Tony Clement

[Budget Implementation Act, 2007, April 16th, 2007]

Hogwash. Tell the truth.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2007, April 16th, 2007]

Are you against Dalton McGuinty?

[Health, April 16th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, we are reviewing the situation of this clinic, but upon first blush by the minister of health of British Columbia, it is violating no laws in British Columbia, violating no principles of the Canada Health Act, and indeed it operates in a very similar way to the clinic which the leader of the NDP visited when he needed certain medical care. I see no double standard in that.

[Health, April 16th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, indeed, after extensive consultation with over 400 aboriginal leaders, as well as dieticians and others, last Wednesday in Yellowknife I was proud to launch the first ever, in Canada, aboriginal food guide with specific recommendations for first nations, Inuit and Métis people.

This is culturally sensitive. It will also help individuals in those groups make the right choices when it comes to their food preferences. Just two days before the red-green coalition was announced, we got the job done when it came to the food guide.

[National Defence, April 16th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, this government supports the children of military families.

I suggest the hon. member refer to budget 2007 which makes it clear that not only as the hon. member indicated we are supporting directly with operational funding, but we also have in the budget five new operational stress injury clinics to be located where military forces are to help the children, the families and the members involved in the military. That is the commitment of this government to the military of Canada.

[Health, March 27th, 2007]

I would be happy to, Mr. Speaker. Of course, 85% of Canadians support wait time guarantees and this government is delivering.

Yesterday I announced $48 million for the province of Nova Scotia for a radiation oncology wait time guarantee. Today I was in Toronto announcing up to $400 million for the province of Ontario for its cataract wait time guarantee and for electronic health records.

By contrast, on the opposite side of the chamber, what did the Liberals do when wait times doubled in 13 years? Nothing, zilch, nada. We are getting the job done.

[Government Accountability, March 27th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, that is absolute nonsense. As I explained to the hon. member yesterday, we have something new in Canada. It is called the Federal Accountability Act.

Just because the guys on the other side of the chamber do not know what it means to be accountable and do not know what it means to be accountable in terms of the taxpayers, we know what it means and we will follow the rules, even if they are not.

[The Budget, March 26th, 2007]

Yes, Mr. Speaker, with this new budget there is 33 billion more dollars put into infrastructure programs for the entire country. It means that places in Timmins—James Bay and places throughout northern Ontario will get their fair share. Part of my job is to ensure that is the case and I am quite confident it can be the case.

[The Budget, March 26th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I would respectfully disagree with my hon. friend and say that this budget has a $1 billion fund that will be of assistance to building capacity in areas where the provinces want to work with us on a patient wait times guarantee.

Let us take the case of Newfoundland and Labrador and the area it wants to work with us is cardiac care. In that case, for the next while we will be building up capacity, whether it is ensuring we have the doctors and nurses, the information technology or the managerial capacity, we will ensure that when we declare a guarantee on cardiac care in Newfoundland and Labrador we can deliver on the promise. The provinces and territories told me that there was no use making a promise unless we can deliver on them. I agree with them, and that is what this budget does.

[The Budget, March 26th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member.

This budget—the 2007 budget —supports workers across the country who work in all sectors, including forestry, which is a major sector in my riding in northern Ontario.

This budget also contains a number of programs to support workers who work hard in our country and who, from time to time, pay too many taxes and expect more from their government. That was a problem for many workers.

One of the things I do know is that my community, as it tries to make ends meet, wants to know that the government is on its side. This budget does that. It sends a strong signal that we are on the side of hard-working Canadians from coast to coast who want to see some relief, who want to know that the government is there on programs such as MedicAlert or programs where their kids need some extra help, which is why this budget is so important for them.