Ralph Goodale

[Gasoline Prices, May 14th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, to make the simplistic change that the hon. gentleman is proposing, as I said, makes a difference of about 1¢ a litre. That will hardly make an appreciable benefit to the consumers.

The search for a solution has to be a little bit more sophisticated than a glib opposition one liner.

With respect to the hon. member's point about municipalities, we are in the process of rebating the entire GST to every municipality in Canada, which adds up to $7 billion. That is a real benefit to Canadians.

[Gasoline Prices, May 14th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the government obviously shares the concern of consumers with respect to these higher prices.

In terms of the impact of the GST, I have had the opportunity in the last number of days to actually do the arithmetic. It would appear that because of the price increases of the last couple of weeks, the actual difference in GST paid is something in the order of 1¢ per litre.

That hardly changes the equation. I think we have to search conscientiously for more profound solutions, because 1¢ a litre will not make the difference that consumers would like to see.

[Liberal Party of Canada, May 14th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, indeed the government is very pleased to be attracting great interest and strong support across the country. In my own province, for example, I am very pleased that Mr. Chris Axworthy is running for the Liberal Party. In British Columbia, I am pleased to see that the former premier, Ujjal Dosanjh, is running. Dave Haggard is running.

I would think the hon. gentleman might want to check his list before he declares victory.

[Public Service, May 14th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the public service is in place to provide service to the public. That is what they are called upon to do by the government.

When they advance policy ideas, the government weighs those policy proposals from the bureaucracy and eventually makes the ultimate decision about how to proceed.

The very good work done by the public service over the long term and over the last number of weeks has produced very powerful results. They include, for example, the proposal by the Minister of Veterans Affairs for a brand new way to deal with veterans benefits in this country and also the recent action by the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to defend Canadian rights off the nose and tail of the Grand Banks.

That is in the public interest.

[Health, May 14th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, again, it is a groundless and a baseless allegation.

The fact of the matter is that when the Prime Minister acquires his health care, he does so like every other Canadian, using his health card for the services that are medically insured and covered by the Canada Health Act.

[Health, May 14th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, this is again a baseless and groundless allegation.

When the Prime Minister acquires health services, he acquires them with his health card, consistent with the conduct and the practice of every other Canadian. Incidentally, he has never paid for an MRI.

[Health, May 14th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, in that welter of accusation and innuendo, let me make it very clear. When the Prime Minister sees his doctor, he uses his health card to pay for the treatment, like anyone else.

[Health, May 14th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the position of the government is very clearly expressed in the terms of the Canada Health Act. The provision of services must be provided in compliance with all of the provisions of the Canada Health Act.

[Health, May 14th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the Canada Health Act requires that all medically necessary services are provided to all Canadians regardless of their ability to pay. Indeed the types of services covered by these so-called executive health plans are not considered medically necessary and therefore fall outside the Canada Health Act.

[Gasoline Prices, May 13th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, if there is some deficiency in the mandate of the Competition Bureau which in some way prevents it from acting in the public interest on behalf of Canadian consumers, then obviously the Government of Canada would be interested in ensuring that the Competition Bureau has the mandate and the resources it needs to do its job in the public interest.