Debates of Feb. 28th, 2008

Ethics

[James Moore, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague asked for clarity. There is no better clarity than Chuck Cadman's words themselves, when he said on national television, on May 19, 2005, “There were no offers”.

Chuck Cadman was a decent man, a great parliamentarian, a good friend. His word ought to be trusted. We always trusted his word. I wish the Liberals and the NDP would trust him today, just as they did back then.

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, we have to recognize how serious this is. Trying to bribe members of Parliament to change their votes is a high crime and misdemeanour on the same scale of severity as treason. It undermines the integrity of the democratic process. It is a subversion of the Constitution.

We have a glaring contradiction here. We have the widow of Chuck Cadman saying that such an inducement was offered. We have the Prime Minister denying that there was any such offer.

My suggestion is this. Will the Prime Minister agree to contact Dona Cadman immediately and then bring back to the House the clear story? Was there an inducement or not?

[James Moore, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague, as I have said, does not have to take my word for it, or that of the Prime Minister or the House leader. He has to take Chuck Cadman's word for it. Chuck Cadman himself said that no offer was made.

Chuck Cadman was a good man. He was known for his integrity. He spoke the truth on this. No offer was taken. I wish my colleagues would show him the respect he is due and recognize that he told the truth on this matter. No offer was made, and that is the end of the story.

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Chuck Cadman was a man whose integrity was beyond reproach. Sadly, the same cannot be said of this government.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Obviously, the Conservatives are not in the mood to listen.

Unfortunately, there are many examples of this government's lack of integrity. We have evidence that Jim Hart, who was a Canadian Conservative Reform Alliance Party member of Parliament, was offered large sums of money to give up his seat to the Minister of Public Safety.

This is the government that gave us the Federal Accountability Act, so why is it refusing to comply with its own legislation?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party has been in serious trouble for the past little while. It has not just been a matter of leadership. It has not just been a lack of policy. It has been a lack of scandals.

Every scandal those members chase does not exist. The one about Chuck Cadman, his own words say that it does not exist. The one about the Minister of the Environment, the police say that it does not exist. The one they are talking about now with Jim Hart is the exact same thing. The police say that it does not exist. I could go on and on.

That is a very sad party that lacks no policy, no leadership, no issues. Those members should get back to work and figure out what they do before they come to work.

[Raymonde Folco, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am surprised to hear such things, seeing as Mr. Cadman's legislative assistant confirmed that everything Mr. Cadman's widow said was true. What are they trying to accomplish by saying things like that?

There are plenty more examples of suspicious activity. A former member of Parliament for the Prime Minister's riding, Ezra Levant, also received a lot of money to give up his seat to the Prime Minister himself. This government does not hesitate to flout election laws, and it could not care less about respect. Words fail me—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. Leader of the Government in the House of Commons.

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, divine intervention in favour of the truth, I suppose.

The reality is once again the member is misstating. The assistant to Mr. Cadman has issued a statement that is quite clear. He was not in the office during any such meeting. Obviously what the member is stating and what has been reported is again untrue. That is consistent with everything we hear on each one of these issues.

The Liberals will not talk about the budget that they support or are against. They are moving a non-confidence motion even though they want it to pass. Nothing reigns on that side except for confusion.

The thing that makes them most angry of all is the fact that this is a clean government with a strong economy, with a balanced budget that is doing—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for London West.

[Sue Barnes, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we are now aware of the disturbing and unseemly pattern of behaviour on the part of people deeply involved with the government.

The Conservatives promised Alan Riddell $50,000 to step aside for a candidate favoured by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister claimed there was no deal, gee, we have hear that before, but a judge ruled the deal did exist and ordered the Conservatives to pay up.

Why does the government feel it can buy anyone who gets in its way?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, again, we have one after another of imaginary scandals. They are all imaginary because they are about Conservatives. The fact is, this is a clean government.

This is a government that brought in the toughest Federal Accountability Act, with measures that put to an end the kind of practices we used to see, whether it be the sponsorship scandal, deep in the trough patronage, the kind of unfortunate politics of the old era.

In 2006 the page was turned. Canada has a new government that does what it says it will do, delivers credible, capable appointments, respects the law and simply does not spend time dwelling on scandals.

[Sue Barnes, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member doth protest too much.

The Conservatives still have not learned their lesson. If someone stands in their way, they try and buy them off. We also have the Conservatives involved in allegations of tempting a municipal candidate with a federal job here in Ottawa.

Does the Prime Minister approve of offering inducements, or is he still trying to distance himself from every new revelation of Conservative wrongdoing?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, this shows how bad the Liberals are when it comes to scandal mongering. They raise the issues and they tell the police to go chase them down. The police investigate and say, “Guess what? This government is clean and its ministers are clean”. What do they do? They accuse the police of being involved in cover-ups. Come on and get with it. We do not control the OPP.

We have a clean government. Their scandals usually relate to appointments that are not made, contracts that are not delivered, political interference that never happened. It is nothing, just like their policies, just like their leadership.

Social Housing

[Christian Ouellet, Bloc, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minority Conservative government has once again shown its contempt for the many people who so urgently need decent and affordable housing. Organizations such as FRAPRU and Logemen'occupe have denounced the Conservatives' insensitivity toward the poorest people in our society.

Why does the government refuse to put some part of CMHC's nearly $7 billion surplus toward the construction and renovation of social and affordable housing? Why?

[Monte Solberg, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development]

Mr. Speaker, the government is investing in the homelessness partnering strategy to prevent homelessness whenever possible and to ensure people get a roof over their head when they are found homeless. We invest in affordable housing more today than any government has to ensure that tens of thousands of Canadians have a roof over their heads. We invest in training.

The Canadian Mental Health Commission was given $110 million for pilot projects, including in Montreal. As the chair of that commission said, “this will enable Canada to lead the world in providing services to people living with mental illness who are homeless”.

Air Transportation

[Caroline St-Hilaire, Bloc, Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC]

Mr. Speaker, parents in my riding told me the incredible story of their 15-year-old daughter, who, without their consent, bought a one-way plane ticket to Morocco to go and meet a 24-year-old man. This same girl checked in at the airport without a problem and was able to reach her destination unimpeded.

Is the minister aware of this gaping hole in the regulations and, if so, what does he plan to do to correct this situation?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for her question. I am glad to see the Bloc taking an interest in justice issues.

It is about time the Bloc focused on some of the justice issues that are before the House.

I am pleased to say that we are going to get the tackling violent crime act, which will protect 14 and 15 year olds from adult sexual predators. I wish we had more support all the way through from the Bloc Québécois.

Ethics

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the widow of Chuck Cadman says clearly and unequivocally that an illicit offer was indeed made. “They wanted him to vote against the government, and if he died, I'd get the million dollars”, Dona said.

The book about Mr. Cadman also quotes none other than the Prime Minister mentioning “the offer to Chuck”. Therefore, an offer was made. However, the Standing Orders of the House say that any offer of money or advantage is a high crime and misdemeanour.

Why did the Prime Minister authorize any offer to be made?

[James Moore, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Wascana is factually wrong. It seems the Liberals know no depths as to how far they will go to try to smear people, without any evidence, without any backing whatsoever.

He should listen to Chuck Cadman's words himself. Chuck Cadman said, “no offer was made”. It did not happen.

Has the member no shame? Chuck Cadman said “no offer was made”.

Municipalities

[Mike Allen, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Mr. Speaker, our government understands that maintaining our infrastructure in good condition is essential to maintaining the vitality of our communities.

Unfortunately, the previous Liberal government did not get it. Ignoring the concerns of municipalities, the Liberals slashed transfers to the provinces, which resulted in negative effects on our cities, towns and villages across the country.

Could the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities tell the House the government's plans to help communities across the country become strong and competitive through the gas tax?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has indicated, for the first time in history, long term funding. It is now available for communities across the country. The municipalities are the big winners in the budget.

I must remind the members of the House that my hon. colleague from Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam brought these measures forward and insisted that the cities be recognized. The previous government was dragged into that. We fixed the problem.

The Budget

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe that the Liberals are supporting this weak budget. It continues to give billions of dollars in corporate tax giveaways to the big banks and big polluters, without investing a dime in social programs for income security for seniors. It simply tells seniors to get a job. Instead of increasing the OAS and GIS so no senior has to live in poverty, the budget told the poorest seniors that they could now work and earn up to $3,500 before their GIS would be clawed back.

Why is the coalition of Conservatives and Liberals sending seniors to the food banks, while they are sending their corporate friends to the government trough?

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, seniors asked during the prebudget consultations for an increase in the GIS, the guaranteed income supplement. We did that in the budget announced on Tuesday. Seniors as well will benefit from the new tax-free savings account. It will protect interest earned in tax-free savings accounts. They will be tax free.

I encourage people to look at the website, www.budget.gc.ca, and they could do the calculations of the tax savings. It is a terrific opportunity for people to do their calculations for themselves.