Gerry Byrne

[Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, October 30th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, had the member done a little more research, he would have discovered that an independent advisory body, which provided me with recommendations, reviewed all applications. Over 154 applications were received. Funding was provided based on merit, based on the ability of the commercial entity to develop and commercialize technology that was of benefit to all businesses.

That is how the process was done, and that included this company.

[Ethics, October 28th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, my answer is exactly the same as the answer given by the Minister for International Trade and other colleagues. To the best of my knowledge I have complied with all the guidelines.

[Ethics, October 21st, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the information about the arrangements to rationalize, to diversify, the Saint John shipyard are very clear. We will engage in an environmental remediation on a cost shared basis. We will work with the Irving shipyard to look at a diversification for the economy of the province and the region. It is very simple. That is well explained within the press release that was issued to the public.

[Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, September 24th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, this is a company that is doing business in Canada. It has applied for assistance. It is reviewed by an independent advisory board, a body that provided advice without any input from us.

Quite frankly, this is a company that is doing business in Atlantic Canada and we are completely within the norm to provide this assistance based on that independent advice.

[Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, September 24th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, Techlink is a company that produces technology available for export and produces jobs in Atlantic Canada.

We get input from an independent advisory body which advises me. That advice provided a sound basis to go forward with this and that is why we approved the contribution.

[Privilege, June 13th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of personal privilege.

Today in question period there were several statements that were made in questions that were asked that had no relation to my role and administrative duties as the minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. In fact there were several statements made in question period today by the members opposite from the Canadian Alliance, that were absolutely incorrect and for which I would seek redress.

The fact of the matter is that every member of the House is also part of a political process, a political party, and has riding associations and riding offices that basically deal with the political process. Quite frankly, what has been said here on the floor of the House of Commons today is that these activities were done while I was Minister of State responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. That is categorically not true. In fact, we all have a role to play in this, but unfortunately the role that the Canadian Alliance is playing right now is just simply to try to malign my character with absolutely incorrect information. It is completely out of order.

I ask you, Mr. Speaker, to hear my point of personal privilege. The facts of the matter are that these funds were raised through the riding association. They had the full support of the riding association. That has been stated publicly and these are completely outside of my jurisdiction, my role as a Minister of State. In fact, every action that I have taken as a cabinet minister is completely consistent with the rules and the guidelines. I followed every rule and every guideline that was required of me as a member of Parliament and as a Minister of State.

Quite frankly, we know that members opposite do not practise what they preach. We also know that they do not disclose information, that they do not publish their riding associations' accounts on their websites. This is a matter that is basically done internally in their riding associations. That is the way it is done with the 1,200 riding associations or more throughout the entire country. To make these scurrilous accusations of one member of Parliament, they should look at themselves before they start making such comments.

[Fisheries, June 13th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, at the time of the closure of the cod fishery in Atlantic Canada and Quebec, the Government of Canada announced a short term program to provide income supplementation.

In addition to that, we also announced that we will be working on long term measures to be able to stabilize communities over the long term and provide benefits to those communities and individuals that will be affected. In addition to that, we recently announced an income bridging program to be able to provide some income to those affected workers while those programs were put in place.

We are interested in dealing with a wide variety of programs to be able to put in place a good comprehensive strategy for Atlantic Canadian and Quebec fishers and plant workers.

[Political Party Financing, June 11th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, there is always a time and place for supporting community events, especially when they are very important to the constituents.

I say to hon. members opposite that maybe this is a good example of how they will be supporting Bill C-24, the political financing act, because they agree with transparency.

[Fisheries, May 29th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for highlighting how seriously this side of the House has been taking this matter.

We have been working on this issue for quite some time and have a number of proposals on the table. Hard work has been done by caucus members on this side of the House. We will have specific information, in addition to the information that was provided on April 24, which we will be able to provide to that hon. member and the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, Atlantic Canada and Quebec, very soon.

[Forest Industry, May 16th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the Newfoundland and Labrador Lumber Producers Association had requested support to conduct the feasibility study on the benefits, the economic merits, of harvesting timber off steep slopes using helicopter technology.

The project was conducted. There was some slippage of funds. There was an additional amount granted to provide a full assessment. The feasibility study was not positive. What feasibility studies do is they assess the relative merits. In this particular case there was no merit to the project.