Debates of Sept. 22nd, 2006

Stephen Owen Vancouver Quadra, BC

Mr. Speaker, the government has known for more than six months about this unlawful disclosure to political staff and it has done nothing until this week when it was caught.

Will the government assure the House that all political staff found to have violated the law by the privacy commissioner will be dismissed and will the parliamentary secretary table that memo immediately?

Jason Kenney Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister

Mr. Speaker, yes, and not only will I table it, I will quote from it again. Yesterday the Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet of the Privy Council Office told us that, “This was a discussion only among officials. There was no involvement by political staff and the summary report of the discussion by officials was a practice that predated this government. These types of summary reports were regularly shared with members of the previous government's prime minister's communications office”.

It turns out that the bureaucrats were passing on a bad habit in which they were forced to engage by the previous government, to which this week we have put an end.

Marlene Jennings Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC

Mr. Speaker, what the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister is not saying is that the reports were released without the names. Names have only been required since the arrival of this new minority Conservative government. This is the truth.

The media now tells us that on March 1, 2006, the PMO was given the option of no longer receiving those emails from the PCO. However, one week later, two more names of individuals employed by the PMO were added. This is proof that the statements of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister were false.

Your—

The Speaker Peter Milliken

The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister.

Jason Kenney Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister

Mr. Speaker, this is the desperation of the Liberals who see that we have finally caught on to yet another one of their scams. She is absolutely wrong, Yes, it is true that two political staff asked to be added to a distribution list, not for names dealing with requesters for information, not for private information or private names, but for the minutes of weekly conference calls dealing with security and pandemic issues.

Yes, our government and our political staff want to ensure we know what is going on to combat pandemics and to maintain national security. Now we will also reverse the practices of the Liberals and protect--

The Speaker Peter Milliken

The hon. member for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine.

Marlene Jennings Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister has no honour. He is misleading Canadians once again today.

How can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister claim that no one read the email from the PCO when, two weeks earlier, Sandra Buckler had two more names of employees from her office added to the distribution list?

Will the Prime Minister ever assume his responsibilities, and stop misleading this House and all Canadians—

The Speaker Peter Milliken

The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister has the floor.

Jason Kenney Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister

Mr. Speaker, yesterday and today I presented the opinion of the Privy Council Office that there was a long-standing practice under the previous government, which I just cited verbatim, of furnishing names of applicants for information under the Access to Information Act to political officers of the previous government. Yes, sir, it is true.

I am sorry, but it is true that two political staff asked that their names be added to a list to receive information on pandemics and national security issues.

It is the Liberals that—

The Speaker Peter Milliken

The hon. member for Richmond—Arthabaska.

Chuck Strahl Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board

Mr. Speaker, the government is very concerned about the presence of this parasite and its impact on the farming industry in Quebec. That is why I have discussed this problem on several occasions with Mike Johans, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and with Mr. Vallières, Minister of Agriculture of Quebec. We are working to minimize the impact of border controls as quickly as possible, and we will continue to monitor the situation closely in order to reassess the need for compensation, as required.

Luc Malo Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC

Mr. Speaker, does the minister intend to pay the bill that Quebec is going to send him for purchasing or renting equipment to wash the potatoes and the machinery needed to harvest the potato crop? Will he speed up the analysis and research process so that potato producers, vegetable producers and horticulturalists are not further penalized financially?