House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 64% of the vote.
The Media June 18th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, there is evidence. It was the Milewski affair and the government silenced the CBC report. The government has abused its power. It has abused it in advertising and sponsorship contracts. The Prime Minister abused it in the BDC loan affair.
Given the government's track record of abusing power, how can Canadians be sure the government did not use its considerable leverage to pressure CanWest Global into firing the publisher of the Citizen ?
The Media June 18th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister did not actually answer the question.
However, through the CRTC, the government has considerable leverage over the nation's media companies. The cabinet can have final approval over all CRTC decisions involving millions of dollars. Canadians need to know whether the government has been abusing this leverage.
Has the Prime Minister, any other minister or any members of their staff had meetings or conversations with CanWest Global executives in recent weeks or in the past month?
The Media June 18th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, the government has considerable potential control over the media when it comes to regulations that affect its bottom line or, as we have seen in recent weeks, lucrative advertising contracts.
Yesterday the Deputy Prime Minister dodged questions when asked about the Prime Minister's contact with one of Canada's leading media families.
In recent weeks did the Prime Minister or any member of his staff ever meet with the Asper family and, if so, did they discuss the Ottawa Citizen's editorial policy or anything that could have led to the firing of its publisher?
Government Contracts June 17th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, the minister did not answer my question as to when the government knew. We know he has only been there for two or three weeks.
In this case we have a public works official, Charles Guité, with no authority to pay for a missing $300,000 contract yet he paid anyway. No one is examining how or why the Prime Minister allowed this to go on year after year. No one is examining the link between these contracts and donations to the Liberal Party.
Will the minister stop handling these on a case by case basis and instead do the right thing and call an independent public inquiry now?
Government Contracts June 17th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, as the minister says, this did happen five or six years ago. The report was meant to tell the Department of Justice how to sell the firearms registry but no one apparently at the Department of Justice actually asked for this help.
Canadians only learned about this yesterday. Surely the government did not just learn about it yesterday.
Therefore my question is straightforward. When did the government know that this department had not received the $300,000 report or had no copy of it?
Government Contracts June 17th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, over the weekend we learned that once again the government paid for another missing report from the Liberal friendly firm Groupaction. It looks like the government paid Groupaction another $330,000 in hard earned tax dollars but got little or nothing back.
Could the minister of public works tell Canadians why the government paid yet another $300,000 for a report it never received?
Canadian Wheat Board June 11th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, that is another way to get around it. Recommendation 14 in this report says that farmers need this for additional on farm activities and for local value added processing.
In not accepting this recommendation, does the minister realize he is responsible for exporting jobs and development from rural western Canada? He is responsible for stifling farm innovation and depressing farm incomes.
Will the minister agree with his own colleagues in the Liberal Party and give wheat and barley farmers the freedom to market and process their own grains?
Canadian Wheat Board June 11th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, this morning the all party House of Commons agriculture committee, including its Liberal members, made a recommendation to allow a free market for wheat and barley producers. This would give all Canadian farmers the same opportunities.
Will the minister responsible stand in his place today and commit to implementing this recommendation immediately?
Government Contracts June 11th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, this is the problem. There is so much fraud and abuse in the sponsorship program that it has to be frozen and the Prime Minister then gets up and defends the program. That says all we need to know.
We have had damning internal audits, a scathing auditor general's report, three ministers of public works and seven police investigations. That is about as high as the minister of public works can count because he refuses to reveal the rest.
Will the Prime Minister today put an end to two years of stonewalling, damage control and half measures and instead order a full public inquiry?
Government Contracts June 11th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, some correction. Two years later the scams are there and the money keeps flowing.
The Prime Minister knew about this mess. He did everything to cover it up and nothing to clean it up.
He set the low standard himself with his own BDC dealings in Shawinigate, and in a speech in Winnipeg a couple of weeks ago he said it did not matter if millions of dollars were stolen as long as it somehow served national unity.
My question is this: Will the Prime Minister take responsibility for this? Will he admit that through his own lax ethical standards he signalled that it is okay to rip off the taxpayers of Canada?