Paul Martin

[Auditor General's Report, April 17th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, first, not only does each of these foundations provide an annual report, but if parliamentary committees desire to have representatives of these foundations appear in front of them, they can.

I will give the member one example. The Canadian Foundation for Innovation was set up five years ago in 1997. Representatives of that foundation have appeared 11 times before diverse parliamentary committees of the House and are prepared to do so in the future.

If the hon. member is saying that investing in the future of Canada, investing in research and development, investing in the future of our children and investing in our universities is not worthwhile, that certainly says where they stand on Canada's future.

[Auditor General's Report, April 17th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the number of foundations is a matter of public record. There are no secret bank accounts. All the foundations provide annual public reports that are available. Every time one of the foundations makes a grant, it is a matter of public record. The fact is the whole operation of foundations is done in a very open and very transparent way.

[Microbreweries, April 16th, 2002]

Not at all, Mr. Speaker. I already said that I met with association officials and that we are continuing to monitor the situation.

[Microbreweries, April 16th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I already met with association officials. We have had discussions, and the issue is still under consideration.

[Finance, April 16th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the concerns of the carpenters union is very much on point. While much of the action required is within provincial jurisdiction, we are indeed looking into the matter. We are doing so at the international level within the G-7 and within the IMF. We are also doing so within Canada. In fact some three weeks ago there was a very important meeting which the federal government attended along with all of the stakeholders in Toronto, including the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

The hon. member is absolutely right. Maintaining the integrity of our financial markets really does depend on the quality of our financial statements.

[Leadership Campaigns, April 15th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Palmer on behalf of the department consulted with a wide number of people and then made advice available to the department. The department is in the process of assessing the situation.

[Government Contracts, April 10th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's statements are simply unworthy of him and unworthy of a member of this House. The matter has been referred to the ethics commissioner. He has dealt with it.

[Government Contracts, April 10th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Palmer, as I have said in the House, is an outstanding tax practitioner. He is an expert in natural resource taxation. He is also a person of impeccable reputation.

Mr. Palmer performed a very important role for the Government of Canada. The whole matter has been referred to the ethics counsellor, who has taken a look at it and said it has been dealt with satisfactorily.

[Airport Security, April 10th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, it is neither. The fact is that the letter from the International Air Transport Association is comparing apples and oranges.

In fact, unlike most other countries, Canada has relieved its airlines of substantial charges in terms of airport and airline security, some $72 million. It is expected that the reduction in the cost to the airlines should be reflected in the price of their tickets.

[The Economy, April 9th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the question of the member for Brampton Centre is very much to the point. In terms of productivity on a year over year basis, Canada's productivity at 2% matched that of the United States for the first time in a long time but that is still not good enough. We have to do better than the Americans.

One area where we are doing better is in terms of job creation. In the first three months of this year over 170,000 new jobs were created. That is the best job record since 1987. In the month of March alone at 88,000 jobs it is the best record since we started keeping records in Canada.