Debates of April 18th, 2005

Quebec Mining Week

[Marc Lemay, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this is mining week in Quebec.

Quebec is recognized world wide as a centre of mining excellence.

The mining industry is an essential lever to the economic development of Quebec and a major employer, particularly in the region of Abitibi-Témiscamingue.

There are more than 130 mines in the Rouyn-Noranda—Val-d'Or corridor. For close to a century, this has been the main mining region of Quebec and there is still a great deal of prospecting for precious and other metals carried out in the region.

The year 2005 is full of promise, because the growth of the world economy ought to remain relatively solid.

The Bloc Québécois thanks all the men and women of Quebec who contribute their knowledge and talent to the economic development of mining, and wishes them a great mining week.

World Expo 2015

[Mario Silva, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Toronto is a city known throughout the world for its vibrancy, diversity and rich cultural traditions. Due in part to these attributes, I am pleased to join with many fellow residents and public officials in supporting a Toronto bid to host World Expo 2015.

If successful, Toronto will have the opportunity to show millions of visitors what most of us who live there already know, and that is that Toronto is truly one of the world's greatest cities, known for its culture and entertainment facilities, and the fact that it is simply a great place to live.

I invite all my colleagues in the House to support Toronto's bid and encourage all residents of our city to prepare to host the world.

The Environment

[Bob Mills, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after years of Liberal dithering, we finally have a pseudo-Kyoto implementation plan, and what an unrealistic and impractical plan it is.

This plan is nothing but an expensive half measure designed to make it look like the Liberals are doing something in the face of rising CO

2

levels. It is enormously expensive and lacks detail, accountability and transparency. Instead of focusing on domestic reductions, this plan encourages the purchase of billions of offshore credits that will not improve our environment. Finally, it paves the way for a backdoor carbon tax by using CEPA, which is a toxic reductions bill. All of this betrays the Liberals' ignorance of the economic and energy realities of our country.

Canada's emissions reduction targets under the Kyoto accord are clearly unattainable and the Liberal government's plan comes nowhere close to reaching them.

We have a made in Canada environmental policy that will set out our own targets and timelines for eliminating smog and bringing cleaner air to Canada.

Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Monique Bastarache, who teaches history and law at Polyvalente Louis-J.-Robichaud in Shediac, New Brunswick, on receiving the Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence.

Monique and her family live in Cocagne, Kent County, I have known her and her extended family for a number of years. They are all devoted to their community and volunteer for numerous charitable causes.

I have had an opportunity in recent years to visit her classes and see for myself just how dynamic and devoted a teacher she is.

Monique Bastarache is most deserving of this important recognition by the Prime Minister and we are very proud of her.

Wal-Mart

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

Mr. Speaker, recent revelations about the former head of Wal-Mart's U.S. operations have indicated that he used improper methods to finance secret anti-union activities. This is not the first time Wal-Mart has done this.

In the U.S., the management of Wal-Mart is paying $11 million in fines after using illegal immigrants to clean its stores. In January, Wal-Mart also paid fines after violating child labour laws. Wal-Mart is also facing a class action lawsuit on behalf of 1.6 million current and former female employees after alleged systematic and illegal discrimination.

In Canada, Wal-Mart's closure of its first unionized store in Jonquière, Quebec was a thuggish attempt to smash freedom of association.

There is every reason to believe that the actions of Wal-Mart in the U.S. are being duplicated in Canada. We call on the government to investigate the anti-labour and anti-employee practices of Wal-Mart and to work with the provinces to ensure that Wal-Mart respects its employees' fundamental rights.

Owen Sound

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Grey—Bruce—Owen Sound, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to acknowledge a great honour paid to the people of Bruce--Grey--Owen Sound.

An American geographer has listed Owen Sound as one of the 60 best places in North America in which to retire. The city scored a perfect five for its landscape, cost of living and quality of life. Owen Sound also scored 44 out of a total of 60 overall.

The city was one of three Ontario cities listed among the top 10 in Canada. The geographer noted that, combining the valley, the escarpment and Georgian Bay, the area is “a very beautiful site”.

I believe this recognition is well deserved and is something in which the area as a whole can take pride. We have always known that whether one lives there or visits, Bruce--Grey--Owen Sound has qualities that make it a place for everyone to enjoy. Whether one retires in Owen Sound, Hanover, Meaford, Tobermory, Markdale, Flesherton, Wiarton, Chesley, Paisley, Durham or any other point in between, Bruce--Grey--Owen Sound is the place to be. I would encourage all members to make a point of experiencing the area themselves.

I am proud to represent Bruce--Grey--Owen Sound and even prouder to live there.

Right to Vote

[Paule Brunelle, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, 65 years ago today, the National Assembly of Quebec passed legislation granting women the right to vote and to be eligible as candidates in elections in Quebec.

For younger people, it is probably hard to believe that, before 1940, in Quebec, women did not have the right to vote in elections and were considered ineligible as candidates in an election.

Gaining the right to vote and to run for office in an election was a key milestone on our path toward social equality for men and women. Women's access to power facilitated the introduction of many changes which helped Quebec's society evolve.

I thank these pioneers who mapped the path to gaining this right. Thanks to them, we now live in an increasingly fair and equal society.

The Prime Minister

[Monte Solberg, Conservative, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's director of communications has referred to the Prime Minister as a “wire brush”, but I am not sure the analogy flatters the Prime Minister very much.

The only wire brush I can think of is the one I use to clean my barbecue and it is pretty greasy and worn out, but hey, we will play along. Maybe the Prime Minister really does see himself as a wire brush, but ironically it is the people of Canada who are bristling at the conduct of the wire brush and his Liberal cronies.

As a matter of fact, the public is tired of the Prime Minister trying to brush off questions about his luncheon with Claude Boulay. They are tired of his trying to brush the sponsorship mess under Jean Chrétien's carpet. In short, they are tired of getting the brush-off from the wire brush. It is actually the people of Canada who are wired up and fired up to the point that now a brush fire has broken out, and that is not good for brushes, wire or otherwise.

In fact, if I read the public correctly, they are very upset with Mr. Wire Brush, and what they are telling me is, “Wire, wire, pants on fire”.

Conservative Party of Canada

[Russ Powers, Liberal, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, an election fever has beset the Conservative Party so severely that it has been muttering many policy commitments which must be the result of a fever induced hallucination.

For example, last week, after aggressively and consistently campaigning for eight years against the Kyoto protocol, Conservatives claimed to support it, but they may have changed again today.

Now the Conservative policy delirium has led them to pledge their support for the Liberal government's new deal for cities and communities.

Let us look at the facts. The Conservative Party, and the Alliance Reform before it, has never ever proposed any new programs or new money for municipal infrastructure. In the last election, it campaigned on scrapping the $5 billion strategic and rural infrastructure funds.

Recently it voted down all party resolutions concerning investment in urban transit or other municipally based infrastructure. As well, the leader of the Conservative Party is on record as being opposed to any new deal for municipalities.

Instead of derailing all of the progress that has been--

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Drummond.

Normand Léveillé

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, through the pen of Thérèse Desjardins, former Chicoutimi Saguenéens and Boston Bruins player Normand Léveillé tells the story of his great rise in the world of hockey, and the hard times he went through after being struck down by an aneurysm at the age of 19.

Over the past 20 years, Normand Léveillé has learned to live differently. Through the highs and the lows, he has found his purpose and reason for living.

He got the idea of opening a vacation camp for persons with disabilities in 1994 while talking with his friend Lucie Légaré at the rehabilitation institute.

Now, the Centre Normand Léveillé is established on the Saint-François River, in Drummondville. It welcomes individuals of all ages with a light to moderate disability, be it physical or intellectual.

I encourage you to discover this man who is alive and well and who, despite having been brought down in full flight, always maintains that, despite everything, life is worth living.

Sponsorship Program

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, last week in response to a question in this House, the Prime Minister told the member for Calgary Southeast “the entire history of my relationship” with Claude Boulay “was very short”. He said the same thing later to the media. Yet we know of a personal relationship between the Prime Minister and Claude Boulay extending over at least a 12 year period.

Why does the Prime Minister find it so necessary to misrepresent the length and nature of his relationship with Claude Boulay?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, I think the Prime Minister was clear about this last week. He indicated that he has never had lunch with Mr. Boulay, or anyone else as far as that goes, to direct a contract to any individual firm.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, in 2001 the Prime Minister wrote a personal letter to Claude Boulay on his 50th birthday.

I quote, “Dear Claude, it gives me great pleasure to join all those with you tonight to celebrate your 50th birthday in grand style. Half a century! It was a particularly fine year, 1942! I am sorry I cannot be with you and Diane to share in this happy and unique event”.

Is this a letter to someone the Prime Minister does not know?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, what the Prime Minister said very clearly in this House last week was that he did not have lunch with Mr. Boulay, nor did he have lunch with anyone else, to direct a contract to any individual firm. I cannot imagine that he could have been clearer.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, what the Prime Minister said here and also said under oath is that he did not know the Boulays very well, but his greetings written on Claude Boulay's 50th birthday are intimate. He tells Claude Boulay how good-looking his wife is. He jokes that he wishes Mr. Boulay would age as well. He kids Claude Boulay about his golf game.

Who writes a letter like that to someone he says he does not know?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, again I say that the Prime Minister was absolutely clear. He did not have lunch with Mr. Boulay in relation to directing any contracts to any individual firm.

I wonder, if we went and looked through the hon. leader of the official opposition's correspondence, how many letters he has sent to constituents and others congratulating them on their 50th birthday. My guess is we would probably find a lot of those letters in relation to all these members of Parliament.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, we do not write letters like that.

Let us look at it further. He received a chummy invite to Mr. Boulay's 50th birthday--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker]

Order, please. The hon. member for Central Nova has the floor to ask a question. I know he will want to proceed with his question.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, despite the claims, here is the tone of the letter. The Prime Minister sent a personal letter sending regrets about not being able to attend Mr. Boulay's 50th birthday. He discusses how gracefully Mr. Boulay's wife is aging, closing with the chummy teasing as the oldest vintage of the gathering and a handwritten addition about being too old to golf, signed “Paul”.

Why is the Prime Minister continuing to mislead Canadians about downplaying his relationship to the sponsorship suspect Claude Boulay, clearly parting with this longstanding relationship?

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has been clear on this issue that he has never met with Mr. Boulay to direct contracts.

The fact is that Canadians trust the Prime Minister of Canada.

What is really shocking is the opposition members who would take Jean Brault's testimony as sacrosanct, who would take Jean Brault, somebody who is facing fraud charges, somebody who is facing a $34 million lawsuit from the federal government, and his testimony as sacrosanct, and then they doubt the right hon. Prime Minister of Canada.

They are playing politics with this issue. We are getting to the truth.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, speaking of credibility, that is from the minister who ripped off his riding association.

Longstanding Liberals Diane Deslauriers and Claude Boulay were well known to Liberal ministers and members of Parliament. The former president of the Privy Council appeared in Mr. Boulay's birthday video. He also spent time vacationing at chateau Boulay, along with the former House leader.

The Minister of Transport called Ms. Boulay the queen of ticket sellers, referencing her success in aiding the Liberal Party, yet the Prime Minister claims under oath he did not know Mr. Boulay very well. Why does he continue to misrepresent this relationship? If he is doing this on personal relationships, what is he doing about the sponsorship scandal?

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to quote what Hugh Segal, the former chief of staff to Brian Mulroney, said yesterday: “I think the Prime Minister has made very valiant efforts. It is clear that Canadians do not in any way think there is evidence to suggest that he or his government are corrupt. I think that is a justified conclusion”. That is from Hugh Segal, the former chief of staff to Brian Mulroney.

Further, the hon. member should not be talking about signatures on letters because his signature on a legal document with David Orchard was ripped up as he tore up the party of John. A. Macdonald and spat it out on the Canadian electoral--

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Laurier—Sainte-Marie.