Deborah Grey

[Gasoline Taxes, September 18th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, we are excited to have our new leader in the gallery today, but we are more thrilled that he will be on the floor of the House of Commons tomorrow.

Since he was the Alberta treasurer our new leader has been asking the finance minister to cut gas taxes. We are headlong into a fuel crisis now and the government is still inflating the price at the pumps.

Why has the Prime Minister not cut the gas tax?

[100Th Birthday Greetings To The Queen Mother, June 15th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I was born on July 1, which was Dominion Day back in the good old days when I was born. Of course, we celebrated the fact that we were the Dominion of Canada. We have the Scripture verse on the Peace Tower here that says “He shall have dominion from sea to sea”. That is an exciting part of history for me.

In our family we have loved the Queen Mom and we want to wish her a wonderful happy birthday on August 4.

[Human Resources Development, June 15th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, let me assure the Prime Minister that I will be keeping it warm for him. I promise.

The Prime Minister is planning on dismantling HRDC in a desperate attempt to hide the mess created by the entire government and the HRDC minister, but it is too little too late. The government's bungling and boondoggling have caused taxpayers billions of dollars so far. How in the world would a cabinet shuffle ever change that?

[Human Resources Development, June 15th, 2000]

I think that is a great idea, Mr. Speaker. Canadians would like to say thanks a billion. Let me refer to what is a famous quote by now:

—when we form government, every Minister in the Cabinet that I will be presiding over will have to take full responsibility...If there is any bungling in the department, nobody will be singled out. The Minister will have to take the responsibility.

That was this Prime Minister in 1991 when he was sitting right here. Is that why he is finally getting around to demoting the HRDC minister?

[Human Resources Development, June 15th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I got the sense yesterday that a certain veterans affairs minister was just a little too excited about answering HRDC questions. He must have already heard about the cabinet shuffle.

Liberal sources say, though, that the government is finally admitting defeat and demoting the HRDC minister and dismantling, or at least masking, the boondoggle of the jobs fund. They also said, though, that the government is looking for new ways to spend money on job creation in Quebec.

Are there still any unemployed friends of the Prime Minister in Shawinigan?

[The Canadian Alliance, June 15th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank you, my colleagues in the House and all Canadians for the opportunity to serve as the Leader of the Opposition for these last three months. It has been a great honour, and it has been a great spring.

I want to thank the House of Commons staff also for their excellent service to us. I also thank my entire staff who have worked so hard to help me and our whole caucus team.

We have kept the Prime Minister under the glare, shaking in his boots. He has been running for cover over the billion dollar boondoggle, backbench revolts and leadership brawls. It must be a terror to sit on that side of the House these days.

Summer will arrive next week and it is going to get even hotter for the government. Over 150,000 members of the Canadian Alliance are going to unite the bright and elect a new leader. I want to wish our new leader the very best.

We are dedicated to achieving what Canadians want but what Liberals cannot give—the best economy, the best democracy and the best society in the best country—the Canadian Alliance.

[Petitions, June 15th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I too have the honour to table a petition.

This petition is from citizens of Canada who are residents of Edmonton. They are members of the Fiji-Canada Association. Of course we can understand they are very concerned about the coup in Fiji.

They call upon parliament to take all kinds of action which I will not read directly into the record. They want to ensure that leaders and activists are prosecuted and punished under the law and that a bill of rights is maintained. The petitioners ask and would lobby the international community to impose sanctions on Fiji such as as cutting off all economic aid, cutting off diplomatic relations, cutting off all world bank loans, and terminating Fiji's participation in peacekeeping forces.

These Canadian Fijians are concerned. I appreciate having been given the time to lay this petition on the table.

[Human Resources Development, June 14th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, we would hate to think the meat was right between his ears.

The past several months have brought nothing but trouble to the HRDC minister and the entire government. The HRDC minister is responsible for a billion dollar bungle. HRDC cut cheque after cheque to friends in the Liberal Party. She led the charge. She has botched every attempt, sadly, to cover her tracks.

I would like to ask the Prime Minister, hello, if it is true that he is planning on having a cabinet shuffle as early as Friday.

[Human Resources Development, June 14th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I do not think it is un-Canadian to ask the government to keep its hands in its own pockets, not in ours.

Media Express donated $10,000 to the Liberal Party and then it got a $1 million return from HRDC to set up a call centre in the riding of the President of the Treasury Board. She put out a press release saying “We ought to announce this”. I am sure it did not mention the ten grand they got because that might just bother those pesky little constituents that believe in principle and merit.

Why does a donation to the Liberal Party always open the floodgates to these HRDC cheques?

[Human Resources Development, June 14th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I guess I ain't nobody's backroom boy.

There is more proof today, though, that something fishy is going on over at HRDC. Serge Lafrenière got $15 million even though his resumé is filled with multimillion dollar failures. He was a Liberal campaign manager before he hatched his own fish breeding scheme. His company, Scotia Rainbow, has donated thousands of dollars to the Liberal Party.

Why is it that every time the government gets a whiff of a Liberal HRDC spawns a cheque?