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Crucial Fact

  • His favourite word was respect.

Last in Parliament October 2019, as Liberal MP for Regina—Wascana (Saskatchewan)

Lost his last election, in 2019, with 34% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Citizenship and Immigration October 29th, 2012

Mr. Speaker, before answering questions about two Nigerian students who have taken sanctuary in a Regina church, the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism asked for privacy waivers from those two individuals. Those documents have now been supplied.

Again, this question is for the minister. Is the government's determination to deport these two girls and thereby destroy their education based solely on their honest mistake of working for two weeks at a Walmart store? If that is their only transgression, is not such retribution out of proportion?

Petitions October 26th, 2012

Mr. Speaker, I have another petition today with respect to the prairie shelterbelt program and the federal tree farm located at Indian Head.

These petitioners are from across Saskatchewan: Gull Lake, Hazlet, Neudorf, Killaly, Lemberg and many other places in the province. The petitioners are calling on the federal government to change its position with respect to the tree farm and to maintain federal funding for the shelterbelt program and the farm at Indian Head.

Food Safety October 26th, 2012

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Agriculture says that the CFIA was just too nice to XL Foods. Hence, the CFIA had the power to call that delinquent firm to account but did not do so.

Food contamination persisted for more than a month. Over 2,000 products had to be recalled. Sixteen people got sick. Cattle producers and others absorbed big losses.

Since the minister himself knew of the problem by September 5, why was he also too nice in doing nothing to fix it? How can he and CFIA now lead a review when they are clearly part of the problem?

Food Safety October 26th, 2012

Mr. Speaker, under new management, XL Foods is trying to get back into business, but it is still not clear if its products are safe.

The CFIA is supervising, but the Guelph Food Technology Centre says that CFIA standards are the bare minimum, and most retailers require something better, that is, certification by the global food safety initiative. XL lost that certification last week and cannot get it back until next year.

Why are CFIA standards lower than global standards? Will XL be allowed to sell anything before it meets global requirements?

Foreign Investment October 25th, 2012

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister seems a bit edgy.

Transparency and enforcement are two matters that require far more clarity. The government says that, when it approves a foreign takeover, it attaches conditions to ensure the deal is in Canada's best interests. But how can Canadians ever know that, when the terms are never made public? How can one enforce a secret condition?

Specifically, in relation to a state-owned buyer from another country, what is the instrument, what is the power, the Canadian government will use to actually enforce any conditions on that foreign state-owned entity after the fact?

Foreign Investment October 25th, 2012

Mr. Speaker, given the vast impact of the natural resources sector on our entire economy, corporate governance in that sector is a crucial consideration.

When a Canadian company is bought out, who will sit in the boardroom subsequently directing what that company does? Will any new ownership be fully subject to all Canadian securities laws? Will the government insist on Canadians being added to the board of directors of the buying firm and a majority of Canadians remaining on the board of the firm being bought?

Foreign Investment October 25th, 2012

Mr. Speaker, for at least two years Liberals and others have been raising the issue of reciprocity when foreign entities try to buy out or take over Canadian resource companies. If foreigners want to own something here, can Canadians equally do the same there? Very recently the Prime Minister has talked about reciprocity too.

As the government wrestles with the Petronas and CNOOC issues, what is the government's working definition of reciprocity? Is it, for example, access in China for Canadian financial institutions? What will Canada get in return?

Jobs and Growth Act, 2012 October 25th, 2012

Mr. Speaker, the difficulties that were faced by the government in the 1990s were very severe. The IMF was quite literally knocking on the door saying that Canada was about to hit the wall. Therefore, some serious decisions had to be made at that time. The praise coming from the IMF today is largely based on the courageous decisions that were made in the 1990s, and the IMF has said that. There was a $40 billion deficit that had to be dealt with.

The former leader of the hon. member's party, Preston Manning, said that the cuts should be deeper. He argued for the cuts to go further. The transfers to provinces that had to be reduced temporarily back in that period of time were all fully restored by the year 2001 and reached an all-time record level by 2003.

On the employment insurance premiums, the consolidation of the fund with the books of the Government of Canada was a specific recommendation by the Auditor General of Canada. The Liberal government followed the auditor general's advice and, at the same time, cut EI premium rates every year for 12 consecutive years, resulting in a saving to employers and employees of 40%, the exact opposite of what the Conservative government—

Jobs and Growth Act, 2012 October 25th, 2012

Mr. Speaker, in all of the intense debates over the last 25 years about the contentious issue of the Canadian Wheat Board, I often said that an even more crucial matter was the Canadian Grain Commission. The Grain Commission is that agency in our grain marketing system that guarantees quality to our customers and guarantees honesty in weights, measures and grades to farmers. The trend that is evident in this bill is a trend toward making the whole Grain Commission process voluntary, optional and entirely at the farmer's expense. We think that trend is wrong. Any agency or organization like the Grain Commission, after the better part of 100 years in service, can be upgraded, improved and modernized, but this is a case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

If we couple the elimination of the grades, standards and the guarantees of proper quality that the Grain Commission provides with the loss of the Canadian Wheat Board, the government is in the process of putting prairie agriculture back to about 1910.

Jobs and Growth Act, 2012 October 25th, 2012

Mr. Speaker, I agree with the hon. gentleman's concern. In the first half of my remarks today I went into considerable detail about why the procedure being followed here was mistaken. It does jamb Parliament. It limits the opportunity for debate and for serious consideration and, at the end of the day, it calls for all of these subject matters to be voted on together in a single vote. The government has indicated that it does not have to be that way.

Why does the government not fix this problem that it is causing for itself by insisting on the omnibus procedure? The government has already agreed that some things can come out of Bill C-45. That was demonstrated by the reforms to MPs' pensions. The bill can be severed. That has been demonstrated by what was done with the pension provisions.

The government has also indicated that the subject matters can be considered in different committees. It all does not have to go to finance committee. It can be divided up among eight, ten or twelve different committees of the House and the committee that has the expertise in a particular subject area can examine that portion of Bill C-45. That too is progress and it demonstrates that we do not have to have the omnibus procedure.

The government needs to go the one extra step and say that after the committees have done their consideration, the House can vote on these topics not all in one lump, but one by one, so the vote result can be clear and honest.