Deborah Grey

[Member for Calgary Southwest, January 31st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, how does one put 15 years into two minutes? I do not know, but I will give it a whirl.

Once in a while in the life of a nation there arises an individual of such stature and character that a country is changed forever. I think all of us sense that today.

Historians will document 1987 to 2000 as a period of reform in Canadian federal politics. As my colleague just said, I love that word reform. A person of vision, principle, sound judgment and uncanny ability has been among us leading this movement. Defying great, odds he succeeded in organizing an army of volunteers and voters that grew from nothing to the official opposition status in less than 10 years. It is unprecedented in Canadian history. I was one of those volunteers and one of those who became part of the official opposition alongside him.

When I think back to his campaigning on horseback to motorcycles to the reform air force to the passing of our family football, it made such a tremendous impact on him and all of us. We always have had fun campaigning.

I think back to the ride we had in the byelection in Beaver River and about him sitting in the back of his van in 30 below zero weather at Lac La Biche, folding pamphlets on his knee so I could get out there and hand them out to the people in Lac La Biche, and wondering just what in the world was going on. What a memory for me and for all of us on which to think back. Here was a man who had such an unbelievable vision, doing whatever he needed to do in the campaign. If that was making sure I had the pamphlets ready to hand out, he was folding them on his knee.

He then went on of course to become the leader of Her Majesty's official opposition against all odds. I know that for many of my colleagues who have sat with me in the House of Commons for years, it surprised all of them, and probably us too, that we were ready to take on the task. Preston did a magnificent job as Her Majesty's loyal leader of the opposition, and we celebrated that.

Preston is a visionary with an ability to look far down the road. He is a long term planner and thinker. Those of us who are in this game think about the next batter up. Preston thinks about the ninth inning way down the line.

Thank you, Preston, for sharing yourself with us and all of Canada. Thank you Sandra and your whole crew for sharing Preston with us all. I know there have been days that have not been easy for all of us, yet they have been good and I know you celebrate that.

Preston, Canada is a better country because you have been here. We all wish you the very best. May you never be far away. Thank you for the memories. We love you. Lord bless you.

[Foreign Affairs, January 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the defence minister admitted a few moments ago in the House version three of this whole prisoner of war story. He said that within 24 hours he learned of what actually happened with our JTF2 task force.

The scary part here is that this story has changed daily. Evidently the Prime Minister said that he did not know for one full week about this going on.

There are different stories here and the question is this. Did the Prime Minister know about it and, if so, why are so many different stories being told?

[Points of Order, December 13th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order, I was wondering if she was making a list and voting it twice. Maybe you could check on that one.

[Minister for International Cooperation, December 13th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, there are three things in life that are certain. They would be death, taxes and knowing that the ethics counsellor will always vote in favour of the Liberals.

The CIDA minister is alleged to have voted illegally for her pal. I know it was “in good faith”, of course, but it is just ridiculous. She blames her staff for everything. She gets muzzled by her boss, although we did just see a brief cameo appearance, I will say. She will not produce the documents. She cannot remember when, where or how many times she voted in the last election.

Maybe I could just remind her of that thing called ministerial responsibility and ask her, because of it, why she will not resign right now.

[Minister for International Cooperation, December 12th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, at least the Prime Minister has admitted that this is a serious problem. It is off to the ethics counsellor. It is too bad it will not be treated that way all the way through.

The cabinet looks like a focus group on rule breaking for the elite. They break the law in good faith. They blame subordinates. They write to quasi-judicial bodies. They use government charge cards for personal expenses. They give untendered contracts for cash. They make unilateral announcements and now they vote whenever, wherever.

How can the Prime Minister defend keeping this serial voter in this cabinet?

[Minister for International Cooperation, December 12th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Prime Minister was caught in the act about the CIDA minister. The Ontario municipal elections act, section 19, requires that her name actually be on the voters list in the subdivision in which she resides, or if she is an owner or tenant of the land. It cannot be both of them.

It also requires in section 24 that she apply to the clerk to have her name removed from one list and actually put on the other, and that the clerk approves or disapproves it.

When will the minister stand in the House and table the approval that she received from the clerk to vote for her pal?

[Minister for International Cooperation, December 11th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, that was really a nice try, but there was no answer there in fact. What has happened here is an embarrassment to parliament. This is about political ethics. It is about leadership and it is about ministerial responsibility. This government has none of the above.

It is interesting that the Deputy Prime Minister mentions the situation because in Quebec a provincial MNA, Monique Simard, was asked to resign by Lucien Bouchard, the premier of the province. Why does the Prime Minister not at least follow the ethics of Lucien Bouchard and ask this minister to resign?

[Minister for International Cooperation, December 11th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, one of the programs that our CIDA minister pours our tax dollars into as she wanders the world is democracy. Imagine that. She tries to help people vote. I am sure it is in the right place.

Yet here at home she violates democracy and breaks the law by voting for a friend in a municipal election in a riding that she does not even live in. She cannot talk for herself. She hides behind the ethics counsellor and the Deputy Prime Minister. How can this minister teach other countries about voting when she uses a false address herself?

[Points of Order, December 10th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, this is in fact on the same point of order. I thought it was rather amusing and amazing at the same time that the member just actually admitted that the member for Bras d'Or--Cape Breton had actually said “I am sorry” for it.

The debacle that went on that day was ridiculous. It was an embarrassment to this place. The minister thought she would one-up my colleague and get the question over to her colleague so he could ask it ahead of time, and the poor soul never even had a chance to look at it, let alone read the thing, so when he stood up and made quite a kerfuffle, I am sure, according to his own admission, he said “I am sorry” on that. Now the parliamentary secretary just said the “I am sorry” was for his delivery probably, not for EI.

Maybe there is a more serious issue here: that the blues have been tampered with. Let me read the actual blues as they came out, not as they were said in the House. The member from Bras d'Or said:

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development. We have been asked by constituents as to the status of EI rebate cheques.

That went on for 35 seconds with an apology in there and just an absolute brouhaha ensued. Now the blues have been tampered with and there are the actual words of it, Mr. Speaker, so you have a serious problem on your hands here; thanks to the parliamentary secretary for actually admitting that the member from Bras d'Or did say “I am sorry”.

There are serious problems over there, not the least of which is that the cabinet minister herself, miss management, is going at this whole thing again, getting plants in place when she should not have.

[Minister for International Cooperation, December 10th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the CIDA minister says that she sends our tax dollars overseas for “good governance”, then she breaks the law here at home. She has been in a pile of trouble for a while. Staff are fleeing like flies. Contracts go out for cash. Now she is wandering into other wards to vote, although of course it is in good faith.

I want to know from the minister if she is brave enough to quit the cabinet now or is she going to wait to get Shawinigan shuffled out of there in January?