Terry French

From the proceedings of the Bow-Wow Parliament, May 16, 2007:

MR. FRENCH:

Mr. Speaker, I stand today to read a Private Member’s motion and one that I do, I might add, with great regret and great disappointment. It is something, actually, that I remember - before I read it in, I will just have these few words.

When the federal election was on over the Christmas season, Mr. Speaker, of course during the Christmas season you have the privilege to see a lot more people than normal, you visit a lot of homes and a lot of places. One of the things that I ran into was people’s fear of Prime Minister Harper, their concern about him, the concern about some of his views.

Mr. Speaker, I was one of the people who looked these residents in the face, looked them straight in the eyes and told them: Look, there is one thing we can be assured of with Stephen Harper, he does what he says, number one; and number two, he is committed to removing non-renewable resources from the equalization formula. That was one of the things, unfortunately, that I boasted him up.

Mr. Speaker, I was one of the people who looked these residents in the face, looked them straight in the eyes and told them: Look, there is one thing we can be assured of with Stephen Harper, he does what he says, number one; and number two, he is committed to removing non-renewable resources from the equalization formula. That was one of the things, unfortunately, that I boasted him up. I thought that he would be a man of his word, Mr. Speaker. I am sad to say today that I am reading this Private Member’s motion in and explain some of the reasons why I made the statements I did to residents in my district, and in particular close friends of mine who had reservations about the current Prime Minister, and it was me who said to them: Look, he is removing non-renewable resources. This is significant to this Province. You cannot measure the value of it.

Unfortunate, that is not the case. He did not live up to his word. I guess it was people like me, a Conservative stalwart in this Province for as long as I have been able to vote, Mr. Speaker, probably it means more to people like me than it does the average citizen, because I was the one who promoted people like Stephen Harper, based on his word, and today I am saddened by what has transpired over the last number of months.

So, Mr. Speaker, in that debate there was no misunderstanding, there was no secret where he stood at the time, and what his opinion was. The scary part about this is that, if you talk to the Prime Minister today, and you hear him in media outlets, you will be convinced, by listening to him, that he kept his promise, that he kept his commitment to remove non-renewable resources from the equalization formula. Mr. Speaker, it is simply amazing, when we here in the Province simply know the difference.

Basically, what the Prime Minister has done, he has done three things to the people of this Province and I guess to the people of the country as a whole. He said that promises do not matter. That his promises do not count and certainly they cannot be relied upon. Mr. Speaker, that is a hard thing for a commander and chief of a country to be leading the people in this Province certainly down the garden path.