Deborah Grey

[The Economy, March 25th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, they seem to be house cleaning over at industry. Anyone who has ever said that our standard of living is too low or taxes are too high has been told to change his mind.

Reports are being censored, conference presentations cancelled and diaries are being revised. But before the purge, the deputy minister was able to say at a conference that “improvement of Canada's cost competitiveness has been entirely due to the depreciating dollar”.

Does the minister agree with his deputy that our low dollar is the only thing masking our high taxes and high debt?

[Building Contracts, March 24th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, when the Prime Minister is personally responsible for giving loans and grants to former business associates, it would be so simple to clear that up. He could table all the documents and the information that is available. That is the only thing standing between all of these questions that are being asked and the truth.

There are so many questions and so few answers. He could clear his own name now by tabling all of the documents and details relevant. If he is so proud of those deals, where are the details?

[Building Contracts, March 24th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister could have ended the Shawinigan scandal long ago. The way this whole mess could have been cleared up would be very simple. It would be for him to table all documents and information about loans.

There is no one else to blame. There is no inquiry to hide behind.

Why is the Prime Minister refusing to let any light shine on this shady deal?

[Building Contracts, March 23rd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, what is it about this Prime Minister's character that makes him run away from responsibility, from his own unethical behaviour?

[Building Contracts, March 23rd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, let me finish by saying that none of those people were compromised by a conflict of interest situation.

The Prime Minister in 1996 said “Everybody knows I never run away when I have responsibilities to face”. He has them to face today. Conflict of interest—

[Building Contracts, March 23rd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the Prime Minister that none of those people who were consulted were standing in any way to gain, they were not convicted criminals and the people who were addressing this were—

[Building Contracts, March 23rd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I will tell you the responsibility of any member of parliament. It is to understand that if it is a conflict of interest, walk away from it and let the public service decide on merit and merit alone.

What does the Prime Minister do? He sends in his top personal aid to send a little message. The message was clear. Nobody less than the Prime Minister of Canada himself wanted them to grant this money to Mr. Duhaime.

I would like him to stand again and tell us how he can deny that this was a clear conflict of interest and that it was wrong, wrong, wrong.

[Building Contracts, March 23rd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, a convicted criminal named Yvon Duhaime bought a money-losing hotel from the Prime Minister. The PM then instructed a senior aid to pressure public servants into giving Duhaime a huge government grant. This goes beyond the bounds of being a good little MP.

How can the Prime Minister deny that this is a clear conflict of interest, that he betrayed the public trust and that his conduct is unbecoming of a Prime Minister?

[Building Contracts, March 22nd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the list grows because Pierre Thibault also had the benefit of the Prime Minister's intervention.

He has admitted misappropriating a million dollars from a company in Belgium. He is under criminal investigation, yet the Prime Minister met with him and, abracadabra, hundreds of thousands of dollars became available to him for a hotel. The Prime Minister must remember that place. After all, that is where he hosted the Liberal caucus last summer.

Why is the Prime Minister using his influence to funnel government money to shady characters in Shawinigan?

[Building Contracts, March 22nd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister lobbied for grant money for a former business associate. There is a difference. This is a conflict of interest. Not just with one letter did the Prime Minister lobby, but with letters, faxes and personal visits from the Prime Minister's own assistant.

The person the Prime Minister was lobbying for was Yvon Duhaime who bought a money-losing hotel from him.

I ask, and I would like to get a real answer this time, in all of that lobbying, why did the Prime Minister not reveal this conflict of interest?