Chris Warkentin

[Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, June 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal leader said Canada has become a laughing stock of the world. How dare he?

How dare he come back to Canada after being away for 34 years, after calling himself an American, after accusing his fellow Canadians of living in a fantasyland, after calling our flag a pale imitation of a beer label, and call Canada a laughing stock?

This is a country with the best managed economy in the G7, that is weathering the global economic storm far better than others, a country that is rebuilding its military, defending its Arctic sovereignty and asserting itself on the world stage, a country that has welcomed hundreds of thousands of new Canadians just last year. We are one of the most peaceful and prosperous nations the world has ever known.

The Liberal leader should know that Canada is no laughing stock. Canada is strong. Canada is proud. Canada--

[Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, June 4th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, could we see the clock as 6:30 p.m.?

[Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, June 4th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I listened with interest to my colleague across the way. I have a great deal of respect for the hon. member. However, what I heard was a lot of information on issues outside of the bill. Let us just remind members what we are exactly looking at.

There are a number of provisions within the bill that Canadians across the country, from coast to coast, have called for over the last number of years. Finally they have a government that has acted, and it seems like enough members of Parliament support the efforts that so many Canadians want.

First, there is a one year mandatory prison sentence for those people who deal drugs on the street when they do it combined with the efforts of an organized criminal organization or they carry a gun or some type of a weapon in the process of trying to traffic those drugs.

Second, there is a two year mandatory minimum sentence for dealing drugs such as cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine to our young people. I am certain, Madam Speaker, you have followed with interest the epidemic of our young people who become addicted to drugs and in some cases have their lives destroyed as a result of drug addiction. It concerns me that we would not, as parliamentarians, believe a two year sentence is not an appropriate sentence for somebody who would give a substance that would destroy the lives of young people.

There are three other provisions and I will get through them quickly. We have a provision that involves people who have more than 500 plants of marijuana in a grow op, so those are organized crime events. Also there is the date rape drug. We are going after those people who are trafficking the date rape drug. I cannot imagine that any parliamentarian would stand in this place and say that we should not protect our young men and women from this drug, which only has one purpose. What would the hon. member have to say about that?

[Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, May 29th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal leader seems to be a fan of cover-ups. Perhaps he is just paranoid.

The Liberal Party of Canada had its legions of lawyers attempt to stop the use of a video clip that its leader had during the time that he spent on C-SPAN. The lawyers from C-SPAN said that they had no problem with the Conservative Party using this clip, saying, “It's the highest form of speech...political speech”.

Trying to crush free speech is draconian. Trying to hide the Liberal leader's remarks, of which there are many on the public record from his time in the U.K. and the U.S., surely needs to be explained.

Clearly, the Liberals are trying to hide their leader's statements when he called America his country. Is that because the only thing he missed while he was outside of our country was Algonquin Park?

Their leader said that he was not worried about his time outside of Canada. So, why are the Liberals and their lawyers trying to stop Canadians from learning about their own leader's real record?

[Nuclear Liability and Compensation Act, May 28th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I ask that the division on the motion be deferred until Monday, June 1, at the end of government orders.

[Customs Act, May 28th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the member discussed at length many issues unrelated completely to the bill we are discussing this morning. Because he did not have the opportunity to speak to that during his lengthy discussion and ramblings, I would like to ask him this question. What is the Liberal position or maybe his own position as to what technical changes within Bill S-2 he would like to see modified or changed? Is he specifically supporting the changes and provisions within this bill and does his party intend to support this bill?

[Points of Order, May 4th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I stand on a point of order with regard to the comments made by the chair of the government operations and estimates committee.

In his tabling of the report, he commented that the committee was disappointed in some actions of the government. I first want to make a clarification in terms of his remarks.

I sit on that committee and the committee is in no way, shape or form disappointed in the least. There was no discussion within committee about the disappointment it had with regard to the minister or the executive.

I want to read from page 375 of Marleau and Montpetit, which might help the hon. chair in terms of the clarification of his point. It reads:

However, even if a document is technically due during the adjournment period, a Minister still has the option of waiting until the first sitting day following the adjournment to table it in the House or deposit it with the Clerk.

This may help to alleviate any concerns the chair of that committee may have with regard to the tabling of the document. However, I assure everyone again that no committee member had expressed any disappointment in the way the document was or was not tabled in the House or sent back to the committee.

[Health, April 29th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, could the minister please provide an update to the House with regard to her work with the Mexican government? I know the Mexicans have previously asked us for assistance in determining if they were experiencing a human swine flu outbreak.

Could the Minister of Health tell the House whether the Mexican government has asked the Canadian government for help yet again.

[Taxation, April 27th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, $20 billion of additional tax cuts by the Conservative government will leave more money in the hands of Canadians. It will assist to help the economy to grow during these tough economic times.

However, the Liberal Party has a plan for dealing with the economic situation as well. It plans to raise taxes on Canadian families. The Liberal leader recently said, “We will have to raise taxes”.

Anybody with a basic understanding of economics knows that cutting taxes, like our Conservative government is doing, encourages economic growth, while raising taxes, like the Liberal Party is pushing for, discourages economic growth. This is not the time to be discouraging economic growth.

Canadians have a right to know how many taxes the Liberals want to hike, how much they will raise them by and which Canadians they will go after to get more money under the new Liberal tax grab.

[Business of Supply, March 24th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, during this process we will not compromise accountability. We believe it is critical to strike the right balance between the rapid delivery of stimulus measures and the appropriate due diligence and transparency. We have established clear conditions for the use of this vote to ensure the appropriate checks and balances are in place.

This fund can only be used for economic action plan initiatives announced in budget 2009, which has been passed by this Parliament. Every initiative funded from this vote requires approval of Treasury Board. Existing policy requirements on accountability and reporting must be met. For example, grants and contribution payments are subject to the transfer payment policy. The use of this vote is time limited as well. Funds can only be allocated between the dates of April 1 and June 30, 2009.

This economic crisis is an example of why government needs the ability to quickly and prudently respond to events that we see developing. Today because of the government's drive for more efficient and effective management within the public service, departments are better equipped than ever before to manage this process.

Over the past three years we have improved financial management standards across government. Departments now have independent internal audit committees that include members from outside the government. There are chief financial officers in every department. In addition, under the management accountability framework, the state of financial management and control within departments is assessed annually by the Treasury Board Secretariat.

Based on these assessments, large departments and agencies representing more than 90% of government spending have improved in areas of financial management and controls. Recent financial management and control indicators rated “acceptable” and “strong” are now up to 90% from 59% in the 2006-07 fiscal year. This government believes that responsiveness and responsibility should define the public service. This is the vision that has guided the transformations we have put into place here in Ottawa. This is truly the way forward.

This economic crisis is not of our making, but it is a true test. This is truly where the rubber meets the road. This is why we have shown Canadians that we are managing the economy and society in a new way to ensure that ongoing competitiveness and prosperity is given to every Canadian.