House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2000, with 54% of the vote.
Health December 3rd, 2002
Mr. Speaker, we will meet with the premiers at the end of January or perhaps in early February. We will sit down with them and try to work together on finding a solution that will benefit health care services across Canada.
We managed to come up with an agreement in October 2000. I am confident that everyone will work in the interests of patients, medical service providers and all citizens and will do their best to avoid constitutional squabbles.
Kyoto Protocol November 27th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, I hope Mr. Mulroney will not run against him to be the leader of the Tories.
I want to say that we have talked with the provinces. The Tory administration did that after Rio. We have talked since Kyoto. There have been 10 years of discussions and we have decided to ratify the Kyoto agreement. A lot of people already realize that the best thing on that file is to make sure that uncertainty disappears, that we proceed quickly so we will be able to meet the targets for 2012 and that we have enough time to put all the mechanisms in place. I am sure Canada will rise to the challenge.
Kyoto Protocol November 27th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, first, I am very pleased to hear the Conservative Party leader talk about carbon sinks, because this is a major victory for this government. We convinced foreign governments to give us credits for carbon sinks, which represent about 60 megatonnes.
As to how these credits will be divided between the provinces and the central government, this is something that we are prepared to discuss with the provinces.
Kyoto Protocol November 27th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, as regards Kyoto, we are prepared to sign bilateral agreements with each of the provinces if they want to, and also with the various sectors of the Canadian economy.
We only have 10 years to adapt. We will have a vote very soon, I hope, in the House, so that we can ratify the Kyoto protocol. This will help us sign agreements at the earliest opportunity and eliminate the uncertainty that creates problems for everyone.
By voting immediately, we will ensure that all sectors of the Canadian economy know exactly what to expect.
Budget Surplus November 27th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, what we have done to manage public finances has been to take the $42 billion deficit we inherited when we took office and put the fiscal house in order. And the provinces greatly benefited from this, because when we took office, they were paying 11.5% interest on their debt, while now, it is down to a mere 5% or 6%.
Budget Surplus November 27th, 2002
Indeed, and that the selection of Mr. Romanow was approved by the premiers.
Mr. Romanow was very interested in this problem. He had indicated his interest, and several premiers recommended him to me. I knew him and thought he would make a good commissioner. We will receive his report tomorrow and will determine what in that report we can or cannot accept.
Budget Surplus November 27th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform the hon. member that the Romanow commission was a suggestion of the provincial governments and that—
Budget Surplus November 27th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, when we met in September 2000, we came up with an agreement. Each of the premiers present signed it. At one point, they were running after me in the hallway to speak with me. The Premier of Quebec was adamant at the time that the federal government must do something, which we did, and he congratulated me publicly. I hope the member can recall this.
Budget Surplus November 27th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, I am always very honoured when I am criticized for having to manage a surplus. As for whether of not we managed it well, I believe that it was split about 45-55%. It is impossible to calculate it down to the penny, but we kept our promise to divide it between tax cuts, debt repayment and investments to address existing problems in the country.
Health November 27th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, there is not a day that we come to the House when the opposition party members are not always complaining that they are afraid of a deficit that never comes or that we are spending too much. However, they want more money for this and more money for that. There is not a week when we do not have a request from the official opposition of $3 billion, $4 billion, $5, billion, or $6 billion of new spending.