Paul Martin

[Vietnam, June 27th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Foreign Affairs raised the issue this morning in his discussions with the Vietnamese officials and I intend to raise it this afternoon in my meeting with the Prime Minister of Vietnam.

[Ethics, June 27th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, as with all of these issues, ministers who are in a position where advice is required seek it from the Ethics Commissioner. The minister in question has done that. She will be guided by the counsel and the advice of the Ethics Commissioner

[Air-India, June 27th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that the memorial that was held in Ireland was very emotional, and justifiably so this being an enormous Canadian tragedy.

At the meeting, as we have in the past, the hon. Bob Rae met with the families, as did I, and have said that once Mr. Rae has completed his examination and his discussions with the families, the option that the government will take will follow that recommendation in terms of the nature of how we should come to the answers that they and the country justifiably require.

[Citizenship and Immigration, June 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, on the first question, in terms of my own staff, the report indicates, I am told, that my staff did act appropriately and there was no criticism of them.

In terms of the member's second question, the fact is that on the day the Auditor General's report was tabled in the House of Commons, we named the Gomery commission. The day I became Prime Minister, we cancelled the sponsorship program. The fact is that what we did was take immediate action because we believe that the truth will out and triumph. The fact is, get the facts out and we will act on them, and we have.

[International Cooperation, June 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I believe in the 0.7% and I would very much like to see Canada get there by the year 2015, but I am not going to make a commitment that I am not sure the government will be able to keep.

I believe it is important that governments say not just what they are going to do, but that they say how they are going to do it. I am telling members that the problem with international public policy is that too often commitments are made on the grounds of photo ops. I will not do that.

[Citizenship and Immigration, June 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, clearly what the hon. member is doing is misstating the report. I have not had the opportunity to read it, but it is my understanding that the Ethics Commissioner came to the conclusion that there was no personal wrongdoing on the part of the hon. member.

There is an independent Ethics Commissioner. I think it is very important that we not engage in innuendo and allegation here. The fact is that I have great confidence in the hon. member. I have expressed that before and I express it again today.

[Citizenship and Immigration, June 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I have not had a chance to read the report. I have just come back from Montreal, where the cities announcement for Quebec was made. My understanding is that the report does not conclude that there was any personal wrongdoing on the part of the member for York West herself. That obviously answers the hon. member's question.

[Civil Marriage Act, June 20th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, we are strong and unwavering in our commitment to see Bill C-38 pass but we want to ensure that all members have the opportunity to debate it. I must say that if the opposition would stop its filibustering and obstructionism, the fact is that we could see it passed.

[Health, June 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, what the hon. member does not seem to understand is eight months before the Supreme Court decision the federal government took the initiative to convene a federal-provincial conference to deal specifically with the issue of wait times.

The fact is we are working with the provinces. There have been extensive meetings, phone meetings and meetings of officials face to face across the country over the course of the last week, since the Supreme Court decision was handed down.

We take this very seriously. What is important to understand is what we are doing is strengthening the public--

[Health, June 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the very important federal-provincial conference, which led to the spending over a 10 year period of $41 billion, was in order to deal precisely with the issue with which the Supreme Court dealt. That is the issue of waiting times and the need to reduce waiting times, to increase the number of health care providers, to ensure the needed restructuring that will allow our hospitals to be more efficient and to set up a transition fund to focus on wait times.

We have dealt with all of that. It is now very important that it be put into place.