Mr. Chair, I can assure members that the bill is in the same form as it was in the previous supply period.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2008, with 58% of the vote.
SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATES (C), 2009-10 March 23rd, 2010
Mr. Chair, I can assure members that the bill is in the same form as it was in the previous supply period.
SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATES (C), 2009-10 March 23rd, 2010
moved that the bill be read the second time and referred to committee of the whole.
SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATES (C), 2009-10 March 23rd, 2010
moved that Bill C-6, An Act for granting to Her Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the financial year ending March 31, 2010, be now read the first time.
(Motion deemed adopted and bill read the first time)
SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATES (C), 2009-10 March 23rd, 2010
moved:
That the supplementary estimates (C) for fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, be concurred in.
Government Advertising March 22nd, 2010
Mr. Speaker, on the job front, we know that in the last five of the last seven months we have seen the number of people working in Canada actually increase, not go down. I agree with what the Minister of Public Works minister said related to this program of advertising. The quote is “the public has a fundamental right to know what its government is doing and why”. Sorry, that was the former minister of public works, the member for Wascana.
Government Advertising March 22nd, 2010
Mr. Speaker, it is the responsibility of the government to inform the citizens on how to apply for and how to be eligible for any number of a wide range of government programs. For instance, it was the responsibility of government to let Canadians know about the H1N1 situation and how they could apply there. There are many tax advantages, some of which the Minister of Finance has just articulated.
In 2002 the Liberals spent $111 million on this type of advertising. In 2009 we spent $89 million.
The Budget March 18th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I regret that my colleague was shouted down by the members opposite. He has raised an important point.
We will not be following the Liberal pattern of slashing health care and social transfers or raising taxes. In fact, what we will be doing is continuing our economic plan for this year. We will also be freezing the salaries of MPs. For the next three years, all departmental spending will be frozen. We will not be raising taxes.
We agree with the recent evaluation of our plan. If I may quickly say, in hindsight the Chrétien government cut too much and hurt people--
Official Languages March 17th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, the government supports the guidelines, the laws and the rights of people across the country when it comes to the official languages, and it will continue to do so.
Business of Supply March 15th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, that is an astute question from a hard-working member. I appreciate the manner in which he analyzes issues, especially those that can be related to the tax load on taxpayers becoming lighter. The question is very good. I would be interested in hearing the Liberals respond to that.
I will also close out this question time, as I see you are anxious to do so, Mr. Speaker, by repeating that we have not received an answer to the following question. Even though we have some overall differences between us, do the Liberals basically endorse our approach of keeping taxes low and reducing the deficit and going to a balanced budget? We have not heard them--
Business of Supply March 15th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, first, we hear nothing from the NDP on whether it generally supports the approach we are taking of reducing our own expenses, eliminating the final portions of the stimulus package, and keeping taxes low. As a matter of fact, from the NDP we continue to hear a cry about the necessity of increasing taxes. That is a very different economical approach, one that history shows is tremendously damaging to workers and leads to lost jobs and increased unemployment. So it is possibly using these other items as distractions from that.
However, I will say that the Minister of Public Works, in responding to the report the member had raised, which concerned all of us, and having had some notice about that particular contract had already ordered an audit of it. When I heard about a doorbell costing $1,000 to install, it rang my bell, and it certainly did for the members opposite.
By the way, when we looked at that particular example, we found there was a very long section of wall that was removed from a certain building and among the things that were done was that a doorbell line was stretched along it and put in. Now I am not making excuses for a particular item, but the member should check carefully. However, we are concerned about these types of expenses, and the Minister of Public Works has already ordered a full audit of that particular contract.