House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2021, with 50% of the vote.
Government Contracts June 6th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, we all knew that the Liberals made taxpayers pay millions in rent for a vacant building, but last week the public works minister admitted that the $100 million deal violated the Parliament act.
The violation carries a fine of $200 a day for the offending party, for a total of over $100,000 in fines. When will the government force its Liberal friend to pay up these fines to taxpayers?
Points of Order June 3rd, 2005
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should take issue not with me but with his public works minister who conceded all the accusations that I raised in the House of Commons. Yesterday in a committee of this Parliament, government operations committee hearings, his minister admitted that the senator had contravened section 14 of the Parliament of Canada Act.
I have the transcripts of that meeting and I would be happy to table them with you, Mr. Speaker. In fact, I merely repeated what the minister said about this situation. Furthermore, three letters from the Department of Public Works have confirmed that the senator is in contravention.
Government Contracts June 3rd, 2005
Mr. Speaker, on May 17 the minister's lawyer wrote the senator's company threatening to cut off the rent by the end of May because of this violation, but after a mysterious phone call, the minister's department granted the Liberal senator another month's rent worth half a million dollars. That is a half a million dollar phone call.
What happened during this secret phone call? What dirty deal was cut to give the Liberal senator's company another half a million dollars?
Government Contracts June 3rd, 2005
Mr. Speaker, taxpayers paid millions of dollars in rent for an empty building owned by the company of a Liberal senator. In committee hearings over this Liberal rent for nothing scandal, the public works minister admitted that his Liberal caucus colleague broke the law. I asked the minister, “You learned that he was contravening section 14 of the Parliament of Canada Act from me in question period?” The minister's reply, “That's correct”.
Liberals wasted money and broke the law. When will they stop paying the rent?
Child Care June 2nd, 2005
Mr. Speaker, the minister has effectively just admitted it will take 100 years to finally implement his program. We know it will take 100 years to pay for it.
This bureaucracy will cost $10 billion a year or more. The Liberals have only budgeted $1 billion. That leaves a $9 billion black hole. Is it not true that the only way to pay for this $10 billion bureaucracy is through higher taxes on working families and on parents?
Child Care June 2nd, 2005
Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday I asked the social development minister how much it would cost to fully implement his day care bureaucracy. He said no one can know, yet the NDP, which wrote this year's federal budget, seems to know. It estimates $10 billion per year. Major unions, day care industry groups and other supporters of the minister's day care bureaucracy say it could be more than $10 billion.
The minister should quit dodging. How much will it cost in the immediate future to fully implement your day care bureaucracy?
Business of Supply May 31st, 2005
Mr. Chair, we just extracted quite a stunning admission from the minister at this late hour. He has admitted that he has no idea of the full cost of implementing the program he sets out. It reminds us of the gun registry. It was supposed to cost a net $2 million. It cost a thousand times more than that, $2 billion to Canadian taxpayers. This program in its sheer enormity could have cost overruns that are far beyond the imagination considering that his department and his office have apparently not done the research to ascertain what it might cost three, four or five years down the road.
He said that he does not even know what it will cost. Taxpayers know that a $10 billion or $12 billion new bureaucracy will cost a lot to them. It will mean fewer dollars to make child care decisions in their homes. His program fails to provide new choices to stay at home parents or parents who use a family member or a neighbourhood based system of child care. Not only does his program fail to provide those choices, it actually takes more choices away by imposing new costs on taxpayers. Those costs will surely mean fewer dollars in the pockets of parents with which to make those choices. Not only is he failing to provide choices, he is taking choices away.
My question is very simple. This program is going to cost $10 billion to $12 billion. How will he pay for it? Will he cut health care? Will he increase taxes? Or will he run a deficit?
Business of Supply May 31st, 2005
Mr. Chair, the truth is that the minister is hiding the true cost because he does not want to admit that this is going to cost $10 billion to $12 billion.
I will give him one last chance. He obviously has studied this issue. I imagine he has people working on it. How can we imagine that he would move in favour of a program of this enormity without having any knowledge of the entire costs to implement it?
The taxpayers of this country have a right to know what will be the cost to fully implement this massive new day care bureaucracy. I am giving him one last chance. His last answer was, “I don't know”. That is a $10 billion “I do not know”. I am giving him one more chance to come clean and be honest with the Canadian taxpayers. How much will it cost?
Business of Supply May 31st, 2005
Mr. Chair, I trust the minister's next answer will be commensurate with the time it takes to ask the question. How much will it cost to fully implement his national day care bureaucracy? How much will it cost per year to fully implement that program?
Business of Supply May 31st, 2005
Mr. Chair, let us be honest. What the minister is talking about is a $10 billion to $12 billion day care bureaucracy, which will mean higher taxes for families and few choices for parents.
The minister is not being honest about the full cost of his program. In fact, all the groups that support this day care bureaucracy say that it will cost in the neighbourhood of $10 billion to $12 billion.
The New Democratic Party has said in this House of Commons, and this is the party that wrote the latest budget, that it will cost at least $10 billion.
The major groups that have researched and support the minister's day care bureaucracy say it will cost $10 billion to $12 billion.
Yet he is trying to convince the Canadian people that it will only cost $1 billion per year. Why is the minister hiding approximately $10 billion in real costs to taxpayers for his program?