Debates of Nov. 4th, 2004

Health

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia.

David Desrosiers

[Jean-Yves Roy, Bloc, Matapédia—Matane, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when we are young, we want to make our dreams of the future come true. But for someone who is only 24 and has just realized a dream that was expected to take many years to achieve, there is a real triumph.

That is what happened to David Desrosiers, who grew up in Matane and has become a vocalist and bass player in the group Simple Plan, known all over the world for its power pop music. Simple Plan sold 3 million copies of its first disc and launched its second album on October 26.

As soon as David joined this team of Quebec francophone musicians, the group was impressed by his talent, stage presence, sense of humour and easy rapport with the audience.

David Desrosiers is the pride of all who know him in Matane and an example to young people that dreams are worth believing in.

Congratulations, David, and lots of success in your international music career.

Health

[Steven Fletcher, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am finding it difficult to convey, in a parliamentary manner, my disappointment in the Liberal government.

Yesterday the Liberals talked out a motion to compensate the victims of hepatitis C from tainted blood. The Liberals claim they are compassionate and that they are looking out for the best interests of these people.

The Liberal government is wrong. It is not compassionate. When it is presented with opportunities to do the right thing, it does the opposite.

The fact is that if the government wanted those victims of tainted blood to be compensated, they would be. However the government blocks every attempt to compensate these victims.

The government can act immediately and begin compensating victims who have been left out. It is what yesterday's motion called for and everyone but the Liberal government agreed on.

This issue is a tragedy of massive proportions. I still cannot grasp the reasoning of the government as to why all the victims are not compensated.

I urge the minister to do the right thing and begin the compensation process. It is only fair and the victims deserve it.

The Environment

[Mario Silva, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, many visitors to Toronto who travel along the waterfront will see the city's first wind turbine prominently situated on the grounds of Exhibition Place.

As chair of Exhibition Place, I was pleased to be instrumental in the construction of this wind turbine. Now, as the member for Davenport, I am pleased to support the government's commitment to wind power, one of the most promising sources of renewable energy.

Through the wind power production program, the government is demonstrating its resolve to ensure that Canada becomes a world leader in the area of wind energy.

On November 1 the Minister of the Environment confirmed his commitment to the development of renewable energy sources. The government is committed to quadruple the size of the wind production program.

Wind power is one of the most promising renewable energy technologies. It is indeed a noble goal that the government has adopted to make Canada a world leader in this area.

Gordon Fairweather

[Rob Moore, Conservative, Fundy, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honour a great Canadian from my riding of Fundy Royal in New Brunswick.

This riding was represented in the House by Gordon Fairweather who had served in the New Brunswick legislature for 10 years before being elected member of Parliament in 1962. He was New Brunswick's attorney general from 1958 to 1960. He went on to sit in this chamber for 15 years and he won a remarkable six consecutive elections. After serving in the House he became the first chief commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

Still today he continues to have honours bestowed upon him. Gordon and his late wife, Nancy, summered for 50 years at Long Reach on the Kingston peninsula. They crossed by cable ferry to their home in Rothesay on a regular basis.

It was my privilege to join with his many friends and admirers on October 22 of this year at a ceremony christening the new 24 car cable ferry plying the beautiful Kennebecasis River between Gondola Point and Reeds Point on the Kingston peninsula. The state of the art ferry was built by Irving Shipbuilding and is named RGL Fairweather .

Canada-U.S. Relations

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we have yet another anti-American outburst from the member for Mississauga—Erindale. The Prime Minister said yet again that these kinds of comments are unacceptable, but he sends mixed messages by continuing to accept such members and their statements in his caucus.

My question is simple. Are the member's statements acceptable and she will remain in the Liberal caucus, or are they unacceptable and she will be finally removed from the Liberal caucus?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's statements were unacceptable. Those statements are not reflective of the government's position, nor are they statements that are acceptable to our caucus.

I would simply ask the hon. member opposite about the comments his members have made about the Charter of Rights, bilingualism and a vast number of Canadian values.

Sponsorship Program

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, these are the same old responses and no bottom line.

On another subject, in a letter dated May 12, 1995, sent by Mr. Pednault to Chuck Guité, we learn that the current Prime Minister was the only minister not abiding by the rules for awarding contracts.

When did the Prime Minister learn that his office was favouring his friends?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, when we examine the letters and testimony, it is very obvious that what the Department of Finance wanted was to have a genuinely open and transparent system, and that is where the difference lies.

We are still in favour of an open and transparent system.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has given those answers before. The problem is that this latest document shows once again that the Prime Minister was not providing that kind of leadership. In fact, he was the only minister breaking the contracting rules, according to the complaint.

When did the Prime Minister learn that his office was breaking contracting rules in favour of his friends at Earnscliffe?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, consistently the Leader of the Opposition and his colleagues have stood up, have made mistakes and they have had to swallow themselves whole the next day.

That is why the hon. member should not try to subvert the Gomery commission, but let the Gomery commission do its work.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, in a 1995 letter, businessman Paul Pednault of Sponsorium International complained to Chuck Guité that Treasury Board rules were being broken in a selection of ad agencies. He said that the Minister of Finance's office was the only one influencing the selection based on political affiliation.

The minister in question is the Prime Minister. How can the Prime Minister continue to claim he knew nothing about rules being broken in favour of Liberal friendly agencies when it was his own office that was breaking them?

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that officials at the Department of Finance intervened in this letter to actually seek a more competitive process for the advertising of the Canada savings bond program.

This is another case where the opposition is getting its facts wrong. Its members are making mistakes based on testimony or commentary on day to day testimony. It is a manipulative use of selective day to day testimony.

It is inappropriate for members of the House to be trying to operate a parallel Gomery inquiry when the Gomery inquiry is working and we should allow it to do so.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the only one getting it wrong is the recently anointed shield for the Prime Minister.

In a letter to Mr. Guité, it is made clear that the Minister of Finance imposed his choice of agencies and that this choice was made on the basis of political affiliation. No party affiliation, no contract. We can now see where the connection is with the source of the interference and the Liberal preferences.

Did the Prime Minister also have his favourites?

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, it is understandable why in today's National Post it is written:

[The Gomery inquiry] is an environment far more conducive to finding out what happened inside the Public Works department in the mid- to late-1990s than the adversarial public accounts committee, where...more time was spent making partisan points than “getting to the bottom” of the [issue].

We have the Gomery inquiry to get to the bottom of this issue. It is working, and the fact is that the hon. member and others who prejudge the work of Justice Gomery are jeopardizing the important work that he is doing on behalf of Canadians.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in May 1994, Terrie O'Leary, the present Prime Minister's executive assistant, intervened in the selection process for communications agencies on behalf of Ekos, a partner of Earnscliffe, the Prime Minister's favourite company, and the source of his advisers David Herle, Scott Reid, Elly Alboim and Mike Robinson.

The Prime Minister has Terrie O'Leary's memo in hand; I had it given to him at the start of oral question period. Is he going to admit that he also brought political direction to bear, as Jean Chrétien did, on the sponsorship scandal?

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, I repeat, what happened is that the Department of Finance wanted a more open process, a more transparent process, with far more competition. That was the Department of Finance's position, and that is what it ought to have been.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we will get back to open competition and transparency later. What is clear is that Ms. O'Leary is very transparent: she proposes a company very close to the PM. That company is Earnscliffe.

Will the Prime Minister acknowledge that he and Terrie O'Leary are the ones who opened the door, or paved the way, for the Ekos-Earnscliffe team to obtain a $300,000 contract? This is not testimony. It is a fact. I have sent him the memo, and he has it in his hands. It comes from his office. I am sure this is not the first time he has seen it.

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member wanted to follow this matter, it is still very clear that it was totally in the hands of public servants. There was a difference of opinion on the balance between quality and price, but I must repeat, this was all administered by public servants.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Charlevoix—Montmorency, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the 1994 letter from the executive assistant of the then Minister of Finance, Terrie O'Leary, and the success, in 1995, of Ekos and others in securing contracts show how efficient the current Prime Minister and his executive assistant were in ensuring preferential treatment for his pals.

How can the Prime Minister maintain that he knew nothing, when his executive assistant wrote letters on his behalf to secure contracts for personal friends, and this approach was successful?

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, in terms of this specific case, the Department of Finance has already responded. The department has said that the matter was between public works officials and Department of Finance officials. It was a legitimate difference of opinion in terms of the difference between best value and lowest price.

It is notable that the opposition obtained this document through the Gomery inquiry. This is more evidence of the fact that the Justice Gomery inquiry is working and the opposition ought to allow it to do its work and not manipulatively comment on selective testimony.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Charlevoix—Montmorency, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when he was questioned previously on such contracts awarded to personal friends, the Prime Minister maintained that the contracts in question were the result of a clear and transparent award process.

Will the Prime Minister admit that what is clear is that he intervened in connection with advertising contracts, and what is transparent is that we can see now that he interfered in favour of Earnscliffe, a firm very close to him?

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, once again I do not think the hon. member heard my answer. Perhaps he was given a pre-written supplementary question, but he should listen to the answers. Then maybe he would think a little before he stood up and asked another stupid question about the same issue when in fact the answer is--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker]

The Minister of Public Works and Government Services is well aware that we never have stupid questions or stupid answers in the House. If we got into that, we would have real difficulty maintaining order in the House. He will not want to get into that today. We will have no stupid questions.

The hon. member for Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord asked a question. This is a question, which the minister will no doubt answer, and I would urge him to do so without making any references to intelligence or anything of the sort.