Debates of June 3rd, 2010

Rob Nicholson Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, we just received the report of Justice Oliphant and as you know, a great deal of work went into that. It covers hundreds of pages. Interestingly enough, it was opposition parties that called for a public inquiry. I thought they were very supportive of that.

Those recommendations are now being reviewed by proper authorities and the government will act on those recommendations.

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

Mr. Speaker, we know the Department of Justice was studying legal avenues to get the $2.1 million back when it first learned of the payments from Schreiber, but someone shut down the department. The government has had only two ministers of justice: the former PC minister from Manitoba and the former PC minister who was a member of Mulroney's caucus for nine years. Which one of those two shut down the Department of Justice to prevent Canadians from getting back their money?

Rob Nicholson Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, again, the government has taken a very responsible position on this. There has been a very extensive study done by Justice Oliphant. I point out to the hon. member and to the House that the questions Justice Oliphant studied, had a look at and made recommendations on were devised by an independent individual. Again, those recommendations are now with the appropriate authorities.

Alexandra Mendes Brossard—La Prairie, QC

Mr. Speaker, after denying it for months, the former public works minister finally admitted yesterday that he fast-tracked a request for funding from his friend Rahim Jaffer after speaking to him on a cell phone. Within minutes, his staff set to work to organize a meeting with Jaffer and fast-track his request for funding.

Would the minister give his cell phone number to all Canadians, so they may have the same privileged access to him as Rahim Jaffer?

John Baird Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, I say very directly to the member opposite, nothing was fast-tracked and no funding was given to any of these projects. The government acted responsibly and it reacted well.

Siobhan Coady St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL

Mr. Speaker, the Conflict of Interest Act prohibits public office holders from using their position to further the private interests of a friend. However, the former minister of public works admitted that he discussed his friend Rahim Jaffer's business proposal which the department then fast-tracked. Compliance with the act is a condition of a person's employment as a public office holder.

Will the Prime Minister explain the consequences for his minister's serious ethics violation?

John Baird Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, the member is making totally outrageous allegations. Let me be very clear. Nothing was fast-tracked and no funding was given to any of the projects in question.

Daniel Paillé Hochelaga, QC

Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary does not have the support for the securities issue that he claims to have.

In Quebec, the Bloc's position on this has the support of the National Assembly, the Conseil du patronat, the labour funds, Molson, Canam, Cascades, Couche-Tard, Jean Coutu, Power Corporation, Quebecor, Transat, Transcontinental, Industrielle Alliance, the SSQ and La Capitale.

Why destroy a system that, in the words of Michael Sabia, president and CEO of the Caisse de dépôt, is working quite well?

If it is not broken, why fix it?

Ted Menzies Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for once again asking a very obvious question. He lists off a whole number of organizations that he says support the passport system, but we have a much larger list of people who support the voluntary system which is a Canadian system that protects Canadians. I have a list so long I do not think I can do it in 35 seconds, but if he asks another question, I will start the list. It is many organizations both national and international.

Daniel Paillé Hochelaga, QC

Mr. Speaker, let him give us his list from Quebec and then we will talk.

A columnist from the Financial Post points out the absurdity of this plan. He said, “Canada is the only developed country without a national regulator and the only country not to be burned by the global financial crisis, therefore Canada will create a national regulator”.

It is ridiculous. It is not broken, but they want to fix it.

The OECD, the World Bank and the IMF all support our passport system and say it is superior to that of the U.S., Britain and—

The Speaker Peter Milliken

The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance.

Ted Menzies Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, obviously the member is mistaken in some of his suggestions that the OECD supports the passport system. I read out a quote just the other day that says the OECD supports a Canadian single securities regulator. But who is more important than a list of corporations? Those victims of Earl Jones, those Canadians who lost money. I will quote Joey Davis, “We support the idea of a single national regulatory body overseeing financial organizations”.

Rob Nicholson Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Speaker, we are responding to concerns that we have heard right across this country. Changes to the Youth Criminal Justice Act are as a result of extensive consultations, including with the Province of Quebec.

If the hon. member were to take a reasonable and impassioned look at this, I think he would realize that these are very reasonable steps that we are taking and should be supported by every member of the House.