Stephen Harper

[Election of Speaker, October 4th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, speaking personally and on behalf of all the Conservative members of this Parliament, I would like to offer my congratulations on your election today.

Mr. Speaker, I noted that it is tradition that you are pushed into the Chair with some reluctance by the Prime Minister and myself. I must tell you, though, as much as I admire your performance and abilities, your reluctance was not very convincing.

We all know the reason for that. We know that you do love this job. Over the years, on several different occasions, we have had the opportunity to talk about the job. I remember we had dinner and lunch, and would often banter about these kinds of things. What I learned in those days was not just your interest in the Speaker's position but your love of procedure and rules.

I was always very impressed with your knowledge of Erskine May, Beauchesne's and all of the various ins and outs of the Standing Orders. Of course, it made me wonder a great deal about you. It did obviously eminently qualify you on the surface for the job, but you have demonstrated a much greater qualification than just these academic credentials.

You have demonstrated in the past four years an exceptional ability as Speaker. It is reflected in the vote today and the unanimity. The job obviously loves you, and you should take a great deal of honour and pleasure from the fact that you would get the unanimous support of every member of every caucus. I can certainly tell you, as leaders, we would appreciate the unanimous support of just our own caucuses. You have achieved a tremendous endorsement today because of the job you have done in the past.

As the Prime Minister alluded to, and I will try not to comment too much on what the Prime Minister said today, we of course will try to ensure that we work by consensus rather than governing as if we have a majority, to quote an infamous phrase.

Mr. Speaker, you will face, as you know, some challenging times. You are going to face a new situation and also some new rules. You can be assured on my part, and I am sure the part of all of my colleagues, that we will give you our fullest and reasonable cooperation in all of the difficult tasks you have to perform. We wish you wisdom and patience in your own deliberations.

[Right Hon. Member for Calgary Centre, May 13th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, as Leader of the Opposition, it is my honour today to rise and pay tribute to the right hon. member for Calgary Centre and to his political career.

I wish to begin by admitting that we have not always been on the same side of political issues. I think we have spent most of our careers and political lives as opponents, but in this business, while this may colour one's perspective, it should not blind one to the abilities and accomplishments of others.

Because of the rivalries that we have had from time to time, the right hon. member and myself are sometimes compared, and I am sure will be more frequently in the future. These comparisons to me are, from my perspective, not always flattering.

I can give one example. A few months back I was on the road as I often am for a number of days at a time and left my family to travel alone back from the riding to Ottawa. My seven year old son Benjamin found himself seated with the right hon. member for Calgary Centre on that four hour plane flight.

Well, a few days later my harshest critic, my wife, delivered the verdict. She said, “Do you realize that lately you have been spending less time with your son than Joe Clark has?” Man, I tell you, some things hurt.

However, there was a point there. As we all struggle with the challenges of living in public life, we cannot help but admire an individual who has been in public life almost his entire adult life and who has not only managed those challenges but has sustained a strong family life, an enduring and loving marriage to his wife Maureen, and a wonderful father-daughter relationship with Catherine who I understand also grew up at Stornoway, like my daughter Rachel.

Today we pay tribute principally though to a long and distinguished career in public service. Whatever our differences, the right hon. member for Calgary Centre has had a career here of well over 30 years. He has by my count been elected to this House eight times. He has served with distinction in key roles such as the constitutional affairs minister and has been minister of external affairs.

He twice led a national political party. He occupied the post of leader of the opposition during some of the most critical battles ever to take place in the history of this Chamber. And it was almost 25 years ago that he received the mandate, albeit briefly as it turned out, to be Prime Minister of Canada, one of only 21 people in the entire history of this country to be so honoured.

As a consequence, the right hon. member for Calgary Centre will leave here with only history to judge him, which makes him a historic figure. Many people come here with the ambition to be historic figures but very, very few ever achieve this. And for that, we salute his career and we wish the right hon. member and his family health and prosperity into the future.

[Gasoline Prices, May 13th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, what I know about taxes is that our taxes are too high and we should be getting them down.

The finance minister claimed yesterday that communities would benefit from higher gas prices, but there is still no deal with the cities to transfer gas taxes. It is just another unfulfilled promise. Only the federal government is actually getting the benefit out of these gas taxes.

Why will the government not admit it just is not right to raise gas prices by charging tax on top of tax?

[Gasoline Prices, May 13th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, that may be on the GST that the municipalities pay, but it is certainly not on the taxes that consumers pay.

Yesterday, in Liberal fashion, the government blamed everyone else for high gas prices. It blamed the provinces, the oil companies and it slammed the opposition, yet it refused to do one thing to help consumers. That would be to eliminate the GST on fuel excise taxes.

Why are the Prime Minister and the government refusing to axe a tax on a tax?

[Gasoline Prices, May 13th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, in Quebec the CAA is receiving letters from consumers who are furious about gasoline prices. For every cent the price of gas goes up, this government collects $32 million in extra revenue. It even collects GST on the excise tax on gasoline.

Why does the Prime Minister refuse to eliminate this tax on a tax?

[Gasoline Prices, May 12th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, when all is said and done, the government seems content with high gas prices. The reason is the government does not want to reduce gas taxes, so it actually wants high gas prices.

The Minister of the Environment, when he was first appointed in 1999, issued an internal discussion paper in which he said, “The tax increases required to achieve the Kyoto target would more than double gasoline prices to about $1.40 per litre”.

Will the government admit that the real reason it does not want to do anything is that $1.40 is its actual target price for gasoline?

[Gasoline Prices, May 12th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, something is seriously wrong when Canadians are hurting from high gas prices and their own government is benefiting from their pain.

Not only is the government getting more revenue from the high gas prices, it even charges GST on top of its own gas excise taxes.

Will the Prime Minister agree to at least stop charging GST on top of other taxes? Will the Prime Minister agree to axe the tax on the tax?

[Gasoline Prices, May 12th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister will know that across the country Canadians are struggling with record gas prices. Canadian businesses are being hurt. Canadian consumers are burdened with the difficulties this is causing, but the government itself is rolling in record gas tax revenue.

Will the Prime Minister finally do the right thing and agree to lower gas taxes for Canadians?

[Sponsorship Program, May 11th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I will ask Jean Lapierre and François Beaudoin about independence.

The Liberal members want to interrupt the work of the committee. The witnesses will not appear before the public inquiry until the fall. The people who were arrested yesterday will not be able to testify.

Is this not simply a Liberal strategy to keep Canadians in the dark?

[Government Contracts, May 11th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, instead of rejecting the premise, the Deputy Prime Minister should accept it and accept accountability for it.

I want to point out the pattern of what is going on here. The police investigations have been going on in secret for years. The judicial inquiry is not scheduled to start for a month. Now the Liberals are shutting down the public accounts committee.

Is this not the Liberals' real only hope and their real only strategy to get it all out of sight and out of mind?