Debates of Feb. 28th, 2011

Pierre Poilievre Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs

Mr. Speaker, allow me to correct my hon. friend. In fact, this is an administrative dispute that dates back five years. Fortunately, I would inform the Leader of the Opposition that the Federal Court has ruled in favour of the Conservative Party and against Elections Canada in this dispute.

Marc Garneau Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC

Mr. Speaker, what has happened to openness, transparency and accountability? This is unprecedented in Canada's history: criminal charges have been laid against two senators appointed by the Prime Minister himself. If these senators are convicted of election fraud, they could be thrown into jail.

How can the Prime Minister condone such schemes?

Pierre Poilievre Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs

Mr. Speaker, allow me to begin my correcting the hon. member. This is an administrative matter. This is a dispute between the Conservative Party and Elections Canada that has lasted for five years. Fortunately, the Federal Court has already ruled in favour of the Conservative Party and against Elections Canada in this matter.

Marc Garneau Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC

Mr. Speaker, is this an example of the Prime Minister making the rules?

The RCMP has even searched the Conservatives' offices. Unfortunately, taxpayers will have to pay a fortune to prove what we already know: the Conservatives cheated by committing election fraud.

Why is the Prime Minister allowing this money to be wasted? What exactly does the Prime Minister mean when he says that he is accountable?

Pierre Poilievre Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member opposite knows very well that this is an administrative dispute that has been going on for five years.

In addition, I can tell the hon. member that the Federal Court has fortunately ruled in favour of the Conservative Party and against Elections Canada in this matter.

Gilles Duceppe Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC

Mr. Speaker, I would first like to congratulate the Prime Minister for having acted quickly in freezing the assets of Libyan dictator, Moammar Gadhafi. However, we would like to know why he has not yet frozen the assets belonging to Tunisia's former dictator, Ben Ali, and his family, as we have been calling for for over a month now.

What is the government waiting for before it freezes the assets of the Ben Ali family, as it has just done for Gadhafi?

Christian Paradis Minister of Natural Resources

Mr. Speaker, members of the Ben Ali regime are not welcome in Canada. Canada is ready and willing to use all the tools at its disposal, including working with the international community, to support democracy in Tunisia.

Gilles Duceppe Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC

Mr. Speaker, the government tells us that it is waiting and that steps have been taken to obtain documents from Tunisia. I still cannot believe that Gadhafi sent documents to the government to have his assets frozen.

How can it be that the government took action so quickly in the case of Gadhafi and Libya, but that it is complicit in the case of Ben Ali, Tunisia's former dictator? He will have had time to move his assets to tax havens. Why has the government not taken action and why is it still not taking action today?

Christian Paradis Minister of Natural Resources

Mr. Speaker, no orders have been given, but the Canadian authorities are working closely with their international counterparts. Once the request is made, we will co-operate. We are more ready than ever to work with the Tunisian government to take all legal measures available to us concerning this issue.

Jean Dorion Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC

Mr. Speaker, the evacuation of Quebeckers and Canadians stuck in Libya was characterized by the utmost amateurism and confusion. A full 24 hours after the United Kingdom and Turkey began evacuating their citizens, the Conservative government finally woke up and decided to provide assistance to its citizens. The government was so disorganized that the first plane came back empty.

How can the Minister of Foreign Affairs possibly justify this confusion and Canada's remarkable inability to provide assistance to its citizens?

Peter MacKay Minister of National Defence

Mr. Speaker, we are very proud of the efforts of our diplomats and Canadian Forces members during this evacuation.

To date we have facilitated the evacuation of over 255 Canadians from the country. I want to commend the diplomats, the Canadian Forces members, particularly those in consular affairs, who worked around the clock in this effort.

In fact, we have deployed a C-17 Globemaster aircraft as well as two of our new C-130J Hercules aircraft. A team of Canadian Forces is now on the ground in Malta.

We continue to provide assistance to those who need it. We encourage Canadians who need further assistance to contact the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Peter MacKay Minister of National Defence

Mr. Speaker, sadly there were a number of Canadians who found themselves in the midst of a very terrifying and dangerous situation. We knew that violence was flaring up. That is why we had officials doing everything possible and working diligently and tirelessly to secure their evacuation.

As I mentioned, over 255 Canadians have made their way safely on aircraft and ships to Malta. We continue to work with the international community and our partners, particularly the British.

I spoke with the foreign minister of Malta this morning. They continue to co-operate fully. This is an international effort that will continue, and our efforts will continue as well.

Jack Layton Toronto—Danforth, ON

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have been caught red-handed. The in and out scandal is a perfect example of one of the government's broken promises: the promise to do things differently and to put an end to partisan scandals in which money is slipped questionably from hand to hand.

The Prime Minister should do some housecleaning and he should begin by removing all the bagmen from the Senate. When will this major cleanup be done?