Stephen Harper

[Sponsorship Program, February 9th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday Mr. Chrétien demonstrated contempt for the inquiry, for the truth and for taxpayers. He stonewalled. He showed no remorse. He took no responsibility. He gave flippant answers, and of course he had the support of everyone in the Liberal Party while he did it, cheering him on.

Does the Prime Minister condone this attitude of his predecessor?

[Sponsorship Program, February 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I am tempted to call the Prime Minister the artless dodger.

We will continue to ask this Prime Minister questions in the House about the sponsorship scandal until we get answers from him.

Last week, the Prime Minister said, and I quote, “I am very proud of what the last government did and I am very proud that I was part of it”.

My question is simple. Is the Prime Minister proud of the sponsorship program and was he part of it?

[Sponsorship Program, February 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I had hoped we would get some clear answers before the Prime Minister was hauled off to the inquiry himself.

What Mr. Chrétien does not seem to grasp is that the Liberal sponsorship program is the biggest gift the Quebec separatist movement got in the past decade.

Does this Prime Minister clearly understand that the sponsorship program is a national unity catastrophe?

[Sponsorship Program, February 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, we are witnessing the extraordinary spectacle of a former prime minister being hauled before a judicial inquiry. He is again trying to justify what occurred by wrapping himself in the flag. We all remember his statement that it does not matter if millions of dollars were stolen as long as the country was safe.

Does this Prime Minister clearly understand that the unity excuse for the theft of taxpayer dollars is completely unacceptable?

[National Defence, February 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, this is not a routine statement. This is a cry for help from the top military man after over a decade of neglect and abuse.

The Liberal chair of the Senate defence committee has described our military as desperate and unable to meet basic international commitments. Let me quote what the senator said:

Are Canadians really content to have a worldwide reputation as freeloaders and people who aren't carrying their share of the burden?

That was Liberal Senator Kenny who said that. Does the Prime Minister agree with his friend Senator Kenny?

[National Defence, February 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, since the Prime Minister was so excited about being at the installation of the new chief of the defence staff, I wonder if he actually listened to what the chief of the defence staff had to say about the tendency of running the military on the cheap. He said:

We could probably not give enough resources to the men and women to do all the things we ask them to do. But we can give them too little, and that is what we are now doing.

Will the Prime Minister finally admit that for the past 12 years his government has nearly starved the military to death?

[National Defence, February 7th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, today's story that millions were spent just to borrow planes to get the DART to Asia should remind Canadians of the Prime Minister's 12 years of military underfunding. We can add to this the stories of helicopters crashing, submarines burning, Jeeps rusting, and the latest, sending poorly equipped soldiers on even more dangerous missions.

Given that the government was obviously misleading Canadians about the size of the surplus in the last election, will the Prime Minister today commit to a substantial increase in military funding in the upcoming budget?

[Sponsorship Program, February 3rd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister can continue to hide behind Gomery. He can continue to play for time. The truth is this, he can dither but he cannot hide.

The Minister of Transport said that all the dirty money pocketed by the Liberals would be given back immediately.

Corriveau did receive millions of dollars of dirty money. Why has the Prime Minister not already ordered this dirty money to be given back to the taxpayers?

[Sponsorship Program, February 3rd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, this is the biggest scandal in Canadian history. We see millions of dollars being funnelled to a Liberal organizer out of public funds and the Prime Minister tries to hide behind the police, the RCMP and a judicial inquiry. It is a gutless lack of integrity.

When will the Prime Minister order the Corriveau money to be repaid to the public treasury?

[Sponsorship Program, February 3rd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the smoking gun has been found. It has now been revealed that a top Liberal organizer, Jacques Corriveau, whose bills were unpaid received millions of dollars of taxpayer money via the sponsorship program. It is hard to believe that this information was not known by the government a long time ago.

My question is for the Prime Minister. Why was this not revealed to the public accounts committee before the election, as he promised?