House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 50% of the vote.
Employment Insurance May 10th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, you are the one who said no to this bill. This problem is that the Bloc Québécois is incapable of drafting a bill that is in order.
Those members cannot bring a bill that is in order. If they want to get their bills passed, they should try to learn how to write them so they are in order in the House of Commons.
Public Service of Canada May 10th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows full well the importance of the laws respecting the confidentiality of government and cabinet information, the confidentiality that is required to be applied to them, and the obligation of the police to act.
It is the same law that applies federally. It is the same law that applies provincially, even in provinces with NDP governments like Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Public Service of Canada May 10th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, as the member for Winnipeg North knows very well, there are laws in place and oaths that public officials and public servants take that they must respect. When the police see that those laws have been broken, they do the appropriate thing, investigate and take action.
I know the member for Winnipeg North knows that, because without reference to a book but perhaps to a movie, it is kind of like Groundhog Day. After all, this is the principle the member for Winnipeg North was trying to advance when she asked the RCMP to investigate the income trust leaks.
Ministerial Expenses May 10th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe that this member just accused his own colleagues, the predecessors, of hiding illegally $95,572.93 in flights that they did not disclose in their public disclosures, but rather through the department disclosures.
If it is good for the goose, it is good for the gander. I do not think he really thinks they concealed $100,000 of hidden stolen money. It was the $40 million under the sponsorship scandal that disappeared and was stolen.
Ministerial Expenses May 10th, 2007
Mr. Speaker,--
Ministerial Expenses May 10th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated earlier, all these travel expenses are disclosed as required under the law. What they tell us is that Conservative ministers spend an awful lot less travelling in general than previous Liberal ministers.
In fact, when we talk about Challenger travel, former Liberal ministers travelled 300% more, 81 flights versus 27 for Conservative ministers.
When we talk about these other flights, we can look at the Minister of Transport's predecessors, over three times as much on these types of flights.
Ministerial Expenses May 10th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, as I said, all these expenditures are disclosed in accordance with government policy. The leader of the NDP simply has his facts wrong.
However, I will stop picking on the Liberals for a change because this was a question from the NDP.
I did talk a few days earlier about his habit when he was at city council, even though he lived downtown, to use that chauffeur driven limousine 194 times in one year instead of his bicycle to get a few blocks to city hall, but I left one thing out. That was despite the fact that he had a free public transit pass at the same time. He was using a gas-guzzling limo instead of public transit. I cannot believe it.
Ministerial Expenses May 10th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, the leader of the NDP has some problems with the facts.
The fact is that all the expenses of ministers do get disclosed in accordance with government policy.
What I like about these questions is that they give me the chance to compare the record of Conservative ministers with their predecessors in the Liberal government. In fact, members will find that the Minister of Transport has been very mindful of taxpayer dollars and spends a lot less. For example, on hospitality in his first year he spent $965. His Liberal predecessor spent $15,000 on wining and dining. Who is being responsible? It is the Conservative minister.
Canada Elections Act May 9th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member of the Bloc Québécois for his question. He asked a very interesting question, but I think it needs to be addressed to the President of the Treasury Board, who is the minister responsible for this issue and the accountability act.
I would like to also add, however--and we would be happy to hear from him in question period on it and pursue that matter--that we believe that if we have this structure in place with regard to loans financing for political campaigns, we will have gone some distance to strengthen the provisions of the previous Federal Accountability Act and to deal with some of these problems that were not foreseen in their entirety, foreseen perhaps by the member for Winnipeg Centre, but not foreseen by all. The Liberal leadership campaign of course helped to shine a spotlight on that for the rest of us in terms of the danger of the loophole that existed.
This is the nature of legislation in our country. It is an evolving thing. The best thinkers and the best minds do not always do a perfect job. This is a good example of where government has seen a flaw or a gap and we are moving quickly to correct that gap and take action. That is the nature of our government, particularly on the critically important issue of accountability.
Canada Elections Act May 9th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by thanking the hon. member for Winnipeg Centre, who has indeed been a champion on this issue. I think he deserves due credit for having placed it on the public agenda and kept it in the public eye. We must give him due credit for having ensured in the fashion that he did that it was drawn to the attention of the government for action. He, too, can take some credit in the fact that we have brought forward this legislation at this time to address the very serious problem he is concerned about.
In terms of the question of the bill taking effect, I think he also raises some very good questions. It is a legitimate concern. Of course, we always receive advice from the Chief Electoral Officer and others on the time that they need to implement legislation. On this side, of course, we would like to see it brought into place as quickly as possible. We have to look at the practicalities of how to manage those things.
However, it may well be that the member for Winnipeg Centre has raised a very good point. There certainly will be an opportunity after second reading to test the actual practicalities of implementation at committee and potentially an opportunity to call the Chief Electoral Officer, who, I might add, recommended that we bring in this kind of change as well. This has been a recommendation of the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada. There will be an opportunity to test whether it is practical to come up with an implementation take-effect date that is sooner. Certainly on this side of the House the government is very open to that possibility if it can be done.