House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2011, with 56% of the vote.
Public Works and Government Services May 16th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, at one time the member opposite was on the government side of the House. When he was here, he should know there is a difference between a letter of intent, an agreement in principle, and Treasury Board approval. In fact, there has not been a formal deal put forward and approved on the former JDS Uniphase building.
Budget Implementation Act, 2006 May 12th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I find it interesting after hearing a speech like that, when the purpose of the House is to actually have intelligent debate about legislation. All the member opposite for Markham—Unionville did is attack motives with black helicopter conspiracies about why we put forward this budget.
The fact is that this budget will help Canadians. It is good for the economy and it is good for every region of the country. The government is lowering taxes for every Canadian in every income group through lower sales taxes and a lower income tax that is going from 16% to 15.5%. Net taxes for every single Canadian will be lowered.
The member is right in one sense, Conservatives are pushing forward this budget to speak to our base. Our base is the entire country and the Canadian people. The polls show that the country is responding well to this budget.
This is one thing that I found very interesting. Since January 23, when we have been on this side of the House and the Liberals are now on that side of the House, perhaps for hopefully a very long time, the Liberals all of a sudden have all these great ideas.
We have noticed in question period and in their speeches, such as the one we just heard, that the Liberals say that they promised to do this and the Conservatives are doing that. It does not matter what a Liberal promise is, it matters what gets delivered. The Conservative government is delivering to Canadians.
I see the member for Malpeque promising, while in opposition, with vim and gusto about what a great plan the Liberals now have for agriculture. For 13 years, when he was on the government side, the Liberals and he failed Canada's producers and agriculture sector. In the budget we put $1.5 billion into the agriculture sector. This is good for Canada's economy.
The member for Markham—Unionville talked about how the Liberals had all these great plans for Canada's youth. We are giving a $500 tax credit for the cost of amateur sports, to encourage physical activity, to help youth and support Canadian families.
I know the Liberals believe in a government run nine to five day care. We believe in empowering parents, so that they have more power and choice in how they want to raise their kids, and how they want to build their own families, not a government run bureaucratic day care empowered by the Liberals to manage people's families.
My question for the hon. member is, why does he not get it, Canadians support this budget? It is going to become law and Canada is going to be the better for it.
Public Works and Government Services May 10th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I will make it clear to the member for Ottawa Centre for the third time today: there is no deal.
If there is a deal, this government will do what we have committed to do, which is that we will get the best value for taxpayer dollars. I see the member is holding up a sheet of paper. If it is the same one that he had yesterday, it is wrong, and if he asks the question again tomorrow, he will still be wrong.
We will do what is right for taxpayers and we will get them a good deal.
Public Works and Government Services May 10th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, two days in a row and three questions in a row, the member for Ottawa Centre has his facts completely wrong. The member went out to the lobby in the foyer of the House of Commons and handed out documents that were out of date and incorrect.
The facts are that the deal has not been done. Taxpayers' dollars have not been spent.
The former minister of public works missed an opportunity to purchase a building for $30 million. What we are doing is getting the best deal possible for taxpayers. When that deal is completed, Canadians will be able to see it, and the hon. member from the NDP will see what a good deal looks like.
Public Service May 10th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, the government agrees with the longstanding principle that 75% of the jobs should be on the Ontario side and 25% on the Quebec side. In fact, the opposition member is mistaken. Today, 77% of the jobs are on the Ontario side and 23% on the Quebec side. These figures were the same when the Liberal government was in power.
Public Works and Government Services May 10th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot of speculation and rumour about this file but there is one fact. The fact is that no deal has been made on the former JDS Uniphase building. The member's speculation about the $600 million is in fact not true.
What is true is that this Conservative government will do what the Liberals did not do, which is get good value for taxpayer dollars in every deal we sign.
Public Works and Government Services May 9th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, for many years the Liberals dropped the ball on this file and still no deal has been signed. Once a deal has been signed the details will be known and we will have a full debate on the issue.
Public Works and Government Services May 9th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, no determination has yet been made on this project. When a determination is made, the details of that will be made public.
Government Contracts May 8th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, with respect, the preamble to the question is all over the place and just factually wrong. The government is going to do everything in its power to ensure taxpayer dollars are well spent and spent in the best interests of all Canadians.
Government Contracts May 8th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, of course, as all Canadians know and certainly the New Democrats know, after 13 years of mass corruption and unaccountability from the Liberal Party, we have put forward the federal accountability act, which will address the problems that have accumulated over the years with regard to procurement. We are doing everything we can to ensure taxpayers' dollars are well spent. That is in the best interests of Canadians. We will take no lessons from any Liberals on this issue.