She surely will, Mr. Speaker. Is it the shady nature of that bank loan or is it the fact that he arranged it that prevents the Prime Minister from answering?
House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2000, with 51% of the vote.
Business Development Bank February 21st, 2001
She surely will, Mr. Speaker. Is it the shady nature of that bank loan or is it the fact that he arranged it that prevents the Prime Minister from answering?
Business Development Bank February 21st, 2001
Mr. Speaker, it is pretty sad over there no matter what day of the week it is.
The BDC memo concerns loans to the Grand-Mère of $415,000. What did it end up getting? It got $600,000.
Let us look at this. A bank is very worried about lending a large sum of money so it first ignores its normal procedures, it increases the loan by 50% extra and then it hands over the cash. I would love the Prime Minister to call my bank when it is time to renew my mortgage.
I want to ask, is this a shady loan or is it the fact that he arranged it?
Business Development Bank February 21st, 2001
Mr. Speaker, let us talk about the BDC memo which says very clearly—
Business Development Bank February 21st, 2001
Mr. Speaker, in fact there are a couple of questions that arise from the loan itself, and I would like to bring them up.
We have obtained an internal memo from the Business Development Bank that details the very loan to the Auberge Grand-Mère. I will quote from that document. It states:
—the global risk for BDC is very high. We are aware that the financing structure recommended does not meet the normal policy and criteria of the bank.
Is that why the Prime Minister has not been entirely, shall we say, forthcoming with the House? That is the memo.
The Prime Minister February 20th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, from 1999 to 2001 the Prime Minister's staff spent a grand total of 330 nights and $33,000 at the Auberge Grand-Mère. By stark contrast, they spent exactly three nights and less than $300 at the Gouverneur. The Grand-Mère is clear across town and the Gouverneur is practically next door. Was it official policy that they would stay at the Auberge Grand-Mère or just a subtle—
The Prime Minister February 20th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, I guess we could spend the next 40 minutes apologizing back and forth across the aisle. However, from 1999 until 2001—
The Prime Minister February 20th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, while it is no bombshell, it is no secret that the Prime Minister has been propping up the Auberge Grand-Mère for years. By coincidence, of course, the better the hotel did the better the golf course did next door.
There are a couple of competing hotels in town: the Prime Minister's favourite, the Auberge Grand-Mère, and of course the Gouverneur. The Gouverneur is close to the Prime Minister's constituency office and the Grand-Mère is across town. Can anyone guess where his staff stayed, though, to the tune of $33,000? It was at the Grand-Mère, of course. Over at the Gouverneur less than $300 was spent, although it was far more convenient for them.
The question is, what could it be that draws the staff of the Prime Minister over to the Grand-Mère?
Grants And Contributions February 14th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, we will not admit it because we know it is simply not true. It is not true and there is no way that the Deputy Prime Minister can defend that.
Conflict of interest guidelines are to prevent the appearance of conflicts, not just to prevent them from actually happening. He can talk all he likes around the bush about it but it simply will not add up. The relationship between Claude Gauthier and the Prime Minister has a very bad appearance.
If these dealings are as innocent as the Deputy Prime Minister claims daily, then why will the government not just call for an independent investigation and clear the air?
Grants And Contributions February 14th, 2001
The Prime Minister benefited from that very sale of the land that was adjacent to the golf course which added value to the shares that he was trying to sell in the golf course itself. The Deputy Prime Minister tries to fog that over, not to mention the $10,000 political benefit.
I am sure Mr. Gauthier is good to know but it is obvious that the Prime Minister is better to know. Mr. Gauthier got $7 million from federal programs and another $9 million from investor immigrant funds. The benefit to him is obvious. Why is it not obvious to the Prime Minister that he is afraid of this independent investigation?
Grants And Contributions February 14th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, what a farce.
The Prime Minister benefited from the sale of the land adjacent to the golf course which—