Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The member did not tell the whole truth. He could have mentioned the full name of my riding, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik. Moreover, I was able to make my speech anyway.
Lost his last election, in 2004, with 43% of the vote.
Standing Orders February 27th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The member did not tell the whole truth. He could have mentioned the full name of my riding, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik. Moreover, I was able to make my speech anyway.
Standing Orders February 27th, 2001
We just have to change the opposition.
Standing Orders February 27th, 2001
Then we'll change the Speaker.
Natural Resources February 26th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, as the member for the great region of Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik, I say we must all act together to bring out the presence and the action of the Government of Canada in regions whose resources are having difficulty adapting in the context of the new economy.
The rules of existing programs should be relaxed, and we should ensure they are used. Also, a program to provide financial assistance for thin capitalization mines should be set up for the juniors.
Fuel Price Posting Act February 21st, 2001
Mr. Speaker, in any event, we will move to another topic because that one is headed nowhere.
There are 14,000 outlets in Canada. Perhaps half of them are private service stations. They do what they want, depending on the price of gas.
Regardless of the report that will be tabled tomorrow and the comments in it, which matters to the public and to the consumer, is that the oil industry, with the millions, the billions it is making, stand up. It should bear in mind the public's level of frustration and adopt more transparent pricing practices, including showing the gross price and giving the breakdown for refinery, processing, whole sale and retail prices and taxes.
I think that everyone's interests would be better served if the industry made a greater effort to explain how prices are set and made this information available to consumers. That is what is important.
There has been some good discussion this evening touching on the American, BQ, NDP and PC points of view. What is important is that the oil companies are going to have to stand up and tell consumers what it costs. They are hiding behind the taxes. It is true that the taxes should be reduced.
I would like both levels of government, federal and provincial, to reduce the taxes. We are all in agreement with that. What is important is that the oil companies stand up. They are making billions of dollars in profits on the backs of consumers. It is time they came clean.
I could say some unpleasant things, but I will not. I enjoyed this evening's debate. We all had a very interesting time.
Fuel Price Posting Act February 21st, 2001
Mr. Speaker, I withdraw what I said, namely that he lied.
Fuel Price Posting Act February 21st, 2001
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank all the members who spoke tonight, be they members of the Canadian Alliance, the Progressive Conservative Party, the Bloc Quebecois or the New Democratic Party. Most of them submitted good ideas.
I would like to make a remark before my last comment. The hon. member for Témiscamingue is trying to mislead the House of Commons and the consumers of Abitibi—Témiscamingue by saying: “The hon. member for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik goes around in his riding boasting of what he says in parliament, but in the meantime, he tabled a motion saying the opposite”.
We will put some clarity in the rules of the House of Commons. According to last week's draw, I got to present a bill, not a motion. When I received a call from the private members' business office, I was in Abitibi, in the beautiful city of Val-d'Or, 400 kilometres away from Ottawa. That call informed my office that I had won the draw and that my bill was chosen, not a motion.
I do have many motions dealing with the demands made by the people of the large riding of Abitibi, which covers 802 000 square kilometres and has a population of 100 000, including 68 mayors as well as Inuit and Cree chiefs.
The hon. member for Témiscamingue is trying to mislead the House by saying that it was a motion and that I could choose. That is not true. He lied.
Fuel Price Posting Act February 21st, 2001
Mr. Speaker, to follow the rules of the House of Commons, I would like to change the name of the seconder of my bill. I seek the unanimous consent of the House to have the name of the hon. member for Scarborough Centre replaced by the name of the hon. member for York West, who is here.
Fuel Price Posting Act February 21st, 2001
Mr. Speaker, I said at the beginning that the seconder of my motion was the hon. member for Fredericton, and he was sitting beside me. If there is an error, this is not my problem. I was asked about this earlier.
Fuel Price Posting Act February 21st, 2001
Mr. Speaker, I believe there is an error. I mentioned to the pages at the beginning that the seconder of the motion was the hon. member for Fredericton. I would ask you to put the question.