Paul Forseth

[Question No. 64, February 3rd, 2003]

For the fiscal years 1993/94, 1994/95, 1995/96, 1996/97, 1997/98, 1998/99, 1999/2000 and 2000/2001, from all departments and agencies of the government, including crown corporations and quasi/non-governmental agencies funded by the government, and not including research and student-related grants and loans, what is the list of grants, loans, contributions and contracts awarded in the constituency of Vancouver Quadra, including the name and address of the recipient, whether or not it was competitively awarded, the date, the amount and the type of funding, and if repayable, whether or not it has been repaid?

[Ethics, January 29th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, in an atmosphere of questionable cabinet ethics, it is incredible that under Treasury Board rules ministers do not have to submit receipts for expense claims. In fact, the Auditor General is also opposed to the practice.

What is required of average taxpayers should be required of ministers. It is very simple.

Will the President of the Treasury Board take the responsibility of this ethical lapse, this privileged status for ministers over there, and require receipts for all claimed expenses?

[Ethics, January 29th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the President of the Treasury Board about the low ethical standards for claiming business expenses when travelling.

The Minister of Canadian Heritage has claimed about $80,000, which she calls just other expenses, with no receipts attached.

The Prime Minister defended these practices by saying that they fall within Treasury Board guidelines. Which guidelines allow ministers to be paid without receipts?

[Criminal Code, December 11th, 2002]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-337, an act to amend the Criminal Code (murder of a firefighter).

Mr. Speaker, this enactment amends the Criminal Code to add the murder of firefighters acting in the course of their duties to the list of offences that constitute first degree murder.

With the growing prospect of urban terrorism, it is often firefighters who are the first into harm's way of a created, premeditated, dangerous situation. Also, our International Association of Fire Fighters has been asking for this measure for some time, and I hope the House of Commons will soon oblige with this appropriate recognition and protection.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Kyoto Protocol, December 3rd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the minister talked about economic certainty several times. Will she promote and advocate the federal government underwriting unforeseen losses to help that uncertainty? What will she do to make the principles that she talked about operational, instead of a nice speech? What is the specific mechanism that she will be recommending to deal with the potential economic harm? Where is the plan to deal with it?

[Kyoto Protocol, November 21st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, as an accountable MP, if I were to vote for major changes to health care or seniors' pensions without having a reasonable cost benefit analysis and social impact statement, I would be considered irresponsible.

There is a parallel in what the Liberal ideologues are asking us to do with the Kyoto accord. They have been unable to justify the likely costs and implications of ratifying this obviously bad deal. We also know that even if we could eliminate 100% of Canada's CO

2

production, the costly accomplishment would not even register on global climate measurement systems.

In Parliament, I will continue to ask the government to show us a scientifically sound proposal, a proper decision making document. If the proposal can meet reasonable standards, I will support it. However I will not support the poor submissions before us today, which appear to be very expensive, ill-defined, politically correct, emotion based and somewhat designed to appease special interests rather than Canada's long term national interests.

I urge the government to tell the whole truth about Kyoto and exercise inclusive leadership for positive change.

[Government Spending, November 19th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, it appears more is out of control on the government side. One section is buying millions of dollars of computers when at the same time it is dumping valuable server machines it never had any use for. In fact such a multi-million dollar mistake in the private sector would get someone fired for gross incompetence.

In view of this huge blunder, what has been enacted to protect taxpayers from the minister's next mistake?

[Public Service, November 19th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the President of the Treasury Board, the official employer of the government.

Yesterday the minister tried to downplay and excuse the screening of the uncontrolled increase of federal public sector hiring. Nearly 30,000 workers were added to the taxpayer burden in recent months. Obviously the Liberals cannot manage. She claimed it was not her fault and beyond her control.

At 30,000 and counting, how many more bureaucrats does the government intend to hire?

[Committees of the House, October 31st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, it is great to hear a Liberal member rise and talk about improving the democracy of committees because it is so unusual. Parliament is not the government. Parliament is where the government comes to get permission to tax and spend the people's money and have its legislation passed. However there is this long tradition of the independence of Parliament itself and I was pleased to hear the member talk about that.

Perhaps she could tell the House the precedent that was set at environment committee where indeed the chair of that committee that she sits on was elected by secret ballot and the skies did not part and we did not have an earthquake. We were demonstrating that committees can be independent and we can elect our officers by secret ballot. It did happen in our committee. Maybe she could talk about that experience.

[Petitions, October 23rd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition today containing some 1,300 signatures.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to immediately enact fair family law legislation which incorporates a presumption of equal shared parenting and children having a voice in divorce proceedings that affect them and which is in the best and complete interests of children and incorporates their rights as decreed by the United Nations.