Alexandre Boulerice

[G8 Summit, October 18th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, let us see whether the Conservatives’ new CEO knows how to manage. The member responsible for the department of Muskoka must explain to the House, and not in committee when he decides to do it, why he intervened in the Gravenhurst project. Why did he put that project in the building Canada fund? It is not just the NDP asking questions. At this very moment, the project is under police investigation.

Is the minister for Muskoka going to show that he has more backbone than the Liberal Party and rise to reply?

[National Defence, October 17th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, we suspect that the government's chief operating officer likely followed the lead of the Associate Minister of National Defence. His department just spent—or wasted—$375,000 setting up new offices for assistant deputy ministers. That is the price of a new house for a Canadian family.

While so many people are having trouble making ends meet, how can the minister explain excesses such as planned helicopter rides, the use of the Challenger and renovations that are costing taxpayers an arm and a leg?

[G8 Summit, October 17th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the President of the Treasury Board used a $50 million slush fund to award untendered contracts, give jobs to his friends and build an Olympic-sized arena, gazebos, a media centre that was never used and a campus that students do not go to. Last week, he described himself as the government's chief operating officer. First, that is very telling. Second, now we know why the President of the Treasury Board is not rising: his title has changed.

Now, can the government's chief operating officer stand up and explain himself?

[G8 Summit, October 6th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear. It is the Muskoka minister who misled the Auditor General. After 119 days, he should explain himself.

The Auditor General said, “We received a small amount of documentation which wasn't, frankly, relevant to the question”. The Auditor General also said that these were unique examples of bureaucrats being shut out.

If the minister will not stand up, will the Minister of Foreign Affairs explain why he approved these projects that broke all the rules?

[G8 Summit, October 6th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, there is something new. Yesterday, the Auditor General said that he tried to obtain additional information from the President of the Treasury Board. The Auditor General just wanted some documentation explaining the decision-making process, but he came up against a brick wall. We know why: the minister was managing this budget from his riding office.

If he has nothing to hide, why is he refusing to give the Auditor General all the documentation? What is the President of the Treasury Board trying to hide?

[Keeping Canada's Economy and Jobs Growing Act, October 6th, 2011]

Madam Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to point out that the minister scolded us a few minutes ago for voting against infrastructure investments. But that should not surprise them. We know this government has a habit of bending the rules, diverting funds and using infrastructure programs to shower gifts upon their friends, as the member for Parry Sound—Muskoka has done. It is quite disturbing.

Yesterday, the Auditor General said, yet again, that the rules had been broken. We need a responsible, accountable, transparent government. But that is not what we are getting with the Conservatives. The official opposition, the NDP, is asking for more time to study the budget implementation. This budget makes poor choices, is full of holes, has the wrong priorities and gives billions of dollars in tax cuts to banks and big oil, which have no need for them. This budget does not fulfill any of the real needs of the people. It ignores poverty and social housing. It makes no mention of the environment, research and development or the future. We need more time because we do not want to leave any stone unturned. We want to ask the government all the right questions.

[President of the Treasury Board, October 5th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Foreign Affairs must be starting to get really tired of standing and answering questions about his neighbour's emails.

The mayor of Huntsville learned his lesson: if you are planning some funny business, make sure you cover your tracks. The Information Commissioner is justifiably worried about that statement and the fact that the minister is determined to cover his tracks.

Does the President of the Treasury Board believe that he, too, needs to learn how to better hide the truth?

[President of the Treasury Board, October 5th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, if only the member for Parry Sound—Muskoka were capable of defending himself.

We have learned that the mayor of Huntsville is clearly embarrassed by the email exchange between him and the President of the Treasury Board.

Can the minister stand and explain to us how these emails prove that the Prime Minister's Office was involved? How they prove that the minister wanted to block a spending review? Does the President of the Treasury Board agree with the mayor of Huntsville that Bell Canada stocks will go up when politicians like him learn to use the telephone to hide their unsavoury activities?

[G8 Summit, October 4th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, as usual, the Minister of Foreign Affairs is putting on a good show. However, what Canadians want is transparency and the truth. It was not this minister who wrote those emails. He did not attend the meetings. And, contrary to what the Minister of Foreign Affairs claims, the President of the Treasury Board told the mayor that the Prime Minister's Office would determine the budget. He even wrote that.

Is that why the minister is not allowed to answer the questions? Is it because he revealed that the Prime Minister's office was involved in the scandal.

[G8 Summit, October 4th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, it sounds as though the Minister of Foreign Affairs is going through customs: he has nothing to declare. I know why, because he was not present at the meetings where the scheme for the G8 summit was worked out. The Auditor General was unable to establish who approved the budget for the G8 slush fund. However, in the documents we obtained, the minister clearly told the mayor that the budget would be determined by the Prime Minister's Office.

If the Prime Minister's Office did not determine this budget, can the minister rise and explain his email?