The Budget  It has no place in the Canadian tax system and it should be gone before the planned phase-out in 2007. The evidence is clear that the effective business tax rate in this country remains well above that of the United States. The C.D. Howe Institute has stated that Canada's effective tax rate on capital is 31.5%, substantially higher than in the United States where it is 20.1%.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, today, the Prime Minister stated, and I quote, “It is clear that if the Syrians are in Lebanon it is because it is necessary to keep the peace”. This is an irresponsible and damaging statement. How will the Prime Minister explain this new position?

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said this, and I will repeat it in English, “It is clear that if the Syrians are in Lebanon, it is because it is necessary to keep the peace”. That is what the Prime Minister has said at the very time when our allies and the international community are focused on a possible Syrian role in the assassination of former Prime Minister Hariri.

Sponsorship Program  Mr. Speaker, I had hoped we would get some clear answers before the Prime Minister was hauled off to the inquiry himself. What Mr. Chrétien does not seem to grasp is that the Liberal sponsorship program is the biggest gift the Quebec separatist movement got in the past decade.

Supply  The Ontario clause is unfair and insulting to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and its message to that province, to Nova Scotia and to all of Atlantic Canada is absolutely clear. They can only get what they were promised if they agree to remain have not provinces forever. That is absolutely unacceptable.

Natural Resources  Everyone heard the Prime Minister make a solemn promise on national television. The Prime Minister said, “I have made it very clear that the proposal that he“, Premier Williams, “has put forth is a proposal that we accept”. Now he wants to add terms and conditions. Why do the Atlantic provinces have to negotiate?

Natural Resources  On June 5 the Prime Minister said publicly that he had committed to a deal with Newfoundland and Labrador. He said the following, “I have made it very clear that the proposal that he has put forth is a proposal that we accept”. The premier said that the deal that he put forward did not include a cap on revenues. Will the Prime Minister confirm, on the capping issue, that the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador is telling the truth?

Supply  I admire and understand the difficulty that senior military people have in their roles both as leaders of our military, who are trying to upgrade the military, but also as senior officers of the government who are obliged to, within reason, attempt to defend government policy. Our view is clear. The Canadian military will never be the largest military in the world and it should not be the largest military. Except for the obviously high end nuclear, it should have a full range of capabilities.

Supply  As a lack of policy guidance squandered time and resources, Canada's men and women in uniform have been sent on the widest array of missions imaginable, to every corner of the globe, often without a clear understanding of how their efforts were central to Canada's well-being or whether they had the equipment necessary to carry out their missions effectively. Over the past 10 years, the federal government has dramatically reduced the capability of our armed forces but at the same time has multiplied its commitments and obligations.

Sponsorship Program  The Prime Minister said on February 12, at the mad as hell press conference, “It's very important for public confidence that as Prime Minister I be clear about the degree of my knowledge of this matter”. Who made the call from his office to Alfonso Gagliano? Tell us now.

Sponsorship Program  Can the Prime Minister be clear? Is he saying Mr. Mulroney also dispensed secret funds on his own signature when he was Prime Minister?

Leader of the Opposition  Certainly, as I am sure my own father is proud of me today, I am sure the Prime Minister's father is equally proud of the achievement that his son has made. I will end by saying that I welcome the debate. The Prime Minister has spoken of the clear differences we have. I would agree with some of my friends in the NDP that from time to time, I have not really understood that the Prime Minister wanted to create these differences. It seems to me he often wants to look like me, but if he wants to have clear differences we are certainly going to look forward to that debate in the upcoming battles that are in front of us.

Health  Speaker, I want to go back to the Prime Minister's hypocrisy in his use of private health care. Let me be very clear. Will the Deputy Prime Minister admit that the Prime Minister goes to a clinic that accepts not only patients covered by public health insurance, but also accepts private payment for health services, yes or no?

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, I am going to continue to press the Prime Minister for a very clear commitment. With the half a million dollars that he spent on all his various pre-election trips on the Challengers, we could have sent 60 additional veterans to Normandy. This is not a matter of money.

National Unity Fund  Mr. Speaker, more money, just like CSL all over again. It is clear that this so-called unity fund was used when the Liberals wanted to hide questionable spending from Canadians: $4.5 million to top up the sponsorship program; $3 million for ministers to campaign in western Canada; $4.5 million to supposedly fight Quebec separatism in Europe, now all double the amount the minister claimed.