House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2006, with 48% of the vote.
The Economy February 27th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, yes, I have done that with the other provinces. Again, as the hon. member knows from his previous incarnation as treasurer of Alberta, I did it at a federal-provincial finance ministers meeting when he was there. He knows I have done it and I am certainly open to doing it.
The Economy February 27th, 2001
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is mixing apples and oranges. I suspect he probably does not realize it so rather than go into the details I would be delighted if he would speak to the government of Alberta and ask it if it is prepared to treat natural resources in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland differently than in Alberta. I would appreciate it very much if he would speak to the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and indeed the province of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, and ask them if they are prepared to do the same thing.
We are very open regarding this but it requires provincial consensus. I can tell the member that consensus does not exist and did not exist when he was the provincial treasurer of Alberta.
The Economy February 22nd, 2001
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member ought to know that in the October statement we did provide the context for the red book spending. It has all been accounted for.
If I might simply add to that, given the importance of the House of Commons finance committee in terms of what is happening, the ups and downs of the global economy, I would like to congratulate the member for Kings—Hants on his appointment as vice-chairman of the finance committee. I am sure he will bring his valuable experience to bear on the issues of the day.
Taxation February 22nd, 2001
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows full well, we have a corporate taxation system which applies to all industries. We do not want to be distorting investment decisions. The fact is that the energy industry does make a major contribution to the country's balance of payments. It makes a major contribution to employment.
The question of rising oil prices and gasoline prices is a matter of major concern to the government. We will continue to monitor the situation.
The Economy February 22nd, 2001
The question, Mr. Speaker, is how much lower can the Leader of the Opposition stoop?
If the Leader of the Opposition wants a report on what is going on in the economy, let me give some examples. In addition to housing starts, let us look at our retail sales. In December our retail sales were the strongest they have been in the last three years. Our trade surplus is $5.8 billion. That trade surplus is a record monthly surplus for this country.
The Economy February 22nd, 2001
Mr. Speaker, I would ask the Leader of the Opposition to take a look at the transcript of the press conference that he gave earlier in the week. He kept begging the press to ask him, to use his words, “Ask me about the recession. Ask me about the recession. Don't ask me about my litigation fees. Ask me about the recession”.
That is exactly what he was saying. I would suggest to the Leader of the Opposition that what he might want to do is to go on a speaking tour of the United States and the litigation fees alone would turn the U.S. economy around.
The Economy February 22nd, 2001
Mr. Speaker, we are going through a volatile period. Everyone understands that. Everyone understands what has happened in the United States. The simple question is why on the other hand is it that the Leader of the Opposition will not point out the good things that are happening instead of trying to talk us into a recession as he has been doing?
Let me just tell the House that our housing starts, as an example, are up more than 20%. That is the highest in six years. Why does he not point that out?
Privilege February 21st, 2001
Mr. Speaker, it is difficult to understand how there can be a valid difference of opinion as to the nature of the meeting given the fact that the minister and I were there and the hon. member was not.
That is not the issue. The other part of the issue is that it is alleged that we support terrorism and fundraising activities for terrorism. That is clearly not the fact. It not only besmirches us, it besmirches the entire Tamil community, but it is our own privileges that we are raising this.
The Economy February 21st, 2001
Mr. Speaker, again all I can say is: Take a look at what we have done compared to other countries.
The tax stimulus that we provided the economy in our October update, which took effect on January 1, was four times greater than that of the United Kingdom and eight times greater than those planned in the United States.
The fact is what other people are talking about doing we have already done. The fact is that we have provided for the spending.
The Economy February 21st, 2001
Mr. Speaker, as we have every year, and opposition members have had a lot of difficulty with it because they said we were being too prudent, the assumptions that were made in the October statement were then offset by the contingency reserve and the prudence for just this kind of eventuality.
That is why we do not have to rush into an economic update. It is certainly why we do not have to rush into a budget, because in fact we have shown the foresight. I have said that when the consensus of private sector forecasters is ready we will indeed do an economic update. We did it last spring and we will do it this spring. We did it last fall and we will do another one next fall. Welcome to the real world. That is the way the government operates.