House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2019, with 41% of the vote.
International Co-operation February 17th, 2011
Mr. Speaker, we know where the Prime Minister and the government House leader stand on that regime's attack on KAIROS. Both have condoned the misleading of the House. Both condone the contempt for committees. Both continue to condone the forging of documents.
Will the minister herself please help us out? Did she forge the documents all by herself on her own, or was she ordered to do so and asked to lie about it by the Prime Minister's Office?
Points of Order February 3rd, 2011
Mr. Speaker, I need to point out how wrong the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities was. On December 2005, I announced the cable agreement, fully funded, fully committed. It was announced and that government cancelled it. It is time it re-committed the money.
The minister is absolutely wrong in what he told the House.
Infrastructure February 3rd, 2011
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's first act towards Prince Edward Island when he became Prime Minister was to cancel a signed agreement providing for an energy cable to New Brunswick. As stated by the province, the cable is critical for its energy accord plans. However, the Minister of Transport, when he was in Prince Edward Island, made light of that request.
Will he now reconsider and right the wrongs of his leader's past and commit to that funding required? We know moneys for similar projects have been committed in B.C. and the Yukon.
Will he commit to the energy cable today?
Questions Passed as Orders for Return January 31st, 2011
With regard to the government’s Economic Action Plan and the province of Prince Edward Island: (a) what was the total amount allocated to projects in the province between the program’s announcement and December 2010; (b) what was to total amount spent; (c) how many direct jobs were created as a result of the expenditures under the Economic Action Plan; (d) what were the total expenditures in each of the four federal electoral ridings; and (e) what were the specific projects by location in each of the four federal electoral ridings?
Questions Passed as Orders for Return January 31st, 2011
With regard to drainage ditches and their designation as “fish habitats”: (a) what are the policies of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) with respect to the clearing of drainage ditches due to their designation as “fish habitats”; (b) what is DFO's definition of a “drainage ditch” that distinguishes it from a natural water course; (c) what guidelines and procedure are used to assess if a drainage ditch is a “fish habitat”; (d) what is DFO's policy on allowing, or not allowing, the cleaning out of drainage ditches to improve the water flow and does that policy take into account the utility of the ditch for the user of the land that it drains; (e) how many drainage ditches have been assessed in order to determine whether or not they should be cleaned out, broken down by riding; (f) of the drainage ditches assessed, how many were allowed to be cleaned out and how many were not allowed, broken down by riding; (g) what is the policy that determines whether or not a land owner should be charged for cleaning out a drainage ditch; and (h) how many land owners have been charged for cleaning out drainage ditches in the past four years in each riding?
Questions on the Order Paper January 31st, 2011
With regard to the government’s involvement in the issue of the electricity transmission system to Prince Edward Island: (a) from January 31, 2006, to December 1, 2010, on what dates were there communications between the Government of Canada and the Government of Prince Edward Island concerning an upgrade to or the replacement of the electricity transmission system between Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick; (b) has the Government of Canada made a commitment to the Government of Prince Edward Island concerning funding related to the electricity transmission system and, if so, what is the specific amount of funding committed and on what date was that commitment communicated to the Government of Prince Edward Island; and (c) has the Government of Canada entered into any discussions with the Government of Prince Edward Island, the Government of New Brunswick or Maritime Electric on the issue of the electricity transmission system to Prince Edward Island and, if so, (i) on what dates did those communications take place, (ii) what were the agenda items for each of those communications, (iii) what were the results of those discussions?
Questions on the Order Paper January 31st, 2011
With regard to the Prime Minister, what are the exact, line-by-line details of all travel and hospitality expenses incurred by the Minister and all exempt staff since January 1, 2009?
Access to Information December 16th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, not one, not two, but three of the minister's top staffers took part in this illegal information suppression scheme. The minister pretended he had no idea what was going on. That is possible if only one staffer were involved, but there were three, if not more. This has the smell of a cover-up.
How bad does it have to get for the Prime Minister to act? Just what is it going to take for the Prime Minister to fire that minister?
Economic Negotiations with the European Union December 14th, 2010
Mr. Chair, there is no question that in negotiations what one country is trying to find is a way to take advantage of the others.
We want to make sure that when we have two models, those institutions are not put at risk. The Canadian Wheat Board is one, through orderly marketing; supply management is the other, through the kind of supply system matching supply to meet effective demand.
The fact of the matter is that what is worrying to us is that realized net farm income derived from the international marketplace has been in a negative position for many years. We need to ensure that we get those numbers out of the red and into the black in any negotiation going forward.
Economic Negotiations with the European Union December 14th, 2010
Mr. Chair, as I made clear in the beginning, Canada is a trading nation. This is a very important agreement to Canada and to the industries in Canada.
However, what is going to be critical in the area that I have been speaking on, the agricultural sector, is that we are able to maintain our supply management system and are able to maintain the Canadian Wheat Board.
We are trading nation, and I think there is good economic value in this agreement for both countries. We have made it clear that we will look at the negotiations as they go along, but we as a party are supportive of trade. That is why I supported the Colombia trade agreement. There are a lot of benefits in that Colombia trade agreement for primary producers, as well as the spinoff through the economy.
It is important that we support trade, but we need to make sure that there are safeguards in those agreements from which our industries can benefit overall.