Charlie Penson

[Economic Development Agency, March 27th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, an internal audit faulted Economic Development Canada's management of its small business program on the same broken rules that we have come to expect from the Liberal government.

What did the auditors find? They found that the program was too flexible. It was not applied uniformly across the province. There was a lack of compliance with eligibility requirements and a deficient economic analysis of the firms and regions receiving funding. Do we now have Industry Canada adopting HRDC's management style?

[Export Development Corporation, March 24th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, for days in the House we have been asking questions about Export Development Corporation based on its annual reports and based on the Public Accounts of Canada.

All we have received from the minister is a bunch of blather with no answers. He seems more intent on talking about the Ottawa Citizen than answering questions in the House. Why does he not answer the questions that are put to him?

[Export Development Corporation, March 24th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have a tough time understanding why it is so difficult for the minister to answer the question. The question I asked was what percentage of the commercial loans at EDC are non-performing loans. Why can the minister not answer this question? How can Canadian taxpayers know whether they are getting good value for EDC's commercial operations when EDC continues to shield this information from public scrutiny?

[Export Development Corporation, March 24th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I asked the Minister for International Trade what portion of EDC's $118 million net profit came from the Government of Canada writing off its bad loans. He avoided that question although he talked a lot about concessional versus commercial financing.

Let us talk about commercial financing then. In the private sector the Bank of Montreal has non-performing exposure of 1% on its loan portfolio. I ask the minister to tell the House today what percentage of EDC's corporate account loans are non-performing.

[Export Development Corporation, March 23rd, 2000]

They should borrow from the bank like everybody else.

[Export Development Corporation, March 23rd, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, maybe we can gather from that there are two sets of books at EDC.

EDC's annual report for 1998 indicates that the crown corporation is due to receive another $97 million from the Government of Canada to bail it out for its bad loans. The government takes taxpayer dollars out of one department to give them to another and calls it a profit. That is Liberal economics at its finest, I am afraid.

Why is the government using taxpayer dollars to prop up EDC's bottom line?

[Export Development Corporation, March 23rd, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, in 1999 the Export Development Corporation's business volume was $40 billion. The minister keeps bragging about the $118 million that EDC made in profit that year.

Can the minister tell us how much of that $118 million bottom line actually comes directly from the taxpayers when the Government of Canada wrote off EDC's bad loans to foreign countries?

[Export Development Corporation, March 22nd, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister for International Trade said that EDC does not give grants, but we know it gives interest-free loans for up to 55 years. They are not payable for that time.

Public accounts show that the Export Development Corporation has lent Venezuela $24 million. Venezuela is one of the original members of OPEC, the international oil cartel which is responsible for the high gas prices that Canadians pay currently at the pumps.

Why does EDC feel it is necessary to lend money to a country whose policies are distorting international oil prices and which are directly hitting Canadians in their wallets every time—

[Export Development Corporation, March 21st, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, here is a case in point. The Export Development Corporation loaned $200 million to China interest free and not due until the year 2042. This is the government that charges interest on Canada student loans six months after graduation of the students but gives interest free loans to the Government of China for up to 55 years.

Can the minister explain why a country like China which enjoys a tremendous trade surplus over Canada cannot finance its own expenditures?

[Export Development Corporation, March 21st, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, the public accounts list 10 long term loans to foreign countries made by the Export Development Corporation worth $685 million that are not repayable for up to 55 years. On top of that, EDC has agreed to charge zero per cent interest on these long term loans. That is no interest and no payments for up to 55 years. EDC policy is better than that of the Brick or Leon's no money miracle.

How can the government which is paying $43 billion interest on our debt at home justify giving these sweetheart deals to foreign countries?