Stephen Harper

[Auberge Grand-Mère, May 13th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, let me ask the minister responsible for the BDC a question since he seems so enthusiastic to stand up. Officials at the BDC were clear. The Grand-Mère Inn did not qualify for loans, but the BDC is supposed to be independent of government. However one phone call from the Prime Minister and the loan was approved.

Is this normal practice at the BDC? If not, has the minister responsible ordered an investigation into how the BDC is operating?

[Auberge Grand-Mère, May 13th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I say to the Prime Minister that if he really wants to stonewall this, he would be better than to send the minister who is responsible for the Airbus investigation.

The manager of the BDC branch involved provided police with a statement on the granting of this loan. She said that the loan would never have been approved without the interference of the Prime Minister, yet this and other information was left off the application for the search warrant.

Will the Solicitor General allow an independent investigation into why the police were using incomplete information to obtain a search warrant to intimidate a major newspaper?

[Auberge Grand-Mère, May 13th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, in July of last year the RCMP applied for a search warrant against the National Post for files on the Prime Minister's Grand-Mère dealings. It turned out that when the RCMP applied for the warrant and it had an obligation to provide the court with full and complete information, that did not happen. Information was withheld.

Has the Solicitor General inquired with the RCMP as to why it applied for and received a search warrant based on incomplete information?

[Auberge Grand-Mère, May 12th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister can answer my question and this minister can answer about Joanne Meyer. That is what should be happening.

I want to ask about the other half, the direct benefit. Conveniently, the BDC documents indicating the Prime Minister's direct benefit are missing from the record. A page listing creditors beginning with the letter J has gone missing. BDC electronic records containing Grand-Mère financial records are also missing.

Does the government, does the Prime Minister expect anyone to believe that these records are missing for any reason other than that the name of the Prime Minister's personal company is on them?

[Auberge Grand-Mère, May 12th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, if the Prime Minister is as honest as he claims, he will not mind answering these questions.

The facts are these. The Prime Minister admits that he phoned the president of the Business Development Bank to get the loan. Before the calls there were no loans. After the calls there were. Apparently the manager of the branch of the bank now says that it was because of and only because of the Prime Minister's intervention that those loans were granted to the Grand-Mère hotel.

Does the Prime Minister deny that he engineered this loan?

[Auberge Grand-Mère, May 12th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I want to ask questions about a new National Post story that gives new information on dealings between the Prime Minister, the Business Development Bank and the Grand-Mère hotel. The essence of this story is that the Prime Minister interfered to get a BDC loan to an insolvent company that owed him money.

Does the Prime Minister now admit that he received a direct financial benefit from the BDC loan to Grand-Mère, a loan that he engineered?

[Fisheries, May 8th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, what is weird is an 18 month departure period in which somebody else becomes the de facto prime minister and the government does less than usual.

Let me change the subject to an important issue that has come up today as a consequence of the government's mismanagement. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador apparently has introduced legislation calling for the renegotiation of its terms of union, its terms of Confederation. It apparently wants a joint management of the fishing industry, something that we in this party have long been open to. We believe that offshore resources like Newfoundland has should be subject to similar rights that provinces like Alberta have.

Is the government prepared to sit down and discuss these demands with the government of Newfoundland?

[Government Legislation, May 8th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I guess the question is whether anything will get done or this is just a slow motion charade.

The report suggests that the former finance minister will be blocking a large part of the government's legislation, many bills. One in particular I am going to ask about is Bill C-24 on election rules and political financing. We in the Canadian Alliance believe this is a bad bill for taxpayers, however it is important for all political parties that we know what the rules of the next election are going to be. Could the minister indicate whether the government intends to pass this through the House and Senate, and if so, when is it going to attempt to do that?

[Government Legislation, May 8th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, it has become evident in recent days that the former finance minister has the explicit support of the majority of the Liberal caucus and the Liberal cabinet. Reports are continuing to surface that he will use this power and is giving orders to block a large number of pieces of government legislation.

My question for the government, for the Prime Minister is, has the former finance minister spoken to the Prime Minister or members of the government to indicate which pieces of government legislation he will allow to be passed and allow to be implemented and which pieces he will not?

[Foreign Affairs, May 7th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, from that answer, I am not sure whether or not the government thinks there is a potential threat of missile attack.

Let me ask another question about Canada's national interest. We are being left out of the evolution of air defence in North America. It is clear that Canada will become increasingly irrelevant in Norad if this goes ahead and it is clear that the United States will go ahead whether or not Canada participates.

Does the Prime Minister believe it is essential for Canada to be involved in the continental air defence of North America?