House of Commons Hansard #82 of the 38th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was liberal.
Stéphane Dion LiberalMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, large final emitters will have to deliver 45 million tonnes under the Kyoto plan. They will have to, because it is a firm commitment. Regulations to this effect will be in place.
I know that in order to achieve that objective, large final emitters will have to find new ways to produce, to reduce their energy bills and thus become more competitive. Putting the environment and the economy together, which is our Prime Minister's vision, will be Canada's great strength.
Pauline Picard Bloc Drummond, QC
Mr. Speaker, does the Minister of the Environment realize that his plan makes taxpayers directly responsible for most of the cost of reducing greenhouse gas emissions? Consequently, the federal government is ultimately subsidizing the major polluters, as the former environment minister has stated.
Stéphane Dion LiberalMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, first, I want to thank my predecessor at the department, as well as the former Liberal Prime Minister, who ratified the Kyoto protocol, and the current Prime Minister, who has given us the plan to reach the Kyoto objectives.
James Moore Conservative Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Prime Minister did not answer my question, and I think that it is important he do so.
When the sponsorship scandal was in its heyday, Lucie Castelli, known as the Prime Minister's eyes and ears in his riding, sat on the Quebec Liberal Party's finance commission with Alain Renaud and Jacques Corriveau, who allegedly obtained almost $500,000 from Groupaction and the sponsorship program without doing the work.
How are Canadians to believe the Prime Minister's statement that he knew nothing?
Paul Martin LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I have already answered this question many times. Lucie Castelli was responsible for selling tickets to the big Liberal Party fundraising dinner in Montreal. That is what she did.
James Moore Conservative Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC
Mr. Speaker, Serge Savard, who was a million dollar fundraiser for the Prime Minister, received $500,000 in sponsorship cash due to the assistance he received from Lucie Castelli, one of the Prime Minister's chief organizers in his riding. These are facts.
How can the Prime Minister still claim that he knew nothing about sponsorship and actually expect Canadians to believe him?
Scott Brison LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is absolutely wrong. Those are not facts. Those are allegations. We will not have facts until Justice Gomery completes his report.
It is interesting that the Conservatives consider everything that Jean Brault said as being fact and yet when the Prime Minister of Canada testifies they say that it is questionable.
That party is playing politics with a very important issue. Canadians want to get to the bottom of this issue. I trust our Prime Minister and I trust Justice Gomery to get to the bottom of this issue.
Helena Guergis Conservative Simcoe—Grey, ON
Mr. Speaker, when the sponsorship scandal was in full swing, Lucie Castelli was doing much more than working in the Prime Minister's riding office.
In June 1999 Castelli telephoned Joanne Bouvier, an aide to Alfonso Gagliano, to ask why Serge Savard, the Prime Minister's supporter, golf buddy and key fundraiser, had not had a response to his application for $600,000.
Why did the Prime Minister's constituency assistant intervene in this application when Mr. Savard was not even a constituent?
Sponsorship ProgramOral Question Period
The Speaker
Order, please.
The hon. Minister of Public Works and Government Services.
Scott Brison LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, once again, these are allegations. These are not facts.
I can say that my office sometimes receives calls from constituents living in the constituencies of some of the hon. members opposite often because sometimes their calls are not returned and they are given no help with certain issues.
The individuals in my constituency office are professionals and they certainly try to help whenever they can because they are there to serve Canadians.
Helena Guergis Conservative Simcoe—Grey, ON
They can say what they will, Mr. Speaker, but the Prime Minister's riding assistant intervened in Mr. Savard's sponsorship application which was initially rejected and, through her efforts, Savard later received $250,000 in sponsorship dollars.
Did the Prime Minister direct his assistant, Ms. Castelli, to intervene or did she act on her own, and if so, will the Prime Minister take responsibility for his staff's actions?
Scott Brison LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, the answer to that question is absolutely no.
Marc Godbout Liberal Ottawa—Orléans, ON
Mr. Speaker, school management is vital to developing the full potential of official language communities.
Can the Minister of Canadian Heritage give us an update on the negotiations between her department and the Council of Ministers of Education for renewing the official languages in education program?
Liza Frulla LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage and Minister responsible for Status of Women
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce that the Government of Canada has reached an agreement with the Council of Ministers of Education to renew the education protocol.
Under the protocol, the Government of Canada will allocate more than $1 billion to the provinces and territories over four years. The protocol will also ensure better accountability and will help us achieve the objectives set out in the action plan.
Promise made, promise kept.
Alexa McDonough NDP Halifax, NS
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.
I entered federal politics because I worried about the mess that the Liberals would create and now I am bloody well fed up with the Prime Minister's refusal to clean up the mess that they have created.
The contempt for Parliament is unspeakable. Three times a democratic vote has taken place and three times Mr. Democracy has decided that he knows what is best.
What will it take for the Prime Minister to be accountable to this Parliament and to Canadians?
Tony Valeri LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, obviously we can tell from the rhetoric from the hon. member that she is getting more excited about her preamble instead of taking the time to ask some significant questions.
However the Prime Minister has been in the House answering questions. We have initiatives in the House and committees are busier than they have ever been. More legislation is being referred to committee before second reading where the opposition has an opportunity to contribute to good legislation. What happens? We get partisan rhetoric instead of good dialogue to put forward good legislation and end up doing what Canadians are looking for us to do, and that is to make this Parliament work.
Alexa McDonough NDP Halifax, NS
Mr. Speaker, what we have is a Prime Minister and ministers who are all talk and no action.
Let me try the health minister.
I led my party through two elections with Liberals insisting that they alone could stop health privatization. Klein's private hospitals are still open and privatization is on the increase from British Columbia through to Nova Scotia. All the health minister can say is, “Watch me stop it”.
The Liberals continue to feign opposition to privatization while they watch it spread. Why would Canadians believe them now?
Ujjal Dosanjh LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, that is absolute hogwash. I have been making preparations to enforce the Canada Health Act. We have enforced the Canada Health Act in instances since I have been here.
I can say that we will be enforcing the Canada Health Act with New Brunswick on abortion and with all the provinces on diagnostic imaging in the very near future.
Vic Toews Conservative Provencher, MB
Mr. Speaker, yesterday I asked the Minister of Justice to denounce the horrible comments of his special counsel, Beryl Wajsman, who said that cultural communities have only two functions for the Liberal Party, as slaves during election campaigns and to buy fundraising tickets.
I ask the minister again, why have four days passed since these racist statements surfaced and he has still not condemned the statements of his special counsel?
Irwin Cotler LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, first of all, the hon. member continues to misrepresent this House a. He is not a special counsel to the Minister of Justice, number one. It is utterly irresponsible for the hon. member to cast aspersions daily on a judicial process, and it is morally hypocritical for someone who violated the provincial elections act with regard to election spending to come and preach political morality in the House.
You have become a disgrace to the House of Commons.
Liberal Party of CanadaOral Question Period
The Speaker
The hon. Minister of Justice knows that he must address his remarks to the Chair, and if that is what he was saying to the Chair, he is in real trouble.
The hon. member for Provencher.
Vic Toews Conservative Provencher, MB
Mr. Speaker, his special counsel hands out cards with that name on it.
The national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Phil Fontaine, has denounced the recent anti-Semitic remarks of Liberal organizer Chief Terrance Nelson of Manitoba. In his comments, Chief Nelson blamed native anger on the “Jewish controlled media” and specifically named the Asper family of Winnipeg and a Winnipeg broadcaster.
Why does the Prime Minister remain silent about racism when it comes to racist comments made by senior organizers of the Liberal Party of Manitoba?
Irwin Cotler LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, for the hon. member, who asked for an absolute discharge because he did not understand the election act, who does not understand what the Gomery process is all about, who misrepresents the presumption of innocence, who misrepresents the rule of law, I also will not take any lessons from him about condemning anti-Semitism.
