John Reynolds

[Minister of National Defence, February 1st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, we now know that the Minister of National Defence has presented at least two versions of events to the House. However, there are still many unanswered questions about the minister's contradictions.

Yesterday the Deputy Prime Minister refused to answer straight questions about who knew what and when. Let me ask him again. Did the Department of National Defence inform the Prime Minister, PCO or the PMO of the handover of al-Qaeda captives to the Americans before this Monday, yes or no?

[Minister of National Defence, January 31st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, we also talk to the troops. The minister has failed to get our forces the resources they need. Our per capita spending on defence is the second lowest in NATO, next to Luxembourg. Our troops do not have heavy airlift or sealift capabilities. Our troops do not have proper uniforms. Our planes cannot be refueled. Our troops are still flying in outdated, dangerous Sea Kings.

Do our troops not deserve someone who will put the needs of our forces ahead of his own political will?

[Minister of National Defence, January 31st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, members on my side of the House appreciate the job our troops are doing, but the minister has a record of stretching the truth to inflate his own performance.

Before this latest whopper, the minister implied that the JTF2 was already in Afghanistan but he had to admit it was still in Ottawa. A few weeks ago the minister claimed that the Americans were asking for Canadian troops but General Myers said that Canada asked to participate.

Do our troops and the Canadian people not deserve a minister of defence they can trust?

[Minister of National Defence, January 31st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, first I want to congratulate our troops for taking al-Qaeda terrorists and handing them over to justice.

The scandal is about an incompetent minister, not the bravery of our forces. The Minister of National Defence misled the House and made a fool of the Prime Minister. We cannot trust his version of events from day to day.

My question is for the Deputy Prime Minister. Do our troops not deserve someone better than this incompetent minister?

[Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, January 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I hate to disappoint the Prime Minister but I was never part of that government. I was part of a government in British Columbia that never had a deficit and had the lowest unemployment rates.

Yesterday international stock markets nose-dived because of fears of shoddy corporate accounting. The government seems to have subcontracted its accounting to Enron whose standards are more like Ken Lay than Ken Dye.

What will the government do to assure Canadians and foreign investors that the government will clean up its incompetent accounting practices?

[Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, January 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow the Minister of Finance and the Governor of the Bank of Canada will be tripping the light fantastic in New York telling investors to boost our weak Canadian dollar. I can just imagine their pitch: Invest in Canada before we blow $1 billion in HRDC grants. Lose $3 billion in accounting and have the second highest debt load of the G-7. If people liked Enron, they will love Canada. What a pitch.

How does blowing $3 billion on shoddy accounting create investor confidence in Canada?

[Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, January 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the government refused to say whether it would make Canadian taxpayers pay for the $3.3 billion mistake or take it out of health care transfers to the provinces.

Now the provinces have made it clear that they have no intention of paying for the government's incompetence.

Once again, who will pay for this $3.3 billion boondoggle: the overburdened Canadian taxpayer or the struggling provincial health care systems?

[Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, January 29th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, getting a straight answer from the minister is almost as hard as getting a Liberal membership in Ontario. The previous human resources minister blew $1 billion and got promoted to international trade. The revenue minister blows $3 billion and gets promoted to justice.

My question for the Prime Minister is this. How will he reward a minister who blows $5 billion; maybe appoint the minister Governor General?

[Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, January 29th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, if the federal government wants to get this money back, it will have to come from somewhere else. The provinces are already facing a health crisis because of federal government funding cuts. Some of the provinces, especially Ontario and Manitoba, may face more cuts due to Liberal incompetence.

Will the government claw this money back from transfers for health care or will it put federal taxpayers on the hook for this $3 billion mistake?

[Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, January 29th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, today Canadians learned that the government has overpaid $3.3 billion because of incompetent accounting in Revenue Canada. The Prime Minister says that this is no problem, that these kinds of accounting errors happen all the time.

If a $1 billion HRDC boondoggle is no problem and a $3 billion CCRA boondoggle is no problem, I would hate to see a real problem.

Could the Prime Minister explain how even this government could be incompetent enough to lose $3 billion of taxpayer money?