House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2006, with 48% of the vote.
Sponsorship Program March 10th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, Judge Gomery has set in motion all of the work. The hon. member will understand that an enormous amount of work has to be done by investigative counsel in preparing the investigation. All of that is ongoing.
In fact, I would suspect that this particular inquiry will be up and running faster than almost any others we have seen.
Sponsorship Program March 10th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, first, the answer to the question is: none. I have not used it.
In terms of the other issue, I am very proud to say that Jean Chrétien always worked for Canadian unity.
Sponsorship Program March 10th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, the opposition members are getting pretty desperate when all they do is simply ask if a minister went to a meeting and as a result from that draw all kinds of innuendo that cannot be justified.
If there is any member in the House who ought not to talk about poison, it is this member and what he did to his party.
Sponsorship Program March 10th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is hitting new lows. That is sheer and absolute nonsense.
If the question is, was the Deputy Prime Minister an outstanding minister of energy, the answer is yes. If the question is, was she an outstanding Minister of Justice, the answer is yes. If the question is, was she an outstanding Minister of Health, the answer is yes. If the question is, is she an outstanding Deputy Prime Minister, the answer is yes.
Sponsorship Program March 10th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member is asking, did I ask members of the cabinet if they attended every single meeting and checked all 300 meetings that might have been taken over the last little while, the answer is no.
What I did was to ask every single potential member of cabinet. They were asked by an independent group at the time that they became members of cabinet if they had anything that they wanted to declare that might have any reflection on their background. I also then put the question to the full cabinet. I did that this year. In both cases I am delighted to say that cabinet responded appropriately.
Sponsorship Program March 10th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, the government has already indicated that upon receipt of a proper motion from the committee in question, all of that documentation will be available and all the information the hon. member seeks will be made available.
Sponsorship Program March 9th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, what is it the hon. member does not understand about yes?
Sponsorship Program March 9th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member may not understand the importance of due process. Due process is that the committee will make a motion. If the committee would like to make a motion and ask for that documentation, as long as it is in conformity with the Auditor General's report, then for heaven's sake, the documents will be provided.
Foreign Aid March 9th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member will know if he takes a look that in fact over the course of the last three to four budgets there have been substantial increases in our foreign aid.
I also think there is a time when we as Canadians can be very proud and I must say I have rarely felt as proud of my country as I did with the huge amount of applause that was given to the six people who were introduced in the House and to the great contributions we are making as a country.
Foreign Aid March 9th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, obviously I am not in a position to comment on what will be in the budget, but the fact is I found it very interesting that on the one hand the secretary-general complimented Canada for what it was doing, complimented us in terms of what we are doing in Haiti, and complimented us for what we are doing in Africa and certainly for what we are doing in terms of HIV-AIDS.
He also challenged us. I think that is a challenge which we as a country have to be prepared to take. There is no doubt that Canadians want to see us exercise a stronger role in the world. It is one that we intend to take.