Debates of March 5th, 2014

Democratic Reform

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister does not want Canadians to have a say. However, the NDP will hold consultations and listen to Canadians.

What the Prime Minister is doing is unprecedented in Canadian history. He is using his majority to favour his party. It is unprecedented. Never has a government imposed closure for partisan political purposes. Is that the real reason why the Conservatives want Canadians to be kept in the dark?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, I noticed that the NDP decided to oppose the bill before even reading it.

That is the fact.

The reality here is that the partisan tactics are those of the NDP, which decided and said very publicly that it opposed the legislation even though its critic had not even read it.

These are sensible, long-overdue changes. We encourage Parliament to take a look at them. They should benefit Canadian democracy generally. We encourage the parliamentary study and encourage debate on the actual contents of the bill instead of the conspiracy theories of the leader of the NDP.

Ethics

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, if they are really that proud of it, why are they so afraid to talk to Canadians?

Yesterday over 153 Conservatives voted to let one of their own MPs off the hook on charges that he knowingly made false statements in Parliament. Does the Prime Minister think it is okay for his MPs to present fabricated evidence in Parliament as long as they admit it after they get caught?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the member in question, as you know very well, voluntarily apologized. He, at his own initiative, brought this to light in the House of Commons and corrected the record, and he is to be commended for doing so.

Foreign Affairs

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, we welcome the Prime Minister's comments with respect to asset freezes for the former Ukrainian regime and the importance of human rights observers. As the Prime Minister will know, there are democratic elections coming up in May to elect a new democratic government in Ukraine.

We are wondering if the Prime Minister could report to the House on how Canada will play a significant role in ensuring that there are electoral observers in place, well before the election in May, to assure Canadians and the world community that they are in fact free, fair, and honest elections to choose a new democratic government for the people of Ukraine.

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, when I visited Ukraine last week at the request of the Prime Minister, we offered the new prime minister, the new president, and the new government our full support in the conduct of the presidential election on May 25. We have provided substantial assistance in the past, and we will obviously provide long-term and short-term election observers to ensure that the will and courage of the Ukrainian people be fully respected by the international community.

Infrastructure

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's economic growth is stagnating. Our economic growth since 2006 is the worst it has been since the tough times of R. B. Bennett. Furthermore, according to the OECD, 138 countries will have better growth this year, including Australia, Mexico, New Zealand and the United States.

The Minister of Finance thinks that the best solution is to invest in community infrastructure. Why, then, does the Prime Minister plan on cutting the building Canada fund by 87% next month?

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Minister of Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, our government has proudly made unprecedented investments in Canada's infrastructure since 2006. Economic action plan 2013 announced a new building Canada plan, which provides $53.5 billion in new-investment funding over 10 years, beginning in 2014–15 for Canada's infrastructure. That is unprecedented.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Let us be clear. For the current fiscal year, the building Canada fund is budgeted at $1.6 billion, but next year, beginning next month, that amount drops to $210 million. That is $1.6 billion now, and $210 million next year. Do the math. That is a reduction by 87%. In fact, building Canada will not make a full recovery until 2019. So why does the government seek to rival R.B. Bennett in terms of economic growth?

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Minister of Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, these investments in infrastructure are of $70 billion over 10 years. We know for the Liberals, the budget balances by itself. That is what we are doing. We are continuing to invest in infrastructure and balancing the books.

Democratic Reform

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, let me ask the Prime Minister a simple question that so far he has refused to answer. Did anyone involved in writing his unfair elections act speak to campaign operatives at Conservative Party headquarters while it was being drafted? Can Canadians please have a clear answer, once and for all?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have no intention of indulging the conspiracy theories of the leader of the NDP. The proposals the government has made on the Elections Act are in black and white and they are before this Parliament. I would encourage the New Democrats to read them, to take them seriously, and to engage in intelligent and informed debate on them.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we take the fundamental rules of our democracy so seriously that we take great offence to see that for the first time in the history of Canada a government is using its majority to change those rules to its own advantage.

I had a very simple question that the Prime Minister seems to be avoiding. Canadians want to know whether this bill was designed first and foremost to put the Conservative Party at an advantage in the next election.

Did someone at the Prime Minister's Office contact the Conservative Party headquarters when this bill was being drafted, yes or no? It is as simple as that.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, I have no intention of indulging the opposition leader's conspiracy theories.

The reality is the following. The NDP had decided for its own partisan reasons to approach this entire bill with a series of conspiracy theories rather than actually examining the contents of legislation, which, as the public recognizes, do not support any of those conspiracy theories. These are important matters for our democracy, they are important reforms, and I would encourage the NDP to reverse course and start looking at them seriously.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the fact that the Prime Minister will not answer that simple question speaks volumes.

Is the Prime Minister dodging the question because he knows the unfair elections act was designed by his party to make it more difficult to vote for people who do not vote Conservative?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the intention of the act is to make sure that all people who vote are valid, registered voters and that they can identify themselves. These are objectives making sure that the vote is fair and that all people who vote are entitled to vote and only vote once. I think these are the fundamental characteristics of a democracy.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, that is what they are trying to fix with this? Perhaps the Prime Minister could tell us exactly how many people have been charged with voting illegally. The Prime Minister has claimed that people have been charged.

How many are there, exactly?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, independent authorities are responsible for investigations. The purpose of the bill is to ensure that there are systems in place to guarantee that votes are valid.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps the real reason the Prime Minister is unable to answer is that he claimed that there was a massive problem with illegal voting, when that claim is completely false.

The Prime Minister is telling us that they are going to prevent hundreds of thousands of Canadians from voting because of an Infoman gag? If that is the case, they are the butt of the joke here.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, having registered voters is one of the foundations of democracy. Each person gets one vote and needs to be identified.

The only question Canadians are really asking is why the NDP would think it is so important for people to be able to vote without any identification whatsoever. We obviously do not think that is appropriate.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, this is going to serve a useful purpose because, drop by drop, the reality is going to start to sink in.

In order to vouch for someone at the polls, one actually has to show valid ID, which provides one's name and address. Does the Prime Minister really believe that tens of thousands of people are committing fraud, leaving their names and addresses behind, hoping that nobody ever catches them? Is that his theory?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the one thing I agree with the leader of the NDP on is the longer they listen to him, drop by drop something really is sinking in.

I would just point out that the law outlines 39 authorized various forms of identification that voters can use, and any two of those would be valid. Obviously, this is to facilitate identification and make it easy for people to vote.

Ethics

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we learned earlier this week that negotiations on the cover-up deal between Mike Duffy and Nigel Wright began in the Prime Minister's Office, in the Prime Minister's “private high-security boardroom”. Did the Prime Minister ever ask Nigel Wright what he was talking about with Mike Duffy in the Prime Ministe's private boardroom in the middle of the Senate scandal?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, this question has been asked and answered on many occasions. As we know, the RCMP has thoroughly looked at the matter and been very clear that I had no knowledge of the discussions to which the hon. member refers.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, after the Prime Minister's own lawyer, Ben Perrin, helped negotiate the cover-up deal between Duffy and Wright, Mr. Perrin's emails were illegally deleted, stealing a page from Dalton McGuinty.

Why did the Prime Minister's staff in the Privy Council Office tell officials at Library and Archives Canada not to speak to journalists investigating their cover-up?