Ralph Goodale

[Business of the House, February 5th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, we do not intend to delay this matter, but I wonder if the government House leader, or perhaps the Minister of Finance, could inform the House whether the trust that he has referred to in the title of this legislation has in fact been established.

Is the indenture document available? Can that document be tabled in the House at the same time as the legislation? Can the minister give us his assurance that the distribution formula for the funding among provinces and territories will be fair to all of the provinces and territories suffering the economic difficulty to which the bill refers and that the money available will be distributed in a fashion relative to the needs in the different regions across the country?

[Points of Order, February 1st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, such an assertion on the part of the government House leader is absolutely outrageous. There is no question that every member of the House wholeheartedly supports our troops whenever they are put in harm's way anywhere around this world. The Conservative Party has no monopoly on compassion or good faith or patriotism.

[Afghanistan, February 1st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the government House leader should simply start with the truth. The government's failure to come clean has drained its already tenuous credibility.

Since last April, the government knew about credible allegations that Governor Khalid had been involved in torture, but the Minister of National Defence continued to deal with him. Senior Canadian commanders and diplomats still deal with him.

Has the government even bothered to investigate the allegations against Mr. Khalid, as specifically required under Canada's detainee transfer agreement? Why the cover-up?

[Afghanistan, February 1st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the House does not need a dog and pony show. It needs the truth.

No amount of bluster and obfuscation can hide the fact that the government covered up the most heinous allegations, the spectre of the governor of Kandahar torturing detainees. The Government of Canada, the Prime Minister of Canada, knew about it for almost a year and kept it secret. Surely, barbaric behaviour is not a matter of operational security.

Does the government expect to earn the confidence of Canadians in the absence of basic transparency?

[Afghanistan, February 1st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, for months Canadians have received disturbing reports about the torture of Afghan detainees. From the very beginning, the government has bungled the issue, trying to brush it aside, even stooping to accuse its critics of supporting the Taliban.

Now, no less than the governor of Kandahar, Asadullah Khalid, is accused of beatings and electrocutions. What is worse, the government knew about it. It has known since April of last year and it covered it up.

Does the government really think it can credibly fight this war in secret?

[Business of the House, January 31st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the government House leader could indicate his intentions for House business over the next week at least and hopefully two weeks.

I would point out to him that the House business advice that he gave to other parties last Tuesday is now obviously outdated because of events that have taken place in the meantime.

I would be particularly interested to know his plan for disposing of Bill C-3, because there is a court imposed deadline for dealing with that issue.

I would also be interested to know if he is yet in a position to designate any of the opposition days that must be designated during this supply period.

I wonder if I could ask as well whether there would be unanimous consent in the House for a motion that is on the order paper standing in the name of the member for Winnipeg South Centre which states:

That this House endorse the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on September 13, 2007, and call upon the Parliament and government of Canada to implement fully the standards contained therein.

[Manufacturing Industry, January 31st, 2008]

You blew the fiscal framework. That's what you did.

[Privilege, January 29th, 2008]

Table it.

[Business of the House, December 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps instead of the normal Thursday question, I wonder if the government House leader would be prepared to see if there is a disposition in the House to deem Bill C-18 to be read a third time and passed. Then there might also be a disposition to see the clock as 5:30 p.m.

[An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River, December 11th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, on a point of order. Where in the bill does the specific section appear that the Minister of Natural Resources just referred to? That is now section 2, just to be clear.