House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 71% of the vote.
Sponsorship Program April 14th, 2005
The fact is that the Leader of the Conservative Party has accused witnesses of lying before Gomery. The deputy leader has accused some witnesses' testimony of being a sham. They do not have much caucus unity or they at least do not have very good question period coordination, because that hon. member is completely out to lunch and completely--
Sponsorship Program April 14th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should talk to his colleague, the member for Calgary Southeast, who yesterday basically accused and in fact used the word perjure when he accused the Prime Minister of, in front of Gomery--
Sponsorship Program April 14th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, those members believe Jean Brault. I trust Deloitte & Touche. They believe Jean Brault. I trust Justice Gomery. They believe Jean Brault. I believe in the Prime Minister of Canada, who is getting to the bottom of this issue.
Canadians know that they can trust this Prime Minister and they can trust John Gomery to get to the bottom of this issue, but they cannot trust the people over there because those people are only interested in partisan self-interest. We are putting country before party over here.
Sponsorship Program April 14th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, now those members are attacking Deloitte & Touche and they are attacking PricewaterhouseCoopers. Is this not interesting, their contempt for these in fact international organizations that have credibility not just in Canada but around the world. That is how desperate they are getting. They are willing to impugn the reputations of internationally respected accounting firms like Deloitte & Touche and PricewaterhouseCoopers. That is shocking.
The fact is that the Liberal Party and this government are doing the right thing, when over there they just want to get to the polls. We want to get to the truth because that is what Canadians deserve.
Sponsorship Program April 14th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, the answer to that question is absolutely no.
Sponsorship Program April 14th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, once again, these are allegations. These are not facts.
I can say that my office sometimes receives calls from constituents living in the constituencies of some of the hon. members opposite often because sometimes their calls are not returned and they are given no help with certain issues.
The individuals in my constituency office are professionals and they certainly try to help whenever they can because they are there to serve Canadians.
Sponsorship Program April 14th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is absolutely wrong. Those are not facts. Those are allegations. We will not have facts until Justice Gomery completes his report.
It is interesting that the Conservatives consider everything that Jean Brault said as being fact and yet when the Prime Minister of Canada testifies they say that it is questionable.
That party is playing politics with a very important issue. Canadians want to get to the bottom of this issue. I trust our Prime Minister and I trust Justice Gomery to get to the bottom of this issue.
Sponsorship Program April 14th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, that is pretty flowery language for an accountant. That sounds more like a partisan to me.
The fact is that today's Chronicle-Herald said:
The case [the Prime Minister] laid out in his own defence is stronger than any case mounted against him. He is the one who cancelled the sponsorship program on Day 1 of his tenure. He is the one who set up the Gomery inquiry, who fired those whose fingerprints were on this fiasco, and who is taking steps to recover misspent money. What more could the opposition reasonably expect him to do that he has not already done?
Sponsorship Program April 14th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, Deloitte and the accountant who conducted the review said that “the Liberal Party provided all the information requested within the scope of the review and were fully cooperative throughout the process”.
What is more important is what the Toronto Star is saying. It is saying that “the Prime Minister is acting honestly”. It goes on to say:
No other federal party chief has faced such a leadership test so openly. Fairness demands this be recognized... But [the Prime Minister's] agenda is an ambitious and positive one for a minority government. It compares favourably with the Tories' tired call for tax cuts, more power to the provinces and their disdain for Kyoto and same-sex marriage. [The Prime Minister's] program promises to do more good for more people.
Sponsorship Program April 14th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, how can the member stand in the House and give that kind of diatribe without fulfilling her responsibility to inform the House that Mr. Rosen was a significant supporter of the Canadian Alliance party and that he has a bias when he gives that kind of information or perspective?
This is what Deloitte said:
We made sure to obtain detailed supporting documents for every amount deposited in this [Liberal Party] account during the period covered by this mandate. We also traced every other transaction appearing on this statement, notably all transfers towards all other bank accounts.
In fact, the accountant who conducted the review said that the Liberal Party provided all the information requested within the scope of the review.