Jean Chrétien

[Immigration, April 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what the Deputy Prime Minister is trying to do with his counterpart in the United States, to sign an agreement on that. The member says it would be very easy. It is exactly what the Deputy Prime Minister is trying to do and it is not easy at all.

[Immigration, April 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, we are trying to negotiate an agreement with them.

The reality is that when they come to Canada, they have to come from the United States to Canada. That does not mean they were in a safe haven in the United States. It is the physical situation that they were arriving from the United States. When we want to return them, it is complicated. We want to have an agreement to achieve reciprocity in that field so every situation is in reverse. We would take theirs back if they were to take ours back.

[Immigration, April 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, if the refugee claimants are crossing the border between Canada and the United States, it is because they are coming from the United States. If they come in a plane and they land, they might come from somewhere else and if they are swimming, I do not know from where they would be coming.

It is pretty clear. Yes, we have returned a lot of people who have claimed to be refugees who have come from the United States, landed in Canada, applied for refugee status and were refused. This is the law that is in operation in Canada. We are receiving a lot of--

[Child Protection, April 24th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of Justice said a minute ago, the people who are putting shame on themselves are the opposition members by using an extremely difficult issue. They distort the situation in order to try to score cheap political points. The reason they have no credibility is that the people know the kind of people they are.

[Government Expenditures, April 24th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the member picks one year. He should look at when we started. We were spending $121 billion. Eight years after that we were back at the level we were when we started. It is the way that we have managed here on this side as the government to balance the books and have surpluses.

[Microbreweries, April 24th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I know that the hon. member already regrets what he said.

[Microbreweries, April 24th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I thought we were no longer living in the 19th century. I think that a woman can serve parliament, while her husband can earn a living honestly outside parliament.

[Microbreweries, April 24th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons clearly indicated that this issue is not included in the bill.

Also, the hon. member involved met with House of Commons lawyers to get an opinion on her status regarding this matter. Moreover, it is not just the hon. member's report, but the report of all the committee members.

Why target an hon. member when the recommendation was made by all the members of the committee? Why tarnish someone's reputation with unfounded accusations?

[Leadership Campaigns, April 24th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, they always use the word corruption, about anything. They should have the guts to make an accusation and prove that the minister has a conflict of interest.

What they do is just throw mud which hurts all members of parliament. Perhaps the hon. member should read the statement made by the leader of the Bloc Quebecois, who said that type of frivolous accusation reflects on all members of parliament, including those who do it.

[Leadership Campaigns, April 24th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, that accusation is not factual. No wonder people do not believe in the integrity of the members of parliament. Again I want to repeat that this is a volunteer who is working for a volunteer organization, who is trying to do something good for the citizens of Toronto. To make a link like that, making accusations, I can understand that with that type of mentality they will have no problem with future conflicts of interest because they will never be on this side.