Mr. Speaker, in spite of the artificial indignation of the hon. member I think the prudent thing to do is to check the facts of the situation. Obviously we do not support anything involving abusive material for young people.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2000, with 54% of the vote.
Health February 15th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, in spite of the artificial indignation of the hon. member I think the prudent thing to do is to check the facts of the situation. Obviously we do not support anything involving abusive material for young people.
Health February 15th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, I will be happy to take the question as notice. First I want to check the facts of this matter.
Government Of Canada February 15th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, these suspicions are ill-founded.
Tim Naumetz wrote today in The Ottawa Citizen :
Despite Mr. Day's accusation that Mr. Chrétien met with the immigrants who invested in Mr. Gauthier's companies, his deputy leader later said she did not know the identity of the investors.
“I'm not aware at this time who the actual investors are,” said Ms. Gray. “I'm not alleging a whole lot here. I'm trying to join the dots. There are a lot of names floating around, but I'm not aware of any of those.”
I rest my case.
Government Of Canada February 15th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is that this contract was awarded by competitive bid to a firm which I understand had extensive experience in this area. I would be happy to have the minister for international development supplement my answer with additional facts, but I think I have put the facts on the table of the House today.
Government Of Canada February 15th, 2001
The hon. member is again misquoting and misstating the position of the ethics counsellor. The ethics counsellor had made some speculative hypothetical comments. When it came to his ruling on the basis of his careful investigation, not once but twice he said that the Prime Minister had not breached any rules and did not own the shares in question after 1993. He has not, I submit, been in control of any investor funds. They came under the Quebec provincial government program which is administered by that Quebec provincial government.
Government Of Canada February 15th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, I am sure the President of the Treasury Board is seeking good advice wherever it is.
In that regard, I wonder if the Leader of the Opposition is seeking the advice of the people who took part in the recent poll in Alberta which passed quite a judgment on him. It is causing him to hang his head today I am sure.
Government Of Canada February 15th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, if the Leader of the Opposition really wants to give credit to the government, why does he not also give credit for our work on health care, for our work on tax cuts, for our work on the economy, for our work on the environment and for our work for children and justice? We deserve equal credit for these measures.
Because the Leader of the Opposition has not mentioned any of these things for days, and his lead critics have not mentioned anything on these for days, it means that he agrees with us and with Canadians that we are doing a good job. Thank you Mr. Leader for this strong endorsement of our programs.
Ethics Counsellor February 14th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, I ask the hon. member why he does not clarify and withdraw the erroneous statements on which he bases his question.
The ethics counsellor did not find what the hon. member asserts. The ethics counsellor found that the Prime Minister acted perfectly correctly and perfectly properly.
Ethics Counsellor February 14th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is as out to lunch in the Alliance Party as he was in the Conservative Party.
He is quite wrong in saying that the Prime Minister solicited investor funds or solicited funds from the Business Development Bank. This was confirmed by the ethics counsellor. What I said yesterday is correct and what he says today is wrong.
Business Development Bank Of Canada February 14th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, the simple fact is that the Prime Minister sold his shares before becoming Prime Minister.
I am advised that all relevant documentation has been reviewed by the ethics counsellor who told the industry committee of the House on May 6, 1999, that he had seen the agreement of sale. He described it as follows: “It is unambiguous in language. It is fairly simple. There is no basis for anybody trying to say that there was an option aspect to it. It was a sale and it was an unsecured sale. I know the Prime Minister does not own the shares and has not owned the shares since November 1, 1993, which from my point of view is the only—”