House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2008, with 36% of the vote.
Business of Supply May 28th, 2008
Mr. Chair, I rise on a point of order. The finance minister and now the parliamentary secretary quoted from a report that I gave the Minister of Finance in April of 2006. I am flattered that they would now finally read the report, but if they are going to quote a part of it, could you please instruct them to at least quote an entire sentence.
Business of Supply May 28th, 2008
Mr. Chair, that was not enough time.
Business of Supply May 28th, 2008
Mr. Chair, on a point of order, the questions asked of the minister are simple, short, direct questions. We are here to discuss a very specific thing in a very specific forum. Mr. Chair, direct him to answer.
Business of Supply May 28th, 2008
Mr. Chair, Dr. Mike Popovich asked this question, “Ask the minister why he considers RRSPs to be tax exempt in his calculations of tax leakage when it comes to income trusts, when Revenue Canada considers them to be tax deferred”.
Business of Supply May 28th, 2008
Mr. Chair, I rise on a point of order. I believe the rules state clearly the minister cannot answer for any longer than the duration of the question posed to him. He exceeded on that.
Business of Supply May 28th, 2008
Mr. Chair, I am sure Ben would have found that most instructive and fulsome. It is unfortunate he chose to answer that way.
Let us try again. This is another question actually from the same person. He follows up, “Please ask him”, the minister, “how we the people can identify the promises made during the next election that are true and sincere as opposed to the ones uttered in the quest for power”.
Business of Supply May 28th, 2008
Mr. Chair, I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Willowdale and the hon. member for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine.
I do respect the Minister of Finance. I certainly respect anyone who is a minister and carries a load, particularly the finance portfolio. I admire him for standing here tonight and answering all these questions even though we know he has to. He has to face people who want to see him fail or see him embarrassed, and it is not easy being under attack. We all know that. I think that mindless partisanship is probably poisoning this House, so tonight I would like to pose some questions to the minister in the spirit of non-partisanship. I will do that because they are not even my questions.
Earlier today I asked on a blog if average Canadians would send in questions for the minister. These are Canadians who will probably never have an opportunity to meet this gentleman and never would have an opportunity to stand here and ask him questions. I have a few from average individuals.
This question is from Ben: Was the decision to break the solemn income trust election promise vetted by the Prime Minister? Will the minister confirm that the Prime Minister was an essential part of the decision making process that did so much damage to Canadians?
Foreign Affairs May 27th, 2008
Just pick one, Peter. Just try one.
Automotive Industry May 13th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I am not afraid to stand on my feet, unlike the Minister of Finance.
However, here is a very interesting statistic. The average family in Canada makes $60,000. The average speech writer for the Minister of Finance makes $300,000. The average auto worker needs to be efficient and skilled in order to keep his job. The average speech writer just needs to be a Tory.
We know the Minister of Finance will stick his neck out for his favourite people. What is he actually going to do for Canadians who work?
Automotive Industry May 13th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, while the Minister of Finance was speaking to his Bay Street buddies yesterday, it was another bleak day for auto workers in Windsor. They join 112,000 who have lost their good manufacturing jobs in just a year, victims of an overinflated dollar, bad economic policies and a minister who does not care.
This is 1,400 families, 1,400 mortgages and 1,400 Canadians. How can he justify doing nothing?