Peter MacKay

[Sponsorship Program, May 31st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, as so famously quoted, the Prime Minister would not know the truth.

[Sponsorship Program, May 20th, 2005]

What would that member know about good faith or trust, Mr. Speaker?

Will the government commit today to putting the money that Elections Canada refunded the Liberal Party into the trust fund it claims to have created?

Will it finally show us the money or was that just another empty promise?

[Sponsorship Program, May 20th, 2005]

I note, Mr. Speaker, that today the face of the government is yellow.

The government said yesterday that the Liberal Party intends to put money in a trust fund in the very near future. Of course we also believe in the tooth fairy, another mythical figure who drops off money. In reality, promises like this and others from the government are as empty as the rhetoric in the account. There is another order from the House that the Commons voted on and the government continues to ignore: to set up that fund.

The Liberal Party is going to receive over $2 million from Elections Canada. When will the Prime Minister honour that motion from the House? When will he put these funds in a trust account? When will the government show us the money?

[Sponsorship Program, May 20th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, David Dingwall, the man who is now paid to print money at the mint, was hired by Vickers & Benson to use his influence with former colleagues to lobby for more sponsorship money for a television program that aired only in China. Now there is a good use of sponsorship money.

This was in direct violation of the Lobbyists Registration Act. The former public works minister was so successful that in March 1999 he received $60,000 in reward money.

The Prime Minister did not wait for the Gomery commission report to fire Chrétien cronies like Jean Pelletier, André Ouellet, Marc LeFrançois or Alfonso Gagliano. When is he going to fire David Dingwall?

[Sponsorship Program, May 19th, 2005]

It is pretty hard, Mr. Speaker, to take that member or any other Liberals seriously when they talk about trust funds of any kind.

If the Prime Minister wants to assure Canadians that money was really set aside to repay the taxpayer for the kickback cash used by his party in at least two elections, he has a chance to do so. He could demonstrate a grain of integrity and some semblance of a higher level of civility to enhance the public trust instead of his continual unethical behaviour and desperate partisan tactics to be reckless with people's lives and their money.

Will he simply agree to have the Auditor General today audit this account and assure Canadians that the money is actually there?

[Sponsorship Program, May 19th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the government's mistrust fund for repayment of dirty sponsorship money is yet another duplicitous trick on the eve of an election. Just a month ago the Liberal Party voted against a motion to set up the same type of trust.

The promise to deposit money into a trust for repayment to the Government of Canada should it be judged to have been received inappropriately is laughable. Clearly money was stolen, and like the account itself, the promise is empty. What all this really means is not one red cent will be set aside in all likelihood until after another Liberal election campaign has been run with dirty money.

Will the Prime Minister come clean and confirm that to date, no money has been put in a trust account to reimburse the Canadian taxpayer?

[Prime Minister, May 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, Gomery will not get to the bottom of this. Clearly what is happening here is this: which Liberals do we believe?

The forensic accounting firm of Kroll Lindquist Avey investigated the corrupt administrations of Duvalier and Marcos, the corporate rip-off artists at Enron, and the Liberal Party of Canada. They all violated the public trust, they all benefited financially from the public purse, and they denied it and tried to cover it up.

During his time in office, the Liberal Prime Minister's Canada includes kickbacks, money laundering and intimidation. When will it begin to include integrity and respect for democracy? When will that happen?

[Prime Minister, May 16th, 2005]

Since he would not respect the others, Mr. Speaker.

We have another day and another photo op for the Prime Minister in a day care centre. Meanwhile, a more sinister but realistic picture of the Liberal Party and its leader continues to emerge from the daily testimony at the Gomery inquiry, with daily testimony of envelopes or suitcases of cash paid to Liberal workers and evidence of a parallel secret Liberal fundraising network. Attempts to stem the flow of dirty money were met with threats. Some feared for their lives and went to the RCMP.

During that whole time, the Prime Minister, as finance minister, was actively campaigning to replace his mentor, Jean Chrétien. Does he really think Canadians believe him when he says he saw no evil, heard no evil and did no evil?

[Prime Minister, May 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister wants to re-establish courtesy and respect in the House of Commons. Should he give some thought to re-establishing that courtesy by respecting the will of the House? He lost by seven votes yet the government continues to sit, because he refuses to respect the democratic will of the House of Commons.

What guarantee do the people of Canada have that the Prime Minister will respect votes in the House in future?

[The Budget, May 13th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, today the Liberal Party once again rejected the request from the Conservative Party, supported by all opposition parties, to split the budget bill and remove the Atlantic accord. To do so would allow the money to flow to those provinces immediately, as promised.

The Liberal-NDP budget has been chopped up. Items have been dropped and added. There have been numerous examples of items passed through the House at all stages, like the DNA bill and support for veterans. The 2004 budget just passed today.

Will the government agree to remove the Atlantic accord from the budget, present it to the House at all stages, and pass it through the House immediately?