Val Meredith

[Ethics Counsellor, March 1st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister was elected as Prime Minister in 1993. It was only after the Prime Minister contacted the ethics counsellor on January 27, 1996, that he began to lobby for loans and grants for the neighbouring Auberge Grand-Mère.

The Prime Minister ensured that the hotel got loans from the BDC, the Business Development Bank of Canada, immigrant investors, and grants from human resources.

Was the Prime Minister not acting more like a businessperson concerned about his assets than he was like a normal, ordinary member of parliament?

[Ethics Counsellor, March 1st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's shares in the golf course were owned by his holding company, J & AC Consultants, and had been put in a blind trust.

The conflict of interest code states that public officeholders can only be involved in their blind trust after the ethics counsellor has been consulted.

In this case it was the Prime Minister who informed the ethics counsellor that there was a problem with his shares. When did the Prime Minister learn about the problems of his shares and who told him?

[Business Development Bank Of Canada, February 28th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the Business Development Bank charged the Auberge Grand-Mère an astronomical interest rate of 25% on its loan.

Information obtained through an access request shows that the highest interest rates offered by the BDC anywhere in Canada over the last seven years was 12.6%. This means that the Auberge Grand-Mère was twice as risky as the second craziest venture that the BDC was prepared to finance.

Why did the Prime Minister use his political muscle to put Canadian taxpayer money at such risk?

[Grants And Contributions, February 27th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, while the Prime Minister was able to work at lightning speed to get Yvon Duhaime his business development loan, it was nothing compared to speed of getting him the TJF loan.

The TJF grant was announced at a press conference on May 28, more than two months before it was even approved. Why did the Prime Minister override the department's approval process?

[Grants And Contributions, February 27th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, today the Prime Minister's spin doctor wrote a lengthy letter giving her version of the Prime Minister's sorry record of interference in government programs in his riding. Her story contradicts or ignores the facts given by her own boss, the auditor general and the ethics counsellor.

With four different versions of the same story, who is right: the Prime Minister, the auditor general, the ethics counsellor or the government spin doctor?

[Business Development Bank Of Canada, February 26th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, quite simply, something happened in those two weeks. That loan had been refused by the Business Development Bank and two weeks later, after the Prime Minister's influence was used, the loan was granted.

I would like to ask again: What exactly did the Prime Minister or his office do to secure those funds within a two week period of time?

[Business Development Bank Of Canada, February 26th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to restate the facts for a minute.

On April 21 Yvon Duhaime asked the Prime Minister to use his influence to help obtain a Business Development Bank loan for a hotel in which they both had an interest. Less than two weeks later the money was assured.

What did the Prime Minister or his office do so that those funds were assured within the two week period of time?

[Grants And Contributions, February 21st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, it is apparent that the minister really does not know what is going on in her department. The HRDC performance report states that last year's audit of grants and contributions found “that no money was found to be missing”.

This is quite interesting given that there are at least 20 police investigations into the grants and contributions program.

If no money is missing, as the minister claims, can she then explain to the House why there are these police investigations and why they are laying fraud charges on the files?

[Grants And Contributions, February 21st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, last April, when we enquired about grants to the Strathroy Community Resource Centre, the parliamentary secretary not only defended the grants but attacked us for even questioning them.

As it turns out, we had every reason to be concerned. Last Thursday the police announced that fraud charges were going to be laid against three members of the board.

I ask the minister: Why was the government defending these grants instead of protecting taxpayer money from criminal misuse?

[Employment Insurance, February 12th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, contrary to rumour, I do have a compassionate soul.

Last year's comprehensive tracking system report for employment insurance stated that the most likely value of incorrect benefit payouts was $651 million, or 6.6% of all benefits paid.

The 6.6% rate of error is more than 1.5 times worse than the historical rate of 4%. Could the minister explain why Canadians should trust her to manage their tax dollars?