Taxation  Mr. Speaker, the federal government is collecting more taxes than necessary, while the provinces are no longer able to make ends meet. In the meantime, the Prime Minister continues to stubbornly refuse to acknowledge the existence of the fiscal imbalance and is forcing the provin

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, given that all of the provinces have demanded that the federal government resolve once and for all the fiscal imbalance issue, the Prime Minister's stubbornness speaks volumes about his lack of respect for the jurisdictions of the other levels of government. Will th

Intergovernmental Affairs  Mr. Speaker, the recent first ministers meeting will not be remembered for any great innovations by the federal government with respect to health. The Prime Minister claimed he had a vision of national standards. Instead, he turned his back on the shared legacy of Jean Chrétien

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I am privileged to rise today for my maiden speech in the House of Commons. In addition, I am especially honoured to be the first member of Parliament for the new riding of Edmonton—Spruce Grove, proud to be among my Conservative colleagues and privileged to represen

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, this is a very important issue in regard to federal-provincial relations. The problem arises when the federal government has its own agenda and policy objectives. It is often rare that these objectives actually coincide with the policy objectives of the provinces. W

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I think we still have quite a bit of detail to receive from the government side on this issue. My comment would be that on any program that is being imposed from the federal level onto provinces, as the member rightly said, this falls into the area of provincial juri

Agriculture  Mr. Chair, as the hon. member said, we need to increase the capacity to slaughter and pack livestock in our country so there is more reliability for the agriculture industry. In my riding of Edmonton—Spruce Grove, a former member of the House, Stan Schellenberger, is spearheadin

Health  Mr. Speaker, in the pre-election euphoria, the Prime Minister pretended to be the great defender of the public health system, stating that there was no room for a pay as you go health care system. Yesterday, a private clinic opened its doors in the Prime Minister's adopted city.

Health  Mr. Speaker, this is another case of say one thing and do another. This is hypocrisy on health care. During the election the Prime Minister said: To break your promises in terms of health care...is really a terrible thing. I could not agree more. Breaking promises is a terrible

Canadian Heritage  Mr. Speaker, the government appears to be confused. Last month the Minister of Canadian Heritage stated that when she is at international meetings her Quebec better half can speak for her on Canadian cultural policy. She said, “Line can speak for both of us very well”. The herita

Canadian Heritage  Mr. Speaker, the minister is obviously still confused. The Minister of Canadian Heritage is on record as saying that Quebec can speak for Canada on Canadian cultural policy, but her colleagues, the Minister of Transport and the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, have clearly

Supply  Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for St. John's East. As the member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot and members of the House know, the Conservative Party believes a fiscal imbalance exists in the country, and we support the motion. We also know the Liberal gov

Supply  Madam Speaker, I have a hard time understanding how the member can claim the fiscal imbalance does not exist when we have a $9.1 billion surplus and we are living in a country made up of mostly have not provinces right now. My problem with the way the federal government deals wi

Equalization Payments  Mr. Speaker, at the Standing Committee on Finance this morning, the finance minister admitted that the current equalization deal that is on the table for Newfoundland and Labrador has a cap on revenues. This statement directly contradicts the Prime Minister and the Minister of Na

Equalization Payments  Mr. Speaker, amendments had to be made to the Speech from the Throne in order to force the Prime Minister to recognize the reality of the fiscal imbalance. Once again, instead of straight talking he is hiding behind the formula. Will the Prime Minister be more straightforward, d