Herb Gray

[Ethic Counsellor, June 16th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I point out again as I pointed out yesterday that the dinner was not organized by the Government of Canada. The Government of Canada did not send out the invitations.

The material my hon. friend is seeking is not under the control of the Government of Canada. At the same time information has been provided and certainly I will be happy to see what further information is provided.

My hon. friend in his question says he has respect for the parliamentary system. The hon. member's question showed just the opposite. He lacks that fundamental respect. He ought to start showing some if he is serious about what he says.

[Ethic Counsellor, June 16th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, first I do not accept the accuracy of the innuendos and allegations in the premise of the hon. member's question.

Second, the Prime Minister has said that in a parliamentary system he has to take the ultimate responsibility for his cabinet and he cannot evade that responsibility. While he has carried out his promise to appoint an ethics counsellor, he still has to carry out the responsibility which is that of a Prime Minister in a parliamentary system.

If my hon. friends agree with our parliamentary system, they would agree with the Prime Minister.

[Ethics, June 16th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, that promise remains valid. It is being carried out.

There is one interesting thing about the hon. member's questions. They show that she on behalf of her party and her party are totally satisfied with the way we are handling the economy. They show that she and her party are totally satisfied with the way we are handling the reform of social programs. They show that they are totally satisfied with the way we are handling our relations with other countries.

Because of the way she chose the priority of questions in the House on behalf of her party, she is doing nothing more than giving a general endorsement of the work of the government and we appreciate that endorsement.

[Ethics, June 16th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, we have kept that promise, as we have kept generally the promises on which we campaigned.

Just to take the example of the role of MPs, we changed the rules of the House to enable measures to be sent to committees before second reading to enable members to play a bigger role in committees in the development of legislation.

We changed the rules of the House so that committees could develop legislation. That was done for the first time in the history of the Parliament of Canada.

We are also treating Private Members' Business, measures presented by members individually, on a free vote basis in every case, something never before done in the history of Parliament.

Instead of being blinded by her own innuendoes and prejudices, the hon. member should look at the facts and recognize the achievements of the government.

[Ethics, June 16th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, in spite of the unfounded innuendo of my hon. friend, the facts of the matter are that this government treats matters of ethics and integrity very seriously and gives them a high degree of priority.

We have great confidence in the way we are responding to what the Prime Minister said a year ago. Those words remain as valid today as they were a year ago.

[Leclerc Institute, June 16th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I do not have this information with me, but I will get in touch with my hon. colleague later to give him the name of the members of this commission of inquiry. At the moment, there are only allegations, but we are taking them very seriously.

[Leclerc Institute, June 16th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, a special commission of inquiry was established at the end of April to investigate all of these allegations. We expect it to complete its investigation shortly, and I will do everything possible to bring the conclusions of the inquiry to the attention of the hon. member.

These allegations are very serious, and we are treating them as such. That is why the commissioner established a special commission of inquiry several weeks ago, at the end of April of this year.

[Business Of The House, June 15th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I think that a motion for extended hours was approved by the House. Therefore, we intend to use the time as fully and as fruitfully as possible to achieve as much progress as possible on important legislation in the public interest.

If my hon. friend would like to discuss this further, I am sure I or the deputy House leader or the chief government whip would be happy to carry on consultations behind the curtains.

[Business Of The House, June 15th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to provide the weekly business statement.

The first bill we will deal with this afternoon is Bill C-41, the sentencing legislation. After six hours of debate, pursuant to an order of this House we will vote on the motion for third reading of this bill.

Our next priorities are completion of the consideration of the Senate amendments to Bill C-69, concerning redistribution; completion of report stage of Bill C-85, the pension legislation; and the report stage of Bill C-89, the CNR bill.

We are also eager to make progress on Bill C-87, regarding chemical weapons; Bill C-86, concerning the Canadian Dairy Commission; Bill C-82, regarding the mint; Bill C-91, concerning business development loans; Bill C-88, regarding internal trade; and a number of other bills that have been placed on the public record several times over the past week.

I hope this will help hon. members to plan their time between now and tomorrow. Actually I should say between now and June 23. We will be happy to continue our consultations with the opposition parties on the arrangement of House business and the making of progress on legislation in a way the public expects from us.

[National Parole Board, June 15th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, the report of the investigation into this matter says that the parole board applied the criterion of the protection of the public as its main guideline.

I am not in a position to comment on the RCMP's involvement or non-involvement in the matter.

At the same time, this happened before the government took office. I want to ensure, in so far as I am able to do so, that the circumstances which led to this tragic occurrence do not happen again. I am glad to have the hon. member's concurrence in this concern of mine.