Speech (House debate)

{
    "time": "2006-11-08 16:55:00",
    "attribution": {
        "en": "Hon. Vic Toews",
        "fr": ""
    },
    "content": {
        "en": "<p data-HoCid=\"256534\" data-originallang=\"en\">Mr. Speaker, the member speaks about a principle being older than the Magna Carta. In fact, the independence of the judiciary is not a principle that is older than the Magna Carta. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"256535\" data-originallang=\"en\">The Magna Carta is actually an excellent place to start. Section 100 of the Constitution Act says that Parliament makes the determination on public expenditures. That is, in fact, what the Magna Carta is all about. Section 100 deals exactly with the Magna Carta and the responsibility of Parliament to deal with the issue. The Supreme Court of Canada in two cases, the P.E.I. reference case and the Bodner case, recognized the paramountcy of Parliament in determining that issue on a standard of public rationality. It is for Parliament to make that determination. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"256536\" data-originallang=\"en\">Thirteen billion dollars is the number that my colleague has been pointing out. The priority of this government and this Parliament was to pay down the debt. That is the priority of this government. The allocation of that money obviously has to be weighed against all of the other issues that we need to deal with as a government.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"256537\" data-originallang=\"en\">I understand the member does not think that paying down the debt is important, but it happens to save Canadian taxpayers $650 million each and every year. This was not simply a matter of shifting the books as the Liberals did with the employee pension case, just shifting numbers around to create so-called surpluses. This was actual money used to pay down the debt.</p>",
        "fr": "<p data-HoCid=\"256534\" data-originallang=\"en\">Monsieur le Pr\u00e9sident, le d\u00e9put\u00e9 parle d'un principe qui serait plus ancien que la Magna Carta. En fait, le principe de l'ind\u00e9pendance du pouvoir judiciaire n'est pas plus ancien que la Magna Carta.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"256535\" data-originallang=\"en\">D'ailleurs, la Magna Carta est en fait un excellent point de d\u00e9part. \u00c0 l'article 100 de la Loi constitutionnelle, on lit que le Parlement d\u00e9termine les d\u00e9penses publiques. En fait, c'est l\u00e0 l'essence m\u00eame de la Magna Carta. L'article 100 renvoie directement \u00e0 la Magna Carta et porte sur la responsabilit\u00e9 du Parlement \u00e0 l'\u00e9gard du salaire des juges. La Cour supr\u00eame du Canada a reconnu, dans le renvoi concernant l'\u00cele-du-Prince-\u00c9douard et dans l'affaire Bodner, la primaut\u00e9 du Parlement dans la d\u00e9termination du salaire des juges selon une norme de rationalit\u00e9 publique. Il appartient au Parlement de fixer ces salaires.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"256536\" data-originallang=\"en\">Le d\u00e9put\u00e9 a parl\u00e9 de 13 milliards de dollars. La priorit\u00e9 du gouvernement et du Parlement est le remboursement de la dette. C'est la priorit\u00e9 du gouvernement. De toute \u00e9vidence, il faut \u00e9valuer l'utilisation des exc\u00e9dents en tenant compte de tous les autres \u00e9l\u00e9ments dont le gouvernement doit s'occuper.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"256537\" data-originallang=\"en\">Je comprends que le d\u00e9put\u00e9 ne croit pas \u00e0 l'importance de rembourser la dette, mais cela permet aux contribuables canadiens d'\u00e9pargner 650 millions de dollars chaque ann\u00e9e. Il ne s'agissait pas simplement de trafiquer les livres, comme les lib\u00e9raux l'ont fait dans l'affaire des pensions des employ\u00e9s, afin de cr\u00e9er de faux exc\u00e9dents. Il s'agit d'argent r\u00e9el qui a servi \u00e0 rembourser une partie de la dette.</p>"
    },
    "url": "/debates/2006/11/8/vic-toews-3/",
    "politician_url": "/politicians/vic-toews/",
    "politician_membership_url": "/politicians/memberships/1306/",
    "procedural": false,
    "source_id": "1769121",
    "h1": {
        "en": "Government Orders",
        "fr": ""
    },
    "h2": {
        "en": "Judges Act",
        "fr": ""
    },
    "document_url": "/debates/2006/11/8/",
    "related": {
        "document_speeches_url": "/speeches/?document=%2Fdebates%2F2006%2F11%2F8%2F"
    }
}