House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2000, with 54% of the vote.
Prime Minister March 28th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, we have repeatedly received very conclusive evidence that the Prime Minister as of November 1993 no longer owned these shares. Therefore, effective November 1993, the Prime Minister did not have and should not have had any direction given by him with respect to how this company operated.
Prime Minister March 28th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, if the member has looked at the act he will know that the minister has a responsibility to respect the privacy rights of the individuals affected.
He will know further that it is the responsibility of the directorate to give direction to bring information to compliance. Once that information is brought into compliance, that information is made public. The member knows all of that.
Prime Minister March 28th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, quite frankly no list of continued aspersions, no continued list of attacks will take away the fact that the RCMP, which is respected in the country by citizens from coast to coast, has at the request of members opposite opened the file, looked at the file, and said there was no basis for any further investigation.
The ethics counsellor, who was quoted whenever it was convenient and has come to the conclusion there was no conflict of interest, has spoken repeatedly. In conclusion, there simply is no conflict. There is no wrongdoing.
Prime Minister March 28th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, I find it absolutely incredible that the member opposite, who initially raised questions about hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars being given to a law firm and the chairman of the law firm subsequently writing a personal cheque for $70,000, said the question had to be answered but ever since has been silent.
Where there is a question to be asked she will not ask it. Where there are no questions to be answered she stands and raises all kinds of nonsense. It simply will not fly with the people of Canada.
Prime Minister March 28th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, all the information that has been asked for and each process that has been demanded by members opposite have been fulfilled. Each time information is provided or each process is fulfilled members opposite say “Let us go one step further”.
It is very clear to the people of Canada that there is no conflict here and furthermore no wrongdoing. It is quite the opposite: a prime minister who has gone through extreme scrutiny has taken the extraordinary step of giving up private information, a prime minister who has maintained his integrity after 38 years in public life.
Prime Minister March 28th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, Canadians would do well to remember that members opposite initially asked for an ethics counsellor investigation. They got it. The leader of the Conservative Party demanded that the RCMP investigate the matter. They did, and they closed the books.
The leader of the Conservative Party, an expert investigator, a private eye, then asked if the they had asked all the right questions.
They then asked for the bill of sale. They got the bill of sale. Yesterday they were complaining there were not 300 original bills of sale.
The Prime Minister has done everything but offer up his underwear and his socks in this investigation.
Prime Minister March 28th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, all these matters have been dealt with properly by all the proper authorities.
As I was listening to the Leader of the Opposition, I was reminded that I am somewhat of an expert on endangered species, and there is no doubt that what this leader and a turbot have in common is that they are both hanging on by their fingernails.
Prime Minister March 27th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, all the questions that need to be answered and that have been asked in the House over the last period of time have been dealt with this morning in the release of the documents by the ethics counsellor.
We have had questions to the RCMP. The RCMP has opened the books and closed the books. We have had the ethics counsellor. We have had a request for a tabling of the document of sale and other relevant materials. All of that has been done.
It is time for those opposite to recognize that this fishing expedition, so described by the leader of the Conservative Party, has yielded no catch. It is time to put away the poles, go back home and get back to the real work of Canadians.
Prime Minister March 27th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, the statements by the leader of the Bloc Quebecois are totally false. The facts are clear. This is my first opportunity to respond in French and I am pleased to be doing so in response to this question.
Prime Minister March 27th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, the member for Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough who sits very close to the member who just spoke said on March 26, and I think that was less than 24 hours ago, that the Prime Minister could have put this matter to rest a long time ago by providing definitively that he did not stand to gain himself by his actions by tabling a document that would lay out the details of a sales agreement he had with an individual named Jonas Prince. That is precisely what the Prime Minister has done today.
The people of Canada are tired of this nonsense. They want parliament to go back to work on behalf of all citizens of the country.