House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2004, with 35% of the vote.
Cartagena Protocol November 7th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, we are waiting for consultations to wrap up, as I have said many times in this House. I assure the hon. member that the answer is yes, because this is very important.
I remind the House that it was in Montreal, here in Canada, that the Cartagena protocol was truly finalized. It was not in South America, but here in Canada, and that is very important to us.
Cartagena Protocol November 7th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, consultations with respect to the Cartagena protocol, which I have talked about many times in this House, have not concluded; they are ongoing. I thank the hon. member for his question as to whether or not we will be going to Kuala Lumpur; we will.
The Environment November 6th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, I am puzzled. If in fact the decision on supplementary estimates, to which the member refers, only came forward on October 28, I think I am responding pretty quickly to get there this afternoon.
As he knows, I attended the committee many times this year and was always delighted to be there. I am really looking forward to questions from the hon. member because it will be a real opportunity for him to learn something.
The Environment November 6th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to hear that Mr. Bono will be attending the Liberal convention. It is an excellent forum for such a person to get together with like-minded people who are concerned about humanitarian issues and the environment.
He will have a warm welcome from all of us and we are looking forward to having good discussions with him.
I am just delighted that the hon. member has raised this. I am only sorry that he will not be there unless we have a conversion in the next couple of days.
Criminal Code November 5th, 2003
Madam Speaker, I am very intrigued by the comments made by the hon. member representing the NDP and the question that came from the Bloc, because I have stood up in the House time after time to tell critics and questioners from both those parties that the federal government should not interfere in the area of provincial jurisdiction and the issue of the Belledune incinerator. Both parties have insisted that the federal government should intervene in the area of provincial jurisdiction even if the province does not approve and even if the province will not work with us.
I find it curious that both parties are now talking in a way that is totally contradictory to the way that members of their parties have questioned me in the House. I wonder how the hon. member from the NDP can possibly square the position that he has put forward with the questioning from his own colleague from New Brunswick.
The Environment November 5th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, so far, there have been no requests for permits to import toxic waste or other material to Belledune. When such a request is made, I shall, of course, be ready to examine all aspects of the situation and make a decision based upon the facts.
The Environment November 3rd, 2003
Mr. Speaker, I can certainly assure the member that our objective is always to harmonize our environmental regulations with the provincial regulations and also, where applicable, municipal. We will be looking at every opportunity to doing that.
That said, there is clearly an issue here that is being addressed on a nation-wide basis. There will be times when the nation-wide interests will supercede the municipal or provincial.
Environment October 30th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, we are reviewing with the province of Nova Scotia, the government which has the lead on the cleanup plan, what has to be done. We are looking at environmental considerations, health considerations, risks and benefits, the length of time it will take to deal with the problem to clean up. Also the issues of future site use are being taken into account. We are looking at the issues of acceptability to the public and of course costs.
Privilege October 29th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, at the outset of question period, the very first words uttered by the Leader of the Opposition were that I was in contravention of the ethics guidelines.
This is totally incorrect. A totally false statement has been made about me. I ask that the hon. member, at this time, apologize to the House for failing to tell the truth about the situation, with respect to myself and the ethics counsellor's guidelines.
Ethics October 29th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Leader of the Opposition started with a totally incorrect statement. He stated that I had violated the code of conduct for ministers.
That has been shown by the decision of the ethics counsellor to be totally false and that in every respect I complied with the code. I trust the hon. member will now apologize to me and the House.