Preston Manning

[Prime Minister, June 9th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister was elected in 1993 on a platform that called for renewing integrity in government.

The red book said “open government will be the watchword of the Liberal program”, and for weeks this Prime Minister has twisted, dodged and avoided every specific question about his personal conflict of interest.

Does open government not imply full and frank answers to questions about conflict of interest in the House of Commons?

[Prime Minister, June 9th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, does the Prime Minister not see a real, apparent or potential conflict of interest in funnelling federal contracts, loans and grants to business people with whom he has a personal, business and political association?

[Prime Minister, June 9th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister claims to have answered his questions about conflict of interest, but it is clear to many members in the House that he has not.

For example, he has not even provided any documentary evidence at all that he still does not own the Grand-Mère shares.

The Prime Minister seeks to avoid answering the particulars of this question by appealing to his lapdog ethics commissioner or by engaging in—

[Prime Minister, June 9th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, over the past three weeks the Prime Minister has been asked more than 50 times to answer questions concerning conflict of interest. His refusal to answer these questions fully and openly does a disservice to himself, to his office and to the House.

During the Sinclair Stevens affair Judge William Parker ruled that there is an obligation on the part of the public office holder to avoid activities or situations that place him or her in real, potential or apparent conflict of interest.

Why does the Prime Minister continue to refuse to address parliament's concern about his real, potential or apparent conflict of interest?

[The Late Hugh Hanrahan, June 8th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join with others in paying tribute to Hugh Hanrahan, the former member of parliament for Edmonton—Strathcona who passed away on May 19.

Hugh served in this place from 1993 to 1997. He was particularly active as a member of the House of Commons industry committee and as an advocate for the interests of small business and for the research and development community.

Hugh's voyage through life, like that of so many Canadians, took him from eastern Canada to central Canada, to western Canada and then back to central Canada as a member of parliament.

He grew up in Antigonish, Nova Scotia in a family of five boys. He obtained his undergraduate degrees in arts and education from St. Francis Xavier University. Hugh then came to this city where he obtained his master's degree in education from the University of Ottawa. He then moved west to pursue his career as a teacher. He taught in the Edmonton Catholic school system for some 20 years. He was recognized as teacher of the year for his devotion to teaching high school students something about economics.

In 1993 Hugh returned to Ottawa as the Reform member of parliament representing the constituency of Edmonton—Strathcona, a constituency which includes many students, faculty members and employees at the University of Alberta.

I personally feel that one of the measures of the accomplishments and progress of ourselves as human beings is what the younger generation thinks of us. Perhaps that comes from being a father of five children. Do we inspire confidence, hope and aspirations on the part of younger people or do they see in us particularly as we grow older a wet blanket, an obstacle or an impediment to their dreams and aspirations?

Hugh Hanrahan had a gift for inspiring the confidence and hopes of young people which in the final analysis is a greater tribute to the positive aspects of his life than anything that I could say.

It was Hugh's students, some of whom had yet to cast their first ballot in a federal election, who persuaded him, their teacher, to run for public office. It was Hugh's students and former students who helped him win the Reform nomination in Edmonton—Strathcona and formed the heart of his successful election campaign.

Hugh was never happier in pursuing a public issue than when it was related to the hopes, aspirations and success of young people. It is no coincidence that when he retired from political life because of ill health his constituents chose one of the youngest candidates in the 1997 federal election to follow in his footsteps as the member for Edmonton—Strathcona.

On behalf of the official opposition, we pay tribute to our former colleague, Hugh Hanrahan, today. We extend our heartfelt sympathy to his wife Dianne, to his daughter Margaret Ann and his four brothers. We thank them for encouraging Hugh to share his life with young people and to share his life with us.

[Kosovo, June 8th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, 800 Canadian forces personnel are on their way to the former Yugoslavia. The Minister of National Defence is musing about sending more, even though his chief of defence staff has advised that may be beyond our capability.

It is not unreasonable for Canadians to want to know what our troops will be doing, what role they are assigned to, and whether or not it is within our capability. Canadians want specific answers to these concerns and questions, and not just vague assurances.

Will the Prime Minister tell the House what specific role Canadian forces will play in the implementation of the G-8 peace plan and what resources will be made available to them in order to do the job?

[Kosovo, June 8th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, obviously a number of issues need to be ironed out with respect to implementation of the G-8 peace plan, but one of the central problems is the question of how to implement a ceasefire, particularly with the Kosovo Liberation Army remaining something of a wild card.

Will the Prime Minister tell us whether any progress has been made in agreeing to the terms of the ceasefire and whether or not the KLA is being brought into these discussions?

[Kosovo, June 8th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the House welcomes the news that the G-8 countries agreed today to a draft UN security council resolution which promises to bring us one step closer to peace in Kosovo.

The fact that Russia is now a signatory to the deal clearly adds credibility to the resolution with the Serbs, but to proceed this resolution must also carry the judgment of the Chinese government.

Is the prime minister confident that this UN resolution will in fact proceed and that China will not use its security council veto to block it?

[Kosovo, June 7th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, 400 more Canadian forces troops leave Edmonton today for the former Yugoslavia. They are heading for Yugoslavia at a time when the outcome of these peace negotiations is still uncertain.

We owe it to both the troops and their families to tell them the circumstances under which NATO will deploy them.

Is it intended that our troops will enter Kosovo only as peacekeepers, or could they be used as part of a NATO ground force to drive unco-operative Serb forces out?

[Kosovo, June 7th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the G-8 foreign ministers are meeting in Bonn today to discuss how to get the G-8 agreement back on track.

The House has been concerned about the lack of strong and specific Canadian input into both the defence ministers meetings at NATO and the G-8 deliberations on Kosovo.

What specific instructions did the Prime Minister give to Canada's foreign minister to take to today's meetings in Bonn?