House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 64% of the vote.
Natural Resources December 13th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, we are rapidly nearing Christmas and I am sure the Prime Minister does not want to be known to Atlantic Canadians as the evil grinch who takes their oil and gas and gives them only a lump of coal in return.
Will the Prime Minister stop dithering and deliver on the deal he promised with no eight year moratorium on prosperity?
Citizenship and Immigration December 8th, 2004
What is disgusting, Mr. Speaker, is that the minister will never answer a straight question until she is caught red-handed.
We all know about the preferential treatment for the stripper program, yet Canadians can see today on television the Bondarenko family put to sea in a rickety boat in the north Atlantic during winter. I wonder how the Prime Minister and his immigration minister, the minister of hopes and dreams, can explain these priorities of compassion and humanitarianism to Canadians.
Citizenship and Immigration December 8th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I guess the standard over there is that they can deal with something once they are caught.
That is an operation I would call cash for permits.
The immigration minister told her Liberal colleagues that she would not issue ministerial permits during the election and then she turned around, went behind their backs and handed out at least a dozen permits to her own political donors and campaign workers.
This is my question for the Prime Minister. Does he know how many ministerial permits the minister handed out to her riding and supporters during the election campaign?
Citizenship and Immigration December 8th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, yesterday I asked about an illegal unreported proxy donation to the immigration minister. It turns out that the real donor sits on the Liberal riding executive and stickhandles immigration cases, and during the election the minister funnelled eight ministerial permits to this donor's group.
I ask the Prime Minister, will he admit that this is the real reason the minister did not report the donation in the first place?
Citizenship and Immigration December 7th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, what I think we would all support would be some leadership from the Prime Minister.
From the London Times to Ireland's Telegraph to CNN, the international community is laughing at the Prime Minister and his immigration minister. The immigration minister is making an international embarrassment of this department. When is the Prime Minister going to show the required leadership and just fire the minister?
Citizenship and Immigration December 7th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, that is an interesting move, except that this morning her spokespeople were saying there was nothing wrong with actually getting the donation.
We learned today that the minister's right-hand man met with more than one strip club owner, with multiple strip club owners, doing immigration business at strip clubs. Since I assume it is not standard practice for chiefs of staff to make house calls, has the Prime Minister inquired of the immigration minister as to why her chief of staff would be doing government business at a strip club?
Citizenship and Immigration December 7th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, reports today suggest that the immigration minister was funnelling illegal proxy donations through a campaign worker, but apparently she says that in breaking the election law she did nothing wrong.
We have had the stripper program defended, queue jumping, failing to report a deportee, and business done at strip clubs. How many rules does the minister have to break before the Prime Minister fires her?
The Senate December 6th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, while that is an advance over Friday's position, it is somewhat less than a number of organizations are suggesting is necessary.
I have asked about Canada's role in Iraq and Ukraine. The Prime Minister sees himself as the grand defender of democracy around the world.
In his crusade to promote democracy, will he commit to recognizing elections in his own country and naming elected senators from Alberta?
Ukraine December 6th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, we will look forward to the answer to that question. It does not sound like there is one yet.
Given the Prime Minister's interest in elections abroad, I want to move from Iraq to Ukraine. The Ukrainian Canadian Congress has requested 1,500 observers for elections there. People are also asking for an assurance that there will be no Russian intervention.
Has the Prime Minister called in the ambassador of Russia to ensure that elections will be respected, there will be no intervention, and there will be a recognition of a free and fair result?
Iraq December 6th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, yesterday on an American television channel, the Prime Minister promised to send Canadian observers to supervise the election in Iraq. Sending unarmed observers into a combat zone is a very risky undertaking.
How will the Prime Minister ensure the safety of our observers?