House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2000, with 55% of the vote.
Acoa May 2nd, 2000
Mr. Speaker, members of the official opposition, who of course want to do away with ACOA, who want to do away with all of the regional programs, who want to cut $3 billion from the benefits of our senior citizens, should examine the question they are asking today.
Prior to the last federal election—
Acoa May 2nd, 2000
Mr. Speaker, both the auditor general and the public accounts clearly show that the system in effect prior to the Liberals coming to power in 1993 was not acceptable. That is why we spent a lot of time, practically a year, to completely revise the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.
If I get another question in a minute, I will outline exactly what those changes were.
Acoa May 2nd, 2000
Mr. Speaker, the recent reports of the auditor general and the public accounts both show one thing, that is, there was a period of time when ACOA did spend a lot of money and it was not exactly on good investments. What was that period, as defined by the auditor general and the public accounts? The years 1991 and 1992 when the political party was in that the hon. member wishes to unite with.
Acoa May 2nd, 2000
Mr. Speaker, there is a byelection in St. John's West and what we are seeing today is politicking. It was the great Lennox Lewis who coined the word “politricks”.
I mention Lennox Lewis because he started his boxing career in Atlantic Canada and he clobbers his opposition. That is exactly what we are going to do to the hon. member's party.
Merchant Navy Veterans April 6th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, the guidelines, the method of payment, the amount of the payment and the review period were all determined by veterans organizations representing the merchant navy, the legion and the Council of Veterans Organizations for all of Canada.
They sat down and decided the rules. I am their servant. They are my boss.
Merchant Navy Veterans April 6th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to report to the House that so far we have sent out 1,000 cheques to our merchant navy veterans.
I have no reason to believe that all of the merchant navy veterans who have been identified will not get their full 100%, and that is because of the excellent work done by the veterans' organizations and the all-party standing committee of the House, which brought this issue to a successful conclusion.
Acoa April 3rd, 2000
Mr. Speaker, for weeks and months now the Reform-Conservative alliance has been demanding an end to all federal programs that have to do with creating employment in high unemployment areas, where people are on EI and we see a great many poor people with children.
This party has now gotten itself a niche in Canadian political philosophy, and that niche is solidly to the right of Attila the Hun.
Atlantic Canada April 3rd, 2000
Mr. Speaker, if the jobs are not created, the company does not get the money. It does get money, which amounts to 12% of the total wages over a period of five years, if there are full time jobs. A full time job is defined as 40 hours a week for 52 weeks of the year and the wage is 20% higher than the average wage in Cape Breton Island.
That political party should be praising the Prime Minister for the innovative and positive way of creating jobs.
Atlantic Canada April 3rd, 2000
Mr. Speaker, for the unemployed and the poor, the difference between this government and that political party is glaring. This political party says yes to job creation in Cape Breton Island. That party says no to the poor and the unemployed. It does not even say, “Let them eat cake”. It says, “Let them starve”.
Atlantic Canada April 3rd, 2000
Mr. Speaker, under that party's philosophy the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Those members have said no to the unemployed in Cape Breton. They have said no to assistance for farmers, fishermen and miners. But the Liberal MPs on this side of the House say yes when Canadians are in trouble and that is why Canadians will say yes to Liberal MPs in the next election.