Lost his last election, in 2006, with 41% of the vote.
Canada Post October 7th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, if the member would read the guidelines, I could tell her how they are different. We instructed all the boards in the interim to appoint a nominating committee that would review and recommend candidates. That was done. Candidates were presented to the minister. The minister was then charged with making a selection and presenting that selection to the House of Commons, which will be done the moment a committee is struck.
Supply October 5th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I move:
That this House at its next sitting consider the business of supply.
(Motion agreed to)
Government Appointments May 14th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, there is an old saying in politics that “when you cannot attack the policy, you attack the person”. The response to that was delivered in La Presse two days ago by André Pratte who said that the chaotic public accounts committee inquiry had not shown any credible indications that the political level was implicated. He went on to say that reputation tarnishing was a political tactic, but it was an immoral one.
Public Service May 14th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, rather than making these simplistic comparisons with the private sector, the reality is that the government is not the private sector. The government has a responsibility to those people who do apply.
That is exactly why the costs have grown so greatly. That is exactly why the Public Service Commission, in a very responsible way, is attempting to manage the costs so that it can provide a new and improved service to Canadians.
Public Service May 14th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, this issue has been discussed at great length with members on all sides of the House and I have repeatedly offered to sit down and go through this with members.
The reality is that the policy has been in place since the late sixties, simply as a cost control measure. People who are looking for advancement in the public service are not covered by this. This is simply for positions of new entries into the public service.
Having said that, the Public Service Commission is working on some new recruitment tools. It has done a lot of work on it and is about to launch a form of e-recruitment that will allow it to take applications from all across the country, but it is always weighing cost--
Public Service May 14th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, once again, I certainly reject any allegation of improper engagement in the public service. They did the job that they are always required to do.
On the recovery of funds, I would note today we had the announcement of the recovery of $147 million in an agreement with HP, which is the result of very proactive work on the part of the very same public servants. They should be congratulated on behalf of Canada.
Public Service May 14th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I absolutely reject the allegation of the hon. member. In fact, what the Prime Minister asked us to do as new ministers was to work with our public servants to examine ideas, to talk back and forth about things that were challenging the departments in the continual search for improvement.
The goal in any government is to constantly put forward new and better proposals before the people of Canada.
Sponsorship Program May 13th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I am glad the member raised the question of the public interest. I suspect it would be in the public interest, as reported in the Halifax Chronicle today, to find out who paid the member for Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough to sell out the Progressive Conservative Party.
Apparently, the Leader of the Opposition thinks it is just fine that this information is kept secret. I think Canadians should know that before we go to the polls.
Sponsorship Program May 13th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, it is so strange to see the opposition complaining about this when it is the opposition that basically has stonewalled the committee all this week.
Indeed, in the words of the chair of the committee to the member for Calgary—Nose Hill, “I would like you to focus on the issue at hand rather than getting into trying to raise the political stakes”. If they will not do the work, why should they be there?
Public Service May 12th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, as is not uncommon, the hon. member is mixing two completely different issues. In fact, the president of the Public Service Commission came before the committee and indicated that it had indeed been given money to develop the prototype, that Treasury Board required certain conditions be met, and that it was working toward that.
She said that it was an estimate but at this point she had to add a big caveat because she thought that more detailed work was necessary in terms of how the prototype was going to be moved forward before returning and asking for more money.