Lee Morrison

[Canadian International Development Agency, June 2nd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday's question period brought back fond memories of when the current Minister of Human Resources Development was minister in charge of the CIDA cesspool and I was the critic.

The Prime Minister makes much of the fact that there were three bidders for the infamous Mali contract. He has apparently forgotten that those three companies, all from the same region, were hand-picked by the minister, who then told the House, “I have no recollection of only three Quebec firms having been kept on the short list”. Other competitors including at least one better qualified than Transelec were not even allowed to bid.

The bad odour from that saga forced CIDA to rewrite its rules for tendering.

It was well known that at that time the prime qualification for a large CIDA contract was a substantial donation to the Liberal Party. What was not well known until recently was that doing business with the Prime Minister was much more useful.

Long live pork barrel politics.

[Government Contracts, June 1st, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, my supplementary is to the Minister of Human Resources Development.

The minister said in the House last October 9, “The Prime Minister has never lobbied or influenced me. Good projects are part of the role of a good member of parliament”.

Given that the minister prides himself in his objectivity, will he tell the House whether or not the Prime Minister or his representatives ever approached him for a CIDA contract for Claude Gauthier and his company?

[Government Contracts, June 1st, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, this question is to the Prime Minister.

Claude Gauthier purchased half a million dollars worth of land from the Prime Minister's golf course. Coincidentally, it was just a month after his company received $6.3 million in a CIDA contract.

The Prime Minister makes a lot of his ability to represent his constituents. Did he ever make representations on behalf of his constituent, Gauthier, to the minister then responsible for CIDA, the current Minister of Human Resources Development?

[Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, May 28th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, no legitimate financial institution would even consider giving a refill to a company that has already stiffed it once. When will this minister take some responsibility? When will he decide that the taxpayers' money should be guarded and not handed out to friends of the government?

[Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, May 28th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the minister in charge of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

ACOA has been noted for handing out its largesse to losers. It picks losers very carefully. Now we have an example of a bankrupt recipient coming back for a refill. Heritage Woodworks, an ACOA beneficiary in Eastport, Newfoundland, went belly up a few years ago. Now its offspring, Heritage Manufacturing, operating out of the same building, with the same machinery—

[Port Authority Boards, May 28th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, patronage appointments to the new port authorities are getting completely out of hand. We are not naive on this side of the House. We do expect a little bit of this stuff. However, there must surely be somebody out there, who is not a Liberal, who could chair one of the new port authorities. He does not have to be a well known Liberal operator like Mel Woodward or Merv Russell for example.

I have a news flash. Patrick Wong, former member of the Fraser River Harbour Commission and an executive of the B.C. Liberal Party, has been appointed to the Fraser River Port Authority Board and is now the chairman. In 1996 and 1997 he and his accounting firm donated $5,380 to the Liberal Party.

The creation of new port authorities was supposed to take politics out of the ports, but the slimy dance continues.

[Points Of Order, May 27th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the government House leader made a very clear and distinct inference that my party had accepted money from a federal agency, not a crown corporation but a federal agency. He was very specific.

I would like to ask the government House leader if he would table the document—

[Donations To Political Parties, May 27th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, we are very aware that these federal agencies are not crown corporations, which is the whole crux of this matter. We want to know if these federal agencies will be subject to the edict that was issued with respect to crown corporations. Does this ruling of the House leader apply to them? Does it apply to the commissions and the port authorities? When can we expect the money to be paid back to the public treasury by the Liberal Party?

[Donations To Political Parties, May 27th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport. In 1996 and 1997 three federal agencies, the harbour commissions of the Fraser River, Oshawa and Thunder Bay, donated $5,780.94 to the Liberal Party. The members of those three commissions were all, naturally, ministerial appointees.

Does the minister think that was a proper use of public funds?

[Points Of Order, May 26th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, during question period I raised a question regarding the disbursement of public funds and was ruled out of order for doing so. The business of the House is to consider how public money is spent. By what criteria did you shut me down?