Jan Brown

[Crtc, June 20th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, we are focusing on this draft of final cabinet orders. That is the focus of the question.

Keith Spicer's office at the CRTC today confirmed the orders it received were the final orders.

The minister cannot hide behind the Broadcasting Act on this one. What we have here is yet another example of how the government and this minister are wishing to push aside Parliament, ethical standards and the ethics counsellor in order to further their own political agenda and benefit their own political friends.

Why is the minister fast tracking this directive and ignoring the parliamentary and Senate committees which he initially asked to review the directives?

[Crtc, June 20th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we learned that in its haste to help out government friends and relatives of Power Corp. the heritage minister presented a draft final cabinet order on direct to home satellites to the CRTC before the parliamentary process was completed.

The heritage minister has allowed the process to be tainted from the outset. He had private meetings with Power Corp. and he is letting the CRTC now run amok and again he has violated procedure.

I respectfully request that the Minister of Canadian Heritage respond to this question. Why is the cabinet sending draft final orders which benefit Power Corp. to the CRTC before the parliamentary process is complete?

[Expo 2005, June 19th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, last Friday we learned that Quebec City lost its bid to host the 2002 Winter Olympics. We all agree Canada lost a tremendous opportunity to showcase its talents to the world when it lost that bid.

However, Canada can still showcase its talents to the world by hosting Expo 2005. Calgary has a volunteer corps that will guarantee Expo is a tremendous success. It has the financial backing of the city and the province and would be a great Canadian showcase for a world's fair.

Let me remind everyone the heritage minister promised to follow the recommendation of the Reid committee, which recommends Calgary as the best choice to host Expo 2005.

Over three months ago the heritage minister promised to make a speedy announcement. The minister's dithering has tainted the selection process and is jeopardizing Canada's chances of winning on the international scene.

I strongly urge the heritage minister to finally keep a promise, to announce Canada will sponsor an Expo bid and to choose Calgary as the city that all of Canada supports to host Expo 2005.

[Petitions, June 12th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I rise before the House again today on what has become a crusade to obtain justice for the victims of violent offenders. Every day

since February 6 a petition has been tabled. Today's petition contains 1,257 names of constituents, all of whom wish to halt the early release from prison of Robert Paul Thompson.

The petitioners I represent are concerned about making our streets safer for our citizens. They are opposed to the current practice of early release of violent offenders prior to serving the full extent of their sentences.

I, along with my colleague, will attend Robert Paul Thompson's National Parole Board hearing tomorrow in Renous, New Brunswick. I pray that the decision arising from that hearing will support the actions of these petitioners.

[Minister Of Canadian Heritage, June 12th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, it seems that everyone in the country knows that the heritage minister should resign except the cabinet. Liberal backbenchers are saying that the contracts for dollars dinner was unethical and so are newspapers and Canadians across the country. The Friends of Canadian Broadcasting is asking for the minister's resignation. The Montreal Gazette , Le Droit , the Citizen , the Sun , La Presse and Le Journal de Montréal are all expressing similar sentiments.

With Canadians calling for the resignation of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, how can the Prime Minister keep on a minister who is awarding contracts to companies organizing fundraising dinners for him?

[Minister Of Canadian Heritage, June 12th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.

Regarding the contracts for dollars dinner held for the Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Prime Minister stated that all the information is public. The Deputy Prime Minister stated that the Minister of Canadian Heritage would be happy to make public all the information.

Clients of the department were specifically targeted and invited to contribute. We are discovering, one name at a time, who contributed and what rewards the minister gave. The Liberal whip said the names of contributors have been tabled in the House and yet they have not.

Who is on the contributors' list that the Prime Minister is hiding from us? Who else has been rewarded with contracts, grants or appointments for contributing to the minister's debt retirement fund?

[Robert Paul Thompson, June 12th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, the government has a unique opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to judicial reform in Canada.

Robert Paul Thompson has applied for early release and tomorrow the parole board will hear his application. I will be in attendance at this hearing in Renous, New Brunswick, along with his victim's mother, Helen Leadley.

Let the government and the parole board never forget that Brenda Fitzgerald was an abused and battered woman who ultimately lost her life in her battle against Thompson.

Thompson's violent rages are almost incomprehensible. In his anger and jealousy he alone was able to overcome three others, and with only a knife as his weapon.

I will be in attendance at tomorrow's hearing to confirm my commitment to Helen Leadley and to her family. I made a commitment to victims of crime to ensure violent offenders such as Thompson are not released.

Will the government also make use of the opportunity tomorrow and keep a convicted killer in jail?

[Minister Of Canadian Heritage, June 8th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear about what the issue is. It is not about contributions made to political parties. It is about the misuse of a cabinet minister's position to reward those who contribute to his election debts and to the Liberal Party.

It has been reported that this is not the only dinner that Mr. Gervais has organized involving client interest of the department.

Will the minister confirm that other dinners were organized for similar purposes, one prior to September 18, 1994 and one recently this year?

[Minister Of Canadian Heritage, June 8th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, the previous response of the Deputy Prime Minister illustrates exactly what the government's problem is. It is the inability to discern between legitimate political fundraising and influence peddling or at least the appearance of it.

Every contributor to this event who has been made known to us has received a contribution from the minister, these being taxpayers' dollars through grants and contracts. That is a fact.

The minister and the Prime Minister have stated that all information is public, yet the minister's office refuses to make public the names of those who attended.

Will the Minister of Canadian Heritage table in the House today a list of who was invited to the dinner, who actually attended the dinner, who contributed to the dinner and all the contracts they received from the minister and the department? Yes or no?

[Government Funding, June 8th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I want to address a concern being expressed by many Canadians regarding the Prime Minister's national priorities.

Until he invoked closure three times today the Prime Minister thought he enjoyed considerable popularity. Soon that will only be among canoe makers. After all, there has never been a Prime Minister in Canadian history who ever reached deep enough into the pork barrel to fund a canoe museum. This action occurs at the same time the Prime Minister cuts spending grants to the museum assistance program, the main support for the country's public museums and galleries.

We have a Prime Minister who yanks money from museums and galleries across the country and dumps that money into Shawinigan to build a canoe factory virtually guaranteed to draw nothing but dust and flies and perhaps the odd Liberal seeking employment as a canoe museum curator.

We wonder after today's election if it is the Prime Minister's intention to fund a museum for extinct Liberals in Ontario.