House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 64% of the vote.
Kyoto Protocol October 11th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, in recent days the environment minister has begun talking about a made in Canada Kyoto. This is more than just confusing geography. It is typical Liberal double-talk since a made in Canada solution is what opponents of the Kyoto accord want.
Will the government clarify its position? Does it intend to implement the targets actually set out in the Kyoto accord or its own Canadian version of the targets?
Ethics October 10th, 2002
No, he was not.
Ethics October 10th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, we have no ethics package. We have a government in total disarray in ethics. Not only does it not want to do what is right, it does not even know what is right. There are some Liberal members who want to go back to the old Tory rules, the old Sinclair Stevens exception for disclosure; just transfer assets to a spouse.
Will the Prime Minister commit to bringing in an ethics package where one cannot get around disclosure rules by transferring assets to a spouse?
Ethics October 10th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister cannot hide behind his own employee. He is supposed to come to the House of Commons and be responsible on this floor for his own decisions. That is why we have scandal after scandal. We have the minister from P.E.I. juggling a dozen different ethical hot potatoes. We have the minister from Hamilton creating a heritage of contracts for her friends. We have no proposals to deal with any of this from the Prime Minister or any of the would-be prime ministers over there.
I ask this again. When will the government bring in an ethics package and one that includes an independent ethics commissioner for the Prime Minister and his cabinet?
Ethics October 10th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister fired the former minister of national defence for giving a contract to a friend, but he continues to defend the Solicitor General for doing the same thing. The government member for Nepean—Carleton says that this is a double standard. The government member for London North Centre says, “Why there's inconsistencies is rather baffling to me”. The government's ethical standards are incomprehensible even to its own members.
My question is this. Does the Prime Minister stand by his decision to fire the former minister of national defence and will he do the same thing to the Solicitor General?
Government Contracts October 9th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, I do not know why we should wait for Mr. Wilson's review. We should be able to get straight answers from the man who is the top cop in the country.
The Solicitor General is supposed to be the man in this country responsible for the RCMP, so I am going to ask him something. If he will not answer these questions directly in the House, instead of being on the most wanted list, will he go out the front door today and answer questions from the media instead of sneaking out the back door?
Government Contracts October 9th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, and also David Nicholson who just happened to do the work on the other untendered contract.
I will try again with the Solicitor General.
There are four exceptions for sole sourcing a contract: it must be valued at less than $25,000; there must be an emergency; only one supplier can do the work; or it is not in the public interest to solicit bids.
Can the Solicitor General tell us which of these four exceptions was cited when the contract was awarded to his friend's firm?
Government Contracts October 9th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, the Solicitor General has defended his actions in the past by stating he is the political minister for P.E.I. APM Group, a firm run by the P.E.I. Liberal party president Tim Banks, was handed an untendered contract for work done on the Confederation Arts Centre.
The ethics counsellor is going to P.E.I. to investigate the Solicitor General's handling of the Everett Roche affair. Will the ethics counsellor also be investigating this untendered contract to APM?
National Defence October 8th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, that observation was made about our troops. It was not made about the support the government gives them.
On military matters, let me turn to today's Auditor General's report. The Auditor General told us that the government broke every rule in the book to award a sole source flight training contract to Bombardier. Not only was the contract sole sourced, but Bombardier provided less than half the training required under the contract.
How can this kind of waste be justified when the military is so starved for resources?
National Defence October 8th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, these increases were so inadequate that we had to pull out of Afghanistan before the war was over.
The government's neglect is making us ever more dependent on our allies. Canada requires foreign transport to get troops and equipment to international theatres. We even rely on American transport to transport our troops to domestic trouble spots such as the Manitoba flood or the Quebec ice storm.
How will the government ensure Canadian sovereignty and ensure that we are not completely dependent on our American neighbours for foreign and domestic military matters?