Scott Brison

[Government Contracts, March 9th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that as soon as officials of the Department of Public Works became aware of this issue they acted and all $146 million were recovered for the Canadian taxpayer. Promise made, promise kept.

[Sponsorship Program, March 9th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, once again the commitment is very clear and it will be kept. The fact is that we believe very strongly in the work that Justice Gomery is doing, which is why the Prime Minister appointed Justice Gomery and why, on an ongoing basis, we are supporting Justice Gomery. We believe in the work he is doing.

Even Preston Manning wrote last week in the Globe and Mail that he supports and believes in the work of Justice Gomery. I would urge the hon. members opposite to listen to Preston Manning if they will not listen to us and let Justice Gomery do his work.

[Sponsorship Program, March 9th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has already made that commitment. We do not need to take lessons on transparency and openness from the alliance Conservative Party, a party that muzzles its members of Parliament by not allowing them to speak their mind on the floor of the House of Commons and a party that is censuring debate at its own policy conference.

Liberals are not afraid of debate and we are not afraid of the truth, which is why we are allowing Justice Gomery to do his work.

[Sponsorship Program, March 9th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, we must avoid prejudging Justice Gomery's work. I am anxious to see his report but we must wait for it.

We know the Conservative Party does not understand the importance of judicial independence but I would hope the Bloc understands the importance of the independence of a judicial inquiry and would allow Justice Gomery to do his work.

This is another case where the Prime Minister has made a promise. We are keeping that promise and we are getting to the bottom of this issue.

[Sponsorship Program, March 9th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I have already discussed that issue. I have already discussed the idea that we are not going to, and that it is inappropriate to comment on daily testimony.

Let us talk for a moment about the leadership role that Public Works and Government Services Canada is playing in creating better value for taxpayers and better services for Canadians. In the recent budget, Public Works and Government Services will deliver $3.5 billion in savings to the Canadian people over the next five years, savings that will be invested in health care, in child care, in the Canadian military, in the environment and in building a better Canada.

I am proud of the role that Public Works and Government Services Canada has been playing in--

[Sponsorship Program, March 9th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has been clear, the minister has been clear and the party has been clear that if there were political contributions that resulted from illicitly gained funds, those funds will be returned to the Canadian taxpayer through the Receiver General. That is a promise made and that will be a promise kept. However we cannot keep that promise unless we let Justice Gomery do his work.

[Sponsorship Program, March 9th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, we have seen, even this week, one day's testimony contradicted by another day's testimony.

The hon. member is commenting on daily testimony and he should avoid commenting on the shifting sands of daily testimony because he runs the risk of making errors.

The fact is the Prime Minister promised to get to the bottom of this issue and he appointed Justice Gomery. We are supporting Justice Gomery. Promise made, promise kept.

[The Budget, March 8th, 2005]

The questions are much better here than in question period.

[The Budget, March 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is wrong when he says that I have not spoke about the budget. I have been speaking about a department that will contribute $2.4 billion of savings to the budget through the ERC process over the next five years. That contribution enables the government to invest in child care, in health care, in the Canadian military and to reduce taxes for low and middle income Canadians. At the same time it keeps the government in a surplus position and to pay down debt.

I am proud of the role that Public Works and Government Services Canada is playing in enabling us to address the priorities of Canadians in a fiscally responsible and sustainable way.

The member speaks about those low income Canadians and what can we do to help them. Eight hundred thousand low income Canadians were taken off the tax rolls completely because of our decision. The decision of the Minister of Finance to raise the basic personal exemption to $10,000 is good public policy and good economic policy. It helps all Canadian taxpayers, but particularly low and middle income ones.

[The Budget, March 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the questions the hon. member, whom I believe is critic for public works, have absolutely nothing to do with public works. I guess we must be doing our job in public works and making a real difference, otherwise the opposition would be deriving some fodder from this. I guess we are doing just too good a job in identifying $3.4 billion of savings over the next five years and making a real difference.

First, I addressed the Kyoto issue in front of the environment committee recently. One of the differences between the former Progressive Conservative Party and the former Alliance Party was that Progressive Conservatives, under the leadership of people like Joe Clark, believed and understood the importance of climate change. They supported and recognized the validity of the science behind climate change. In fact that hon. member and his colleagues used to refer to Joe Clark as Kyoto Joe.

There was a decision made by the Progressive Conservative caucus to vote against ratification at that time only because there was a desire to see more consultation with the provinces.

Let me be very clear. I am glad that the government ratified Kyoto. I think Canadians want their government to be playing a leadership role multilaterally and internationally on greenhouse gas emissions.

I was wrong then, and I am proud to be part of a government that was right then in making the right decision to ratify Kyoto and play a leadership internationally. We can do more and we are doing more.