Gilles Duceppe

[Afghanistan, November 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, they are denying that were any reports when 18 reports were sent to the Privy Council. We know that the Prime Minister has very tight control over information. Everything is centralized in his office, which makes all the decisions. And they would have us believe that he was not aware of such reports at the Privy Council. That does not hold up.

Will the Prime Minister and his minister admit that this defence does not hold up and that they are trying every which way to hide the truth from us?

[Afghanistan, November 19th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, diplomat Richard Colvin swore under oath that he reported allegations of torture against Afghan detainees in 18 reports sent to Rick Hillier, the then chief of defence staff, and David Mulroney, the Prime Minister's defence adviser at the Privy Council. According to Mr. Colvin, in March 2007, the government strongly urged him not to put information about Afghan detainees on paper.

Does this not prove that the Prime Minister wanted to bury the whole affair, since it had to do with war crimes?

[The Environment, November 18th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the reason the government is constantly putting off introducing a regulatory framework with absolute greenhouse gas reduction targets is that it would have an economic impact on the oil companies.

Will the government admit that it is acting solely in the interests of the oil companies, at the expense of the environment and the economy of Quebec?

[The Environment, November 18th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Chinese and American presidents have publicly stated that they want to make the Copenhagen summit a success. They have said that they want to reach an agreement on climate change that would have an immediate impact. That is leadership.

The Canadian government cannot be said to be showing leadership when it is constantly coming up with ridiculous excuses for not tabling its plan to fight climate change.

In light of the statement by the American and Chinese presidents, will the government stop trying to sabotage the Copenhagen summit at all costs?

[Nuclear Energy, November 17th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I am not asking the minister if she is proud of the Candu technology. I am asking her if it is responsible to sell nuclear weapons to a country that has not signed the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Canada is losing all credibility, especially considering the situation in Iran.

How can we say anything to Iran when we are selling weapons to a country that refuses to sign that treaty? Should we not insist that India sign the treaty before we sell them our reactors?

[Nuclear Energy, November 17th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister wants to take advantage of India's economic boom and sell Candu nuclear reactors to that country, whose electricity needs continue to grow. Yet India refuses to sign the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. In the past, that country has even used the Candu reactor's civilian nuclear technology to build a nuclear bomb.

Is it not irresponsible on the part of the government to sell nuclear reactors to a country that has not signed the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, especially considering India's dubious past in that regard?

[The Environment, November 16th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Environment has stated clearly that he is open to discussions about climate change, but that oil sands development must not suffer. Since the oil sands are largely responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, this amounts to saying that the minister could not care less about climate change.

Will this government admit that its priority is to sabotage the Copenhagen summit at all costs so that Canada can keep on polluting with impunity?

[The Environment, November 16th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, while countries like France and Brazil are working to reach a concrete agreement at the Copenhagen summit, Canada is taking a blatantly counterproductive attitude on the international stage. The Prime Minister even took advantage of his presence at the APEC summit to immediately rule out the possibility of an agreement on greenhouse gas emissions in Copenhagen.

Will the government admit that it is trying to destroy any chance of reaching an agreement in Copenhagen just to please its friends, the oil companies?

[Political Party Financing, November 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, 17 members of the Mathers family each gave Claude Carignan $1,000, 14 of them on the same day, September 19, 2008.

Did the Prime Minister check this disturbing information before appointing Claude Carignan to the Senate?

[Political Party Financing, November 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, TVA is reporting that Senator Claude Carignan received political donations totalling nearly $90,000 in seven days when he was the Conservative candidate in Rivière-des-Mille-Îles in 2008. Among the contributors were members of the Mathers family, who own several businesses in Saint-Eustache.

Is the Prime Minister not concerned that this could be a strategy to circumvent the political party financing legislation?