House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2000, with 54% of the vote.
Ethics Counsellor November 2nd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, for the first time we have an ethics counsellor who will report to the House of Commons once a year. He is there to advise everybody, including myself.
He gave me advice and he gave advice to other people. It is up to the person who received the advice to keep it or not, but at the end of the day the decision is made by the minister or by the Prime Minister. In this case it is me and I am not afraid to take my responsibility.
Ethics Counsellor November 2nd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, the ethics counsellor has the mandate to report to the House of Commons once a year. He is invited to give advice to all sorts of people. Members of Parliament, ministers, everybody can consult him before doing something. These are private conversations, for example, with any member of Parliament who has a problem with conflict of interest. He is there to give advice but he does not have to report on every case. He gives advice to people. He gave advice to me.
At the end of the day I am responsible. Yes, I said the buck or the puck stops with me and I do not run away when it is coming.
Ethics November 2nd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I do not want the Reform Party to change its policies and divert. It has the right policies to lose the next election so badly that we are supporting Reformers to stick to these policies. This is why we want them to stay on it.
I made the decision about this problem and I have informed the House of Commons many times. The answer is that I have not asked the minister to resign and he is still a minister.
Ethics November 2nd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, we have a very competent cabinet.
Ethics November 2nd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Beaver River for getting up and giving us a lesson.
Yesterday she made an accusation that was completely false. It was on national TV and she does not even get up to apologize. I do not want an apology from her because I do not need an apology from her.
Ethics November 2nd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I have said everything I have to say. We talked to the ethics counsellor. I said to the House that I have consulted a lot of people in my life. I know one thing. At the end of the day, I am responsible. There is no fall guy in this. We have debated that. We went a long way. I have asked every cabinet minister to look over the files and to say whether they have written letters. It is an open process. These documents were public at any time.
If the Reform Party is so smart, why did it not go to the CRTC? These documents were public. Those members did not do their job. We had to tell them what the facts were. We were not trying to have a set up person.
Ethics November 2nd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, we are looking at the next election anxiously because a lot of you guys will not be there.
We have been in government for a year and Canadians are quite happy with the government. Never has the confidence in the nation been as high as it is today. We have growth in the economy and the mood of the country is very good. I can see why the Reform Party is going fishing when it dropped in the polls from 19 to 11.
Ethics November 2nd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I have asked the minister to be careful but there is no accompanying prohibition for ministers. We have tabled in the House some letters by ministers in support of cases from their constituents. We have debated in the House the problem of members of Parliament who become ministers remaining members of Parliament in our system.
I have asked the ethics counsellor to work on some guidelines so that members who are ministers can serve their constituents at the same time as serving the government. The guidelines will be ready in a couple of weeks.
Ethics November 2nd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I am responsible to the people of Canada.
I appreciate the frustration of the leader of the Reform Party. He and his party are out fishing and catching no fish. That is their problem. However I do not want to get mad.
When the member for Beaver River yesterday made an accusation in relation to me she forgot to tell the nation in the accusation she made in the House today that the judge apologized to me and the Globe and Mail apologized to me. Not only that, the Globe and Mail paid me money because they had made an error.
Ethics November 2nd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I would like to say that we seek advice. The ruling is the decision of the Prime Minister and this Prime Minister makes decisions. He was not called upon to rule. He has no right to rule. I have the right to rule and I made a decision.