House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2000, with 65% of the vote.
Health November 30th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, this is a shell game. In 1993 when the government was elected the federal government contributed 16% to covering B.C.'s health care costs. Today its contribution is down to 10%. Hospital waiting lists are at record levels and they are to increase in British Columbia.
My question is to anyone over there that can answer it. Does the government not see the connection between its health care policies and deteriorating health care in all the provinces of Canada?
Health November 30th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, nearly 200,000 Canadians are on waiting lists and now with this threatened nurses strike in B.C. thousands more must wait.
The government seems to think that sick people and Canadians are fooled by the argument that if $7 billion is taken out of the transfers and $2 billion put back somehow the health care users are ahead. This is a shell game that the public simply does not accept any more.
Is it not true that the government's real health care legacy is hospital closures, waiting lists, strikes and now a shortage of both doctors and nurses?
Health November 30th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, nurses at 41 hospitals in British Columbia have threatened to go on strike and hundreds of surgeries have had to be rescheduled. The nurses' union says the province needs at least 1,400 nurses to keep up with health care demands, and the province says they can only afford 600 because of federal cuts to health care transfers.
Is it not true that under the government's health policies health care is now in trouble in every province in Canada?
Apec Inquiry November 25th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, when I listen to the Prime Minister, I hear a man who is desperate to protect the image of ethics and integrity but spends very little time on the substance.
If the Prime Minister wants to find someone to blame for this entire sordid affair, why does he not just look in the mirror?
Apec Inquiry November 25th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is obviously upset. He is not angry with the solicitor general babbling on an airplane. He is not angry about the solicitor general refusing to tell the truth when he was first confronted. He is angry that it came out at all and that the affidavit was filed and that it was released.
Exactly what lesson is the Prime Minister trying to teach here, that covering up is always better than telling the truth?
Apec Inquiry November 25th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, what a glimpse into the Prime Minister's values. He refuses to accept any responsibility for his solicitor general's resignation. Instead he looks for someone to blame. He blames the media. He blames the official opposition. And now he launches a manhunt to find someone to blame for filing the incriminating affidavit with the RCMP complaints commission.
How can the Prime Minister possibly defend this outrageous witch hunt?
Apec Inquiry November 24th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is running away from this question. He is trying to hide exactly like the solicitor general.
Staff Sergeant Hugh Stewart, a senior Mountie, is being set up as a fall guy. This is confirmed in at least two affidavits filed with the commission. It has never been contradicted by anyone in the government.
I ask again, for whom was Staff Sergeant Stewart going to take the fall? Was it Eddie Goldenberg? Was it Peter Donolo? Was it Mr. Pelletier? Or was it the Prime Minister himself?
Apec Inquiry November 24th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, the public complaints commission is not going to get to the bottom or to the top of this particular matter.
Remarks of the former solicitor general have undermined the commission. The chair of the commission is under investigation. Lawyers for the students want the commission quashed, as do lawyers for the RCMP who are being paid by the government.
Question period may be our only avenue to get to the bottom or to the top of this matter. I ask again, for whom was Staff Sergeant Stewart supposed to take the fall?
Apec Inquiry November 24th, 1998
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are still waiting to find out why their Prime Minister sacrificed Canadians' freedom of speech in order to protect a foreign dictator from embarrassment. While the former solicitor general may be gone, he left behind a question on this matter which deserves an answer.
When the former solicitor general said that a senior Mountie named Hugh Stewart would take the fall, what did he mean?
Apec Inquiry November 23rd, 1998
Mr. Speaker, that affidavit from which the Prime Minister just read and which he acknowledges must be valid also contains these words “Oh Hughie. Oh you mean Hughie” and commented to the effect that Hughie might have to take a hit or a fall.
Is the Prime Minister saying that this statement, not the one he read, the one I read, that that does not prejudice the RCMP complaints commission?