Stephen Harper

[Taxation, November 21st, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, regarding the sum mentioned by the leader of the Bloc Québécois, I would like to quote Robert Gagné, co-chair of the Council of the Federation Advisory Panel on the Fiscal Imbalance, who said, “The statements made by Mr. Boisclair and the leader of the Bloc Québécois do not result from a different interpretation of our conclusions but rather from a more than dubious manipulation of certain data in our report. By manipulating the data in our report in this way, Mr. Boisclair and the leader of the Bloc Québécois are misleading the public and trying to foster unrealistic expectations that have no basis in fact”.

[Taxation, November 21st, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, in the last budget, this government increased transfer payments to the provinces and we will take further action in the next budget.

[Foreign Affairs, November 21st, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I will say again that we do not discuss individual cases in the House of Commons.

When I travel and meet with leaders of other countries, I discuss not only major economic issues, but also important human rights issues. This is completely different from the Liberal Party, which denied a motion in the House of Commons to express our concern about human rights in China.

Also I can say in regard to my well-known agenda to control the press, I will work closely with the Leader of the Opposition to keep those photos of him out of the media.

[Foreign Affairs, November 21st, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I think the Minister of Foreign Affairs has addressed the assurances that we have been given by the government of China. The position of this party and this government, which is certainly different from the last one, is that when we deal with countries around the world, and important countries like China, not only do we pursue our own economic and trade interests, but we also pursue human rights and the democracy agenda, particularly where the interests of Canadian citizens are affected. We will not back down on that.

I can add in terms of photo ops that there is a tradition at APEC to do pictures in traditional garb. Unlike the Leader of the Opposition, I had to wear the silk on the outside.

[Foreign Affairs, November 21st, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, let me share my congratulations as well with you on the 18th anniversary of your election. I was also unsuccessful in that particular election; I am glad we find something we can agree on.

Of course when I travelled there were various formal meetings that I had. There were photo ops before those formal meetings, meetings with the press before those. I gave a press conference at the end of the meetings and of course I also informed the press about any informal meetings that took place.

[Afghanistan, November 9th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Afghanistan mission is a United Nations mission, and is supported by almost all of the countries in the world. It is supported by the government and people of Afghanistan. It is important that we always support our soldiers.

Before Remembrance Day, when we remember our veterans, I have to say that it is important to support our troops when they are in the armed forces as they are at present.

[Afghanistan, November 9th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the concern the leader of the NDP has for my fate.

That said, regardless of what happens in the United States, our role here is to support our Canadian men and women in uniform. I understand that is what the leader of the NDP in Nova Scotia did yesterday in supporting an all party resolution. Darrell Dexter said, “Our job here in this province is to support our soldiers and our military personnel”. That is the job of Canadians in every province and in every party.

[The Environment, November 9th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, now the Leader of the Bloc Québécois wants to work with the Liberal Party to resolve the greenhouse gas problem. This is a very interesting development. I see that Bob Rae is not a member of the Liberal Party, but he has enjoyed a lot of success in the leadership race so far.

Perhaps the leader of the Bloc Québécois could hop on his high speed train and go to the Liberal Party convention where he could also criticize the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada.

[The Environment, November 9th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, speaking of confusion on Kyoto, it is interesting to see this new alliance on the environment between the Liberal Party and the Bloc Québécois.

My advice to the leader of the Bloc is that before continuing to associate himself with the Liberal record, he should read this quote, “I think our party has got into a mess on the environment. As a practical matter of politics, nobody knows what Kyoto is or what it commits us to”. It was the hon. member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore—

[The Environment, November 9th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Environment is going to Nairobi as the first minister of the environment in the history of this country who has tabled legislation to deal with the problem of greenhouse gases.

The party opposite signed Canada on to Kyoto a decade ago, for 13 years did not produce a single plan, and now has the gall to actually suggest that the Liberals would go to Nairobi and commit us to even more targets while we are still waiting to see their plan after 13 years.