Stockwell Day

[Afghanistan, November 2nd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we have always been supportive of the independent commission on complaints and also the electoral commission in Afghanistan. We continue to be.

This is a project of Afghanistan as a people. We want to see them move ahead successfully to be able to have a democratic process for selecting their leaders. The decision made by Mr. Abdullah is certainly his decision. We will continue to support the government of Afghanistan and also the people of Afghanistan as they move toward a democratic process, the second time in modern history that they have had an election process.

[Supply Management, October 29th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, again, I am going to be very clear. Our government is very clear. We will continue to stand up for supply management and to cooperate with the industries, the provinces and the territories. This cooperation is unprecedented, because we are respecting provincial jurisdictions. If we can have such an agreement, they will enjoy economic growth, and so will Canada.

[Supply Management, October 29th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to respond, because we have had an unprecedented process in Canada, a process that will include the provinces and territories in the negotiations with the European Union. Thanks to such agreements, we are going to have employment growth, investment growth et economic growth.

[Supply Management, October 28th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it is disappointing to see those members following other scare tactics, quite frankly, that they try to use on other issues.

These meetings are going very well. All the dates have been mapped out for the end of this year and into next year. In fact, we have been very clear about the supply managed sector. It is not up for negotiation. We have been clear on that and discussions continue.

I wish those members would at least make a small attempt to get their facts right so they do not cause confusion on what is going to be, we hope, a very good conclusion for both Canada and the European Union.

[Supply Management, October 28th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, negotiations are going well. We have wrapped up our initial meetings with European Union officials, and we have set dates for future meetings. Both sides expect negotiations to progress swiftly. We hope to finalize negotiations within two years.

[Ending Conditional Sentences for Property and Other Serious Crimes Act, October 26th, 2009]

What? Resurgent Liberals? You are down 25%.

[Truth in Sentencing Act, October 23rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Wild Rose for his question and for his work in this particular area.

For many years, police groups, victims associations and others have asked for truth in sentencing. This bill accomplishes that. There is no more discount for serious criminals of two to one time or three to one time because of pre-sentence custody. We have been waiting for this a long time.

Despite the fact the Liberals tried to stop and delay this, despite the fact they tried to hold it up in the Senate and despite the fact that 30 Liberal senators voted against it, we got it through. Truth in sentencing is a reality.

[Afghanistan, October 23rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. friend should reflect on the fact that it was a judicial ruling that narrowed a particular inquiry. We have said we will still follow whatever needs to be followed.

I will repeat again. The member opposite said there was a contradiction between what ministers are saying and what General Hillier is saying. General Hillier has said he did not inform any minister, let alone the Minister of National Defence, related to this particular report. The ministers themselves, including myself, have said that we have never received information on that report.

[Afghanistan, October 23rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I find it somewhat fascinating that a member with the number of years of experience would take, at face value, a quote from a newspaper over the quotes of General Hillier himself.

General Hillier himself said he never did inform or report about this report to not just the Minister of National Defence but to any minister.

I would suggest that the member show respect for General Hillier and go with what he said, not with what some newspaper said.

[Tax Harmonization, October 23rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we are very clear on this. When a province makes a decision to move to a harmonized sales tax, the federal government will respect that. There is a process, which has been in place for years, a process, as a matter of fact, that was put in place by the previous government, that will assist the provinces in doing that.

What the NDP failed to point out is that the GST, the federal portion of that HST, we have made a commitment to reduce that. The Liberals said that they would reduce it but they never did. We have reduced it from 7% to 5%. We are taking taxes down. The NDP only wants to see them go up.