Lost his last election, in 2000, with 33% of the vote.
Homelessness October 28th, 1999
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government sent the city of Toronto a bill for $250,000 to supply emergency shelter for Toronto's homeless.
The minister responsible for homelessness says that she is in charge of co-ordinating the efforts of her government with the municipalities and the provinces. Is it the minister's policy for the Liberal government to make money off the backs of homeless people?
Homelessness October 27th, 1999
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the minister responsible for the homeless said she was working seven days a week on a strategy for the homeless. Yet she found the time to spend a week in Mexico at the taxpayers' expense.
Will she have a plan to help Canadian homeless people before winter, or is she planning to invite them to spend the winter in Mexico with her instead?
Homelessness October 27th, 1999
Mr. Speaker, when the throne speech virtually ignored the homeless, the minister responsible for homelessness said that she was dancing in the streets. The truth is she was dancing in the streets of Manzanillo, Mexico.
How can the minister afford to be dancing in the streets of Mexico when tens of thousands of homeless Canadians are facing another winter not dancing but freezing in the streets?
Homelessness October 26th, 1999
Mr. Speaker, if it is on loan it is still costing $1 million. The minister's staff includes three correspondence assistants even though she already had six as the Minister of Labour and six program assistants even though she has no programs to administer.
Will the minister put her million dollar staff to work producing a homeless strategy, or will she let thousands of Canadians freeze on the streets again this winter?
Homelessness October 26th, 1999
Mr. Speaker, the minister responsible for homelessness secretly hired 18 new staff members in May at a cost of over $1 million. Neither the minister nor her million dollar staff have produced anything to help the homeless. A million dollars could have provided shelter for 30,000 homeless Canadians. Is it more important to the minister to spend $1 million on staff or to help provide shelter for 30,000 Canadians?
Petitions October 26th, 1999
Mr. Speaker, I present a petition on behalf of the people in my riding.
The petition is addressed to the House of Commons and parliament assembled. It states that we the undersigned citizens of Canada draw the attention of the House to the following: Whereas, a majority of Canadians understand the concept of marriage as only the voluntary union of a single, that is unmarried male and a single, that is unmarried female; and whereas, it is the duty of parliament to ensure that marriage, as it has always been known and understood in Canada, be preserved and protected.
Therefore, the petitioners pray that parliament enact legislation, such as Bill C-225, so as to define the statute that a marriage can only be entered into between a single male and a single female.
Housing October 22nd, 1999
Mr. Speaker, the provincial government of B.C. agrees with the Barrett commission that condo owners should be allowed a sales tax exemption for the repairs.
The federal government assisted people during the floodings in Manitoba and the Saguenay and during the ice storm in central Canada. We are asking the government to have a little compassion and to help those people in B.C. We are all Canadians; people from B.C are also Canadians.
Will the minister use a little compassion and help those people through GST exemption on the repair bills for those condos.
Housing October 22nd, 1999
Mr. Speaker, the owners of leaky condos in British Columbia are faced with tens of thousands of dollars in repair costs through no fault of their own.
Given that Ottawa has no consumer protection legislation in place for condo owners and that CMHC required all those homeowners to get inspections, will the minister of public works, allow those homeowners at least to use some of the money from their RRSPs without penalty? This measure would not cost the government one penny. What can the minister do to help those people in B.C.?
Tobique First Nation October 15th, 1999
Mr. Speaker, members of the Tobique First Nation are fed up. The department of Indian affairs transfers $13 million annually to the Tobique band council, yet the council has recently run up a $10 million deficit. Over the past year many band members have met with me to show how the council's mismanagement and the department's lack of accountability have prevented band members from realizing the benefits of tax dollars.
Last year the band had to suspend medical services and lay off their nurse. At the same time, councillors voted to raise their own pay to $1,000 per week. Cheques worth $152,000 were written without invoices, authorization or approval. The council has violated every one of the remedial management plans it has signed with the department.
We must have self-government, but government money has to go toward solving the serious social problems at Tobique instead of to band politicians and accountants. The members of the Tobique First Nation and I call upon the minister to appoint a third party administrator for Tobique so we can get the band back on its financial feet and help this community thrive.
Questions Passed As Order For Returns June 10th, 1999
Can the Department of Human Resources Development provide for the constituency of Tobique-Mactaquac the following information for each of the past five years, regarding the application and appeal process for disability pensions under the Canada Pension Plan: ( a ) how many people made an initial application for a disability pension and how many of these applications were accepted/rejected; ( b ) following the initial application, how long did clients have to wait for a response; ( c ) how many clients requested a review and how many of these requests were approved/rejected; ( d ) in how many cases did the Department request a review and how many of its requests were approved/rejected; ( e ) following a request for a review, how long did clients have to wait for a response; ( f ) how many clients appealed to the review tribunal, and how many of these appeals were approved/rejected; ( g ) in how many cases did the Department appeal to the review tribunal and how many of its appeals were approved/rejected; ( h ) following appeals to the review tribunal, how long did clients have to wait for a response from the tribunal; ( i ) how many clients appealed to the Pension Appeals Board and how many of these appeals were approved/rejected; ( j ) in how many cases did the Department appeal to the Pension Appeals Board and how many of its appeals were approved/rejected; and ( k ) following an appeal to the Pension Appeals Board, how long did clients have to wait for a response from the Board?
Return tabled.