Bob Rae

[National Defence, March 14th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, on the subject of electoral fraud, the Prime Minister, on April 8, 2011, in the middle of the election campaign, talked about the F-35 contract. He said, “the contract we've signed shelters us from any increase in those kinds of costs. We're very confident of our cost estimates”. His ministers are telling us now that there is no contract, that there is no assurance with respect to cost and, in fact, that signing a contract is a matter of if and when.

Was the Prime Minister telling the truth when he spoke to the people of Canada on April 8, 2011, about a so-called contract, yes or no?

[41st General Election, March 14th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, every day, new allegations are made about the election and election fraud. There have been reports of voter suppression and of people who voted without even having the required identification. It is a type of ballot box stuffing.

Why does the Prime Minister not see the need to order a public inquiry and create a royal commission that would have the power to get to the bottom of this matter?

[Tony Silipo, March 14th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, Canada lost a fine public servant this week when Tony Silipo lost his long battle with brain cancer.

I first knew Tony well through his work in the Italian community in the west end of the city of Toronto. Elected to the legislature of Ontario in 1990, Tony served with me in the Government of Ontario as a cabinet minister with great ability and integrity in the busy and difficult portfolios of education and community and social services and went on to serve as a valued member of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal.

He was a man of great intelligence and dedication with a quiet but determined manner, which earned him the admiration of his opponents as well as his loyal supporters. A proud son of Calabria, he could laugh at himself and was always a source of advice and friendship to his colleagues and to the wider community. Much of his work went unheralded since self-promotion was never his trademark.

We send our deepest condolences to his wife and family and hope that the memories of better times and the support of loved ones and friends will make this terrible loss more bearable.

[Member spoke in Italian as follows]

Vai in pace fratello.

[Protecting Air Service Act, March 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, obviously the party opposite knows nothing about irony, because on the one side it says what I just noted, and on the other side it says that this economy cannot possibly withstand a work stoppage at Air Canada, that there is no possible way to withstand it.

I ask the parliamentary secretary this simple question. If Air Canada is an essential service, which is essentially what the Government of Canada is now saying, why not declare it an essential service and give the workers the equivalent right to strike instead of this terrible improvisation and imposition it is making? The government is making a travesty of labour relations, it is making a travesty of collective bargaining and it has nothing with which to replace it.

[Protecting Air Service Act, March 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to say a few words and ask the member a question.

What I find contradictory in the government's position with respect to Air Canada is simply this. On the one hand, the government, including the Minister of Finance and everyone else, is saying how strong and robust the Canadian economy is, how well things are going, how Canada is leading the way, how we are ahead of the G7, ahead of the G8, ahead of the G20—

[41st General Election, March 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the government, the Conservative Party, today our party revealed all the calls that we made. We told Canadians exactly how the Liberal Party operates. The same cannot be said of the Conservative Party. The Conservative Party did not do the same thing; it did not provide the information in the same manner.

Why is the Conservative government continuing to refuse to establish a royal commission on this issue?

[41st General Election, March 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the point is that if we want to actually get at the truth with respect to what took place in the last election and go beyond just what took place in the last election to give us guidance with respect to what needs to take place in the future, the Prime Minister knows as well as anyone else in this House that it requires a royal commission and that Elections Canada alone cannot do that.

Why is the Prime Minister refusing to call and establish a royal commission? Why will he not do that?

[41st General Election, March 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister can make all the allegations and all the smears that he wants. The point has to be made clearly--

[41st General Election, March 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, there is a court order to the Conservative Party in Guelph requiring production of documents. That is the court order that is in place. That is why they are co-operating with elections Canada with respect to what took place in Guelph: they have to. They have no choice.

I still did not hear the Prime Minister clearly answer the question that was posed to him. It has to be answered again.

Why is the Prime Minister refusing to set up a royal commission to look at what has happened and to establish new rules and new ways of ensuring a really fair election process in Canada? Why is the Prime Minister refusing to do that?

[Emergency Debate, March 12th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the hon. member would agree with me that this ideological attempt by the Conservative Party to simply throw all the responsibility onto the provinces and then to blame a particular company for a particular problem is in fact a complete evasion and abdication of responsibility on the part of the federal government?

Whatever the Prime Minister may like to think, the Government of Canada has a major responsibility and role in the health care system. It is a regulator. It is speaking to something which has been deemed by Canadians to be a key aspect of Canadian citizenship. It is also a large provider of health care to veterans and to aboriginal people. It can no longer abdicate this responsibility.

In that regard, I wonder if the member would not agree with me that this particular federal government has completely failed in its responsibility with respect to the safe supply of drugs?