Canada Small Business Financing Act  As the finance minister often reminds us, governments have to make tough choices. What we rarely see is this government making a choice to give up on a cherished boondoggle when it is shown that money is not being spent in a way that has a clear, positive return to the taxpayer. Often we see good money chasing bad in a futile effort to prove that a program is working, not because it was wrong or unnecessary in the first place, but because not enough money has been poured down that sinkhole.

Supply  If we ask people whether they would prefer to have that $50 million or $60 million per year spent fighting organized crime rather than a registration scheme, guess what they say? “Let's fight organized crime. We don't need a bureaucratic boondoggle, such as the registration system, in this country. It will do very little. It is not cost effective. We would rather have $50 million or $60 million to fight organized crime, which is a big problem.

Supply  The article went on to state “The minister's crime prevention initiative is more of the same molly-coddling that has made a joke of the Young Offenders Act and if Liberalism at its worst may be defined as public boondoggles premised on good intention, then this justice minister is a true Liberal having a bad day”. The fact of the matter is that the latest report from the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics states that 1994 had the largest decline in police strength since 1962, the year when statistics were first kept.

Supply  We are saying that it is wrong to spend money on an ill-conceived bill like this and the government is not fully disclosing the cost to us. The firearms group has said that it is the greatest boondoggle this country has every seen. We will see. We will watch to see whether it comes into effect on October 1 and what kind of mess occurs. There are 20,000 to 30,000 of these handguns under this specific category that are going to be lost by the firearm owners themselves, the dealers.

Parks Canada Act  It is just that we are becoming increasingly sceptical and doubtful that it will happen under the guise of Parks Canada. We see it as another giant boondoggle of the federal government consuming huge amounts of federal taxpayers' money and delivering no tangible benefits to the people of Canada and, more important, to the people in the residual communities where they are so much affected by Parks Canada dictates of the day.

Budget Implementation Act, 1998  The answer to that lies in what has happened in this House in the last six months. Look at the Minister of Health and his hepatitis boondoggle and how this government mismanaged that whole issue. Look at the Minister of Justice who said that they are going to fix the Young Offenders Act but really it could take another two years when the government has already had five years and the media has now picked up on that.

Budget Implementation Act, 1998  As a member of the Standing Committee on Finance, the most glaring example I can see of good intentions gone bad and turning into a political boondoggle is the Prime Minister's millennium scholarship fund. I am sure the thinking in the Liberal cabinet was: Who could possibly disagree with putting more money in the hands of deserving students?

Income Tax Amendments Act, 1997  The member referred to the Hazel McCallion international airport. Perhaps it should be called the Liberal boondoggle international airport after this government has wasted $200 million in the botched Pearson contract buyout. It is something for the member to stand in his place and remind Canadians, like rubbing salt in the wounds, about what a terrible, atrocious job he and this government did in reversing the contract rights of people who had a vested interest in that airport which cost taxpayers over $200 million.

Heritage Canada  Now having fired the top CIO bureaucrat, can Canadians hope that the minister will do the right thing and shut down this Liberal boondoggle?

Goods And Services Tax  Speaker, Tory taxes are not the only things that are odious, detestable and terrible. I will tell you what is equally bad, a boondoggle, and I cannot think of anything else. That is in fact that the Reform Party would take $10 billion further out of spending. There is only one place where that $10 billion will come out of.

Helicopters  We have reviewed the needs and have come back with 15 search and rescue helicopters at a lot cheaper price and at a time when we can better afford it. With a $42 billion deficit we could not afford that $5.8 billion boondoggle. The government has taken its position on this matter in a very responsible fashion.

Helicopters  We wanted to make sure that we had a helicopter that was going to meet operational needs and do it at a price that Canadians could afford. We could not afford the $5.8 billion boondoggle the Conservative government wanted to put us through. We had a heavy deficit at that time. We could not afford it. Today we are getting a helicopter that meets our needs and it is a lot cheaper.

Tobacco Act  Speaker, the supposed Minister of Health, a former lawyer, has become pretty good at dragging his government into the law courts and paying out lots of money to lawyers for the Airbus boondoggle, for the obstruction of Krever, in the future for stonewalling hepatitis C victims. If the government exempts auto racing in the Tobacco Act, other groups will be sprinting to the courts.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act  I would like to know how the member who just spoke can justify and support this Liberal boondoggle of a CPP where members contributing today, new members, young people, will get out less than they put in. How can she continue to support a member of Parliament pension plan in which she could get out as much as six dollars for every dollar put in, paid for by those same taxpayers who are going to get out less than they contributed because of the failure of the Liberal CPP?

Postal Services Continuation Act, 1997  I hope that those who want to do that will think twice about responsibilities, will think twice about the need to have respect, will think twice about trying to get people back to enjoying what was once a proud service in this country and to try to get some form of goodwill back in Canada Post. Finally, this is yet another boondoggle of the Liberal government. It is yet another show of lack of leadership, yet another show of indecision and yet another show of lack of strategic planning.