Debates of Nov. 1st, 2005

Ed Broadbent Ottawa Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, on today of all days, it says a lot about the ethics and accountability of the Prime Minister that he has refused to answer these three serious accusations about the failure to act and accountability measures.

Does the Prime Minister deny any one of these accusations, and if not, why does he continue to perpetuate this culture of entitlement?

Brian Pallister Portage—Lisgar, MB

Mr. Speaker, today Judge Gomery highlighted that the author of the sponsorship rules which allowed the government to award contracts to Liberal-friendly firm without breaking the rules was David Dingwall. Right under the Prime Minister's nose, Dingwall then exempted himself from the spending rules at the Mint so he could spend without breaking the rules. So much for doing due diligence. So much for vigilance.

The Prime Minister claims he did not know anything about the sponsorship scandal, but he knew David Dingwall. Now he wants to pay him severance. Why should Canadians pay severance to an architect of the sponsorship scandal?

John McCallum Minister of National Revenue

Mr. Speaker, sadly, the hon. member is wrong again. He was wrong on September 28 when he described several people's salaries as part of Mr. Dingwall's personal expenses. He was hugely wrong when he characterized Mr. Dingwall's cost to taxpayers at $1 million.

I would commend to him a quote from a very famous Nova Scotian who wrote, “When a man is wrong and won't admit it, he always gets angry”.

James Rajotte Edmonton—Leduc, AB

Mr. Speaker, the facts are these. David Dingwall violated the lobbyists' code of conduct by failing to register as a lobbyist. He also received a kickback for $350,000 after lobbying for a Technology Partnerships Canada grant for Bioniche. He has been punished for neither of these. Instead the government actually is considering giving him a half million dollar handshake.

Could the industry minister stand in his place and explain to Canadians why Dingwall has not been held to account for either of these wrongdoings?

David Emerson Minister of Industry

Mr. Speaker, as I have explained, I do not know how many times to the hon. member, the government's agreement was with Bioniche. We recovered all the money that was improperly paid in contingency fees. Bioniche can deal with Mr. Dingwall.

We have recovered the money and we continue to ensure that the program drives innovation and competitiveness and gets the Canadian economy on the platform it needs to be on, going forward.

Rona Ambrose Edmonton—Spruce Grove, AB

Mr. Speaker, New Brunswick is asking the federal government to be more flexible on child care, but this Liberal government insists on imposing conditions. It rejects the idea of New Brunswick giving money to parents who choose to stay at home with their children. As a result, there is still no agreement.

Why is this government punishing New Brunswick for wanting to give parents more options?

Ken Dryden Minister of Social Development

Mr. Speaker, as I have said to the House many times before, there is plenty of flexibility in all the agreements that have been signed. There are eight agreements that have been signed now, including with jurisdictions that have a significant rural and remote population, as New Brunswick does.

I would ask the hon. member to check the amount of money that the Government of Quebec has spent on early learning and child care in each of these last number of years and the amount of money that the province of New Brunswick also has spent toward early learning and child care. The difference is very dramatic.

Rona Ambrose Edmonton—Spruce Grove, AB

Mr. Speaker, the government continues to ignore the millions of families across this country who are demanding choice in child care. New Brunswick is asking for the flexibility to offer a child care program that best suits the needs of its citizens. This includes supporting stay at home parents.

The Liberal government will not give New Brunswick the deal it wants because the Liberals only support regulated, institutionalized day care. When will the government offer New Brunswick the child care plan that families are demanding?

Ken Dryden Minister of Social Development

Mr. Speaker, I might remind the hon. member that her own home province of Alberta, which signed an agreement some time ago, very proudly came out with its five point investment plan.

It talks about helping low income families access affordable child care, helping families with disabled children access specialized child care, improving the quality of child care, and increasing wages and training opportunities, but there is a tone with which Alberta tells us this. It tells this with pride. It tells this with excitement. It can do this because we have invested $488 million over five years in the province of Alberta.

Jean Lapierre Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, I understand that the Bloc is disappointed with the clarity of the Gomery report. Just to score political points they would go so far as to cast doubt on Justice Gomery's findings. Let us not go overboard. It is despicable to try to do such a thing.

Benoît Sauvageau Repentigny, QC

Mr. Speaker, the culture of corruption runs deep in the Liberal Party of Canada. The Prime Minister and his party continue to act as though taxpayer dollars belong to them. They no longer have any credibility for cleaning things up.

Does the Prime Minister realize that the only way to clean things up and to clear the air is to call an election in order to get rid of this corrupt government?

Jean Lapierre Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, I think the Bloc members did not have enough time to read page 430 of the report, which states, “[The Prime Minister], whose role as finance minister did not involve him in the supervision of spending by the PMO or PWGSC, is entitled, like other ministers in the Quebec caucus, to be exonerated from any blame for carelessness or misconduct.”

In other words, this clearly hurts the Bloc Québécois because they have been claiming the opposite for months and months. Now their lies have been uncovered.