David McGuinty

[Points of Order, November 23rd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order arising out of question period.

I would like to raise two matters that emanated from question period, in answers provided by the Minister of National Defence and the Minister of Public Safety. In so doing, I seek the unanimous consent of the House to table two sets of documents this afternoon for the information of Canadians.

The first has to do with an answer given by the Minister of Public Safety about the expenses by one Tony Genco, a Liberal candidate in the riding of Vaughan. The minister again today falsely declared in the House that these expenses were not a matter of public record.

I am seeking unanimous consent to table the expenses of one Mr. Tony Genco, which have been online since 2005, when he became the chief executive officer of the corporation referred to by the minister: all expenses from April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2007; April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008; April 2008 to March 2009; April 2009 to March 10, 2010; and April and May 2010. All of his expenses have been online, expenses related to travel, meetings, conferences, absolutely everything. There has been proactive disclosure. It has been there for years.

While seeking that unanimous consent, I would ask the minister to consider tabling forthwith the details about how $100 million was spent by the Conservative candidate when he headed up the OPP.

The second unanimous consent request deals with perhaps a more—

[Business of the House, November 18th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, as always, my question is addressed through you to the government House leader. In anticipation of the remaining business for this week, today and tomorrow, and going into next week, what is the government's business? Particularly, could he enlighten the House and Canadians on how we intend to continue to proceed with take note debates in the House? I know we had one just last week. There are others anticipated to come forward, for Canadians who may want to follow some of these important debates, which are usually held in the evenings.

Can he also indicate when the next allotted opposition day, for whatever party, is coming?

If I might, Mr. Speaker, ask for your indulgence for 30 seconds, I would ask the government House leader to address again the remarks made earlier today in an S.O. 31 by one of his caucus colleagues. There have been a repeated series of S.O. 31s this week addressing comments made by the leader of the official opposition, which were corrected yesterday in the Winnipeg Free Press. They quote a headline on Monday and an editorial on Tuesday that wrongly describe the Liberal leader's remarks as accusing the Conservatives of attempting to split the Filipino vote in the Winnipeg North byelection.

I think in the interest of us being accurate and fair in some of these circumstances it would be important for the government House leader to address that.

These are dangerous and divisive, racially undertoned remarks. They do not really do much for Canada. They certainly do not help any of us in this Winnipeg byelection situation. I think it would be incumbent upon the government to take some action in this regard.

[Questions on the Order Paper, November 15th, 2010]

With regard to Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC): (a) what programs at VAC are currently under review; (b) what are the current budget projections for VAC in the next three fiscal years; (c) how many staff or contract workers does the department currently employ; and (d) based on the most current projections, how many staff or contract workers does the department project it will employ for each of the next three fiscal years?

[Youth Suicide, November 15th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today with a heavy heart, to pay tribute to the Richardson family of Ottawa. This past Friday, their beloved 14-year-old daughter Daron took her own life. A beautiful girl, an excellent student, a competitive athlete, Daron was well known and well liked, which makes her passing all the more difficult to comprehend and to come to terms with.

Unfortunately, Daron's story is not unique. Canada's youth suicide rate is the third highest in the industrialized world.

I would like to commend the Richardson family for their courage and their valiant effort to raise awareness of the need to make further investments in research and treatment of mental illness for all our teenage kids.

I would ask all members to join me in extending our sincerest condolences to Daron's father, Luke; her mother, Stephanie; her sister, Morgan; and the entire Richardson family.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, November 5th, 2010]

With regard to the G8 and G20 security planning: (a) what was the chain of command for the Integrated Security Unit for these events; (b) what involvement or input did the Minister of Public Safety have in developing the G8 and G20 security plan; (c) what involvement or input did the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Privy Council Office (PCO) have in developing the G8 and G20 security plan; and (d) what interventions did the PMO, PCO or the Minister of Public Safety make during the execution of the G8 and G20 security plan?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, November 5th, 2010]

With regard to security at the G8 and G20 summits: (a) when did the government solicit proposals for security services leading up to the summits; (b) what companies submitted proposals; (c) what companies were awarded contracts; (d) what security contracts were sole-sourced; and (e) what were the total security related expenditures for the G8 and G20 summits?

[Resignation of Member, November 4th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a few moments on behalf of the official opposition to make some remarks about the Minister of the Environment, the member of Parliament for Calgary Centre-North.

I have come to know the minister over the last several years and we have occasionally been sparring partners. I have come to know him and have watched his career flourish over almost a decade, first as a member of Parliament and then as the minister of Indian affairs, the minister of industry and now the Minister of the Environment.

On behalf of the official opposition, we would like to wish him well and thank him for his years of service, almost a decade of long hours, tough travel and demanding assignments.

I did have the opportunity to work with him, as I mentioned, but one of the most memorable moments I shall never forget was watching my 17-year-old, six foot five inch son put him into the boards during the Liberal-Conservative MP hockey game. It shall be a moment I will always relish.

He has been a man of principle. I have come to respect him greatly as a person. I think all of us here on this side and all of us in the House would like to offer our best wishes to the Minister of the Environment. We wish him and his family well and I am sure his wife and daughters will be glad to have him back.

[Business of the House, November 4th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, my question is of course directed to the government House leader.

Could the government House leader give us an idea of what the balance of work is for this week, before we return to our constituencies for our constituency work, and for the week that is forthcoming afterwards, including a good idea of the nail-down date for the next opposition day motion for the official opposition? That would be very helpful so that we could adequately prepare.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, November 3rd, 2010]

With regard to veterans: (a) how many veterans currently participate in programs offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs; and (b) what is the projected number of program participants for each of the next three fiscal years?

[Business of the House, October 28th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, there are two specific points I want to raise in anticipation of the work going on this week and the balance leading into next week. The first question I would like to put again, I think it is the second or third time, to the government House leader is, can he inform the House and Canadians when he intends to bring the government's second budget implementation bill to the floor of the House of Commons to have it debated to give opportunity to all members of the House of Commons to respond to the government's priorities going forward?

The second question, more specifically, simply is, when is the government intending to bring the next opposition day to the floor of the House of Commons?