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Crucial Fact

  • His favourite word was question.

Last in Parliament May 2004, as Progressive Conservative MP for Calgary Centre (Alberta)

Won his last election, in 2000, with 46% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Member for LaSalle—Émard September 23rd, 2003

Mr. Speaker, in February 2002 the then minister of finance formally declared that through Sheilamart Enterprises he owned 438,210 preferred shares of Passage Holdings which owned Canada Steamship Lines. Now he has told the ethics counsellor that he has cut all formal ties with CSL, yet his lawyer's letter to the ethics counsellor makes no reference to Sheilamart Enterprises.

Would the government inquire of the ethics counsellor and then report to the House what happened to the shares in Sheilamart Enterprises? Were they cashed out in Canada or abroad? Were they transferred in some unrecorded transaction? Where did they go?

Points of Order September 19th, 2003

No, sir.

Points of Order September 19th, 2003

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order.

Points of Order September 19th, 2003

Mr. Speaker, I am seeking the guidance of the Chair as to how we deal with a ruling by the Speaker that suggests, I think for the first time in a long time, that an issue relating to the truthfulness, the reliability of information given to the House of Commons by a minister, is not a point of order but is instead simply an extension of debate.

There is a clear principle in the House of Commons that we have a right to rely upon the accuracy of information given by government ministers. In this case directly contradictory information has been given by two ministers on precisely the same question. One of them, sir, prima facie, is misleading the House.

You, Mr. Speaker, have argued that is not a point of order and I am asking your guidance as to how we secure a review of that ruling which suggests that what to most of us would appear to be prima facie, a major point of order, cannot be raised in the House on those grounds?

Privilege June 13th, 2003

Mr. Speaker, on the alleged point of privilege raised by the minister, I heard him make no specific denials. I heard him make several general accusations against members of Parliament, unnamed or unknown.

A factor to be borne in mind here is that it has been during his conduct as Minister of State that he has issued statements about this affair that were contradictory in several matters. I understand the point that he is trying to make, that these transgressions occurred before he was a minister of the Crown. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has made the same kind of attempt to avoid responsibility for his actions. Whatever he did as a private member, it is clear that as a minister he has been engaged in his role as minister in issuing contradictory statements that made it more difficult for the House of Commons to come to a clearer knowledge of the facts in question. That, sir, is a ministerial breach in which the House has a very--

Foreign Affairs June 13th, 2003

Mr. Speaker, the last formal bilateral meeting between the Prime Minister of Canada and the President of the United States was on September 9, 2002. We know President Bush deliberately cancelled his planned visit here, but the problem goes beyond President Bush.

I put a question on the order paper asking which foreign leaders the Prime Minister spoke to by telephone during a critical five week period in the Iraq crisis. The answer was that he made only 13 calls that included any reference to Iraq. The government would not say who he talked to because “that would be injurious to the conduct of Canada's international affairs”.

The Prime Minister is not doing his job. Why do his colleagues not--

Foreign Affairs June 13th, 2003

Mr. Speaker, for years the name that symbolized Canada's role in the world was Lester Pearson. Today it risks becoming Alfonso Gagliano. That moves Canada from being a leader to being a laughing stock. Time magazine's cover story on foreign policy asks, “Where has Canada gone?”. Now the United States compares our record in fighting the modern slave trade with that of Rwanda and Bangladesh. That is because the government pays more attention to photo opportunities and patronage than it does to foreign policy.

Why will the government not put Canada's interest and reputation first and simply fire Alfonso Gagliano?

Question No. 217 June 11th, 2003

Between April 11 and April 24, 2003: ( a ) to which provincial premiers did the prime minister speak by telephone on the issue of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak; ( b ) who initiated each call, and what was its duration?

Immigration and Refugee Board June 9th, 2003

So, Mr. Speaker, cousins and uncles as well as sons.

I have a question for the Minister of Immigration. The Minister of Immigration has declined to comment on the RCMP investigation into two associates of Alfonso Gagliano who are accused of taking bribes while serving as judges on the Immigration and Refugee Board.

Would he tell us first whether these are the only investigations the RCMP is conducting into the IRB or into appointments to the IRB and, second, whether he has introduced new procedures that would stop the practices of bribery which the RCMP has discovered?

Government Contracts June 9th, 2003

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Public Works. The minister reviewed several practices and contracts regarding Groupaction and other companies. He concluded the system was corrupt and needed to be changed. Groupaction and Groupe Everest gave subcontracts to the son of Alfonso Gagliano, who was at the time the minister who awarded large contracts to those companies.

Did the investigation of the Minister of Public Works review that particular potential conflict in the Gagliano family and, very specifically, would that sort of behaviour be allowed under the new rules?