Gary Carr

[Committees of the House, October 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, now that the Striking Committee report has been concurred in, discussions have taken place among all parties concerning the upcoming travel plans of the Standing Committee on Finance and the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs and I believe you would find consent to the following motion. I move:

That notwithstanding any standing order or usual practice of this House, the Standing Committee on Finance be permitted to travel to western Canada the week of October 17; and that the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs be permitted to travel to Europe the week of October 9,

That these committees shall hold organization meetings, pursuant to Standing Order 106, upon their return to Ottawa.

[Points of Order, October 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, my point of order is on Bill C-357 respecting Taiwan. In the first hour of debate on the bill, the member for Vancouver Island North repeated several allegations made in the Lai Cheong Sing case.

Mr. Lai and his family claimed refugee status in 2000. In 2002 the Refugee Board concluded that they were not conventional refugees as they had committed serious non-political crimes before coming to Canada. The decision was upheld by the Federal Court, the Federal Court of Appeal and by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2005.

The member for Vancouver Island North referred to a letter purportedly sent from the hon. Allan Rock, then the minister of industry, to Ms. Esta Resnick, government counsel in the Lai case, about a telephone conversation between them on the Lai case. In fact, the government counsel advised that she never had a telephone conversation with Mr. Rock or received a letter. In addition, the Department of Industry searched for this alleged letter and there is no record of it.

The member for Vancouver Island North also alleged that the government counsel and the government breached an undertaking of confidentiality and alleged that as a result a witness in the Lai case was betrayed to the Chinese police.

In fact, counsel for Mr. Lai entered affidavits with an unsigned statement and then asked the Federal Court to make them “public”. In the time they were “confidential” the government counsel did not disclose them to anyone.

Given the nature of these matters and given that the Hansard summary containing these inaccuracies has been submitted to the Federal Court and will arise in court proceedings as early as October 12, it is important to set the record straight now.

[Committees of the House, October 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that the 48th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the membership and associate membership of the standing committees of the House be deemed tabled and concurred in.

[Parkinson Society Canada, October 4th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to let all members of the House and all Canadians know that 2005 marks the 40th anniversary of Parkinson Society Canada.

In every community across this country nearly 100,000 Canadians woke up this morning knowing they would experience tremors, slowness, difficulty walking, impaired balance and several other symptoms. This number is expected to double over the next 10 years.

Parkinson's equally affects men and women, and this disease, for which there is currently no cure, affects young and old. Young onset of Parkinson's can affect people as young as 30 or 40 years old. Parkinson Society Canada has made this disease more manageable for those affected. This organization has helped ease the burden for many and has been instrumental in finding a cure.

I invite all members of the House to join me in wishing Parkinson Society Canada and its regional partners success in easing this burden and finding a cure. Its commitment to people is truly remarkable.

[Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act, October 3rd, 2005]

Madam Speaker, I had the opportunity to speak to the member for Ottawa—Orléans who spoke earlier regarding the bill. He talked about the Public Service Alliance and its appearance before the committee, and its support of the bill. Is it the hon. member's understanding that the Public Service Alliance supports the bill? I understand that it was actively involved.

[Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act, October 3rd, 2005]

Madam Speaker, from listening to the earlier speeches of the member's colleagues, I believe they will be supporting the bill. Many of his colleagues said that it was a good bill.

Having listened to the member's presentation this afternoon, one of the things that did not come out is how the member will be voting on the bill. I take it as a result of the circumstances that he outlined to the House today that this bill would help some of the people involved.

My question is a very simple one. Now that the member has finished his speech, how will he be voting on this bill?

[Child Care, September 29th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to applaud the government for its commitment to Canadian families, and especially the families of Halton.

As a result of the early learning and child care agreement signed with Ontario, Halton will receive 500 new spaces over the next three years. The child care spaces will primarily be located in or near schools so that junior and senior kindergarten students can benefit from a seamless full day of learning and child care.

Regional chair, Joyce Salvoline, said, “The investment made by the provincial and federal governments recognizes the importance of providing the tools for early learning to support the development of our children”.

I am proud that my riding of Halton is able to benefit from this initiative. We are providing families with the resources they need to ensure that their children, our future, get the best possible start in life. I am very proud that Halton families have a government that they can rely on and trust.

[Milton Farmers' Market, June 22nd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in the House to recognize a unique and long-standing tradition in my riding of Halton. Operating weekly for over 33 years, the Milton Farmers' Market has been bringing traditional homestyle baking and farm fresh crops to the constituents of Halton. With family fun and locally grown fruits and vegetables, the streets come alive with vendors.

The Milton Chamber of Commerce operates the weekly Saturday morning event from May through October. With over 40 vendors, this certainly is one of Ontario's best outdoor farmers' markets.

I encourage all members of the House and residents of Halton and Milton to come to the Milton Farmers' Market for a wonderful experience. Try a mouth-watering bacon on a bun, my favourite, a crisp locally grown apple or purchase a beautiful handmade craft.

I ask everyone to show their Canadian spirit and Halton pride and come visit Milton Farmers' Market.

[An Act to Authorize the Minister of Finance to make Certain Payments, June 16th, 2005]

Madam Speaker, I have listened all night to the members opposite, waiting to hear if there is anything specific coming up but there has not been. There are two reasons that I think people in Ontario are not supporting the Conservative Party and in fact in most polls that party is in third place.

The first reason is that people realize it is nothing more than the old Reform Party. That party tried to change its name. The Reform Party became the Conservative-Reform-Alliance Party and then became the Alliance Party. That party has had more name changes than someone who has been in the witness protection program. Those members tried to change their party's name and everybody realized the leader was the guy that was part of the Reform Party. He was the president of the National Citizens Coalition, the most right-wing group in this country.

I was listening for anything specific from that party. When it says tax cuts, does it mean 50¢? Is it $50? Is it $1 billion? It is not specific.

I watched the member in the first part of her debate contradict herself. She said not to spend money and then spent the second half of her debate telling the government to spend more money in her riding in specific areas. I say to the member that she cannot have it both ways. People are cynical. They look at the member's party and say it is nothing more than the Reform Party, a typical opposition party. She says not to spend money and then people see her spend money.

I believe that is the reason that party has failed the people in Ontario, particularly in my area. That is why they will never vote for those people to form a government, because those members do not know what they are doing.

[An Act to Authorize the Minister of Finance to make Certain Payments, June 16th, 2005]

Madam Speaker, it is amazing to hear the Conservatives talk about deficits when Brian Mulroney left a deficit of $42 billion when he left the government. What the government said was that it was the fault of the previous government. They are blaming Sir John A. Macdonald and it was Wilfrid Laurier's fault.

The current Prime Minister, when he was minister of finance, did not blame the previous governments. He rolled up his sleeves, got down to business and we have had eight straight balanced budgets in the country. That is the first time it has happened since Confederation.

As the House knows, all of the G-7 countries, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, have deficits. Canada is the only G-7 country that has a balanced budget. When the member's Conservative government left in 1993, it took 36¢ on the dollar, not to pay for health care, good roads or anything else, but to pay the interest on the debt costs alone after Brian Mulroney's economic mismanagement of the country.

I know the members opposite in the Reform Party were upset with Brian Mulroney, which is why they started the Reform Party. I know most of the members over there are from the Reform Party but could someone please tell me why the last Conservative government in the country left us with a $42 billion debt? That record is a disgrace.