International Drivers' Licenses
November 17, 2008, afternoon session

Ms Blakeman: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Again to the same minister: given that the minister has now had time to check on what new countries have signed agreements with the province since I first raised this issue, can the minister share with the House what those countries are, the new countries that have signed on?

Mr. Ouellette: Mr. Speaker, we have nine different countries that have signed on right now. I think we have France, that just signed off in the last four to six weeks or four to six months maybe, something like that. It's one of those two. I know there's a big spread there. There are nine different ones that have signed off. France has been the last one, I think, which has been less than six months ago.

Mines and Minerals (New Royalty Framework) Amendment Act, 2008
November 20, 2008, afternoon session

Mr. Knight: I, too, agree with the Leader of the Opposition's comments that Alberta truly has been blessed. As an Albertan citizen I have been blessed as a result of our sort of landing on this land that dinosaurs or whatever lay down and died on eons ago, that has blessed us with these hydrocarbons, which in this day and age, at my time being alive, have enabled me to go, when I went to school, to some of the finest public education schools and things of that nature that other jurisdictions simply have not had the ability to do. That is all due to our blessing of having landed on this place at this time in the galaxy, I guess.

Climate Change and Emissions Management Amendment Act, 2008
October 16, 2008, afternoon session

Mr. MacDonald: Speaking of our oil and our export of oil, we had a former minister here – I believe he was at one point Minister of Environment – Mr. Gary Mar, who is down in Washington.

Mr. Mason: He's doing a bang-up job for us, too.

Mr. MacDonald: Well, I would take exception to that. If he was doing a good job, he would have been able to flag that legislation that was passed that took into consideration the amount of CO₂ emissions occurring in Alberta. [...]

Mr. Mason: I would like the irony in my voice to be noted in Hansard.

Mr. MacDonald: Yes. The hon. member would like the irony in his voice to be noted in Hansard, and I would certainly hope that it is noted. I don't know how to do that, but I hope it's done because I don't think Mr. Mar has been doing the job that we're paying him to do, and he's getting a handsome salary.

Calgary Urban Infrastructure Planning
October 20, 2008, evening session

Mr. Hehr: I have alluded to this earlier: Calgary is sort of a model of a unicity. It reminds me almost of, as I was discussing with the leader of the third party, the beginning of the episodes of Welcome Back, Kotter when I grew up. It always said: Brooklyn, fourth largest city in America. I'm assuming that since I've been in New York now and I no longer saw that sign when I went into Brooklyn, it is, too, under a unicity model. It was the leader of the third party that made me aware of that. I'm sure that some of the planning mechanisms, maybe, in New York are similar to Calgary. However, I digress simply because I liked Welcome Back, Kotter so much, sir, but now that I have that there, I can move on.

Appropriation (Supplementary Supply) Act, 2008
December 1, 2008, evening session

Mr. Mason: Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. I’m happy to stand and speak to second reading of Bill 51.

An Hon. Member: Put it in a poem.

Mr. Mason: Yeah. Before I leave this place, you know, Mr. Speaker, I’ll rap something but not in the meantime. It’s a good way to embarrass your son in front of his friends.

Twelve Days of Christmas Redux
November 27, 2008, afternoon session

Mr. Mason: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Due to time constraints I'm afraid I'm going to have drop a few verses from my member's statement, but I hope that members will get the gist.

On the first day of Christmas
the health minister gave to me
a consultant from New Jersey.

On the second day of Christmas
the health minister gave to me
two Tory bagmen
and a consultant from New Jersey.

On the third day of Christmas
the health minister gave to me
three hospitals closing, two Tory bagmen,
and a consultant from New Jersey.

On the fifth day of Christmas
the health minister gave to me
five golden handshakes, four doctors fired,
three hospitals closing, two Tory bagmen,
and a consultant from New Jersey.

On the seventh day of Christmas
the health minister gave to me
seven swans a-walking, six empty wards,
five golden handshakes, four doctors fired,
three hospitals closing, two Tory bagmen,
and a consultant from New Jersey.

On the ninth day of Christmas
the health minister gave to me
nine health boards fired, eight used syringes,
seven swans a-walking, six empty wards,
five golden handshakes, four doctors fired,
three hospitals closing, two Tory bagmen,
and a consultant from New Jersey.

On the 12th day of Christmas
the health minister gave to me
12 lists a-waiting, 11 memos censored,
10 private clinics, nine health boards fired,
eight used syringes, seven swans a-walking,
six empty wards, five golden handshakes,
four doctors fired, three hospitals closing,
two Tory bagmen,
and a consultant from New Jersey.

The Speaker: The hon. member might consider sticking with his day job.

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Edited to add: So help me, there's audio. But you don't want to listen to it. You really, really don't.