David Dingwall

[Ethics Counsellor, May 31st, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member takes an allegation to the floor of the House of Commons.

The hon. member will be aware the subject matter is under investigation. It would be most inappropriate for a minister of the crown to comment on that.

The hon. member had an opportunity on a previous occasion before the Standing Committee on Government Operations to put questions he deemed appropriate and sufficiently important to the president of Canada Post Corporation.

If the hon. member has evidence of those allegations, I would be happy to forward those to the appropriate individuals. This activity took place a considerable time ago and is presently being investigated by the proper authorities.

[Ethics Counsellor, May 31st, 1995]

No, Mr. Speaker.

[Points Of Order, May 16th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, it is not unparliamentary and if the hon. member finds the tone somewhat offensive I would gladly apologise to the hon. member. Perhaps the next time he might want to select a different source.

[Contracting Guidelines, May 16th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, the House should be aware that the hon. member is basing these allegations on a very reputable source he has been able to come up with in the last number of weeks. That source, of course, is Frank magazine.

I want to suggest to the hon. member that my department does in excess of 350,000 contracts a year, and at any given time there will be a number of individuals who are not very pleased with the fact that they have not won a contract. Six proposals were submitted and this one was selected based upon the best value for the taxpayer's dollar.

I think the particular awarding of the contract has been done appropriately, and the investigations I have been able to come up with confirm that. However, if the hon. member does have something substantive, other than references to Frank magazine, I suggest he put up, or he knows what he should do-shut up.

[Contracting Guidelines, May 16th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, yes, the hon. member is quite correct. A contract was awarded on January 24, 1995. The hon. member forgot to tell the House that six proposals were received and this one was selected.

We did have a file review by an internal audit group. The review indicated there were no irregularities in the contracting process. I would suggest that if the hon. member has evidence to the contrary he should share the evidence with members of the House so we could have a thorough investigation.

[Agusta, May 16th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, this is the third or fourth time that members of the opposition have raised this issue. Unfortunately I am going to have to give the same answer to the hon. member.

The hon. member is making reference to "no compensation for anybody", a phrase which was used by the Prime Minister. However the Prime Minister went on to promise that his ministers involved in those talks would ensure that we "pay not a cent more than we are absolutely required to pay".

What we are doing under the contract which we signed with that company is paying termination costs, which every government must pay. That is not pay for future work, that is payment for work which has been completed or which was being completed upon termination.

[Agusta, May 15th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has made reference to two individuals, neither of whom I have seen, heard, or communicated with since I have become a minister of the crown.

I want to assure the hon. member that whatever a particular company does or who it hires is certainly its prerogative. There have been no representations made to me as a minister of the crown regarding that particular incident.

[Agusta, May 15th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member will know that under the terms of the contract there are various provisions whereby the Government of Canada must provide some funding to the contractor.

The Prime Minister's statements were made with that in mind. We are proceeding with our negotiations as we would proceed under any other normal circumstances upon the termination of any contract with the Government of Canada.

[Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, May 10th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon.

member for the unexpected question and share with members of the House that the Atlantic region is the only region of the country that does not have a venture capital fund.

On behalf of the Government of Canada and the four Atlantic premiers I met with representatives of the chartered banks. We had a very comprehensive and detailed discussion on such a proposed fund as an Atlantic venture capital fund. We assured representatives of the banks, I on behalf of the Government of Canada and the premiers on behalf of the provincial jurisdictions, that in no way would governments want to operate such a fund as the Atlantic venture capital fund.

As a result a working committee has been struck. It is being led by the president of ACOA. We are working on a regular basis with the banks.

I hope in due course I will be able to come back to the House and provide more details relating to the Atlantic venture capital fund enhancing opportunities for businesses in Atlantic Canada.

[Agusta, May 10th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, very briefly, a contract was consummated. A contract has now been nullified. We are in the process of negotiating that contract. When it is complete the House will become aware of its details.