House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2008, with 58% of the vote.
Questions on the Order Paper November 22nd, 2010
Mr. Speaker, lobbyists are required to provide the Commissioner of Lobbying with information as specified in the Lobbying Act. All returns and other documents submitted to the commissioner under the Lobbying Act are maintained by the commissioner in a registry that is open to public inspection. Therefore, this request should be submitted directly to the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying.
Government Advertising November 22nd, 2010
Mr. Speaker, because of transparent accounting it is very clear that $130 million was spent on advertising.
If the Liberals were to do some very simple math, back in 2002-03 they spent $110 million on the same file. Included in our file was $33 million spent to advise Canadians about the H1N1 epidemic. If that is taken out, it shows that we actually spent less than the Liberals did in 2002-03.
What are the Liberals angry about? Are they angry that we warned Canadians about the epidemic or that we spent less than they did?
Government Spending November 17th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I do not know what the Liberals' fascination is with raising the bar related to the beer industry. These are private sector decisions. I know it is of some concern. There are ways where they can find out about the availability of those products and where they are sold. I do not know why they are upset about that expenditure.
However, we are concerned about Canadians being informed about issues that are of great importance to them. We do not apologize for that. We are actually quite pleased with the way we have put a freeze for the next three years on government operational spending, including on ministerial offices, an $11 million reduction this year.
Government Spending November 17th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, most Canadians think it is a valid expenditure when we have something like a pandemic of H1N1, to inform Canadians about that. When we have a variety of tax measures that involve not only tax reductions, but also credits to families for a variety of programs, we think we should be informing Canadians about it.
We can understand the Liberals are sensitive, especially when we are talking about reducing the tax load on people and providing credits for families. We understand that is so far from their policy that they are sensitive about it, but we think we should be informing Canadians about these initiatives.
Government Spending November 17th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that there has been unprecedented pressure and incidents over the last year or two years, whether we are talking about the H1N1 crisis or whether we are talking about communicating on vast amounts of infrastructure projects, on and on it goes. There have been increased pressures.
What the opposition members fail to point out every single time when they raise this issue and we give the very clear accounting that is provided for by the Auditor General, is that this year there is not only a freeze, there is an $11 million reduction on advertising pertaining to these ministers' offices.
Employment Equity November 4th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Portage—Lisgar for her interest and her work on this file.
A review has been done. We have asked that the rules relating to employment equity be looked at. As a result, all departments are continually being encouraged to reach out to those who are from unrepresented groups.
We have also communicated that all department postings must not shut out any specific groups and must be open to all qualified candidates. Final decisions must be based on merit and on qualifications.
Government Performance Reports November 3rd, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, 93 departmental performance reports on behalf of 95 federal organizations.
I also have the honour of tabling the companion document entitled “Canada's Performance”, in both official languages.
Government Spending November 3rd, 2010
Mr. Speaker, it is very clear that there were unprecedented demands on the government, especially last year, whether we are talking about the Olympics, the unprecedented nature of the H1N1 epidemic, or the G8 and G20, a number of things that do not occur on a usual basis.
It is unfortunate that the opposition does not reflect on the fact that all government operational spending is now frozen for three years, all ministerial and MP salaries are frozen for three years, and all ministerial budgets for next year have been reduced by $11 million. It is too bad the member did not mention that.
Government Accountability October 28th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, this is a very important improvement in credibility. Canadians, quite rightly, felt embarrassed and somewhat ashamed when they saw Canada as a nation being rated so poorly on an index of corruption. With the Federal Accountability Act and the areas of transparency that we have brought forward have improved our rating incredibly, and we can now stand proud about that.
I should also add that today, as the public accounts show, it is clear that there is still money missing from the sponsorship fraud. We have been able to get back about one-quarter of a million dollars. I wonder if our Liberal friends would help us to get that money.
Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act October 28th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I also have the honour to table, in both official languages, the 2009-10 annual report on the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act.
As recorded here, people will find that 248 disclosures came forward from public servants with areas of concern that they wanted looked at. There were 218 acted on, 36 led to corrective measures and 7 led to findings of wrong-doing. All of that is documented in the report.