Peter MacKay

[Government Contracts, October 4th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, here comes the cavalry. I do not think we need to hear from the corruption approval officer who masks himself as the ethics counsellor.

Yesterday the Solicitor General did anything but give the House straight answers on this issue. He played dumb on whether he knew the details of this highly questionable contract. A sole source untendered contract for advice on criminal justice issues from an accountant is reason enough to ask questions, but when such a cozy Liberal connection exists, surely Canadians deserve answers.

I ask the minister again: Does he think anybody bought his answers yesterday that he knew nothing about these contracts? More important, does--

[Government Contracts, October 4th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, as Solicitor General this minister's first priority should be to set a high ethical standard and first and foremost uphold the law. Instead, we see further evidence of a man fixated on funneling federal funds to family and friends.

The Solicitor General lobbied his own officials to help his brother's college. He saw to it that the P.E.I. Liberal president was going to be shovelled a sweetheart deal in his riding of Cardigan and now his own official agent is the beneficiary of the minister's Midas touch.

Does the Solicitor General really believe that it is acceptable for him to reward family and friends and campaign workers with taxpayers' hard-earned money?

[Iraq, October 2nd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on his excellent speech.

The member made some very good points. One in particular that he spoke of is the attitude that exists around this issue around the world. He spoke of the need to stand with friends in times of trouble, but also to stand with friends in telling them when a mistake might be made. I totally agree with that sentiment. His insight is very important at this time. Although we need to be sure about the evidence, we need to be there, of course relying very much on the information that is available, but looking to the United Nations as a source of stability and a rock solid source of information.

My question for the hon. member relates specifically to the role that Canada can play. Where I think he was headed with his remarks is that Canada can be a more interventionist player in terms of mediation at the United Nations and in terms of influencing American policy toward their attitudes. They are living in a different atmosphere. We were affected by what happened on September 11, but clearly no country was affected to the extent that the United States was affected.

Does my friend believe that we could be more active in seeking out solutions with the Americans and at the table with the UN?

[Iraq, October 2nd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I commend the hon. member for his remarks. He always brings to this debate and to the House a great deal of experience and a great deal of perspective. I personally would feel very comfortable if he was in the position to be at the table in negotiations as serious as this. He has been commended by other members for his positions in the past. I believe he makes an enormous contribution.

My question is in reference to the issue of the compilation of the weapons, the fears that need to be allayed and the evidence that must be presented to address the issue of the amassing of weapons of mass destruction. We know, and there is evidence available, that suggests that the Iraqis have amassed al-Hussein missiles and that they have been in possession them for some time. Certainly there is reference to chemical, biological and nuclear weapons that have some capacity, perhaps a capacity to reach allies that are in closer proximity than any in North America. This concern has to be met by having some assurances that the information itself is accurate.

Could the hon. member bring any insight to that and whether there should be a time limit on this, and not a time limit that would be provocative?

[Iraq, October 2nd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I too would like to commend my hon. colleague for her insights and the useful recitation of some of the facts leading up to the present as to what has transpired in Iraq and some of the history to put it in a context of what has taken place.

Part of the issue, and she touched on it in a telling fashion, is the fact that the information as to what weapons of mass destruction may exist within Iraq. The evidence still seems to be somewhat scant and even nebulous at times. There is a document of which the hon. member is aware called “Iraq's weapons of mass destruction” that was compiled by the British government. We know that the American forces have compiled some intelligence on this issue as well which is sometimes suspect for those who are questioning the American's true intent here.

I agree with my colleague from Calgary that much of the focus last night took us away from the actual debate as to what we must do collectively as peaceful nations and what our allies and all of those involved in the effort must do to quell this potential disunity.

I know there is incredible concern for the domino effect that this could have in further destabilizing what is happening in the Middle East.

I would like to ask the hon. member what type of further evidence she believes the United Nations, in particular, should be looking for and what credible means we have to attain that? Further, and I guess perhaps important and apropos for this debate, what role Canada can play either on the inspection side or in pursuing efforts to obtain the credible evidence that we need to support the UN, to support our allies in this effort to address this very troubling and destabilizing situation in Iraq?

[Petitions, October 2nd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I have the honour to table a petition on behalf of hundreds of Canadians adding their names to thousands more in support of Steven Truscott. They call upon the government and the Minister of Justice to review the case which resulted in the 1959 conviction of 14 year old Steven Truscott for a murder I believe he did not commit.

This case received great attention and notoriety in the country. It is one with which the previous Minister of Justice took action. This petition is calling upon the current Minister of Justice to pursue this issue with a section 690 application under the Criminal Code to look at the case, to examine the evidence once again, including new evidence that has been brought forward, and to see that justice is finally done in this prolific case and journey that Mr. Truscott and his family have been on since 1959.

[Justice, October 2nd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the decision by the Liberal government to rethink Canada's policy regarding deportation of war criminals is morally wrong.

Age is no reason to stop prosecution of individuals responsible for crimes against humanity. Justice must be served. We owe it to the memory to the victims and to survivors who endured unthinkable atrocities.

What kind of message are we sending to those hundreds of thousands of families affected by Nazi bloodshed if we say to war criminals “Welcome to Canada. Enjoy the comforts of our democracy?”

What kind of message are we sending if we say prosecution and justice are too expensive and time consuming? Justice is not always cheap or quick.

What kind of message are we passing on to future generations if we ignore barbaric acts? We have a responsibility to remember but, most important, to ensure that justice is done.

Out of respect for the victims, I ask the government to show the commitment and courage necessary to pursue, prosecute and punish war criminals.

[Iraq, October 1st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I was hoping to have an opportunity to ask this same question to the minister, but I would pose a two part question to the member.

First, what type of recent evidence is the hon. member or the government aware of which seems so compelling that it has provided satisfaction to the British Prime Minister and his government, similarly that type of evidence that appears to be in the possession of the United States? If he is not aware of current evidence that reaches that criteria, what type of evidence should Canada as a nation be seeking? What type of evidence would the hon. member suggest would be sufficient to warrant Canada's further involvement in moving down the road toward supporting the United States' position of aggression? What type of specific evidence pertaining clearly to the possession by Saddam Hussein and Iraq of weapons of mass destruction would he suggest would meet that criteria?

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, October 1st, 2002]

Madam Speaker, in reference to the very same member of which the hon. member speaks, I wonder what sort of a deficit in democracy might exist when one examines the record. It is more like a deficit in credibility when one talks about the number of times which that particular member voted with the government to shut down debate either through time allocation or simply using closure motions in the House of Commons.

The hon. member for Winnipeg--Transcona is a long serving member of the House of Commons. He may want to reference other governments, but let us look at the record of the government in the past 10 years as to how many times the debate itself was forced to collapse by the actions of the government. Voting with the government was the member for LaSalle--Émard.

I also wonder if the member for Winnipeg--Transcona would reference the 1993 promise co-written in the red book by that same member to have an independent ethics counsellor who would report directly to Parliament. When this same motion was drawn verbatim out of that red book co-written by the member for LaSalle--Émard and presented back to the government, the government and that member voted against their own words. Where is the credibility? What credibility deficit has the government sunk to for that occur?

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, October 1st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, we are getting the same arrogant, vacuous rhetoric that one might expect. I did not realize the member had cottoned on to it or perhaps he drank the Kool-Aid that some of his colleagues have.

The member talked about facts. In particular reference to students, the fact is that student debt has quadrupled for most students in Canada. The cost of tuition has gone up 5% during his government's almost 10 years in office.

The member can talk about facts, but there is one undeniable inalienable fact that he and the member for LaSalle—Émard, the former finance minister, continually mislead Canadians on and that is the deficit. The member mentioned the $42 billion deficit that his government inherited. I want to ask him a very simple question. What was the deficit when the previous administration took office? It was $34.6 billion, contributed one thousand fold by the Minister of Finance at the time, the right hon. Prime Minister. How does he address that simple fact when he speaks of the deficit that his government, the Trudeau government, the Liberal government, left when they took office?