House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 50% of the vote.
Afghanistan May 14th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, it is quite right that the Prime Minister was at a rally in support of our troops at the base in Petawawa on Friday. I observed that he was very well received by the troops and the families of the troops there, which I think is a strong signal.
However, I will say this much. We do not hide behind our troops; we stand behind our troops.
The Environment May 11th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I will tell the House where we are going with greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions are doing down, and that is our policy and our plan. It is the first time a government has ever brought forward a plan but obviously that will not be reflected in the disclosure because it is a new plan. Unfortunately, the disclosure will still reflect the unfortunate track record of a previous Liberal government that did absolutely nothing on the environment.
When they see disclosure in the future, they will see things moving in the right direction and they will see greenhouse gases going down.
The Environment May 11th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, the member is correct to the extent that Canada is a little bit embarrassed on the world scene because of the record of 13 years of inaction on the environment and the fact that we had to see greenhouse gases rise to 35% or more above our Kyoto targets under the Liberals, notwithstanding the fact that they entered into a treaty saying that we would reduce them by 5%.
Our government is changing that. We have brought forward a plan that, for the first time in Canadian history, will result in mandatory standards and actual reductions in greenhouse gases. The Liberals were big on reports and international agreements. We are big on actually delivering results to improve the health and environment of Canadians.
Government Programs May 11th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, the program the Liberals had was a program where most of the money actually did not go to consumers.
We have replaced that program with a program where the money goes to consumers. We are helping low income consumers by putting more money in their pockets, in the same way as the GST cut, the workers' income tax benefit and the fact that we have lifted so many Canadians off the income tax rolls.
Today I received indication from Statistics Canada that Canada today has the lowest unemployment rate in 33 years. This is a new announcement, thanks to the strong economic growth under the government, helping all Canadians, including low income Canadians.
Government Programs May 11th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, mislead, confused, deceived sounds like the Liberal Party playbook to me and it is the playbook of that member who just spoke.
We are sitting here today talking about wanting lower gas prices and yet the member for Ajax—Pickering, back in September 2005, when gas prices were going up, said, “We need to see the silver lining in this rather painful situation. We need to wean ourselves off petroleum”.
The Liberals think high gas prices are a good thing, which is why they proposed a 60% increase in gas prices.
Gasoline Prices May 11th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I am always amused when the Liberals ask people to keep promises on the GST. They were the ones, that member himself, who campaigned on a commitment to eliminate the GST and, guess what? It is still there.
However, somebody did keep the promise on the GST. It was the Prime Minister and this Conservative government who committed to cut the GST by 1%, including on gasoline, a deeper cut than our previous commitments on tax cutting.
It is very different from the Liberals' plan. Their deputy leader, the member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore, admitted that his plan would mean some Canadians might need to pay more at the pumps. That was reported in the National Post in August.
In unveiling his policy, he said, “Federal taxes on transportation fuels should be restructured to be heavier on--”
Gasoline Prices May 11th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I do not know where the member was when we had the budget because the budget cut the GST on gasoline far more than that earlier promise that the Conservatives made. We went above and beyond and cut taxes even more.
It is different from what the Liberals would do. For example, the Liberal leader, when he was the environment minister, was quoted in the Calgary Herald as saying, “High gas prices are actually good for Canada in the medium and long term”. In August 2005, in the Montreal Gazette, the Liberal leader pointed out, “High gas prices are not necessarily a bad thing”.
We see their secret plan at work now with their plan to raise gas prices 60%. That is--
Ministerial Expenses May 11th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, we are truly proud of the accountability act. It is the most rigorous legislation of this type passed by any government in the history of Canada.
Never before has there been a government willing to take an initiative and bring forward a law so dramatic on accountability, and it is working. It is working because the public can see what happens and we have an unprecedented level of accountability. It also works because when Conservatives are in charge, taxpayers' dollars are taken care of much more carefully.
Ministerial Expenses May 11th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, that is not true. The truth of the matter is that all expenses of Conservative government ministers have been posted on the ministers' and departments' web sites. Everything is there.
The gap that exists is the gap between the spending by previous Liberal ministers and the spending by Conservative ministers which is usually a very large gap, and guess what? It was the Liberals who spent more.
Afghanistan May 11th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, certainly, nobody in this government has any shame about Afghanistan. There may be shame in the NDP and I can understand why it would be embarrassed with the positions it has taken demanding an immediate withdrawal. However, Canada is doing important things in Afghanistan.
I will quote Seema Patel, the lead project consultant for post-conflict reconstruction for the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, who said, “Canada is leading by example, spending its reconstruction and development funds on projects that build loyalty and trust, that are led by local people, with outsiders playing a supportive and catalytic role”.
We are proud of Canada's role in Afghanistan.