Stephen Harper

[Air-India, November 23rd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, today the government announced it will not go with the full public inquiry on the Air-India bombing. This is seven months after Parliament approved an opposition motion calling for a public inquiry to take place.

If the government had followed the wishes of Parliament and the wishes of the families rather than wasting time and money on this report, it would have had the facts out in the public by now.

When the government waits until the eve of an election to make such a wishy-washy announcement, why should anyone take it seriously?

[Seniors, November 22nd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the answer to all those questions is that we will clean up the mess the government created over the last 12 years.

The Prime Minister continues to run around the country threatening to take away an increase in seniors' pensions if an election is called. However the increase to seniors' pensions was contained in Bill C-43 which was passed by the House, by the Senate and supported by all three national parties.

Why is the Prime Minister trying to scare seniors by saying that he will take away the pension increase if an election is called?

[Government Contracts, November 22nd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad the Prime Minister is getting used to asking questions. What I will tell him is that we support initiatives like that but his soft on crime policies do not work.

We recently learned that David Herle, the Liberal campaign manager, received a $23,000 untendered contract from the government to write the mini-budget.

I wonder if the Prime Minister will come clean and tell the House if he is aware of any other untendered contracts that may have been given to Liberal Party operatives.

[Justice, November 22nd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, 48 people have been shot and killed this year as a result of increasing gun violence in Toronto.

For years the government and the Prime Minister paid absolutely no attention to the growth in crime in Toronto. In fact, the Deputy Prime Minister laughed when asked about convicts being given day passes to Wonderland.

Now we are on the eve of the election. Why does the Prime Minister wait until his government is on the verge of collapse before paying attention to the growth in crime that has occurred under his watch?

[Government Policies, November 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, what I know is that a party that broke every single law in Quebec has no credibility saying it will enforce the law.

On another subject, the Prime Minister is going around the country saying that if there is an election, he will take away increases to seniors pensions, he will take away pay raises for our armed forces and public servants, and he will take away infrastructure money for cities.

Will the Prime Minister simply admit that Parliament has already passed legislation on these matters and people will get these benefits whether the Liberal Party wants them to have them or not?

[Federal-Provincial Relations, November 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I guess that is a no.

On another matter, a few days before an election is to be called, the Prime Minister prefers to criticize the leader of the Parti Québécois rather than work with the federalist Premier of Quebec. He is trying to pass himself off as the champion of federalism by citing the Clarity Act.

How can a party that has acted illegally for years now claim to be the guardian of the law in Quebec?

[Automobile Industry, November 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, thousands of Canadian auto workers woke up today to find out that General Motors is cutting thousands of jobs and closing plants in this country. In March of this year, the government poured $200 million into General Motors, assuring us all that it would lead to job increases.

Did the Prime Minister, when he made his $200 million deal with General Motors, get assurances that it would not cut jobs in Canada?

[Sponsorship Program, November 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the Premier of Saskatchewan does not buy that and no other federal members buy that. In fact, the only person in Saskatchewan who believes that is the finance minister.

It is now 16 days since Justice Gomery made his report public. In it, he says that certain Liberal riding associations in Quebec pocketed stolen money, but the names of those ridings remains a mystery.

Will the Prime Minister be frank enough to make public the names of these ridings that used money stolen from the taxpayers?

[Equalization, November 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, hopefully before that relief is delivered in 2010 there will be a new government.

The Prime Minister is also failing Saskatchewan on equalization. The government promised to reform the equalization program in 2004 for Saskatchewan. The government now says it will not get to that until at least 2006, costing Saskatchewan over $750 million in lost revenue.

When will the Prime Minister overrule his finance minister and make the changes necessary, so Saskatchewan does not lose this money?

[Airports, November 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, Torontonians are increasingly upset over the huge fee hikes at Pearson International Airport. The airport says that the fee hike is necessary because the federal government is charging unreasonable ground rent.

Today the International Air Transport Association said that rent is, “the biggest single obstacle to lowering airport fees at Pearson”.

When will the Prime Minister show some leadership, stop punishing Toronto, and lower ground fees at Pearson Airport?