Ralph Goodale

[February 1st, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the government House leader, in the usual tradition, could give the House an indication from the government as to what the program is expected to be for the balance of this week and through next week.

As I ask the question, which is the usual tradition on Thursday, I would like to congratulate the new House leader for the government and wish him well in his new responsibilities. I would ask him specifically, since there has been so much information leaked by the government about prospective budget dates, would he be in a position to clear up the confusion about when the government will table its budget this spring?

[Points of Order, January 29th, 2007]

It is not good enough.

[Points of Order, January 29th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, on two occasions now arising from question period, one raised by myself and the other by the NDP, government ministers have been demonstrably in the position of providing false information. It is not good enough for some other member of the cabinet to rise in his or her place and say, “Oh, tut, tut, it is not true”. It is true and the ministers need to recant.

[Points of Order, January 29th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, today in question period the new Minister of the Environment read from a particular piece of paper and accused the former Liberal government of spending some $5 billion buying hot air from Russia. The former Conservative minister of the environment got into rather deep trouble for providing the House with false information, including this same false allegation, which in fact has been declared false by the Commissioner for the Environment.

Will the new Minister of the Environment withdraw this untrue assertion and table that specific piece of paper that he was reading from during question period when he made the allegation?

[Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, January 29th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to pay tribute to one of Canada's most influential musical artists, Joni Mitchell. On January 27, she was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Joni's roots are deep in Saskatchewan, but her career has taken her to the very peak of the music world. From the folk sound of the 1960s, she evolved into one of the most influential artists of the 1970s and beyond. Songs like Woodstock, Big Yellow Taxi and Help Me captured a place and time and have become the soundtrack for an era.

She continues to perform, but this past weekend she was honoured for her songwriting. Thousands of groups and individuals, old and new, perform Joni Mitchell songs, including Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Judy Collins, and Sarah McLachlan, to mention just a few. Joni's is truly a living legacy.

We are all very proud of this music icon from the Prairies who has enriched the cultural fabric of the nation. I ask all members to join me in celebrating the achievements of this outstanding Canadian artist.

[Canadian Wheat Board, December 11th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, apropos the answer that was just given by the Minister of Agriculture, the president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Wheat Board is the chief salesman for the Wheat Board. He is the one who sits down with buyers around the world to do the transactions.

He is under dire personal threat by the government and the minister. If the minister wants the Wheat Board to do its job, will he now, in light of the elections on the weekend, ensure that the CEO remains in place and not under threat by the minister?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2006, No. 2, December 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, about 11 months ago, the then leader of the opposition, now Prime Minister, wrote a letter, in very detailed terms, to the Council of the Federation and the premiers making the explicit commitment that in the revision of equalization, his government, if it were elected, would completely remove non-renewable natural resources from the equalization calculation. It was a clear, unequivocal, specific commitment.

Could the parliamentary secretary confirm that this promise will be explicitly in the government's package of measures?

[Business of the House, December 7th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the question is about House business going forward for the rest of this week and into next week. I know the House leader for the government is anticipating an adjournment of the House, according to our calendar, on December 15, if perhaps not sooner than that.

I wonder if he could indicate how certain he is of the holiday season beginning on December 15 and how he would propose to ensure the House is productively engaged in the intervening eight days.

[Canadian Wheat Board, December 5th, 2006]

Obviously, Mr. Speaker, the government's definition of due process is highly selective.

The Conservative government is deliberately preventing the Wheat Board from discharging its responsibilities. It savaged the integrity of the board's directors and officers, an attack clearly calculated to inflict great harm.

The chief executive officer of the board is its top salesperson. He is the one who sits down with the buyers to convince them to buy Canadian, and they do so based on their trust in him. How can he do business in markets around the world when the government is kicking the hell out of him back here at home?

[Canadian Wheat Board, December 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative attack on the Canadian Wheat Board is reprehensible. It is another example of extreme right-wing ideology trampling everything in its path: closed door meetings, a biased task force, a phoney communications plan, peddling of a fraudulent message, gag orders, personal threats and firings.

The government has just said that we cannot go around just firing people, that we need to follow due process. Will that principle also apply to the president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Wheat Board?