Ralph Goodale

[Business of the House, May 8th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the government House leader could outline the plans he has for government business through the rest of this week and next week before the May break.

I wonder if he could tell us, since there is one week before the May break and one week after the May break, which two of those ten days he will officially designate for the House to examine in committee of the whole the estimates on one occasion of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and on another occasion the Minister of Finance.

Two such days need to be designated before the end of May and I wonder if the House leader could tell us which they will be.

[National Security, May 8th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, this is not, indeed, about Ms. Couillard. This is about national security and that is the business of this House.

Will the Minister of Foreign Affairs simply assure the House that his former friend did not travel with him to sensitive foreign locations, in the Middle East, for example, or to Camp Mirage near Dubai?

[National Security, May 8th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, this is a fundamental issue of democracy. If the government is not prepared to let the people of Canada have their say and ask decent, legitimate questions, then this government stands exposed as a government that is denying fundamental democracy in this country.

Mr. Speaker, I insist on the right to ask a legitimate question.

[National Security, May 8th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker--

[National Security, May 8th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, this is not about Madame Couillard. This is about national security.

[National Security, May 8th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, private lives are not the business of this House, but issues that do affect, potentially, the public security of Canada must be discussed here, and the answers should be very straightforward.

Can the Minister of Foreign Affairs tell us if his former personal friend has ever had access, even inadvertently, to any official briefing materials of the Government of Canada?

[Motions for Papers, May 7th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a procedural point of order. I believe the House leader for the Bloc Québécois was inadvertently distracted when we dealt with petitions. I think he may have a petition to file. I wonder if the House would give its unanimous consent to revert to the presentation of petitions to allow the House leader for the Bloc to file the petition.

[Points of Order, May 7th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I believe this request was already made both in a committee of this House and on the floor of the House and the request was acceded to. The documents were in fact filed.

However, if the government wishes further edification, I would invite those members to refer to page 4 of the sources and uses table of the Government of Canada, dated November 24, 2005, and they will find the booking of $5.1 billion in order to fund the Government of Canada's commitments in the Kelowna accord.

[Government Accountability, May 7th, 2008]

Nonsense.

[Points of Order, May 6th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, during question period, the Minister of National Defence made reference to a new cabinet position, the minister of patronage. He was speaking in the other official language so I simply want to clarify this point in English.

Could he please identify which of his colleagues he was referring to as the minister of patronage or did he in fact have all of them in mind?