Deborah Grey

[Apec Inquiry, December 9th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, this whole commission looks more like an act of God than an act of parliament. It is having some serious trouble.

What is going on here represents the unhappiness of Canadians right across the country with the government's disastrous handling of APEC from start to finish. There is only one solution and that is for the Prime Minister to go under oath and tell the whole country exactly what his involvement in APEC was.

The protest will not stop. The opposition will not stop. This will dog this government until Canadians find out the whole truth.

Why does the government not just save the trouble and settle it once and for all? How about now?

[Apec Inquiry, December 9th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I will start again. When the Prime Minister was on his annual obligatory visit to Vancouver yesterday he was met by a thousand angry British Columbians wanting to ask him questions about his involvement in APEC.

I have a question for the solicitor general. I do not want his handlers or his guardians to answer it. I would like him to answer it.

He can shut down and bury the Public Complaints Commission if he likes, but he cannot bury the public's outrage on this. When is he going to solve this problem that keeps chasing him right across the country?

[Apec Inquiry, December 9th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Prime Minister made his obligatory annual visit to Vancouver. A thousand angry British Columbians met him, demanding answers for his crackdown at APEC and that whole fiasco last year.

I have a question for the solicitor general.

[Apec Inquiry, December 8th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, that is a nice try, but that forum is a defunct forum. It is not operating right now. It has been completely castrated in large respect by this government.

I would like it acknowledged that the RCMP say it is dead, the students say it is dead and the lawyers say it is dead. The former solicitor general has resigned, the head of the panel has resigned and the head of the commission is in hiding.

Why will we not get a real inquiry to find the real story and the real truth behind this?

[Apec Inquiry, December 8th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, this government says that it cannot do anything about administering the last rites to the APEC inquiry. The minister keeps saying let it do its job. It is absolutely dysfunctional.

This House, on the other hand, can do anything necessary to get to the truth of any problem in Canada. This is the highest court in the land and we can do something about it.

Let me just ask who all is in favour of shutting down this inquiry and opening up a full judicial independent inquiry?

[Agriculture, December 7th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, American farmers are far more heavily subsidized than we are. The U.S. produces far more wheat and pork than we do, but it is Canada that always bends over backwards.

Canadian farmers are always taking it right between the pockets. It is time the minister started getting really tough with high agricultural subsidies in the U.S. and Europe.

When will the government stop buckling and start battling for Canadian farmers?

[Agriculture, December 7th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, we have been calling on the agriculture minister for a long time now to get tough with the Americans and Europeans on their high unfair subsidies. But after what we saw this weekend, tough is not exactly the word that comes to mind.

Liberal toughness meant allowing U.S. pork, wheat and grain into Canada without inspection. What do we get in return? New and bigger roadblocks.

Why does the government's idea of really getting tough always mean caving in to American pressure?

[Agriculture, December 3rd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, two minutes ago it was if and when there is a program. Now it is down to if there is a program.

When this minister talks about being a heavy hitter in cabinet who will get help for people in the agricultural industry right now, obviously it is either his inability or cabinet's refusal to come up with some program that people need now.

How in the world is the minister going to be able to stand up to the Americans and the Europeans when we need a long term solution to high foreign subsidies and high Canadian taxes?

When will the minister announce his program to help farmers?

[Agriculture, December 3rd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food just said “as I keep telling my cabinet colleagues”. The question is, how many times does he have to talk to them?

He also said to the leader of the New Democrats “If and when there is a program, it will be announced before Christmas”. That is cold comfort to every farmer who is in desperate straits right now.

Why is the government continuing to put this off? Is it if? Is it when? Why will it not be today to help our Canadian farmers right now?

[Employment Insurance, December 2nd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, in fact the government owes it, and it owes workers hundreds of dollars.

The finance minister once said that payroll taxes like EI are a cancer on Canadian jobs.

The chief actuary, whose judgment is not tainted by politics, still says that EI premiums are way too high. Each business is paying hundreds of dollars more than it should per worker.

Again I would like to ask the minister, how can he justify jingling that money out of every Canadian worker's pocket?