Ralph Goodale

[G-8 Summit, March 21st, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that each one of these claims has been very carefully examined against the guidelines that were published before the G-8 summit.

If any of these individuals believes that the guidelines have been misapplied or not applied in the proper way, they are certainly free to draw their point of view to my attention and I will look into it. I am determined to make sure that the guidelines are properly administered as they were published in advance of the G-8 summit. I am happy to see that this in fact turns out to be the case.

[National Defence, March 20th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I will ensure that every step is taken according to procedure and according to law so that every rule is properly respected, and the end result will be in the best interests of Canadian taxpayers.

[National Defence, March 20th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence made a major step toward the end of last year when he dealt with the bundling issue.

We are now at the letter of interest stage. We expect reactions to that very shortly and we will proceed as rapidly as possible according to each and every rule to ensure that every legal step is properly taken.

We will not fall into the trap of taking a misstep that could end this whole contract in a set of litigation that would last for 40 years.

[National Defence, March 19th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the government is working particularly hard to move this matter forward. The Minister of National Defence took some very important steps at the end of last year with respect to the bundling issue. We are waiting for further steps to be taken this week and next week. We are anxious to move this forward rapidly and to achieve the very best possible result for Canadians.

[Health, February 28th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, my department is responsible for the purchase of the vaccine. The government will indeed be procuring 10 million doses of smallpox vaccine from a Canadian supplier for use in the case of an emergency. The contract will also contain the necessary options to procure more if that is necessary, and the negotiations are indeed underway.

[G-8 Summit, February 27th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the procedure is proceeding according to guidelines. I understand there are approximately five enterprises that may not be satisfied with the status of the matter at the present time.

However I have given a clear instruction to my officials that they should follow the guidelines and apply them as they were agreed prior to Kananaskis.

[G-8 Summit, February 27th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, a procedure was defined well in advance of the G-8 summit in order to identify losses that were compensable. Guidelines were established on whether compensation would be payable.

I am, of course, insisting that my department apply those guidelines as they were pre-agreed prior to Kananaskis.

[Aboriginal Affairs, February 25th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the question as well as the hon. member's interest in urban aboriginal people. I am hopeful that federal and provincial governments, and other stakeholders can and will leave their jurisdictional arguments parked for awhile, while we all concentrate on practical real life solutions to urban aboriginal issues.

I am happy that in last week's federal budget we provided some new financial resources to help devise such solutions, at least $17 million to start with in eight Canadian cities. I note that the hon. member herself has helped to organize a symposium next week on the needs of urban aboriginal Canadians.

[Government Contracts, February 7th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the first portion of the administrative review has been completed as promised. The work was done between the end of October and the end of January. The work was done by a totally independent, professional forensic accounting consultant. It names certain individuals and details a number of apparent breaches of contracting rules.

As the first step of follow up, the reviewer's report has properly now been given to the RCMP. We will await the RCMP's green light to proceed with our own next administrative steps with all due diligence.

[Government Contracts, February 5th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I think that is an unfair allegation. It was the deputy minister after all who initiated the file review process. She initiated the administrative review process. She made some of the very early references to the RCMP. She has been assiduous in pursuing the file and getting to the bottom of it.

I hope that within a matter of a few days we will be in a position to comment further on the proper procedures with respect to the administrative review process.