James Moore

[Public Works and Government Services, October 22nd, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague has managed to get it exactly wrong. What we are doing is increasing accountability. We are listening to the Auditor General. We are doing what Canadians want us to do, which is to have clear lines of accountability and responsibility between departments.

We are the government that appointed a procurement ombudsman. We are the government that created the code of conduct for procurement. We are the government that passed the Federal Accountability Act.

We have no lessons to learn on accountability of procurement from Liberals. We are the government that is getting the job done for Canadians.

[Committees of the House, October 17th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 109, I wish to table two copies, in both official languages, of the government's response to the 15th report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on Chapter 5 of the November 2006 report of the Auditor General of Canada, “Relocating Members of the Canadian Forces, RCMP, and Federal Public Service”.

[Questions on the Order Paper, June 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the response is as follows: Office Space: a) Expiring leases in calendar year 2006: 68* (57 NCA Ontario and 11 NCA Quebec) b) Expiring leases in calendar year 2007 : 64 (56 NCA Ontario and 8 NCA Quebec) c) Expiring leases in calendar year 2008 : 93 (87 NCA Ontario and 6 NCA Quebec) d) Vacant premises in NCA for 2007: 5 (4 NCA Ontario and 1 NCA Quebec)

Commercial Space: a) 125 leases signed by the government expiring in 2006 in the NCA Ontario and 43 leases signed by the government expiring in 2006 in the Outaouais region; b) 115 leases signed by the government expiring in 2007 in the NCA Ontario and 15 leases signed by the government expiring in 2007 in the Outaouais region; c) 28 leases signed by the government expiring in 2008 in the NCA Ontario and 9 leases signed by the government expiring in 2008 in the Outaouais region d) 34 vacant premises in the NCA Ontario and 1 vacant premises in the Outaouais region in 2007.

*For this report, we assumed that each available option would be exercised. Between June 2006, the date on which question No. 59 was answered, and December 31, 2006, PWGSC amended four leases that were expiring in 2006 to postpone the end date to a subsequent year. The consequence of doing this was that the number of expiring leases was reduced on response a) of question No. 213.

[British Columbia, June 18th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, in last year's election we promised we would stand up for British Columbia and deliver results: promise made, promise kept.

We promised dredging on the Fraser River, done. We promised to back the 2010 games, done. We promised to back the Pacific Gateway, done, and with $400 million in extra money. We promised to cut taxes and pay down Canada's debt, done. We promised action on softwood lumber and the pine beetle, done. We promised to get tough on crime, done. In fact, we have tabled more meaningful justice bills in the last year than the Liberals did in the previous 13 years. We promised to protect our coast, done. With new coast guard vessels and a ban on sewage and pollution dumping on our coast, we took action.

The facts are clear. Conservatives know British Columbia. We are standing up for B.C. and we are getting results for all British Columbians.

[Defence Construction (1951) Limited, June 14th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I arrived in the House about a minute too late for tabling of documents and I would like to table in the House of Commons two copies of the annual report on the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act for Defence Construction (1951) Limited for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2007.

Therefore, I would ask for the unanimous consent of the House to table this report.

[National Defence, June 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I will say again what I said yesterday. Our government is keeping all its promises to our armed forces. We are going to provide them with all the equipment they need. We are going to follow all the Treasury Board processes and respect taxpayers. Our armed forces need new equipment, and we are going to give it to them in a way that respects taxpayers.

[National Defence, June 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague used the figure of 41%, which he also used a few days ago, but it is not at all correct. The fact is that our government is making good on its commitment to rebuild the Canadian Forces. In the past year, this government has met the military's needs for new equipment and has made the most significant investment in the Canadian Forces in a decade. The figures my friend is using are not at all correct. We are giving our Canadian Forces all the equipment they need.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2007, June 12th, 2007]

That's wrong. It's in the budget.

[National Defence, June 11th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, re-equipping our armed forces and getting them the tools and resources they need to fulfill the good work they do for the Canadian people is being done through a competitive process.

There are of course times when contracts have to be sole-sourced because only one person or one company can provide the equipment that our troops ask the government to provide them. At every opportunity for a competitive process, a competitive process is used. When there has to be a process through sole-sourcing, it is always done in order to get the best value for taxpayers' dollars.

We are following all measures of accountability. We are re-equipping our forces. We are doing what Canadians elected us to do.

[National Defence, June 11th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, we are doing things in an open and transparent way. We are getting value for taxpayers' dollars.

After 13 years of Liberal cuts to our armed forces, we think it is time to have a federal government that stands by its forces. That is what Canadians voted for when they elected a Conservative government and that is what we are delivering. In fact, I have a quote here that states:

Over the past thirteen years Liberal governments have cut back resources to the Canadian Forces...because a philosophical choice was made to diminish the military's place in Canadian society....

Who said that? Former Liberal defence minister David Collenette.