Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, you will recall that, last Thursday, the Minister of Canadian Heritage accused me of stockpiling Canadian flags sent me by her department.
I seek the permission of the House to table these flags.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 1997, with 43% of the vote.
Point Of Order February 21st, 2000
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, you will recall that, last Thursday, the Minister of Canadian Heritage accused me of stockpiling Canadian flags sent me by her department.
I seek the permission of the House to table these flags.
Supply February 17th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Since when do we have to apologize for speaking French in this House? How totally colonized.
Points Of Order February 17th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, I have always felt that the work a member does in his riding should be non-partisan. After all, we are representing all of our constituents.
In the riding of Portneuf, there are citizens who want Canadian flags and, until today, I made a point of getting them for them. There is not a huge demand, but I felt that it was my duty as an MP to respond to it.
The minister's remarks suggest that she does not feel that this is my job and I hereby announce that I am going to give her back the flags I have left.
Privilege February 17th, 2000
Perhaps the second part, Mr. Speaker—
Privilege February 17th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, during Oral Question Period, I asked the Minister of Canadian Heritage to explain the use of public funds for purposes other than those for which they were intended.
In her response, the minister reproached me for having distributed 300 Canadian flags in my riding.
I consider it my privilege to rectify both the facts and the reproaches relating to the carrying out of my legitimate duties as a member of parliament coming from the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
First of all, as far as the facts are concerned, I wish to inform this House that I received from the Minister of Canadian Heritage a single box of 75 Canada flags and not—
Heritage Canada February 17th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, I think the minister is suffering from the same syndrome as does the Minister of Human Resources Development.
The director general of the Quebec region himself complained that this use of public moneys was depriving him of money needed for his normal operations. Incidentally, since the near-victory of the yes side in the 1995 referendum, the Canada Day budget has increased by 1,120%.
Is this an illustration of Pierre Trudeau's view, who said that the best way to counterbalance the appeal of separatism was to allocate time, energy and huge amounts of money to—
Heritage Canada February 17th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, in the same letter to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, it is said that officials from Heritage Canada pose as volunteers on Canada Day, when they are in fact paid out of the department's budgets.
How can the minister explain that these pseudo-volunteers are paid time and a half for the first seven hours and then double time to work on Canada Day, this with public moneys?
Points Of Order February 16th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, certainly, when decorum is absent from our deliberations during Oral Question Period, fewer questions are asked.
It must kept in mind, however, that the objective of question period is not just to ask questions, but to get answers. The public's expectation of Oral Question Period is that it will gain a better understanding of how government and parliament operates.
I do deplore the lack of decorum, which results in not all questions getting asked. Unfortunately, answers are rarely forthcoming, and I realize this is beyond your control, Mr. Speaker, and not affected by decorum. Please excuse me for saying what I think.
Human Resources Development Canada February 15th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, in the mess at the Department of Human Resources Development, the Prime Minister has said that only 37 cases are litigious. These 37 cases come from a sampling of 459 cases taken at random from among 30,000 cases.
Equally logically, if it may be put that way, the Prime Minister could say that the findings of a recent poll of a Canadian sample of 1,007 persons, which reveals that 544 would currently vote for the Liberals in an election, could be taken to mean that, in Canada, only 544 Canadians support the Liberals.
Obviously that is absurd, but no more absurd, since it is the same logic used to state that only 37 cases are litigious at HRDC.
The Prime Minister is obviously aware of this absurdity, but he apparently thinks that Canadians are dumb enough to believe it. Treat a people with any more disdain than that and you die.
Points Of Order February 10th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs having tabled Bill C-20, denying the fundamental rights of Quebecers, I want to table a document that could greatly enlighten the House. It is an article that was published in the December 14 edition of Le Quotidien newspaper and entitled “Chrétien and Dion, names that history will not remember”. I seek the unanimous consent of the House to table that document.