House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2011, with 71% of the vote.
Federal Accountability Act December 12th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, that member has the audacity and the nerve to stand up in the House to ask why the public appointments commissioner was not in place when it was that member and his party who killed that process. He should be ashamed of what he just said in the House.
Federal Accountability Act December 12th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, the NDP has its facts wrong again. The Federal Accountability Act is the toughest anti-corruption legislation in Canadian history.
We have created ironclad protection for whistleblowers with the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act. For the first time ever, secret donations to political candidates have been banned.
We have strengthened the power of the Ethics Commissioner by creating a new agent of Parliament and bringing into force a new Conflict of Interest Act. We will be announcing new Lobbying Act regulations in a few short weeks. We have a five-year ban on public office holders from lobbying.
2007-2008 Supplementary Estimates (A) December 6th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I will tell the member for Wascana and others that the form of this bill is the same as that passed in previous years and he can check the record to verify that.
2007-2008 Supplementary Estimates (A) December 6th, 2007
moved:
That the supplementary estimates (A) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2008, be concurred in.
Lobbyists December 5th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of what our government has done in terms of the Federal Accountability Act. It has prevented the type of lobbying and the type of money movement that was very commonplace under the prior government.
The pre-publication under the lobbyist regulation will take place in January. We are hoping to see implementation next year, perhaps in the middle of the year.
Lobbyists December 4th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, restoring accountability through the Federal Accountability Act has been our top priority as a government. It is my mandate, as the Treasury Board minister, to ensure that the act is implemented.
The lobbying regulations will be prepublished for comments soon. The regulations will ensure that lobbying that took place like it did under the Liberals will not happen in the future.
Pay Equity November 22nd, 2007
Mr. Speaker, Treasury Board, as the employer of the core public administration, is committed to the principle of equal pay for work of equal value in accordance with the Canadian Human Rights Act, and we will proceed in that direction.
Questions on the Order Paper November 15th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, equal pay for equal work is ensured through the application of classification standards that results in the same remuneration for employees classified at the same occupational group and level.
As a result of efficient employment equity strategies, we have seen a significant increase in the number of women being recruited and promoted into professional and executive categories. This has allowed us to reduce the global gender wage gap for the core public administration.
We negotiate wages in good faith and endeavour to ensure that gender-based wage discrimination does not re-emerge in our wage-setting practices.
Questions on the Order Paper November 15th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, the response is as follows:
a) The documents requested on March 5th, 2007, by the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages contain confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, within the meaning of section 69 of the Access to Information Act and section 39 of the Canada Evidence Act, and therefore cannot be disclosed.
b) The documents requested were very specific and necessitated an exhaustive search by a number of stakeholders within the Treasury Board Secretariat of all documents on file related to official languages and the expenditure review decision making process. Once the pertinent documents were identified and compiled, they were carefully reviewed and assessed as to whether they could or could not be disclosed. Since the documents contain confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, they could not be disclosed. A reply letter explaining this was provided to the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages on May 3rd, 2007.
c) The documents requested are confidential as they contain confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and are thus protected from disclosure for a period of 20 years pursuant to section 69 of the Access to Information Act and section 39 of the Canada Evidence Act
Government Performance Reports November 1st, 2007
Mr. Speaker, as part of the comprehensive effort to inform parliamentarians and Canadians on the government's performance, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, on behalf of departments and agencies, their 90 performance reports for 2006-07.