House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2006, with 76% of the vote.
Hepatitis C May 9th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, actions speak louder than words. Today the Ontario government announced that it will compensate all innocent victims of hepatitis C, regardless of the date they were infected.
The Liberals arbitrarily chose January 1986 to July 1990 as their dates for compensation, with little compassion or responsibility. These victims contracted the disease through no fault of their own.
When will the minister act responsibly and follow the leadership of Mike Harris?
Petitions May 3rd, 2000
Mr. Speaker, I want to present a petition signed by a number of my constituents in the riding of Red Deer. These individuals believe that Canadians are overtaxed and demand that the Department of Human Resources Development account for the gross mismanagement of $3.2 billion annually.
Therefore, my constituents request the immediate resignation of the Minister of Human Resources Development and ask that the auditor general conduct a full and independent inquiry into the HRDC management and accounting practices.
Health May 3rd, 2000
Mr. Speaker, we already have a destroyed Canada Health Act, so I do not know how the minister can stand and say that he is the defender of health care in this country.
The fact really is that in the last federal budget there was $2.5 billion over four years for CHST funding. Ontario alone has added $5.3 billion to health care.
If the government is serious about supporting reforms to the health care system, why will it not at least respect the jurisdiction of the provinces and—
Health May 3rd, 2000
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Health proposed funding programs not covered by the Canada Health Act. This obviously encroaches on provincial jurisdiction for the delivery of services.
The health minister just does not get it. How can he justify this blatant attack on the provinces when the government does not even cover its share of basic core service funding?
Health May 1st, 2000
Mr. Speaker, the minister hides behind the Canada Health Act. At the same time, the government has cut funding, it has failed to modernize the decaying system and it has forced hospitals to look at alternate types of funding.
Again, why is the government letting foreigners jump the queue to buy complex surgery while Canadians are forced to wait on the sidelines?
Health May 1st, 2000
Mr. Speaker, obviously that money was for five years and it is just using prudent management in terms of spending.
The member constantly hides behind the Canada Health Act. At the—
Health May 1st, 2000
Mr. Speaker, in a Montreal hospital a wealthy Moroccan patient was able to buy heart surgery for $60,000. At the same time, 635 Canadians were on the waiting list for the same surgery at the same hospital in Montreal.
Why does this rich foreigner get to jump the queue while Canadians die waiting for the same surgery?
Budget Implementation Act, 2000 April 13th, 2000
The member will not try anything new. He is not prepared to try anything new. Some members across have their heads in the sand.
The final point is that we are not Liberals. We are the Canadian Alliance Party. We believe in democracy. If somebody running for the leadership wants to talk about something, he or she has a right to do it. We do not throw people out like the party on the other side.
Budget Implementation Act, 2000 April 13th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, first I will deal with the CPP. That plan is flawed. It was first introduced in 1966. Two years later the people who built the plan said that it would not work. From there on, governments ignored that advice and continued to build up the debt and the liability on that plan.
How do we fix that plan? We would have to charge, as most actuaries say, somewhere around 15% to fix it. If we start charging 15%, obviously young workers will be on the picket lines. What can we do about it?
I did an interesting project. I went to Santiago, Chile, which has had a program for 26 years. I went door to door. I went to the poor communities. I went to the middle class communities. I went to the wealthy communities. I asked them to tell me about their plan. They came out their doors with a card showing the pension plan they invested in, plan A, plan B, and plan C. It is government run. It is compulsory. It is 10%. It is there. They can watch it. They buy their groceries at the stores in which they have shares. They buy their cars from companies in which they have shares. They are proud of it. It is sustainable. The money is there in the country to invest. They do not have any foreign debt because of it.
Budget Implementation Act, 2000 April 13th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, it is just amazing after one has been here for a while to see someone with their head in the sand. Someone who believes his own propaganda is even more amazing. The member does not even have a questioning mind for some of that information and obviously cannot even get the name of our party correct. That has to be another slur on that member's mental ability.
The Liberal propaganda says yes, in 1977 they transferred the tax room. Then they immediately started to raise taxes and by 1986 all of that tax room was used up by the federal government. From then on there is not a dollar left in there.
The fact that the government continues to say that of the $81 billion that is spent on health care in this country, provincial and federal, it transfers $14.5 billion this year, that is not 33% as it claims. It would have been in 1977 but if it goes that far back in terms of its propaganda, it obviously needs some research assistance as well.
There is $4 billion less in spending. Is that not something when $43 billion is spent on interest payments? Is that not something to stand up in the House and crow about, that the government has actually cut spending by $4 billion when it is paying $43 billion in interest, getting nothing, no services for it and the government is proud of that?
As far as the research grants which were mentioned, we are in the bottom third of OECD countries when it comes to technology and health care. That is nothing to stand and brag about. We are losing half our graduate doctors. Of the 16 universities training doctors, the number of specialist courses has been cut on a yearly basis. That is something to talk about. Funding should be returned to those programs so that we can fix our health care system.