House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2006, with 45% of the vote.
Former Privacy Commissioner September 30th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, I am well aware that the Prime Minister is trying to change the subject to save the Treasury Board president's skin, but he will not distract us.
She was lax in tolerating Mr. Radwanski's lavish spending. She ignored complaints made by officials to the Public Service Commission, which reports to her. There are limits to being irresponsible.
Not only did she tolerate abuse, she endorsed it. Why?
Former Privacy Commissioner September 30th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, the Radwanski affair is taking on a very political dimension. According to the Auditor General, the President of the Treasury Board was perfectly aware that the former Privacy Commissioner's lavish spending was done in violation of the mechanisms put in place by her own department.
How does the President of the Treasury Board explain that George Radwanski flouted spending control rules that she is in charge of enforcing, and that she said nothing?
Former Privacy Commissioner September 30th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, this is also not the first time the Prime Minister has not told the truth about what happened.
Foreign Affairs September 23rd, 2003
With the exception of the new leader of the Liberal Party, Mr. Speaker, who does not support the government's policy.
Despite the lack of clarity and precision we have been accustomed to so far from the new leader of the Liberal Party on important issues, do his foreign policy statements not indicate that, under his leadership, the government will be far closer to the United States than to the United Nations?
Foreign Affairs September 23rd, 2003
Mr. Speaker, the Americans are no longer even bothering to hide their impatience to start dealing with the future prime minister, the hon. member for LaSalle—Émard. His positions on the conflict in Iraq or increased military spending are far closer to the U.S. positions than Canada's current positions.
Is the government going to admit that, under the direction of the new prime minister, Canadian foreign policy is going to have to change and move far closer to the American positions on these matters, and that the speech to the UN this evening by the currrent Prime Minister is nothing more than an expression of a policy that is about to disappear?
Customs and Revenue Agency September 22nd, 2003
Mr. Speaker, I understand that apologies can be made to taxpayers, but it is too late for that when their income tax files get into their neighbour's mailbox.
With the team of public servants working in this agency, with all the facilities at her disposal, with all the procedures that can be established, can the minister be certain that never again, never ever, will such leaks occur, rather than excusing herself after the fact and saying that they will try to never do it again? We have the tools, the personnel, and the technology to do this.
Customs and Revenue Agency September 22nd, 2003
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Revenue. A taxpayer from the Lanaudière area was surprised to discover 49 income tax files in his mailbox, some belonging to residents of the same area, and some from other places in Canada. All of these files came from Revenue Canada.
In view of this catastrophe, will the minister launch an investigation to find out how such a bizarre incident could happen?
Canadian Grand Prix September 18th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, does the Minister of Justice seriously think that Canada would be a lot worse off if, instead of spending $5 million on pins, flags, t-shirts and fireworks, it put that $5 million into saving the Montreal Grand Prix, investing the taxpayers' money wisely and saving the $80 million in economic spinoffs and all the related jobs?
Canadian Grand Prix September 18th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, the government says it wants to save the Grand Prix, but no one in the government has so far come up with the tiniest idea that would bring this about.
How can the federal government simply dismiss the idea of creating a temporary fund, lasting just two years, by using the $5 million or so it spends on celebrating Canada in Quebec?
It would be money well spent.
Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act September 17th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, Bill C-49 now before us interferes with what is usually an apolitical process. It is important to understand that the commissioners who are faced with the difficult job of making changes to the electoral map, must do so free from political pressure of any kind. The work they do is extremely sensitive.
Now for the first time in certainly a very long time, if not the first time ever, the government has decided to interfere, in a political and partisan manner, in a process that is neither political or partisan, nor should it be. Under the normal process, at the end of consultations, various stages and even meetings of a parliamentary committee where members can say their piece, a certain period of time elapses before the new ridings come into effect.
As the first bill of this session, the government has announced that the new ridings will come into effect sooner. Those who are listening to us must be wondering, why make this happen sooner when, in the past, the legislature, in its wisdom, decided that it would be best for a certain period of time to elapse before new ridings come into effect?
The reason the government chose to lead off the session with Bill C-49 was to expedite things, to interfere politically in a process that ought to be non-political, ia purely partisan reason, because the Liberal Party leadership race will result in a new leader taking over in November.
Based on when the Prime Minister is expected to leave, the new leader should normally be sitting in this place as the Prime Minister by February. And the new electoral boundaries would not come into force until August. This means that the new Prime Minister would have no choice but to hold an election during the fourth year of the government's mandate, that is to say in the fall or the following spring.
The problem is it is a demanding task to sit in this House, to answer the opposition's questions day in and day out, and to convey to Canadians and Quebeckers what the new man leading the government thinks deep down inside.
The future Prime Minister did not feel like going through this ordeal in the House of Commons. He wants to take advantage of the momentum of the leadership race. He wants to take advantage of the fact that he has remained chronically silent for more than a year about his ideas, his fundamental political ideology, his platform, his directions and his opinions on a wide variety of topics, each one more controversial than the other. He wants to take advantage of this momentum to call an election next spring.
The House of Commons is working on a government bill that interferes in a process that ought to be impartial and non-political, for the sole purpose of serving the partisan and personal interests of the person who will be sitting in the Prime Minister's seat come February. This is an outrage.
That is why the Bloc Quebecois is opposed to Bill C-49. We shall not condone this totally partisan move by the government.
Furthermore, with the new redistribution, the political weight of Quebec continues to drop.
Quebec still has its 75 seats, while the total in the House will go from 301 to 308.
I would like the government and my fellow citizens to know that the Bloc Quebecois is in no rush to place Quebec in a minority position in the House of Commons of Canada. Efforts to do so began the day the Canadian Confederation was created. These efforts have never stopped and never will.
This is why the people of Quebec need to be vigilant and need to reflect on our future and our political independence.
In the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean area, the number of seats drops from four to three. This is a region that has been hard hit by the exodus of its young people and by too many economic downturns as a result of such crises as softwood lumber or mad cow. Our agriculture, our forestry, our entire economy is being hard hit, and we sometimes have trouble getting back on our feet after such crises.
The Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean area had sufficient voters to maintain four ridings by remaining within 25% less than the quota. But now, in order to ensure that Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean cannot keep its four ridings, the cities of Chibougamau and Chapais, and the Oujébougoumou reserve are being taken from the riding of Roberval and transferred to Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik.
Not only is our region experiencing a marked drop in population, but as well the commission is adding to this terrible loss another artificial population loss by taking one whole segment of our region and adding it to another that is more than 400 km away. The treatment being given to Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean is a scandal, and one supported by—I regret to say—the Liberal Party of the riding of Roberval at the time of the commission's visit to the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean.
The only ones who wanted to see the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean lose the entire segment comprising Chibougamau, Chapais and Oujébougoumou are the Liberals of Roberval. Doing so has meant that the remaining population was insufficient to give us any hope of retaining four ridings.
We are therefore doubly afflicted in our region. Not only are we losing one seat, but 25% of our political representation in the federal parliament will disappear like a puff of smoke as the result of a clever little calculation in some little political office, in hopes perhaps of gaining some votes in our region.
The people of Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean are not easily fooled. They understand what is happening right now. They refuse to give up any of their political weight. They know very well that the solution lies in Quebec's sovereignty, when we will no longer have to go through this redistribution of the electoral map, limiting our political weight in this Parliament.
In closing, I would like to speak to the new constituents in the huge riding of Roberval, which now will cover the entire Lac-Saint-Jean area, except the town of Alma. The riding will be almost as large as some Canadian provinces. It will have a very large population. I want to say to that population that the boundaries are not the fault of the local members or of the Bloc Quebecois. We do not accept it and we never will.
It makes us more aware than ever of the need to put our political weight to work in the only legislative assembly that is truly our own, the Quebec National Assembly.
At the same time, I can tell the people of the riding of Roberval that, in the name of justice, equality and respect for everyone who comes from the current riding of Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean, I will do something. I will take steps to change the name of the riding from Roberval, which the commission has proposed, to Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean. At least that way these people will feel they have been recognized, thanks to the intervention of the Bloc Quebecois and the member who stands before you.