Jacques Saada

[Sponsorship Program, March 8th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I would suggest to my colleague that before he makes allegations he should check the facts.

The Liberal Party of Canada has decided to conduct an internal audit into the sources of financing for our party, which by the way no other party has tried to do so far, even though we have invited them to do so.

The facts are going to speak. There is a legal council in charge of getting to the money wherever it has gone, and there is a commission of investigation in place which is charged with finding out what the facts are. I would suggest my colleague should wait and see what the facts are before talking.

[Supply, February 26th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I am truly sorry to interrupt the hon. member, but I would like to rise on a point of order.

I do not want to mislead the House and I am trying to avoid any misunderstanding or confusion. Today, during oral question period, I answered a question from the hon. member for Roberval.

When I checked the transcripts, I realized that the question was not exactly what I thought I had heard. Therefore, my reply was not the appropriate reply to the question that was asked.

My answer to the question that was actually put is that it is up to the inquiry commission to deal with this issue.

[Business of the House, February 26th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I will begin at the end, to be completely logical.

These are Senate matters. They do not concern the House in any concrete way. I would need to know what the Senate was going to decide before I could answer the question.

Also, regarding new bills, I am assuming that a bill that is good for the people is a bill that is good for the people, whether or not it existed previously. That is what we are working on. I hope to have the cooperation of our colleagues across the way to continue this process.

As to the plans for the coming week, as you know, this afternoon, we will continue debate on the opposition motion. Tomorrow, we will begin debate at third reading of Bill C-18, an act respecting equalization and authorizing the Minister of Finance to make certain payments related to health, including transfer payments of $2 billion to the provinces. Then, we will consider Bill C-10, an act to amend the Contraventions Act and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, followed by Bill C-15, an act to implement treaties and administrative arrangements on the international transfer of persons found guilty of criminal offences, and finally Bill C-12, an act to amend the Criminal Code (protection of children and other vulnerable persons) and the Canada Evidence Act.

On Tuesday, March 9, at 10 a.m., the Secretary General of the United Nations will address both houses of Parliament in the House of Commons. As you know, all parties have agreed that the Wednesday schedule will apply that Tuesday, in order to leave the morning free in honour of the Secretary General.

Finally, Thursday, March 11 will also be an allotted day.

[Marriage, February 26th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I am extremely pleased that our party, in collaboration with the rest of the House, agreed to make all private members' bills votable. Criteria were established regarding these bills which are votable by default but which would not be votable if the criteria were not met. All the parties in the House agreed to these criteria. If he has a problem, it is not with us nor with democratic reform, but with himself.

[Sponsorship Program, February 26th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party of Canada has done everything according to the law.

Anything the member has to put forward in this regard should be put forward before the proper authority which has been set in place to deal with the matter. The rest is pure speculation and I refuse to answer speculation.

[Sponsorship Program, February 26th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Bloc Quebecois and the Bloc Quebecois House leader want answers in the House of Commons. Yet, for some time now, they have not stopped preaching about all sorts of things, including the need to have a commission of inquiry to get to the bottom of things.

There is a commission of inquiry. Let them make use of it. They should be consistent with what they wanted in the first place.

[Sponsorship Program, February 26th, 2004]

No, Mr. Speaker.

[Government Contracts, February 26th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I would be pleased to find out about the answer to the question that the hon. member just asked.

[Sponsorship Program, February 25th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Environment is a man of integrity and he is not supposed to be accused of any wrongdoing. Why do they talk about mud? Why are they not concerned about what is happening to municipalities? Why are they not concerned about health? Why are they not concerned about the environment, about medical help to Africa, about the protection of children, about the fight against terrorism, about the reform of democracy, about the problems of farmers? They like to be in mud, and we will leave them alone in the mud.

[Liberal Party of Canada, February 25th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, this question is not acceptable. It is not about government accountability. This question should not be accepted in the first place.