Mark Holland

[National Defence, June 14th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I think the minister should start by resigning. I do not know how stupid those members think Canadians are, but they made a military lobbyist a defence minister, allowed him to award contracts to his previous employers and then had the audacity to call it accountability.

Let me remind the House what the Prime Minister said on CBC Newsworld during the last election. He said, “--to correct [the Minister of National Defence]...we won't be making the selection ourself...of the actual equipment. And as you know, for all kinds of conflict of interest reasons, we'll want to stay out of those kinds of things”.

Will the Prime Minister for once do as he says and remove that conflict laden lobbyist from his portfolio?

[National Defence, June 14th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is defending the decision by his defence minister to override military experts and spend multi-billions of dollars on C-17s that our military does not want, and are of no benefit to Canadian industry. Furthermore, he has no problem with a former military lobbyist making this decision for an estimated $20 billion in total military purchases, even though during the last election the Prime Minister said himself that it would represent a clear conflict.

Which is it? Is the Prime Minister selling out Canadian interests and ignoring military advice for his lobbyist friend, or does he think that shafting Canadian industry will win him more Republican friends?

[Canada-U.S. Relations, June 12th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, simply ignoring this issue is not going to cut it. The unchallenged comments that are filling U.S. airwaves are threatening to choke our border. They threaten billions of dollars in tourism and trade. The government is doing nothing but sending love notes from our ambassador.

In fact, the silence from the Conservative government has allowed the U.S. administration to say that it will not delay new passport laws.

Why is the Prime Minister not lobbying the U.S. administration to support the bipartisan Senate bill? Does he not care, or does he lack the guts to challenge his American heroes?

[Canada-U.S. Relations, June 12th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, more ignorant comments from a cluster of Republican congressmen are hurting Canada. This time John Hostettler proclaimed that south Toronto is crawling with terrorists. I do not know if he is referring to Centreville or the swans at Ontario Place, but I do know that he chairs a subcommittee looking into border issues and unfortunately, his views carry weight.

What is disturbing is the Prime Minister's silence. He is refusing to stand up for Canada and to challenge these wild assertions.

Why is the Prime Minister so afraid of displeasing his Republican idols? Why does he refuse to stand up for Canada?

[Member for Calgary West, June 6th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I want to know if the Prime Minister finds it acceptable to use staff members who work on campaigns and what staff members were involved in the campaigns. Furthermore, when will he and the Conservative Party pay back for the abuses that have occurred?

[Member for Calgary West, June 6th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, reports today also stated that staff for the Calgary West MP were drawing salaries for working on a campaign for the Prime Minister.

[Member for Calgary West, June 6th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, there have been allegations of both fraud and corruption and the question is very simple. When will the Prime Minister call in the RCMP to deal with these questions? Would the Prime Minister tell the House if these are common fundraising practices within the Conservative Party and its predecessors?

[Member for Calgary West, June 6th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, allegations have arisen that the member for Calgary West falsified travel expenses and illegally used taxpayer money to repay questionable loans he received from a former staffer.

The moral bar was never very high for that member who once called Nelson Mandela a terrorist and worked as a paid--

[Airports, June 2nd, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, for more than three decades the residents of Ajax--Pickering have been living with a dark cloud over their heads, a proposed international airport in Pickering. This cloud grew darker in November 2004 when the Greater Toronto Airport Authority, or GTAA, released a plan to break ground on an airport by 2014.

The deeply flawed GTAA proposal was heavily criticized by the community, transportation experts and myself. It led the former Liberal transport minister to announce a due diligence peer review. The announcement was welcome news to our community which is anxious to avoid another Mirabel and wishes to ensure that the existing infrastructure is fully utilized.

The current transport minister has agreed to continue this review, but there is concern over the terms of reference. If we do not ask the right questions, we will not get the right answers. I have urged that the community be consulted both on the terms of reference and during the review itself. It now appears this will not happen. That is simply unacceptable.

I urge the minister to stand by the commitments of the former minister, conduct a full and fair review, and engage our community fully in the process.

[Privilege, June 1st, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, in fact the question was raised by the finance minister. He quoted specifically from a letter that had been sent out from the Ethics Commissioner and asked for an apology from me. That is why I was answering in that way. What I will say, and what I will leave it at, is that at this point I stand by my original statement and would encourage the finance minister to furnish the additional information that has been requested of him.