Stephen Harper

[Sponsorship Program, March 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I would leave it to the families to worry about whether they will not get answers from an inquiry. I think the government is worried that we will get answers from an inquiry.

Changing subjects, the testimony before the Gomery commission is proving what we have known for a long time. The taxpayers' money ended up in the pockets of the Liberal Party and its organizers. Now the government is claiming to be going after the agencies for the highjacked funds, but it is not going after the Liberal Party to get back the dirty money.

Why has the government not taken action against the Liberal Party of Canada?

[Air-India, March 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are entitled to more than kind sentiments. They are entitled to some answers and some action.

These families deserve better than a bit of dithering. For 20 years they have been waiting for closure. They have been denied justice.

I want the government to commit unequivocally, clearly and without hesitation that if there is no successful prosecution there will be a full public inquiry.

[Air-India, March 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, 20 years ago 331 Canadians lost their lives when an Air-India plane was bombed by terrorists. Serious questions have always been raised about the investigation. Last week's court decision may mean that justice may never be done.

Should that be the case, is the government prepared to commit to a full public inquiry so the families of the Air-India tragedy will get the justice and some of the answers they deserve?

[Sponsorship Program, March 11th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, tell stranded passengers that they are benefiting from the government's policies.

We hear today that the government intends to sue advertising firms that received millions of sponsorship dollars for little work and kickbacks to the Liberal Party. The irony is almost too much to bear. What happened to, let Gomery do his work?

Does putting this to the courts now not show the government knew the money was stolen all along and is it not just another way to avoid answering questions in Parliament about corruption?

[Airline Industry, March 11th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, this is the ninth airline in eight years to go bankrupt because of Liberal dithering on high airport rents, high security taxes and high airline fuel taxes. That is the government's idea of free enterprise, high taxes.

The Conservative Party, the Standing Committee on Transportation, and the airline industry are all calling for these ridiculously high taxes to be reduced.

How many airline bankruptcies will it take for the government to start listening? When is it going to take action?

[Airline Industry, March 11th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, thousands of Jetsgo passengers are stranded today and they are asking two questions: “How will I get home? Can I get my money back?”

The Liberal government has no such worries because the money that Jetsgo owes in taxes is being held in trust so the Liberals protect the taxman and strand the passenger.

What is the government doing to help the passengers?

[Justice, March 9th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, let me ask one final question.

It is self-evident that last week's multiple murder tragedy was not in any way prevented or impeded by the gun registry, although the gun registry was brought into effect primarily to deal with precisely this kind of tragedy.

After spending $1 billion, does the government have any evidence at all that the registry would prevent this kind of tragedy in the future?

[Justice, March 9th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, all the information to this point certainly suggests that in this case the individual in question had a long history of dangerous and threatening behaviour.

He was viewed as dangerous not just by the authorities, but he was viewed as dangerous by anyone who came into contact with him, by the entire community and by his own family. At the same time, it appears no one ever considered registering him as a dangerous offender because of the difficulty in doing so.

Is the government prepared to look at dangerous offender legislation to see if it can be made somewhat more effective?

[Justice, March 9th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, as the days pass, more information is coming to light about last week's shooting of four Mounties in Alberta.

This appears to be another example of an individual with a long history of criminal charges, complaints and convictions, but who rarely found himself in prison.

The justice minister has said that mandatory minimum sentencing is not an option for such individuals. I wonder if this opinion is shared by the Prime Minister.

[Agriculture, March 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the minister talks about waking up. He was telling the House and Canadians the border would be opened this week. That guy is Rip Van Winkle.

Now that the border is remaining closed, a program to encourage domestic slaughter is even more necessary. The herds are getting larger and farmers are losing money.

Will the Prime Minister support a price per head?