House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2006, with 48% of the vote.
Sponsorship Program June 13th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, I will be pleased to table the letter in the House. It says very clearly what we said in the lawyers' factum, which is that we fiercely oppose anything that could delay the report. After that, Mr. Chrétien can exercise his rights.
I would also like to mention that the leader of the Bloc has chosen Canada. I hope he will make the same recommendation to Quebeckers.
Sponsorship Program June 13th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, there was no agreement; there was nothing secret. There was an exchange of correspondence. The government's position is very clear. Not only is Judge Gomery not partial, but we will oppose any attempt to delay the report.
Now, I would like to quote the letter, “one of the arguments we had put forward with respect to your client's” Mr. Chrétien's—request for a judicial review is the fact that we consider it premature and inadmissible until after the commission's report is released”.
Health June 13th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, this is a realization which the government expressed to the Canadian people during the election campaign. It is a realization which the hon. member opposite did not seem to understand at the time.
This is why we convened the federal-provincial conference in September. This is why we set out an accelerated plan to deal with the issue of wait times, along with the provinces.
I am delighted that the Leader of the Opposition has finally come to the understanding of what the situation is. This is the issue. How do we reduce wait times? That is why we set out the plan. That is why we are working with the provinces.
Audiotaped Conversations June 9th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should know that I have said right from the very beginning that my staff and I will corroborate fully. We want all the facts to come out. Nothing will be held back. We will work completely in any way, shape or form that the Ethics Commissioner requests.
Health June 9th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, our objective is to have the best public, accessible and universal system possible, which is why we called the federal-provincial conference. That is why we invested in excess of $41 billion over 10 years. That is why, in conjunction with the provinces, we created an entire strategy to reduce waiting times. That strategy is to increase the number of physicians and nurses, and to create a $4.5 billion fund, strictly with a view to reducing waiting times.
Health June 9th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member must know that we have transferred in excess of $41 billion over 10 years precisely to help the provinces, including Quebec of course. Quebec will receive more than $9 billion over 10 years to address the issue of waiting lists. We have, therefore, already demonstrated, long before the court ruling, how important this is to us.
Health June 9th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, what the hon. member has called a one-off province by province was an agreement for $41 billion over 10 years, signed by every province and territory. It is an agreement that sets out a detailed wait time strategy. It also demonstrates the absolute urgency of establishing the benchmarks. We have met with the Wait Times Alliance and the medical profession. There is a meeting going on now of deputy ministers of health to deal with this very urgent problem of wait times.
Health June 9th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, this is a very important debate and really does not require a great deal of historical revisionism.
I happened to have been in the House when that member's party day after day stood up and said that the transfers to the provinces should be cut far greater than they were. Take a look at the scorched earth policy that his party recommended.
What we should now do is understand that we have a very complex decision. That complex decision should be debated, not be subject to the kind of catcalls that we now are hearing, the kinds of inane statements that we are hearing from the opposition.
Health June 9th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, I rise as the leader of the party that brought medicare into being.
The focus of the Supreme Court decision was on wait times. That was what we brought forth during the election campaign and that was the principal subject of the federal-provincial conference which we convened.
At that time, we set out a wait times fund. We set out a human resources strategy. We set out national benchmarks and accountability by individual governments to their citizens. All this is because we want to maintain the publicly funded, universally accessible health care system.
Automobile Industry June 8th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, the General Motors plant in Oshawa is among General Motors' top plants in North America. If we look throughout the auto industry, auto plants in Canada are among the top plants in North America and indeed in the world.
The Canadian government and provincial governments have been very active in terms of providing money for help, research and development, and retraining. A number of announcements made this year point to that very fact. I believe that under those circumstances this will certainly strengthen the competitiveness of the Canadian plants which is very important in a worldwide industry.