Deborah Grey

[Apec Summit, October 6th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, the solicitor general in a few short hours has gone from “he was someone I don't know” to “actually we have been good friends for some time”.

He has gone from “I don't know who this person is. I don't know them by name” to “it is Frederick Toole from Saint John”. Great scott, we have gone from “I can't recall” to total recall and now to a rebuttal. When will we go to the resignation?

[Apec Summit, October 5th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, the sensible approach is that this commission seems to be going a little further than just checking into RCMP activities. I think the Canadian public is looking forward to that. If our Prime Minister refuses to appear before this commission if he is subpoenaed, Canadians will never know what the truth of this story is.

I would like the Deputy Prime Minister to answer my question for a change. Why will the Prime Minister evade this? Will he voluntarily appear before the commission or will he let Jean Carle be the fall guy for him?

[Apec Summit, October 5th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, this morning the chairman of the public complaints commission said they will follow the APEC fingerprints wherever they lead.

So far those fingerprints seem to lead directly to the doorstep of the Prime Minister's office.

Why wait for the subpoena? Why does the Prime Minister not just volunteer to appear before that commission immediately?

[Employment Insurance, October 1st, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, talking about being irresponsible in the volatile situation that we face right now, there are a lot of Canadians inside this House, both sides included, that say why in the world then would the finance minister yesterday at a conference lend credence to that and say that if he cannot keep his hands on all that EI overpayment, we are going to fall into a recession? That is volatile and that is irresponsible.

Why does the finance minister have to resort to these scare tactics? What good is the fear factor?

[Employment Insurance, October 1st, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, there is a list of groups who say that the EI overpayment should go back to the workers and the employers who paid them in the first place. That group includes small business, labour and now the province of Ontario has come onside today saying that this money must go back. But the law says that that money must go back to those people who paid it.

I would like to ask the finance minister if he is willing today to do something really new, really brave, really different, and that is to obey the law.

[Apec Summit, September 30th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has just told the House and Canadians that he is here every day to answer the questions, so maybe he could just do that little thing for us.

There are new documents that are coming forward every day. There are new witnesses every day: Craig Jones, Chief Sparrow, Mr. Vanderloo. The paper trail is getting longer and longer.

Does the Prime Minister still believe there is a great conspiracy going on against the Prime Minister, or could it be the other way around?

[Apec Summit, September 30th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, that is hard to forget. The head of the APEC operations was very specific in his memo.

He said that “the PMO has expressed concerns about the security perimeter, not so much from a security point of view but to avoid embarrassment to the APEC leaders”. This is the most damning piece of evidence in this saga so far.

How much longer will the Prime Minister deny that he was involved in this affair?

[Apec Summit, September 29th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, the minister talks tough here on the floor of the House of Commons but what we see on TV is quite a different picture than that.

When the minister is visiting a foreign dictatorship he does not talk about those except maybe privately he lets us know that. He missed a chance to show dictators from around the world what real democracy should look like.

Just what lesson did the minister hope these foreign dictators would learn when he pepper sprayed peaceful protesters?

[Apec Summit, September 29th, 1998]

This foreign affairs minister talks about free speech and democracy all around the world but just does not happen to do it at home.

Why is it that he cannot practice at home what he preaches abroad?

[Apec Summit, September 29th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, a purely riveting statement from another Liberal. Even hippies at heart should have the right to protest peacefully.

I would like to make a comment about this foreign affairs minister who supposedly supports Canadian values of free speech and democracy when he is travelling around the world, but at home it is a very—