Paul Martin

[International Loans, February 8th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the loan that is being raised, in terms of Brazil, on behalf of all the countries was made not by individual countries but by the Bank for International Settlements. It is the one that provided the loan and a number of G7 countries guaranteed parts of the loan. Canada guaranteed $500 million of that loan. The loan was paid back. The guarantee was never exercised, as I said yesterday.

[The Economy, February 7th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, before the hon. member opposite stands in the House and makes accusations, what he ought to do is take a look at what the members of his party said when he was not here.

They opposed equalization. They opposed regional development. They opposed every measure that the government brought forward to help the people of Atlantic Canada, and he is not going to turn that around.

[The Economy, February 7th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that equalization is an essential foundation of the Canadian economy. It is the one of a very few programs that was not cut when the country had its back to the wall. At the present time it is at an all time high.

I am delighted to hear that members of the opposition support the equalization program, but I must say that is a complete reversal of position. They spoke out against equalization in the previous parliament and said that it should be cut.

[International Loans, February 7th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member obviously ought to understand that Canada as a G7 country has responsibilities internationally and that we have exercised them responsibly, as indeed have other countries.

The hon. member also perhaps ought to know that the loan was not exercised by Brazil.

[International Loans, February 7th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, at a time of financial contagion following the Russian default it was very important that the nations of the world pulled together to make sure the Latin American crisis and the Asian crisis did not continue.

As a result, all of the G7 nations participated in the particular loan, Canada among them, and I am very proud that we did.

[Trade, February 5th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member asked a question on this last week and a number of members in our own caucus have raised this matter with me.

We stated at the time that because we wanted to get the cheques into the hands of people as quickly as possible that there would be flaws in the process, that there were anomalies and that we have asked our officials to look at them.

[Taxation, February 1st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, there are obviously defects in a program in which one wanted to get the cheques out as quickly as possible and had to use an existing structure.

The fact is that it was the government's view to get those cheques out as quickly as possible to the vast majority of Canadians. The 11 million people who received them was by far the best way to go.

[Taxation, February 1st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member will know that we wanted to get those cheques out as quickly as possible. Therefore it was important to find the most expeditious way possible, which was the low income credit.

That is why we proceeded in that way. Some 11 million Canadians who will be receiving $1.3 billion.

[Economic Statement, February 1st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows very well that I did not say Canada would not be affected by events in the United States. We are certainly going to be affected. Moreover, the U.S. accounts for close to 25% of the world economy, so we are not alone in that.

What I did say was that Canada is in a far better position today than it has ever been to deal with this turbulence.

[Economic Statement, February 1st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, it seems to me that the hon. member is blaming me for being overly cautious. Sometimes caution may be a good thing.

I can tell him that we have always, as hon. members are well aware, based our actions on a consensus of private sector forecasters and we will soon be getting their forecasts.

As I have always said, if another economic statement or other forecast, as the circumstances dictate, is appropriate, then we shall have one.