Stephen Harper

[Agriculture, March 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, our farm families were told that the border would be opened. Now the border is not open. They do not want to have more wait and see. They want the Prime Minister to look and to take some action. Slaughter capacity must be increased.

Yesterday two provincial governments responded to the latest development in the crisis by announcing $40 million more aid. The government is offering nothing more than stale sound bites.

Does the government understand that the extended closure of the U.S. border means it needs to take more action on this crisis and more action on slaughter capacity?

[Agriculture, March 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the agriculture minister refused to say when or if he would provide emergency relief to cattle producers. These people are not hobby farmers. They cannot wait until the next day, the next month or the next year. They need help right now.

Will the Prime Minister announce today that he will release funds from the contingency reserve for farm families?

[Agriculture, March 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, what is ludicrous is that we have people losing their livelihood, month after month of bungling and no action, and our farmers expect some action right now.

The minister did not make a commitment to emergency assistance. I want him to make that commitment and to acknowledge that all the opposition parties, all the provinces and all our producers believe the CAIS program is not working and that emergency funding will come outside of CAIS because it does not work and it does not deliver.

[Agriculture, March 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, let me deal with the consequences of the Prime Minister's mismanagement of Canada-U.S. relations.

The government seemed totally unprepared for what happened last week in the U.S. courts and the U.S. senate to our cattle industry. The Prime Minister had promised Canadian producers that the American border would be open today. Well, promise made, promise broken.

Given the Prime Minister's incompetence in this crisis, is he now prepared to immediately use the budget's contingency funds to help our cattle farmers?

[National Defence, March 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, it says everything that the Prime Minister is not here to answer for all of his stories.

[National Defence, March 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister told President Bush that he had not made up his mind on missile defence but his foreign affairs minister told the U.S. secretary of state that he had.

The Prime Minister told this House that there was no decision but then his office told the press that there was. He promised Parliament a debate and then it never took place. He led both our ambassador and the American ambassador to believe the government was signing on when it was not. He then said that he had rejected the American proposal and yet claims that he had never actually received one.

Given all of those stories, how can anyone on either side of the border believe anything the Prime Minister says?

[Anthony Gordon, Leo Johnston, Brock Myrol, Peter Schiemann, March 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, last Thursday night I was boarding a plane in Labrador ready to return to my own family after some absence when I learned, as did all Canadians, that four young RCMP officers in rural Alberta would not be returning to theirs.

It is difficult to fully express the grief that we all feel at this senseless act and the very long time it will take for many people to come to grips with this tragedy.

Our deep sorrow at this event is all the more difficult to express because never in the history of our country and society has there been such a tragedy.

The loss of four officers at one time is unprecedented and overwhelming in this country. It reminds us all, and it reminds us all too pointedly, that this country asks a lot of its law enforcement officers and of the brave men and women who serve on the front lines of policing.

These deaths are a painful reminder of the price of freedom from criminal activity and the costs of ensuring that most of us can live in relative security and safety. These four young men paid the highest price possible for their devotion to the safety of their fellow citizens.

As Canadians, we take for granted this precious privilege we share of living in a society based on respect for the law. However, the sacrifice made by these four young heroes is a reminder that every day, men and women risk their lives to ensure our safety.

On behalf of all of us in the Conservative caucus and this party, I want to join with I am sure all members of the House in offering our deepest sympathies to the families, friends and colleagues of these brave officers.

The time is coming to examine the circumstances of their deaths and the public policy implications of those, but in the meantime we all grieve. We recognize that they gave their lives in protecting Canadians and in upholding our laws. Their heroism will never be forgotten.

We also want to reserve a special thought for the entire community of Mayerthorpe, Alberta, which will have to live with the intimate memory of this horrible event for many years to come. Our prayers are with that community, with the families and colleagues of the officers, and with the officers themselves. God rest their souls.

[National Defence, February 24th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, that is the kind of decisiveness we get. We still do not know what they have said no to over there.

The Prime Minister had already said yes to missile defence under Norad. Today he is saying no to further participation.

Is the Prime Minister prepared to confirm there will be no more negotiations or discussions? Is this no final?

[National Defence, February 24th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, we already know the government has agreed to participate in the information sharing in the first phase.

The Prime Minister has denied repeatedly that he has had proposals. He now wants the world to know he said no to something prior to the Liberal convention. Would he tell us precisely? If he is saying no to something, do us the honour of telling us exactly what it is that he said no to.

[National Defence, February 24th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the government has managed to announce it is in missile defence and not in missile defence in the very same week.

We know the government agreed to participate in ballistic missile defence through the Norad amendment earlier. That is what Frank McKenna and others have admitted. What further participation is it that the Prime Minister said no to?