Question Time

[Talleyrand]

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he agrees with the Prime Minister that the Socialists are "radical revolutionaries" using "ploys and deceptions" in exposing the nepotism and wastes of taxpayer money in this Government.

Mr. Speaker,

I believe that while the Prime Minister's views have clearly been influenced by the disaster that has been our northern neighbor in recent years, he was simply pointing out that the criticism of the adviser positions by members of the Socialist Party is quite clearly just political in nature. There are many experienced former government officials in the Right Honorable Member's party who understand that it is fundamentally impossible to orchestrate ministries of massive size without having an assistant minister in these departments. Otherwise, the duty we owe to the South American people cannot be fulfilled to the best of our ability. Atlasian-style fragmentation to create multiple additional ministries would be far more inefficient and wasteful than the rational system that the government has put in place.

[Talleyrand]

Mr. Speaker,

If I may speak on behalf of the Prime Minister, who is busy attending a memorial service in light of the FARC massacre, the government has a comprehensive plan which we are introducing step by step. The latest example is the Foreign Minister's military organization bill. We have chosen not to introduce all our bills at once because railroading them through would be highly undemocratic. I am sure that the Leader of the Opposition wants us to take a methodical, cautious approach in the early days of our nation rather than pursuing a hyper aggressive, ideological policy.

[Talleyrand]

Mr. Speaker,

With all due respect to the Leader of the Opposition, much of those "22 days" were spent dealing with the FARC Crisis. The lives of innocent citizens came first during that time period, and this government is not going to apologize for that. We have been working diligently behind the scenes on good policy on that time, and we have already received diplomatic recognition from the Republic of Atlasia, a goal which seemed impossible just a short while ago. We have elected our first ever Judge and first ever President, in addition to passing a comprehensive, reasonable Constitution (which all members of the government contributed to, I might add). To imply we have been sitting on our knees and doing nothing is frankly quite absurd! Mr. Cranberry is quite intelligent, as proven by his diligent appointment of a shadow cabinet to keep us accountable, but it's clear he is just playing the political game here.

[Talleyrand]

Mr. Speaker,

This bill does not violate our party's principles. We have always supported unionism, but only when it stands for the people. This bill strips the power of corrupt union bosses and is a victory for hardworking South Americans. I fail to see how this bill does anything but increase transparency, accountability in employment, and religious freedom. It is a very fair act and one which I think will wreak wonders on our nation to come for many years.