Bill Casey

[Privilege, November 29th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I want to confirm that I was at that meeting as well and the rules were clarified, actually by a senator, prior to the vote. Nobody abused or contradicted the rules. The rules were followed exactly.

The newspaper article says that the committee broke the rules and that only Liberals followed the rules. That is absolutely wrong. Everybody followed the same rules. The newspaper article also says that the member for New Brunswick--South Shore did it by using a “sneaky move”. That just is not a reflection of what really happened and I believe the member for Saint John should apologize.

[Question No. 12, November 22nd, 2004]

With respect to the recent fire aboard Canada's submarine HMCS Chicoutimi: ( a ) what steps did the government take to retrieve both HMCS Chicoutimi and the crew, including a description of what personnel, equipment and assistance were deployed and/or offered to the British armed forces in support of the rescue operations; and ( b ) which tests were conducted on HMCS Chicoutimi prior to its departure for Halifax, Nova Scotia?

[Points of Order, November 17th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, all I want the minister to do is acknowledge that I first approached her in her seat on October 6, not yesterday.

[Points of Order, November 17th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration said during question period that I asked her yesterday for a ministerial permit for my constituents, a desperate family of four in my riding, the Heidi and Holger Renner family, who are about to be deported. If the minister spoke truthfully, she would have said that I approached her on October 6 when she was in her seat in the House. Forty-two days ago I raised this issue with her.

Yesterday I received 19 letters of support for the family. I gave the letters to her for this desperate family, Heidi and Holger Renner. I think it is shameful that she would compare this desperate family with her problems with an exotic dancer.

[Supply, November 15th, 2004]

Madam Speaker, I want to point out to the parliamentary secretary that the allegations were made by the captain of the submarine Victoria . He suggested that the ammunition was not stored in compliance with ammunition regulations. He also said that the situation on the sub was unacceptable and it was a class-wide issue.

Perhaps the parliamentary secretary would commit to provide the report that overrules the statements of the captain of the Victoria on the unsatisfactory condition report. The parliamentary secretary said that they went over that and decided he was wrong. I would like to have a copy of the report that overrules the captain.

Another thing I wonder if the parliamentary secretary could help me with is this. On February 9 the Minister of National Defence said that the contract to refit the Preserver was scheduled to be completed on November 19, which is Friday. The contract is to be completed at a cost $18,003,609, HST included.

Could the parliamentary secretary provide us with an answer now? Will the Preserver contract be completed on Friday? I know he had no notice this would happen. Perhaps he could commit to provide us with the answer if he does not know the answer.

[Supply, November 15th, 2004]

Madam Speaker, on October 8 I raised a question about oxygen generators aboard our Victoria class submarines, but that was not the first time I have raised it. I raised it in March in the House of Commons in regard to a dangerous situation with the submarines. Then I met with the previous minister of defence in his office at DND for a couple of hours to talk about the possibility of a dangerous situation in existence on our submarines. We went through an unsatisfactory condition report that was dated October 16, 2003, which was written by the captain of one of our submarines and stated that there was a dangerous situation on the subs with respect to these oxygen generators.

We did everything responsibly to try to bring to the minister's attention that there was a dangerous situation on the subs. I think we did it in the right way. I took the minister up on his invitation to come to his office at DND and we went through each sub, actually, and the condition and status of each sub.

We asked the minister directly about the oxygen generators. At the time we did not get an answer. What I wanted to know was whether the unsatisfactory condition report was followed up and whether the changes were made as was recommended in that unsatisfactory condition report. I did not get an answer. That was in April.

Now we are in October. On October 8, I asked again about it and in fact previous to October 8 I asked about this situation. Was the safety report followed? Did the government pay any attention at all to it? Of course I did not get an answer at the time, either in the House or anywhere else.

But then, after I asked the question many times, the Halifax Chronicle-Herald reporter dug around and did get an answer on whether the report was heeded or not. The headline in the Herald on October 14 says it all: “Sub safety order was ignored; Navy denies ammunition lockers played role in Chicoutimi fire”. Obviously this was after the Chicoutimi fire, so that was the answer to my question. The safety orders were not complied with. The recommendation of the captain of a sub who said he had a dangerous situation in his boat was ignored. Then, of course, the navy denied that the ammunition lockers played a role in the Chicoutimi fire, but we found out a little later that in fact the oxygen generators did play a role in the fire.

Going back to the Halifax Herald article of October 14, I would like the minister or the parliamentary secretary to answer this question. Why was the safety order ignored with respect to these oxygen generators?

[Fisheries and Oceans, November 5th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, years ago the Department of Fisheries and Oceans failed to correct a very obvious contradiction in the description of a fishing zone off Prince Edward Island. It had one version in English and a completely different version in French. This contradiction has now caused hard feelings between fishermen in P.E.I. and in New Brunswick. Tempers are rising. The situation is getting very controversial.

DFO created this problem. Will the minister now fix it?

[Supply, November 4th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the member mentioned that the premier of Newfoundland and Labrador was a little bombastic. I do not argue with that, but that strategy was very effective. It certainly focused attention on the commitment that was made during the election which is what we should be talking about and not the offer that is on the table today.

The member suggested that the Liberal leader from Nova Scotia should accompany the premier and the leader of the NDP on this exercise, but Mr. Mackenzie said they should grab the $640 million now and keep negotiating for the rest. Mr. Mackenzie said in the Halifax Herald :

Definitely not give up $800 million, but right now let's get the $640 million moving first,--

Mr. Mackenzie has already acknowledged the $800 million, but he is saying to get the $640 now and hope they can negotiate the rest. We are trying to get the Liberals to keep a promise they made in June. If we cannot get them to keep that promise, why would we ever think they would keep another promise?

[Supply, November 4th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member told me one time he does not like to clean his car, so we would have to take that into consideration when we made our deal.

It is exactly the same thing. He still does not get the point. If I made a deal with him today for a certain amount of money for a certain car and he came back tomorrow to pick it up and I had a different car and asked for more money, he would be wild. I think he is a little wild now, but he would be even wilder. That is the whole point. Nova Scotia and Newfoundland made a deal. The Liberals said, “You give us your votes and we will give you this deal”. We did and they did not keep their end of the bargain.

[Supply, November 4th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, that is exactly the point. We in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and all of Atlantic Canada want economic independence. We want to be sending money back. We do not want to take money. We want to send it back. We want to be in a position to do that, but under the current formula it is absolutely impossible and will never happen.

The member for Cape Breton—Canso has given me a chance to read out this sentence, again from the article about Mr. MacKenzie, the leader of the Liberal Party in Nova Scotia:

Mr. MacKenzie said the province should take the $640 million now and keep negotiating for the rest.

So even the Liberal leader acknowledges that they are leaving some on the table and says that somehow we will negotiate for the rest. He is acknowledging it is there, but says we will not take it and we will make a deal with the Liberals and hopefully get it later on.