House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2006, with 48% of the vote.
Airline Industry February 28th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the Alliance has consistently advocated user fees as opposed to tax increases. Why all of a sudden is it having a change of heart?
The fact is that of the $7.5 billion national security cost, the taxpayers of Canada are absorbing over $5 billion. We are asking those who benefit the most from air services to pay for those air services. We are prepared to review the situation again in the fall.
Education February 28th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, what has been done is a clarification of the act. The understanding has been very clear since the very beginning of what the intent of the act was and how it was to be applied. We understand that the bus sector of the school boards do receive a very substantial rebate. That rebate continues and in fact it is most deserved.
Airline Industry February 28th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member seems to ignore the fact that airlines will save $72 million. They can use these $72 million to lower airfares or take some other measure.
But the hon. member is saying that it is not users, but all taxpayers who should pay for this. Let us not forget that taxpayers are contributing in excess of $5 billion for national security. We are asking users to pay $2 billion.
Airline Industry February 28th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member opposite is suggesting that it is taxpayers at large who should foot the bill. We feel it is the users and those who will benefit from the services who should pay. We intend to proceed with a comprehensive review in the fall, when we know the direct impact of this measure.
Airline Industry February 28th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, the doctors, dentists and chiropractors are not government. The fact is government is bound by the rules established by the auditor general.
What I would suggest is that he might well want to talk to his colleague, the chairman of the public accounts committee. If they are prepared to announce a change in accounting, I am sure we would be prepared to look at it.
Airline Industry February 28th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, the government follows the accounting rules established for governments by the auditor general. I am sure the hon. member opposite would want us to follow the dictates of the auditor general. This is what we are doing under these circumstances.
Banking Industry February 28th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, if I understand the hon. member's question, what he has said is that loans to corporations have gone down and that is true. One problem is investments by companies has gone down. However, as we have seen by consumer spending, there is an enormous amount of consumer confidence, which may well be the reason for the numbers the hon. member has given.
That is probably why we saw this morning that Canada in the last quarter had a growth rate of 2%, which is substantially higher than the United States. In fact, we are doing quite well.
Banking Industry February 28th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, the government has encouraged the widespread use of low cost credit cards which are available. We are also monitoring, through the protection agency, the kinds of fees that the hon. member is referring to and we will continue to do it.
If I could add a supplementary to the questions asked earlier by the member for Winnipeg--Transcona, I have been in extensive discussions with the minister of finance for Manitoba. We are continuing discussions and are seeking to find a fair and just solution.
Equalization Payments February 28th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, I will complete the first part of my answer. It is the government's intention in terms of the first question to suspend any negative consequences of Statistics Canada's result for a period of a year so full consultations can take place. At the same time we are going to implement the positive consequences of that for those provinces concerned until such time as the final decision comes down.
As far as the other comment, the Tories are always behind the member.
Equalization Payments February 28th, 2002
This is important, Mr. Speaker, but I will answer in the supplementary.