House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 64% of the vote.
Public Appointments Commission May 9th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, this is ironic, because the NDP voted against establishing that Public Appointments Commission. Furthermore, they are the ones who asked us to stop spending money on it. During that time, we established very clear qualifications for appointments, and we abide by them by appointing people based on merit.
The Environment May 9th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the statement by the leader of the NDP is completely false. The fact of the matter is that as part of the government's economic action plan to encourage jobs, growth and long-term prosperity, we are streamlining the environment assessment process. It will be extremely thorough. It will be for major projects up to two years. We know that the NDP opposes these kinds of projects completely. However, we have to have a process that is environmentally thorough but that ultimately does allow projects to be approved under some circumstances.
The Environment May 8th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, as I think the member of the Liberal Party knows well, this government is committed to responsible resource development. We are also committed to responsible use of charitable moneys to ensure that charitable moneys go into charitable activities as opposed to political activities. However, at the same time, when it comes to the important environmental review processes we have in this country, we think it is ultimately important that Canadians control them and Canadians get input into those processes rather than foreign interests dominating those processes.
The Environment May 8th, 2012
On the contrary, Mr. Speaker, this government has made record investments in environmental remediation and cleaning up sites that were not properly assessed in the past. This government is ensuring that we have thorough environmental assessments going forward.
We differ with the NDP in that we think that while environmental assessments have to be thorough, there also has to be a time limit. There has to be the ability to actually have economic development in this country. The no-development party does not favour that, but we do and Canadians do.
The Budget May 8th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the economy is the national interest of Canadians.
This government received a mandate to make jobs and growth and long-term prosperity its major emphasis. The economic action plan was put before this Parliament in March and approved in principle in April. A first bill is now before Parliament and will be debated in a record amount of time. I would encourage all members of Parliament to focus on the real economic priorities of Canadians.
The Budget May 8th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the government received a mandate to make jobs, growth and long-term prosperity its major emphasis. The economic action plan was put before this Parliament in March and approved in principle in April. A first bill is now before Parliament, which will be debated for a record amount of time.
I would encourage all members of Parliament to focus on that work and move forward on the priority of Canadians.
National Defence May 3rd, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the preamble of that question is completely wrong. As the deputy minister himself has indicated, the data released is consistent with how the Department of National Defence has treated such data in the past.
However, as we said, as a consequence of the Auditor General's report, we are taking a more careful look at all of this costing. We are committed to providing all of the results of that examination to Parliament.
National Defence May 3rd, 2012
Mr. Speaker, in response to the Auditor General's report, the government has announced that it will take a number of steps before proceeding. We intend to examine all these facts and options before continuing with the process. We have been clear about that.
National Defence May 3rd, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the one who has it wrong is actually the Liberal Party. This is not what the deputy minister said. I would encourage the members to actually fully read his testimony. The thing he has quoted is a very specific item that is not a general comment.
The government has accepted the report of the Auditor General and is acting on those recommendations.
National Defence May 3rd, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the deputy minister made it quite clear. If the member were actually reading the deputy minister's testimony she would see that the deputy minister made it clear that the information was presented in the way that it has always been presented over many decades, long before this government came to office.
The more important point in the Auditor General's report is that the Auditor General has questioned the reliability of some of these numbers, which is why the government has committed to re-examining this matter before proceeding.