The Budget  Mr. Speaker, after hearing Mr. Flaherty's budget, we feel it is fair to question—

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, after hearing the Minister of Finance's budget, we feel it is fair to question the Conservative government's priorities. It is a government that is continuing to go in the wrong direction by giving billions of dollars in handouts to big businesses, big companies. We

The Budget  Madam Speaker, I wish to inform you right away that I will be sharing my time with my colleague from Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine. This is not the first but the second time that I have had the opportunity to rise in this House. However, it is the first time that I have really

The Budget  Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Nickel Belt for his question. For a long time, the NDP has been pushing for the injection of an additional $700 million into the guaranteed income supplement to help all seniors get out of poverty. This was one of the commitment

The Budget  Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for that pertinent question. His party said that this budget feels like the movie Groundhog Day. We prefer to use the expression "copy and paste". It is as though absolutely nothing happened between March and May, as though this government

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, in his latest budget, the Minister of Finance told Canadians to expect $17 billion in cuts. The problem is that he did not bother to tell us what specific areas will be affected by these cuts. Now people are worried, and rightfully so, that they will lose services an

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, people have the right to know where these cuts will be made, particularly if their safety and well-being will be affected. We learned yesterday that cuts have already been made to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. What next? Food safety, public health, airpor

Government Spending  Mr. Speaker, in 2006, when the Conservatives promised to do things differently from the Liberals, the Conservative platform said that they would “oblige public officials to create the records necessary to document their actions and decisions”. That is precisely what the former in

Government Spending  Mr. Speaker, like magic, the concept of ministerial responsibility seems to have completely disappeared from the vocabulary of all Conservative ministers, especially when the time comes to explain misspending and poor management in a given department. On the other hand, they do n

G8 Summit  Mr. Speaker, everyone agrees that it is scandalous that $50 million was taken from the border infrastructure fund to fund projects in the riding of the minister hosting the G8 summit. The fact that this same minister is now in charge of the Treasury Board is also scandalous and s

G8 Summit  Mr. Speaker, while the minister was taking advantage of the money in the border infrastructure fund, the Canada Border Services Agency had to close three posts and reduce hours in order to save money. Can the President of the Treasury Board—yes, the President of the Treasury Boa

G8 Summit  Mr. Speaker, now that we know that the President of the Treasury Board is able to stand, I would like to give him a third opportunity to tell Canadians about his use of the border infrastructure fund for projects in his riding, which is 300 kilometres from the border. How can th

Government Spending  Mr. Speaker, it has been almost two weeks now since the Auditor General criticized the former industry minister's misuse and waste of public funds to benefit his friends. Yet the former minister has still not apologized and has not provided details on the projects that were chose

Government Spending  Mr. Speaker, the 2011-12 main estimates will soon be examined in parliamentary committee. The President of the Treasury Board has agreed to testify, but only for one hour. But we think that it must have taken much more than an hour to set up his $50 million plan for the G8 summit

Auditor General's Report  Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I once again asked the member for Parry Sound—Muskoka to explain the $50 million spending spree. Unfortunately, his critic was unable to tell us why documents explaining how projects were selected were unavailable. The President of the Treasury Board stil