Martha Hall Findlay

[The Environment, June 19th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, talk about tax tricks, allegations and non-truths. There would not be one iota of additional tax on a litre of gasoline, not one. It would save significant reductions in income taxes for all Canadians, help for working families, help for the low and middle income earners, help for rural and northern dwellers and help for seniors to deal with energy prices. The Conservative government and the NDP have no plan to help people with energy prices and no plan for climate change.

[The Environment, June 19th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, Glen Hodgson of the Conference Board of Canada, Tom d'Aquino of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, Jack Mintz of the University of Calgary, Don Drummond, Chief Economist at the TD Bank, Mark Jaccard of Simone Fraser University and Bill Robson of the C.D. Howe Institute, today the Prime Minister called crazy and insane the very type of innovative green shift plan these people all supported and that we today proposed.

What exactly is crazy here? Six leading Canadian economists or a Conservative talking grease cartoon character?

[Points of Order, June 17th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I would suggest to the members opposite that my concern is actually no laughing matter.

When I was referring in my question regarding Louise Arbour, the President of the Treasury Board very loudly yelled out, “She's a disgrace”. I would ask if the member opposite would in fact do the dignified thing and withdraw his comments.

[Points of Order, June 17th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the--

[Human Rights, June 17th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, Louise Arbour has spent the last 12 years prosecuting and working firsthand to combat abuses and indignities against the world's most disenfranchised. She is world renowned as one of the most courageous and accomplished women this country has ever produced.

However, the Human Rights Tribune states:

Sources close to Ottawa said that instructions came directly from the Prime Minister’s office to offer no praise for Arbour--

Is this true?

[Human rights, June 17th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, is stepping down at the end of the month. She has already been congratulated by people the world over for her courage and candour, but here, this Conservative government is remaining silent, humiliating Canada in front of the international community.

Is it true that the Prime Minister himself has asked that Canadian representatives say nothing?

[Public Safety, June 13th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is missing the point. The point is the question of the value of an inquiry. Renowned expert Wesley Wark was asked if the foreign affairs investigation would satisfy national security experts. He said:

I doubt it very much. First of all, Foreign Affairs has no real experience in investigating these matters. It has a small security department. It doesn't usually handle high level cases of this kind, that's usually CSIS or the RCMP.

All we ask is that if we are not going to get answers internally, give us one good reason why not a public inquiry?

[Public Safety, June 13th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, in committee this week, Michel Juneau-Katsuya described Ms. Couillard's attempts to influence and infiltrate four different departments as a “classic recruitment operation” for organized crime groups. This former senior CSIS intelligence officer unequivocally stated that this was a major public safety issue.

We are simply asking the government to give us a single good reason why a public inquiry should not be ordered.

[The Economy, June 6th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, clearly, this government continues to hope that Canadians do not understand. Our first quarter economic performance was the worst of all G-7 countries. Consumer confidence continues to plunge. We are halfway to our first recession in 16 years. Yet the Minister of Finance continues to hope that Canadians do not understand.

Why do the Minister of Finance and this government take Canadians for fools?

[The Economy, June 6th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, we would like to give the finance minister a little bit of an economic lesson. Canada just experienced the worst quarter in the G-7. Consumer confidence has plummetted and we are halfway to the first recession we have had in 16 years. The minister keeps patting Canadians on the head pretending everything is okay, but it is not. How on earth can we trust the finance minister with Canada's finances?