through deceit or incompetence the government continues to abscond with more money than it needs to provide the services to the country. Through the great surpluses we continue to do inaccurate accounting for this country and more money comes out of the pockets of Canadians than needs to.

We must ensure that the people of this country have the right to decide how to spend their own money. Currently, they have the right to decide to send it up here and have the government make the choice of how it is spent. The choice is better spent in pockets of Canadians.

Will the government implement a fully independent process of forecasting government finances in order to prevent this problem from happening in the future and continuing to take more money from the citizens of Canada than it needs to do the job?

[Main Estimates, 2004-05, December 9th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, let us go back to the point of why we are here today.

I came to the House under direction from the people of Elgin--Middlesex--London to help control spending and to have a more accountable government.

As a member of this committee, I studied the process and learned how to read the estimates, which is not an easy thing. I attended the committee and I interviewed witnesses, some of them from the Governor General's office.

We did our homework and we looked at the estimates. We looked at the spending. We looked at where the spending had gone from $10 million in 1995 up to over $20 million. The Governor General's budget has exploded. When we asked for answers as to why the Governor General's budget had to explode to that level, we were told that there were a few more visitors visiting Rideau Hall now.

Therefore we did the only thing that a good committee could do and that was to say that we would have to take some of that money away.

If this is not a deficit of democracy, trying to put this back, then I do not know what is.

Could the hon. member opposite help me bring a more accountable government?

[London Knights, December 9th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the London Knights major junior A hockey team skated into the history books last night in Kitchener: 28, 0 and 1 to start the season, 18 wins in a row and counting. This ties a record set by the 1978-79 Brandon Wheat Kings.

Coach Dale Hunter and co-owner brother Mark Hunter have built the team worthy of hosting this season's Memorial Cup. This young team leads the Ontario Hockey League in all categories: the league's leading goalie, the Knights; the top three in scoring, all from the Knights; the top power play and the top penalty kill, all from London.

Yes, there are stars on this team, but the success stems from the desire to work together as a team and have fun doing it. I am here to say as a fan that it sure is fun to watch, and go, Knights, go.

[Whistleblower Protection, December 8th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the president of PSAC, the largest union of government employees, informed us that the Liberals failed to consult the union when it drafted and tabled the whistleblower legislation.

In failing to work with Canada's public servants, the Treasury Board minister has clearly chosen to alienate a key stakeholder. Ironically, it has been public servants who have come forward to reveal the government's most serious wrongdoings.

Will the minister finally admit that his bill is in fact designed not only to discourage whistleblowers, but also to cover up on his government's past wrongdoings?

[John Evans Knowles, November 30th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the member of Parliament for Haldimand—Norfolk, it gives me great pleasure to rise in the House and honour John Evans Knowles, a former member of Parliament from Norfolk who is celebrating his 90th birthday today.

Mr. Evans Knowles was a teacher, a farmer and a former warden who represented the Norfolk riding from 1957 to 1962. It was a different era then and Evans joked that MPs who did not have much to say got the most accomplished.

Evans commuted by train weekly and although his schedule was strenuous, he believed the people he represented would be unhappy if he moved to Ottawa during his term of office. Evans recalls his maiden speech where he spoke with great pride about the riding of Norfolk. Through his efforts, the Canadian tobacco industry progressed and his induction into the tobacco wall of fame ranks as his major achievement as a member of Parliament for Norfolk.

On this day, please join me in wishing J. Evans Knowles a happy 90th birthday.

[Government Appointments, November 25th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, last spring the President of the Treasury Board introduced a set of guidelines for the appointment process of the heads of crown corporations, yet at the first chance the government had to follow these guidelines it chose to ignore them. The revenue minister shuffled his friend's resumé to the top of the pile. Now it is clear that the rules for crown corporation appointments were broken.

When can Canadians expect the President of the Treasury Board to follow through on his pledge to clean up the appointment process of the heads of crown corporations?

[Food and Drugs Act, November 24th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Mississauga South for his bill. It certainly fills a need.

Above and beyond labelling, and that may only be one specific way to help prevent fetal alcohol syndrome, are we moving forward on further education? As the hon. member said, an awful lot of fetal alcohol syndrome happens before the woman even knows she is pregnant. There certainly is a need to talk about drinking during pregnancy. Are there educational programs also being brought forward to help with the labelling program?

[Hockey, November 16th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, we are now into what would have been the NHL season. I would like to report that in Elgin--Middlesex--London fans are handling the withdrawal well. Minor hockey continues to flourish with a refreshing dose of more fun in the game. Perhaps without the million dollar role models' tantrums to mimic or the exorbitant prices of NHL game tickets to distract our young players, the game is returning to its roots.

Two very special teams are helping us all forget the NHL. The Aylmer Blues of the Senior A loop continue to lead the league. This second year team came very close to the Allan Cup last year. And who could talk about hockey in Elgin--Middlesex--London without bragging about the number one ranked London Knights who are still undefeated 21 games into the season? These are young men playing not for millions but for the love of the game.

Who needs the NHL? I have better hockey.

[Crown Corporations, November 5th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, on March 15, the President of the Treasury Board announced new rules pertaining to the appointment process for the top executives of crown corporations. Yet in a letter sent to Canada Post executives, the minister outlined a remarkably different process to replace the much maligned chair of Canada Post.

Canadians are tired of cronyism at crown corporations, yet the President of the Treasury Board ensured that cronyism flourished when he allowed his rules to be broken. Why did the President of the Treasury Board covertly instruct crown corporations to follow a weaker set of rules?