Ralph Goodale

[Taxation, April 19th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, tariffs are taxes. The Conservatives are ripping off middle-class families with tariff tax increases of $333 million every year. It is a naked money grab, and it is--

[Taxation, April 19th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, Conservative policy on tariff taxes is incoherent and deceitful. They boastfully leaked information, pre-budget, to divert attention from sporting equipment and baby clothes, but then they increased—repeat, increased—tariff taxes on baby carriages, hockey helmets, school supplies and wigs for cancer patients.

Why should cancer patients be punished with a new 15% Conservative tax? Why are middle-class Canadians—not foreigners, Canadians—being hit with tariff tax increases of more than $300 million every year?

[Points of Order, April 18th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, this discussion is getting out of hand.

The member for Cape Breton—Canso made it very clear in his first intervention to you, Mr. Speaker, that he searched his records and found no indication of the existence of any such document. The government House leader is now more than trying to make a joke of it; he is trying to leave a very false impression of what the member for Cape Breton—Canso in fact said.

In fairness, the record has to be clear. The member searched his records. He found no evidence of any such document, and the latest gratuitous remark by the government House leader is complete horse feathers and ought to be withdrawn.

[Taxation, April 18th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are obviously weary of being used as props in deceitful Conservative publicity stunts. Just ask that bicycle shop owner.

Tariffs are taxes. The government is raising taxes by $333 million every year, and do not blame China. The Chinese did not impose the taxes and the Chinese will not have pay them.

This is a self-inflicted Canadian tax grab on the Canadian middle class, draining Canadian disposable incomes, driving Canadian businesses and consumers across the border.

Why does the government not just cancel the tax increase?

[Taxation, April 16th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are increasing tariff taxes by $333 million every year. It is just like increasing the GST: a money grab to concoct the illusion of a balanced budget by 2015. To feed that fiction, Canadians will be forced to pay more for everything from tricycles at 4.5% more, baby carriages at 3% more and cosmetic wigs for cancer patients at 15% more.

The government should cancel these new Conservative taxes and stop ripping off the middle class. Why will it not do it?

[Elections Canada, March 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, Elections Canada cannot keep up with Conservatives breaking the law. It started with the in-and-out financing scam for which Conservatives were charged and pled guilty. Then Conservative Pierre Poutine generated robocall election fraud in as many as 200 ridings, still under investigation. Then came the perversions in Peterborough and the chronic cheating by Penashue in Labrador.

Elections Canada wants more investigators, more power to get evidence and stiffer penalties. Will it get what it needs to fight Conservative corruption?

[International Co-operation, March 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, Canada participated in the work of the United Nations to fight drought for two reasons: first, to help the poorest on earth avoid starvation; and second, to bolster our own ability to farm the dryland prairie.

Maniacal front-line cuts have killed PFRA, which had world-class Canadian brainpower on soil and water conservation. Conservatives vandalized community pastures, the prairie tree farm and the Experimental Lakes Area. Now Canada is the only country in the world sneaking out the back door on the UN Convention Against Drought.

Why are Conservatives isolating Canada as a global delinquent?

[Petitions, March 27th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour today to present four petitions, including hundreds of signatures from people all across the city of Regina and in the vicinity who are concerned about the budget reductions that would eliminate the experimental lakes project in northwestern Ontario.

The petitioners indicate that this has been an absolutely crucial site for the most vital freshwater research in North America, perhaps in the world. They think the cancellation and closure of this facility would be a retrograde step. The petitioners call upon the government to provide the funding necessary to ensure the experimental lakes projects can continue.

[Hon. Member for Toronto Centre, March 27th, 2013]

He's not there yet.

[Hon. Member for Toronto Centre, March 27th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, for the next few minutes the House will be focusing some attention on the hon. member for Toronto Centre.

He certainly does not need our help to draw attention, but today, his last day in the House as leader of the Liberal Party, he deserves a tribute.

Amid all the eulogistic things that are likely to be said today, I remind members at the outset that the MP for Toronto Centre is not dead, neither will he be retiring anytime soon. He is just changing roles.

We are going to pay a tribute to him because, and I hate that word “interim”, his leadership over the past 22 months has been anything but interim. It has been robust and unstinting, skilful and substantive, and readily applauded by the media, the public, our caucus, the party and indeed by his opponents in the House.

In the middle of his job as leader, we named him Canada's parliamentarian of the year. When I say “we”, I mean all of us in this House together. His peers in all parties voted him number one. God knows the Liberal Party could not have stacked that vote. We were not that organized even when we were in government. That parliamentarian of the year award, amidst all our travails as the so-called third party is a large and unique signal of the respect the member for Toronto Centre has earned across the partisan divide.

As members can imagine, our national Liberal caucus meeting this morning was filled with many emotions as we thanked our leader for the work that he has done over the past two years or so, years that were both difficult and crucial but not without a bit of humour. Like Bette Midler, the MP for St. Paul's over there gushed this morning that the leader has been the “wind beneath [her] wings”. However, the member for Cape Breton—Canso said that maybe someone just passed a bit of gas.

The leader himself addressed the caucus with some poetry. "You, the unwilling,” he said, “led by the all-knowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much for so long with so little, we now feel qualified to do anything with nothing”.

He went on to say, “I know I have not answered all of your questions. The answers I have given only serve to raise big new problems. In some ways, I feel just as confused as ever, but I believe I am now confused on a higher plane and about more important things”. It was indeed quite a caucus meeting.

As other parties in the House like to remind us, the Liberal Party has endured some difficult times since the election of May 2011, perilous times because survival was not guaranteed. More than anyone else, the member for Toronto Centre has given the Liberal Party the opportunity to have a future.

More than anyone, the hon. member for Toronto Centre has given the Liberal Party hope for the future.

He was the right person in the right place at a critical time. With his deep well of experience, his storehouse of knowledge, his understanding and judgment, the vast array of Canadians and international personalities whom he knows and who know him and whose respect he has earned, his oratorical skills in both official languages, his spontaneity in question period, his easy interaction with the media, the deep respect he shows for Parliament and the institutions of our democracy, the consistent principles that guide his conduct when the cameras are rolling and equally when they are not, his kindness and decency; these are characteristics that have shaped his leadership.

Far beyond the House, people struggling with issues such as mental illness, for example, people who have been marginalized by life's circumstances, aboriginal peoples searching for new hope and respect, and many others, have seen in this Liberal leader a reason to believe in the potential and compassion that Canada can offer. Perhaps more than any others, the member for Toronto Centre lives by what Laurier would describe as “sunny ways”, that positive instinct to see the glass always half full, not half empty.

Yes, tough times come along in politics. One reaction is to get angry, to grow bitter, and if one does that, one will diminish and fade. The best lesson from the member for Toronto Centre is to always rise above the petty, look for the best in people, even one's opponents, be fair and always try to build a more inclusive society and a better country.

It was with that attitude that he motivated our caucus and our party, kept us united and helped us to grow, while keeping us visible and relevant.

Perhaps his greatest ally in all this work is his spouse and partner, Arlene. A soul mate, helper, adviser, comforter, confidant and pillar of strength, she and their daughters, Lisa, Judith and Eleanor, have been absolutely indispensable to what has been achieved. Today we say “thank you” to all of them.

We have a future to fight for and hope for another day because of the member for Toronto Centre, and we are grateful.