Joe Clark

[Business Development Bank Of Canada, May 16th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the law requires a five year review of the activities of the Business Development Bank. That includes the period in which two presidents of that bank, Mr. Beaudoin and Mr. Schroder, mysteriously left their duties.

The industry minister has written me to say that the review will not investigate those mysterious departures because they are administrative matters. That breaks the spirit of the law and shows contempt for parliament.

Will the Prime Minister stop the coverup and allow the full investigation intended by the law of parliament?

[Aboriginal Affairs, May 15th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the government is already facing legal action from aboriginals because of the treatment they received in residential schools.

Has the government even evaluated its legal responsibility and vulnerability with respect to the dangerous quality of drinking water on federal lands, including reserves?

Will the government agree today to make immediate changes in order to eliminate the potentially fatal health threat hanging over reserves and other federal jurisdictions?

[Missile Defence Shield, May 15th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, a number of U.S. officials are in Ottawa today. They are holding secret talks on the missile defence shield, a program that could cost billions of dollars.

The government said that parliament would merely be consulted. We will be informed after the fact, we will be treated like kids in kindergarten.

Parliamentarians should know the facts. They should have the opportunity to discuss the options in the House before a decision is made.

Will the Prime Minister assure the House that parliamentarians will debate the missile defence shield issue before any decision is made?

[National Defence, May 14th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, again my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister. In preparing for his secret briefing with American experts, the Prime Minister would have received basic information about the proposed missile defence shield.

Could the Deputy Prime Minister confirm that the estimated cost of this project would be a minimum of $60 billion U.S. and could rise to hundreds of billions of dollars?

If those are not the figures the government has been given, what figure has the Government of Canada been given and what does the Deputy Prime Minister estimate the cost would be to Canada, were we to participate? Would it be in the billions of dollars?

[Business Development Bank Of Canada, May 14th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister. The Globe and Mail reports another outbreak of forgeries at the Business Development Bank. Is this epidemic of forgeries occurring only on the Auberge Grand-Mère file or is there a general problem in the bank?

The bank now claims that its chronology of events in the Grand-Mère file is “not in conformity with the Globe and Mail version”. Will the government table the Business Development Bank's version of the chronology in the Auberge Grand-Mère file?

[Auberge Grand-Mère, May 10th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, there has been a mysterious outbreak of alleged forgeries in the Grand-Mère loan file at the Business Development Bank. On Monday the minister refused to say why some of those forgeries are sent to the RCMP for investigation and others are not.

My question is in regard to the general file that has been kept by the BDC, a file that under the law should be available for scrutiny by the RCMP, the information commissioner and parliament. Could the Prime Minister tell the House if any documents have been taken out of that file or if any documents have been destroyed?

[Auberge Grand-Mère, May 10th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the government continues to reject the requests made by the Bloc Quebecois to table the lease between Consolidated Bathurst and 161341 Canada Inc. regarding the lot on which the Auberge Grand-Mère is located.

The property registry indicates that the lease was not cancelled. Nor was it cancelled in the bill of sale signed by Consolidated Bathurst and Yvon Duhaime.

Will the Prime Minister tell us if, after he was sworn in, the rent continued to be paid by his company to Consolidated or to Yvon Duhaime?

[Parliamentary Reform, May 9th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, on the question of parliamentary reform, the Minister of Finance has expressed an interest in giving more power to members of parliament. The economic policies presented in October were never approved by a vote in the House because the Prime Minister called an election.

Now the minister proposes to introduce his next economic statement in committee. Why is he not presenting it to the House and letting the House vote on it? How do his actions reflect a commitment to parliamentary reform?

[National Defence, May 9th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, as a party leader, the hon. member for Laurier—Sainte-Marie has requested a direct briefing by the American experts on the proposed missile defence shield. I hope the Prime Minister would agree.

However, as a more general question, would the Prime Minister also agree to meet personally with the other party leaders to work out a new practice to give parliament earlier and more complete access to sensitive information affecting trade and foreign policy. That was done with the provinces in negotiating free trade. Would the Prime Minister show the leadership and take that co-operation a step further with this parliament?

[Foreign Affairs, May 8th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure the Prime Minister is troubled by the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe, including the intimidation of Canada's high commissioner and the director of CARE.

The foreign minister told parliament last week that a response to Zimbabwe by Canada might wait until the next Commonwealth heads of government meeting some months away.

Bearing in mind the leadership that Canada showed in fighting apartheid, would the Prime Minister not agree at least to call home the Canadian high commissioner to Zimbabwe for consultations and consider other urgent action now?