Wayne Easter

[Office of the Prime Minister, November 3rd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday Mr. Wright said the reason for his special deal is that he wants to keep his stock options. In fact, he would not consider public service if he had to give up his stock options the way a minister or senior political staffers do. Bringing private sector experience into politics is one thing, but when somebody makes a commitment to the public service, he or she needs to fully commit.

Why are the Conservatives letting Mr. Wright set one foot in the PMO while his other foot is firmly rooted in corporate boardrooms? Where was the Prime Minister's judgment?

[Office of the Prime Minister, November 3rd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, Nigel Wright's appointment as the Prime Minister's temporary chief of staff keeps raising more and more ethical questions. How does a guy who makes auto parts deal with General Motors? How does a guy who manufactures plastic bottles deal with regulating BPA? How does a guy with interests in four private health care companies deal with the health file? No answers have been forthcoming.

Is the Prime Minister blind to these conflicts or is it just another case of him making the rules?

[Points of Order, November 2nd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the minister's answer to the member for Winnipeg Centre was entirely wrong. In fact, I wrote the minister a letter asking him to split that bill so that initial payments could be made quickly and the minister did not even have the courtesy to answer the letter so that the money could have went out to primary producers quickly.

[Office of the Prime Minister, November 2nd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, documents show his departure date is already planned and he is going back to Onex.

Conservatives believe they have conjured up a magical ethical wall that will allow Mr. Wright to ignore the mandatory one-year cooling-off period when he leaves the PMO. In reality, they have created an ethical vortex that is sucking rules and safeguards right out the window.

Will the Conservatives ask Mr. Wright to observe the normal cooling-off period? Or is it their intent to use this magical ethical wall to curry favour for their Conservative corporate friends?

[Office of the Prime Minister, November 2nd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, starting next week, Bay Street deal maker Nigel Wright will have access to every file, every document and every official in the Government of Canada. That is privileged access.

Soon he will return to his corporate job, armed with new government contracts and inside knowledge of virtually every major file in the Government of Canada.

Worse, his personal ethics monitor will be the deputy chief of staff, who, believe it or not, reports to Mr. Wright himself.

Is this Conservative logic for putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop?

[Sustaining Canada's Economic Recovery Act, November 1st, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Random—Burin—St. George's spelled out fairly well how the government is really a borrow and spend government that has driven us into the biggest deficit in Canadian history. It also has the record for the biggest spending budget in Canadian history.

The member mentioned rural Canada. Both of us are from rural Canada and we think it is extremely important to build the economy in that area. In my province of Prince Edward Island, ACOA, which is supposed to be a regional development agency, has, in the last couple of years, become a home of political patronage for friends of the government, instead of being a home to people who really want to attract business and do the economic projects to draw people in so as to boost that rural economy.

I wonder if the member could tell me what her experience has been in Newfoundland and Labrador relative to regional development. Is it happening under the government or is it not?

[Global SIAL D'or Award, October 25th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, today I congratulate Island Abbey Foods of P.E.I. for its Global SIAL D'or award in Paris, France, the largest food trade show in the world.

Island Abbey Foods' Honibe “Honey Drop” beat out 270 products from 30 countries and was named as best new product for 2010 in the “sweet - grocery” category.

Global SIAL is considered the Oscars of the food world. This was a phenomenal achievement for an Island company. Having previously won the “Country Award - Canada” as the highest scoring Canadian product, Island Abbey Foods and the products they produce are a true representation of hard work and innovation.

Founded five years ago by John Rowe and his wife, Island Abbey Foods has now received the most prestigious award in the food industry. Their product, the “Honey Drop”, is the world's first 100% pure dried honey cube. Members should try a little of that Island sweetness.

Congratulations.

[Office of the Prime Minister, October 22nd, 2010]

For five years, Mr. Speaker, the Conservative exchange program has ensured privileged Conservative staffers get to use their political connections to advance their private sector careers. We know where a few went. Kory Teneycke is now lobbying to sell off Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Robert Valcov and Brant Scott are being paid to utilize the Conservatives' connections to lobby against gun control. Now, the PMO is renting its senior employees from private equity companies on a short-term basis.

When will this revolving door stop?

[Office of the Prime Minister, October 22nd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, on November 8, Nigel Wright will be joining the Prime Minister's Office on temporary loan from his private equity firm that owns a little bit of everything, from defence companies, to private health care companies, to casinos.

With only 10 working days left before Mr. Wright is leased to the PMO, will the Conservatives release the terms of the work agreement, or will they continue to hide from the public his potential conflicts of interest?

[October 7th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the parliamentary secretary, and it amazes me how the parliamentary secretary reinvents history.

It has always been Liberal governments that took Conservative deficits and brought back surpluses. The government that sits in power today was left with a surplus of $13 billion, and it blew it. It spent it all away.

What is it doing today? It already has the biggest deficit in Canadian history: $54 billion for this year and probably going higher. It is going to borrow and spend. It is going to borrow money to spend $16 billion for untendered aircraft. It is going to borrow that money from our grandchildren. It is a borrow-and-spend government.

I think it is time the government did something for middle class Canadians, for Canadians who want to care for their aging parents, something along the lines that the Liberal leader has asked for.