Paul Calandra

[Aboriginal Affairs, June 3rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Peace River and the hard-working chair of the aboriginal affairs committee for the question.

As members know, in the 21st century this is completely unacceptable. That is why the government passed the First Nations Elections Act, which sets out very clear criteria that would allow Ms. Spence to run. Unfortunately, the Red Sucker Lake First Nation has not opted into the First Nations Elections Act, and we call upon it to do so.

At the same time, I call upon all members of this House to join with me in solidarity in standing up for Ms. Spence and for all women living on reserves who are fighting for the right to be recognized as persons.

[International Development, May 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Sarnia—Lambton for the passion she brings to this file.

Delegates are working together on three key objectives: delivering results for mothers and children, doing more together globally, and taking real action for women and children's health.

We are seeing tremendous results. Anthony Lake of UNICEF recognized the passion of the Minister of International Development on the file and credited the Prime Minister. He said, “He has led the way on this and Canada has delivered and is delivering, again 80 per cent of its commitment at Muskoka.”

The solution to this problem is within arm's reach and Canada will be a driving force to realize this great achievement.

[Ethics, May 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I love actually repeating this answer over and over again, because it really highlights how seriously we take taxpayers' money.

We on this side of the House have brought in significant measures to reduce taxes for all Canadians, to reduce the cost of government. That is why we have reduced the use of the Challenger by 80%.

I was very happy to see the Parliamentary Budget Officer confirm the fact that our tax reductions have put thousands of dollars back into the pockets of the lowest-income Canadians.

The only consistent thing is that the NDP consistently votes against all of those measures.

We will stand up for low-income Canadians, we will stand up for middle-income Canadians, and we will continue to create jobs and opportunity for all Canadians.

[Ethics, May 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, as I said we have reduced the use of the Challengers by 80%. We are very proud of that because we have the greatest respect for Canadian taxpayers.

The only people who are hiding party cronies are the members of the NDP. They are hiding the fact that they have party cronies working in offices in Montreal, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. They say that they actually work here, in Ottawa, but we know they are actually working in these riding offices that they use taxpayer money illegally to fund. They should stand up, do the right thing, and return the money they have used illegally to fund partisan political offices.

[Ethics, May 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, we have reduced the use of the Challenger jet by some 80% since coming to office in 2006. In fact, the last year the Liberals were in power, they used the jet for 1,114.7 hours, but the hardest-working cabinet in Canadian history used it last year for only 266 flight hours. We respect taxpayers. That is why we are using the Challengers less and less. In fact, we were able to sell some of the Challengers, because we reduced the use so much.

[Health, May 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I want to take just a moment to recognize and thank the member for Oakville for his tireless efforts on this and the obvious passion that he brings to this file.

He is absolutely right, Bill C-17 has the support of all members of this House. Yesterday, shamefully, the NDP played partisan political games in delaying this before it could go to the health committee.

The NDP members need to answer to those Canadians, the millions of Canadians who are waiting for this bill to be passed. They have to stop playing partisan political games and work with us to make sure this bill gets passed.

Let me assure the member, his family, and the millions of Canadians who are relying on this that this side of the House will do everything in our power to make sure this gets passed.

[Ethics, May 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, once again, these problems do not involve the federal government. This commission is investigating provincial and municipal affairs.

At the same time, anybody who is found guilty should face the full force of the law. As you know, Mr. Speaker, one of the first acts this government brought forward when it was elected was the Federal Accountability Act, which removed the influence of big money and big unions from federal contracting.

We will continue to put taxpayers first by bringing in laws like that, which protect Canadian taxpayers.

[Ethics, May 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, those are problems with municipal and provincial contracts. At the same time, it is very important that the commission continue its work.

If the Leader of the Opposition, 20 years ago, had had the courage to come forward with the fact that he was offered a bribe and had not actually hidden it for 17 years, I can only imagine the corruption we could have put a stop to if he had just had the courage, 20 years ago, to come forward, instead of hiding it for 17 years.

We will continue to put taxpayers first in everything we do on this side.

[Ethics, May 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the only people who are in trouble right now are New Democrats, who have to account for the fact that they took millions of dollars of taxpayers' money to fund partisan political offices across this country.

It is not just one person implicated in the NDP; it is the entire caucus, who actually participated in the scheme to rip off Canadian taxpayers.

They should account for that. They should stop blaming the Clerk of the House of Commons, whose reputation is the highest reputation, and be honest with Canadians. Repay the millions of dollars they took from Canadians illegally.

[Ethics, May 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we have reduced the use of Challenger jets by some 80% since we took office in 2006. It is because we have the utmost respect for Canadian taxpayers that we have done that, because we understand on this side of the House that leaving money in the pockets of hard-working Canadians is better than putting it in the hands of government.

At the same time, New Democrats have to account for the fact that they wasted millions of taxpayers' dollars on potentially illegal offices across this country. They should show some leadership and return that money to Canadian taxpayers.