House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 64% of the vote.
National Defence December 2nd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I do not think anybody but the Prime Minister knows what he is talking about.
Canadians want to know about the government's position on what is obviously an important bilateral issue. What we want to know is the nature of our proposed involvement, the costs of any obligations we would incur, and the nature and value of any benefits.
When does the Prime Minister plan to tell Parliament and tell Canadians about these things and about where the government is at on this program?
National Defence December 2nd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I do have to tell the Prime Minister that that is rather hard to believe. The government has been hinting at this for months, and the former defence minister announced that discussions were starting with the Americans on May 29, 2003. That is over 18 months ago. It is hard to believe there is absolutely nothing on the table after all of this time.
I ask the Prime Minister, when is the Liberal caucus actually planning to bring these discussions to a conclusion and take a decision on this matter?
National Defence December 2nd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, if you and the House would bear with me for a moment, I would like to begin by acknowledging the passing of David Vienneau, who was a very good guy and a fair and professional reporter. I want to express on behalf of all of us, and I know the Prime Minister did earlier, our sadness at his passing and our condolences to his family.
Mr. Speaker, after weeks of being told that missile defence would not be on the agenda of this week's Canada-U.S. talks, it turned out that it was at the top of the agenda. It is obvious we can assume that by now the United States government has provided the Liberal government with a specific proposal on missile defence. When will the Prime Minister be informing us of the specifics of this proposal?
Citizenship and Immigration November 29th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I remind the Prime Minister, he has some serious answering to do to Canadians and to hundreds of thousands of immigrants for the functioning of the system.
When the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration was asked whether Canada needed an immigration program for exotic dancers, she replied that we need qualified dancers.
Will the Prime Minister at last put an end to the program, and to the minister's mandate?
Citizenship and Immigration November 29th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, there is another reach. I remind the Prime Minister of this. While Nova Scotians are waiting to hear from the President, they are waiting to hear from the Prime Minister as well on his election promise.
I want to ask about the immigration mess, while the Prime Minister has been gone, and his loyalty to the immigration minister. In today's paper is a letter about a doctor who has been refused entry into Canada. According to immigration officials, she would not “create or maintain significant employment benefits or opportunities for Canadians”.
When strippers are jumping the queue and doctors cannot get in, how does the Prime Minister explain to Canadians and to hundreds of thousands in the immigration line that the system is fair and is protecting their interests?
Natural Resources November 29th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I feel I should begin by welcoming the Prime Minister on one of his rare state visits to Canada.
I know, as part of his trip, the Prime Minister will be going to Halifax on Wednesday. When he is in Nova Scotia, will the Prime Minister finally be able to announce to the Government of Nova Scotia and all Nova Scotians that he will finally fulfill his promise to give them 100% of the offshore without a time limit?
Citizenship and Immigration November 25th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, everyone in this House and outside this House sees through that answer.
There is a letter to the editor where a Canadian immigrant writes the following:
--“special governmental treatment” used to happen in my home country... where money, power and connections used to be the only language of the day. I did not know that same thing happens in Canada too.
What message is the minister and the government sending to the hundreds of thousands of immigrants and Canadians who expect fair treatment and who play by the rules?
Citizenship and Immigration November 25th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I guess I just cannot let that one stand. The minister says that she just has to do it.
Is she seriously trying to tell us that she absolutely had to send her right-hand man to the club to facilitate the importation? If that is the case, we over here and I am sure a lot of her own party's members would like to know, is that kind of service available to every constituency in the country?
Citizenship and Immigration November 25th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, the immigration minister is now trying to claim she is against the government's exotic dancer program. She claims the government should not be in the business of supplying Canada's strip clubs. Yet the same minister sent her right-hand man to such a club to facilitate the importation of women to work there.
Can the minister explain this breathtaking hypocrisy to Canadians?
Supply November 25th, 2004
Madam Speaker, Mr. Mulroney and his government undertook the steps that were possible to take to rectify this problem in that era. They signed an agreement which the facts show has not been fulfilled and not upheld. I suggest, and I think the House is going to suggest, the minister look at renegotiating this. The grounds are there. Justice demands it. The minister refuses.
This particular minister must face facts and rectify this situation. This minister has accomplished a new record in Canadian politics. He has been a minister under Trudeau at the far centralist end, then under Turner at the far centralist end of the spectrum, and co-founder of the Bloc. Yet, through 20 years of his political career, in all these different incarnations, he still manages to be wrong all of the time.