Herb Gray

[Prime Minister, April 2nd, 2001]

Absolutely not, Mr. Speaker. The response is a categorical no. He is doing a good job for all Canadians and recent polls bear this out.

[Prime Minister, April 2nd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's allegations are inaccurate. She has made two allegations and I say that she is wrong.

[Prime Minister, April 2nd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is displaying a total lack of trust in his House leader who said “Table the bill of sale and we will stop asking questions”. He should settle this issue with his House leader.

The ethics counsellor looked into the matter, as did the RCMP, and no conflict of interest was uncovered, because there is no conflict of interest.

[Prime Minister, April 2nd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, according to a poll—which is credible I hope—82% of Canadians want the opposition to move on to other issues.

The Bloc Quebecois obviously has no interest in the real issues that are important to Quebecers. Where are the questions on lumber? Where are the questions on the economy?

The Bloc Quebecois is not defending the interests of its constituents and it should apologize to its constituents, because they are not—

[Prime Minister, April 2nd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker the answer to the hon. member's question is so obvious we do not need the Minister of Industry to answer.

The fact of the matter is that the Prime Minister exerted no pressure. Suggestions to that effect came from somebody who is suing the Business Development Bank because of his losing his job. There are allegations that this particular individual inflated his pension and things like that.

The member ought to be careful about stating things as fact which have not been demonstrated as fact. The Prime Minister did not pressure—

[Prime Minister, April 2nd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I repeat that the Prime Minister's holding company sold all the shares that it owned on November 1, 1993 to the company of Mr. Prince. Therefore the Prime Minister had no interest whatsoever in the golf course from and after that point. He had a debt owing to him by Mr. Prince's company and it was eventually settled. Mr. Prince's company resold the shares that he had purchased from the Prime Minister to Mr. Michaud. I say to the leader of the Conservative Party to please address his questions to Mr. Michaud or Mr. Prince.

[Prime Minister, April 2nd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I understand there are as many as six golf courses in the area and that the auberge welcomes golfers from all the golf courses in question.

Furthermore, at the time the Prime Minister made representations for a loan from the Business Development Bank to the auberge, the Prime Minister had no ownership interest whatsoever in the golf course. Yes, he had a debt owing to him but he was not connected in any way, shape or form with the golf course. The value of the debt did not change no matter what happened with the golf course.

Those are the facts and the hon. member ought to admit this because he knows he is wrong.

[Prime Minister, April 2nd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, when the hon. member said “Table the bill of sale and we will stop asking questions”, he attached no conditions to that commitment.

Once again, the hon. member has broken his commitment and, I repeat, there is no conflict of interest on the part of the Prime Minister in this matter.

[Prime Minister, April 2nd, 2001]

Absolutely not, Mr. Speaker. The one in the awkward position is the hon. House leader, because he is the one who said “Table the bill of sale and we will stop asking questions”.

He has broken his commitment to his colleagues and to the House of Commons. He needs to withdraw his questions because he made a commitment to the House to stop asking such questions.

[Prime Minister, April 2nd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the important thing is that the Prime Minister was owed money by Mr. Prince after November 1, 1993, and this debt was paid by Mr. Prince. Mr. Prince sold all the shares he bought from the Prime Minister to Mr. Michaud on September 29, 1999. So there is no conflict of interest and the hon. member should withdraw his allegations—