House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2011, with 71% of the vote.
Government User Fees May 6th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, that is a good question. I want to make sure that the House understands that this Conservative government, unlike the Liberals, who cannot stay away from grabbing the money of Canadians, is committed to ensuring value to Canadians and fairness to fee payers. Our government has directed our officials to review how the User Fees Act is applied and interpreted and expects to have a report completed by the fall.
Access to Information May 6th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, the member does not need to take my word for it but he should take Mitchell Sharp's word for it.
When the former minister, David Collenette, resigned in October after an access to information turned up a letter he had written that breached cabinet ethic guidelines, Mr. Sharp said:
With the CAIR system, any request involving a minister's conduct is shipped to the PM's desk.... [So Mr.] Chretien was able to consult...decide upon Collenette's fate and choose the successor--all before the request was filled and the media feeding frenzy began.
The Liberal system was all about controlling information.
Access to Information May 6th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I want to tell the House how the Liberal scam worked in respect of CAIRS.
If anyone made a request that was considered sensitive, the request was shipped to the appropriate Liberal minister. At that point, the Liberal minister would manage, control or delay the request. That was the purpose of the system.
The Liberals had a pretty convenient system but it is not one this government will continue with.
Access to Information May 5th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, why would we reinstate a program that blocks access to information, that centralizes control? For the first time, over the objections of the Liberals, Canadians can see how their taxes are being used and spent by the CBC, by the Wheat Board and by Canada Post. The Liberals were never willing to relinquish that central control. We are.
Access to Information May 5th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, a leading expert on access to information law said this about the Liberal CAIRS program in 2003:
No other country maintains a government-wide database like CAIRS. CAIRS is the product of a political system in which centralized control is an obsession.
That is not the way of this government. That is the way of the Liberals. That is the way of the Bloc and the way of the NDP. This government is committed to open information as we did with the CBC, and as we did with the Wheat Board and Canada Post.
Access to Information May 5th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, for the first time Canadians can see how their taxes are being spent by the CBC, by the Wheat Board and by Canada Post. The Liberals were never willing to be honest about the release of this information. They consistently opposed it for farmers in western Canada as money was being spent. They opposed that. This government is opening up the books so that in fact the farmers of western Canada can see what is being done with their money.
Access to Information May 5th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, we know all about the opposite party, when it was in government, wanting to control the access to information.
Here is what a leading expert on access to information law said about CAIRS in 2003. Alasdair Roberts said:
No other country maintains a government-wide database like CAIRS. CAIRS is the product of a political system in which centralized control is an obsession.
That is what the opposite party wished to do.
Officers of Parliament April 30th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I can assure you that we respect the independence of the officers of Parliament and this government would not do anything inconsistent with the independent role of those officers.
Officers of Parliament April 30th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I can assure the House that this government respects the independence of each and every officer of the House.
I might add that I was having quite a wonderful time listening to the Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board explain about the problems of the Liberal Party. I hope the members ask more questions in that respect.
Canada Consumer Product Safety Act April 28th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I am glad to hear that the member will be supporting the legislation.
One of the statements he made has me quite concerned and it deals with the issue of labelling. While I support product safety and assurance that we meet all safety standards, the issue that is devastating for western Canadian hog producers is country of origin labelling. As we in western Canada see it, that is basically a non-tariff barrier for our products going into the United States. I hear from hog producers in my riding and across western Canada that this is devastating.
I hope that the member's comments are not to be interpreted as support for the kind of country of origin labelling that the Americans are utilizing in order to keep Canadian products out of the United States. If we insist on similar types of country of origin labelling, what would that do in terms of the argument that we are making that the Americans are imposing a non-tariff trade barrier?