Debates of March 4th, 2011

The Speaker Peter Milliken

Order, please. The hon. member for Winnipeg Centre.

Pat Martin Winnipeg Centre, MB

Mr. Speaker, I do not know where Conservatives are burying the bodies of all the political staffers they are throwing under the bus. It is a good thing Skippy is practising his mortician routine because the Conservative lobbyists like Tim Powers could only absorb so many of these guys.

The minister of immigration is abusing his office. He is exploiting the hopes and dreams of the very people he is sworn to serve. There is an implied quid pro quo when the minister of immigration is the one heading up the outreach to new Canadian voters and he knows it.

The minister of immigration—

The Speaker Peter Milliken

I am afraid the hon. member's time has expired.

The hon. government House leader.

John Baird Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about the facts. The facts are that the NDP member for Edmonton—Strathcona knows she cannot beat Ryan Hastman and she is trying to cheat to keep her seat. She should apologize and then she should demand this staffer resign.

Navdeep Bains Mississauga—Brampton South, ON

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's hand-picked integrity commissioner took no action on the 228 complaints received from public servants. Documents confirm her independence was compromised because she was taking orders from the Prime Minister's Office. The media are now reporting that Ms. Ouimet was paid half a million dollars to resign from her post.

Can the Prime Minister confirm that he paid Ms. Ouimet hush money to cover up the fact that her office was used to bury complaints from public servants?

Andrew Saxton Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board

Mr. Speaker, the previous public sector integrity commissioner has resigned and we look forward to working with all opposition parties to find a new commissioner.

The government sought and followed legal advice as to the terms of her resignation based on her years of service. We understand that Madame Ouimet will be appearing before the standing committee next week, which is the appropriate place to raise these questions.

Marcel Proulx Hull—Aylmer, QC

This position has been a scam since day one. The Prime Minister campaigned on protecting whistleblowers, but as soon as he was elected, he abandoned public servants. He claimed to be squeaky clean, yet he wasted more than $11 million on keeping public servants quiet and sweeping 228 of their complaints under the carpet. And to top it off, the Prime Minister just gave the integrity commissioner more than half a million dollars to keep her quiet and make her disappear.

How can we believe a single word from this Prime Minister?

Andrew Saxton Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board

Mr. Speaker, the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner is an independent officer of Parliament, appointed with the approval of all the leaders of all the opposition parties and Parliament.

We are pleased that the interim commissioner has said that a third-party review will take place to ensure that no valid concerns were overlooked. A selection process will be launched shortly to identify and appoint a new Public Sector Integrity Commissioner.

We look forward to working with all opposition parties to find the right person for the job.

Andrew Saxton Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board

Mr. Speaker, this has been a longstanding practice across various governments. Do not take my word for it; let me read some quotes:

That is the direction in which the Chrétien government has concentrated its efforts--

That was said on March 6, 2001.

Let me give another one:

--during the Chrétien government's time in office....

That was said on December 5, 2003. Who said that? It was the Liberal member for Saint-Laurent—Cartierville.

Martha Hall Findlay Willowdale, ON

Mr. Speaker, the Treasury Board guidelines were actually changed since then.

I would ask, what rule is the Prime Minister not willing to break? Replacing “Government of Canada” with the Prime Minister's own name, suggesting it is his own personal fiefdom, violates Treasury Board communications policy, federal identity program policy, the Conflict of Interest Act and the conflict of interest code for members of Parliament.

We have heard more examples of rules being broken today alone. This is more rule-breaking—

The Speaker Peter Milliken

Order. The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board.

Andrew Saxton Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board

Mr. Speaker, as I repeated previously, this has been a longstanding practice across various governments. Let me give some more quotes so the member will not have to take my word for it:

--Jean Chrétien's government and Gordon Campbell's government in British Columbia.

Who said that? The Liberal member for Saint-Laurent—Cartierville.

Diane Bourgeois Terrebonne—Blainville, QC

Mr. Speaker, two former Conservative MPs have said they refused to participate in the party's fraudulent scheme during the 2005-06 election campaign. They suspected that it was an illegal scam meant to circumvent the Canada Elections Act and the spending limits.

How can the Prime Minister continue to claim that this a simple administrative dispute, when the Chief Electoral Officer, the elections commissioner, the director of public prosecutions and former Conservative candidates and MPs all maintain that the party deliberately—