 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 
Liberal Leader Paul Martin appears in studio on Thursday's edition of Canada AM.
Ad wasn't an attack on military: Paul MartinUpdated Thu. Jan. 12 2006 2:52 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff Paul Martin defended the series of controversial ads his Liberal Party unleashed this week and continued his attack on Stephen Harper, painting him as a leader who subscribes to a far right-wing ideology. In an interview Thursday morning on CTV's Canada AM, Martin said he approved every one of the harshly critical ads -- including one that suggested the Tory Leader would use the military to occupy Canadian cities. The ad did not air and was pulled from the party's website within hours of being posted. But Martin said the ad was lifted simply because he didn't think it was very good. But later Thursday, Liberal MP Keith Martin took a far more critical tone, calling the ad "appalling" before apologizing to members of the military who were offended by it. "Some idiot inadvertently sent out an ad that was not approved and not supported by the party with the 11 (ads) that were supported," Martin told CP. His riding includes CFB Esquimalt, the headquarters of Canada's Pacific naval fleet. Paul Martin stressed, however, that the ad wasn't meant to target soldiers, and that his party is a defender of the military. "I've probably put more money into the military than almost any prime minister," said Martin on Canada AM, in his most comprehensive remarks regarding defence during this campaign thus far. He said the Tory Leader's plan to increase military presence in Canadian cities so soldiers can be on hand to help in emergencies would create a logistical nightmare. He quoted chief of defence staff, Gen. Rick Hillier, as saying: "I want to have a Canada Command. I want to be able to really have top-flight soldiers in top-flight positions with top-flight equipment." Martin added: "You can't do that if it's spread out all across the country." He then spoke on the difference in values that exists between his policies and those of the Tory Leader. "(Harper) said that his views have not changed in 10 years. So if you take a look at our ads, what we have simply done is said, 'this is what Stephen Harper has said'," Martin told Canada AM co-host Beverly Thomson. The Liberal Leader pointed to a speech that Harper gave in 1997 to the Council for National Policy, a right wing American think tank, in which he referred to Canada as a "northern European welfare state, in the worst sense of the term." "Those are his words," said Martin. "He has said those are still his views. He said Canada was second rate -- that was his view." The Conservatives have claimed that those comments, including one in which Harper told U.S. conservatives that their movement was a "a light and an inspiration to people in this country and across the world," were meant to be "tongue-in-cheek." But Martin said those statements are indicative of the far right views harboured by the Tory Leader. "I don't share the views of the far right Conservative groups in the United States. And so that's the chasm between us and that's where the debate should take place," said Martin. The Liberal Leader then took a series of questions from Canadians on a wide-range of topics. On health care Alan Besecker, a registered nurse from Edmonton, asked Martin how he would stop the growth of for-profit health care in Canada. Martin said the answer is to ensure that tax dollars go strictly to fund public health care. He said the $41 billion his government has invested in the provinces has already led to a "dramatic decrease in wait times, simply because of better management." Martin also pointed to a dispute avoidance and resolution mechanism under the Canada Health Act that would resolve any differences of opinion that should arise between private and public health care. "We believe that health care ought to be on the basis of need, not on the basis of money," said Martin, touting his plan to add 1,000 more family doctors, as well as nurses and professionals into the system. On taxes In an email question to the Liberal Leader, Sheldon Hart from Saskatchewan asked what Martin thought about the Tory proposal to cut the GST. Martin stuck to his proposal to cut personal income taxes as the "fairest way and the most active way of getting more money into people's pockets." "We have put forth a very large $30-billion tax cut to primarily go to middle income, lower income Canadians, that will put -- in terms of the average family -- twice as much money into your pockets as will a cut in the GST," said Martin. He added that the Tory plan will benefit the wealthy, and that his view is supported by the National Anti-Poverty Association. "Lower personal income taxes and let Canadians decide whether they want to buy a toaster, a car, save, (or) put the money into their children's education." On crime The subject of criminal justice was introduced by Susan Jessop, the mother of 23-year-old Lee Matasia who was shot to death outside a Vancouver nightclub. "My son was murdered in Vancouver on December 3rd. By December 20th, the accused was out on bail," said Jessop. "Sir, we don't casually charge people with second-degree murder in this country. So why do we casually let them out on bail?" she asked. Martin said there's no doubt that there should be far tougher sentencing for criminals, and said he believes in reverse-onus legislation for bail on gun-related crimes. "In other words, instead of the state having to prove why you should stay in (jail), you've got to demonstrate why you should be able to get out," said Martin. "I don't think there's any doubt that we think there should be far tougher sentencing." On political ethics From Montreal, McGill University grad student Jason Roy asked Martin what he plans to do to solve the "culture of entitlement" in government that Justice John Gomery said led to the sponsorship scandal. "We have done a lot of things," said Martin. "For instance, for the first time, the expense accounts of everybody in government have got to be published once every quarter, so that people see exactly what they're doing." Martin promised better transparency in government, saying the first step he took was to call the Gomery inquiry. "... I knew that it was going to hurt my party. But I really feel so strongly about what you've just raised, and about integrity, that I felt the only way to do it was to put it out in the open." Canada AM co-host Seamus O'Regan asked Martin a question with an added proviso that he's never heard a politician answer it honestly: what will you do if you lose? Martin, despite his lagging behind the surging Tories in the polls, said the possibility of defeat hasn't entered his mind. "I really haven't contemplated losing so I haven't given any thought to it." He said his family would be his first priority when he re-enters private life, but added: "... I'm not going to lose and so I think that I won't be back with the family." He added: "It's one of the great things about having Sheila travelling with me. I don't think this campaign would be livable if she wasn't travelling with me." Innovation funding At a campaign stop later Thursday, Martin pledged $180 million in new funding for innovative and leading edge research facilities, universities and hospitals. "Canada must be at the forefront of the innovation economy," he said in Markham, a town north of Toronto. Martin said a new Liberal government would divide the funding between the National Institute of Convergent Technologies, the National Centre for Biomedical Innovation, the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and the University of Waterloo's Institute for Quantum Computing.
|
CTV.ca Special
|
