Denis Coderre

[Bloc Quebecois, October 22nd, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the PQ's loudspeakers in Ottawa made a lot of noise yesterday, in an attempt to cover the fact that separatists got caught trying to do things behind the back of Canada on the international scene.

In order to give more clout to Lucien Bouchard's visit to Paris, the PQ experts in international wheeling and dealing had managed to include in an agreement on child support wording that would have given the agreement a symbolic meaning that it was not supposed to have.

It is truly deplorable to see how far Bloc and PQ members are prepared to go to enlist France's support. When will separatists stop threatening the harmonious relations that everyone is trying to establish between France, Canada and Quebec?

[Stornoway, October 20th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I feel very sad today. One of my deepest dreams, one of my main goals in life was to play bingo with the Leader of the Opposition at Stornoway.

In the past I believed the Leader of the Opposition when he proposed that great passe-temps.

My dream almost became reality when he spent over $60,000 to redecorate that place.

But now I am depressed. The man who proclaimed himself l'homme du peuple, the populist, wants to be alone.

He decided to build a huge fence around Stornoway to isolate himself so nobody would bother him. The Leader of the Opposition can't stand people anymore.

We should organize a chain letter to make him change his mind, but I think that won't work. Stornoway will never be the same.

[Supply, October 9th, 1997]

Madam Speaker, I think there are some problems with the sound system, because every time the member spoke, I thought I was hearing the music from Star Wars. It was like Darth Vader.

He was breathing deeply. You are from a galaxy far, far away from Canadians.

The only thing I have to say is this: I am extremely proud to see the speed with which our government reacted to the Manitoba flood, and when I see the members of the Reform Party playing politics with the issue, I come to the conclusion they are no better than the members of the Bloc Quebecois.

[Supply, October 9th, 1997]

Madam Speaker, it is called competence.

Madam Speaker, I would rather see Kimon Valaskakis appointed ambassador to the OECD than see Richard Therrien, a former member of the FLQ, sit with his PQ friends as a judge.

I opened the door to them. I gave them the time to apologize. But they won't apologize, after all. I was wrong.

We should not question the competence of people. Most of these people are great Canadians. These are people who have done and will continue to do a lot for the Canadian people, for the Canadian government. Certainly, we will never be able to appoint a member of the Bloc Quebecois Canadian ambassador again.

Now that the bubble has gone bust, now that they have shown their true colours, I hope that they will take the opportunity to apologize. They resorted to low blows. Some people told me: “You should speak up, Denis. A Bloc member has used wiretapping in the past”. I will not get into that. I find this appalling. I will not speak about that. I will forget about the methods of the MP for Témiscamingue. He is older now and I hope he has learned his lesson.

I am very proud of the legislation on the financing of federal political parties. We could make some amendments. They can play at holier than thou and act outraged, but one thing is certain, I'd rather have an imperfect system in place than a perfect system in limbo.

[Supply, October 9th, 1997]

We do not know, he left. The Parti Quebecois MNA, Marie Malavoy, was not even a Canadian citizen. Not only did she vote, but she contributed financially to the Parti Quebecois. How many dinners did they have—we know perfectly well how it works—with Landry, Bouchard, and particularly Chevrette because he is the one who awards grants? “A $1,000 or $2,000 donation will fix that”.

The truth may come as a shock. Again, I may expose myself to some low blows for my efforts, but the truth must be told. If grassroots financing is to be seriously discussed, I am all for it. But let us not trade four quarters for $1. Too many times have I seen board members make contributions on behalf of a company. They had conveniently forgotten how to add. It was not $1,000, but ten $100 donations. They received many such donations.

What makes my blood boil is that they are ready to do anything in the name of separation. They should be ashamed. They are ready to do anything. How many lowdown dirty tricks and so-called policy statements have we seen or heard in the last two weeks? They should have done their homework and they should wait for the RCMP to complete its investigation so they can know the truth. What irritates me most is to see those people pounce on one victim after the other under some convenient excuse, like a pitbull on a bone, because if you believe in their cause, you simply do not count.

I think that the members of the Bloc should engage in some serious soul-searching and add an item to the agenda for their next caucus meeting to discuss how to treat individuals, and our legal system, with respect. Our society is based on the rule of law.

After that, maybe question period will be less interesting but it will be more significant because people's integrity, and that of this institution, will be preserved. I am not surprised to see the shame on their faces. You should have seen their faces. Unfortunately, our viewers did not see them when we produced the letter establishing that Jacques Roy was not under investigation. They lost their only chance to save their leader, Gilles Duceppe.

People's reputations were sullied. I hope that during the question period that will follow my speech we will hear excuses, and that efforts will be made to restore people's integrity. They have shown their true colours. Many dishonest things were said, but I remain confident. Those people across the way were elected democratically and they have some intellectual integrity. I remain confident—I hope—that they will put their meanness aside to preserve people's integrity.

[Supply, October 9th, 1997]

They represent Canada, how ironic. I am glad. But now, we are being told we are the puppets of the corporations. You cannot put a number on a principle. You cannot put a price on a principle. Whether you accept one, 27 or 100,000 contributions, it is all the same. If you agree with the principle you should set an example. They say: the legislation is there, we accepted only 27 donations. Does it mean they are the puppets of those who donated to their party? When the member for Drummond gets a contribution of $1,500, when the candidate in Laval West, Michel Leduc, gets a contribution of $2,000, are they the puppets of the contributors?

But Bloc members have a short memory. When we do some research, when we do not read the papers, just to prepare for our period of questions, when we do some real research, we realize that, on the Bloc side—I do not know if this is customary, I hope not. On October 3, 1993, an article said that enumerators, not the Liberal candidate, because what was said earlier is false, not the Liberal candidate, but enumerators who were to be employed by Elections Canada, had some complaints about the member for Témiscamingue and his team. I will read this, this is too serious. I am disappointed by this sort of things. Yes, I have been running for election for a long time, but I am in politics to represent the people and to get rid of the cynicism that we constantly see.

The article reads as follows: “The methods of the organization of Pierre Brien, a Bloc Quebecois candidate in the riding of Témiscamingue, have led to protests by enumerators for Elections Canada, who were allegedly under pressure to give up half of their salary as a voluntary contribution to this same political organization and, most important, it demanded postdated cheques because it needed some cash”. Not only it is poor, but it wants postdated cheques drawn on public funds. This is appalling. This is unacceptable.

We can find many examples of people screaming blue murder as well as of whited sepulchres, an expression so dear to their spiritual leader René Lévesque. Some people should look at themselves in the mirror. This does not come from a political party.

So you want names? Five enumerators in Authier-Nord and Macamic; Pierre Boucher and Martine Lefebvre are mentioned. They say “He asked $160 in my case and $200 in mine”. If I were in their shoes, I would be ashamed. This does not make any sense. They should start reading their polls and asking themselves why people rate them so poorly on credibility.

We have all been elected, we know how it works. Most of those people who work are needy, they need a little money to be able to finish paying for their food. And what do we see? We see the people opposite doing this sort of things. They should be ashamed to prey on people in need.

When we look at the whole issue of contributions and see that, to make ends meet, all they have to do is accept a loan, because they need cash, so they go to the Mouvement Desjardins and get a $1.5 million loan at preferred rates. I for one am not able to get preferred rates. However, because the chairman of the Mouvement Desjardins, Claude Béland, is a committed separatist—we have seen it, he has said so often on television—well, he told them: “This can be arranged. We will arrange that for you”.

Then they said: “OK, but this is not a donation, it is a loan”. Yes, but it is cash, it is preferred rates. What does it mean? Are they in the pay of the Mouvement Desjardins? Does that mean that, because of the Mouvement Desjardins, each time we have a legislation on banks, they will all take position for the Mouvement Desjardins? Is that what it means? Then they y get their marching orders from the Mouvement Desjardins. That is pretty serious.

The Reform Party has been whining once more because it does not understand a single thing. They must be from another planet or from another galaxy.

The Reform Party has received 925 contributions from corporations for a total of $815,520. And now, they want to fool around with the repayment of expenses. I would like the Reform Party to move a motion to the effect that they will hand back all the money they were reimbursed. Give that money to us. We will give it back to Election Canada and it will be invested in job creation. That should be all right.

We all know that the Bloc is nothing but a branch of the Quebec government. Many questions beg to be asked. Once more today, Bloc members have played holier than thou. When they realized there would be no allegations—I hope they will apologize. I hope they will apologize to Jacques Roy.

They had a whole series of questions, but when they realized a letter confirmed Jacques Roy was not being investigated, they scrapped their oral question period and resorted to plan B. They started to talk about financing for political parties by the public again.

There have been allegations from businessmen in the Outaouais area to the effect that they were pressured by PQ organizers to contribute to the PQ campaign after getting contracts during the construction of the casino. The question is not whether a minimum of $3,000 was set. The issue is that they were pressured to contribute. Who is their leader? The real Bloc leader is Lucien Bouchard. I hope they will give me an answer.

Their good friend, the member for Richelieu, the Minister of International Relations, who begs for yes votes abroad with taxpayers' money, who is responsible for the Outaouais region, awarded a lavish contract for professional services, at a cost of $577,328, to a political sympathizer, Jean Fournier, Jean Rochon's former chief of staff. I understands why he left. I hope that Jean Rochon, the health minister, will do the same. Since August 14, Mr. Fournier has acted as consultant on new technologies for Quebec's general delegation in Paris. They created that post to get that amount. We are well informed. We did our homework. Do you want other examples?

The Le Hir report was put aside because it did not suit their purpose. Do you remember all the irregularities that were found in the procurement process? Oops, I forgot. Poof! like today's balloon, it is gone.

Yvon Cyrenne, one of the authors of the Le Hir report—it was quite the profitable venture, as a lot of money went into it— gave $900 to the Parti Quebecois in 1994. Yvon Martineau, who was appointed president of Hydro-Quebec when Mr. Parizeau was in office, contributed $1,000 just before he was appointed. That is the truth.

[Supply, October 9th, 1997]

When we send a delegation abroad, they are glad to come along. The system works when it suits them.

[Supply, October 9th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Bloc Quebecois needed an issue to shore up his leadership. The leader of the PQ branch office dragged the governement and several individuals through the mud, in short, he belittled this whole institution.

But after oral question period, we realized that his research department was nothing more than a newspaper clippings department. And since they were somewhat insulted when they realized that maybe the Conservative Party had a foothold, he decided that it was the ploy he needed to strenghen his leadership.

Their balloon went bust, they need a plan B. This morning they were talking about allegations, and now they are saying: “No, no, this is not in the motion. The motion says that the issue of public financing should be reviewed”.

Now that they do not have anything more to say on the matter of allegations, they are trying to patch things up; as we know, the only purpose of the Bloc is to play havoc with people's reputation, to do anything they can in favour of separation, their nice principles are nothing but double standards; the only thing they are interested in is in promoting separation, by every means at their disposal, and i do mean every means.

I will begin with the allegations made by the member for Laurentides. She claimed that the employment centre had been moved from Saint-Jérôme to Saint-Antoine supposedly because of some contributions, that it was suspicious, that there was a consensus in the region.

I will set the record straight, and it is important because if we want to create a relationship based on trust between voters and the House, if we want to regain the credibility the Bloc is undermining daily, it is important to set the record straight. They talk about allegations, but I will talk about facts.

The Department of Human Resources Development tried to find premises for the Canada Employment Centre in Saint-Jérôme because the lease expired on May 31, 1998. The Department of Public Works called for tenders. The lease was allocated in an open, equitable and transparent fashion.

Most important, our goal was to accommodate the needs of the client and get the best value for money for Canadian taxpayers. Therefore, we chose the lowest bidder. By doing so, we will save $280,000 over five years.

Now they say: “This is terrible”. They accused me of being narrow minded, they used strong words. When they have no point, they use strong words. They claim that there was a regional consensus. To begin with, I would like to remind you that Saint-Antoine-des-Laurentides is located 1.4 kilometres from Saint-Jérôme and is still in the riding of Laurentides.

While they were moaning and groaning, the government said: “It is important that the population have an employment centre; it must therefore stay in the riding”. But those on the other side do not mention that, it bothers them.

I have a news release dated September 25, 1997, from the office of the mayor of Saint-Antoine, which reads as follows:

The campaign that some members of the MRC of Rivière-du-Nord have been waging for three weeks is giving the Municipalité régionale du comté de Rivière-du-Nord a reputation for partisanship and we therefore have an obligation to condemn this situation and the actions of those involved immediately.

The public's perception of elected officials in each town and municipality is very critical and rightly so. Our perception is all the more critical when the nine mayors of the MRC are grouped in the council that forms the MRC.

I can read this or table it if you wish. They said, among other things, that the important thing was to get better value for money for the citizens.

They said the following:

Finally, we believe that as the letter from Minister Pettigrew on September 16, 1997 indicated, the decision regarding the Canada Employment Centre must be a business decision based on the best value for money.

It is signed Normand Plouffe, mayor of Saint-Antoine; Gilles Cyr, mayor of the municipality of Prévost; Denis Y. Laflamme, mayor of the municipality of Saint-Hippolyte; Gilles Papineau, mayor of the municipality of New Glascow; and Hervé Gagné, acting for the municipality of Saint-Colomban at the MRC.

Do you know what that means? For those who do not know the riding of Laurentides, I can speak about it because I come from the nearby city of Joliette.

It means that not only there was no consensus, but that almost a majority of the regional council's members thought it was a good thing because the change was necessary. Again and again, those members make a fuss. There is moaning and groaning, low-down party politics about some allegedly partisan changes, but that is not true. Once again, the government stood up for the population. It wanted to save that employment centre for its users and, above all, wanted to save money to benefit taxpayers. What does that mean? It means that in these difficult economic times, we have no money to waste. That is my answer to the hon. member.

How much foolishness and stupidity, how many false allegations did we hear from the Bloc Quebecois? You have to understand one thing. They are trying to find a ploy, any ploy, because their leader is threatened. He fears that he might get the same medicine his predecessor got. I do not understand. The Bloc had a good leader in the hon. member for Roberval, but now the same thing seems to be starting all over again. I can hardly wait for Christmas. Things will probably happen. Some hon. members here, who are looking at us, played a little political game. They might play it again because things are not going very well.

Today, they are supposed to be talking about donations to political parties. We are accused of being the puppets of the corporations. Questions are being raised about our electoral system, which is probably one of the most highly regarded in the world. Why do we keep sending delegations around the world? Bloc members know it, they are included in the delegations.

[Supply, October 9th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, in question period this afternoon, we saw the bubble burst as we say back home. I do not know whether the leader of the Bloc Quebecois will be laying people off, but we discovered that some had not done their homework properly. They sullied people's reputations. They named people. There was talk of an investigation, when none existed. I hope they will do the honourable thing and prove their integrity and their honesty by rising and apologizing to Jacques Roy and to the President of the Treasury Board.

One thing is clear, there are two sets of rules. We are used to that, in the Bloc. That is how they are.

They can get loans at preferential rates to finance their election campaign. They can get millions of dollars because they need cash. But does that make them dependent on the Mouvement Desjardins? Does that mean, since the Mouvement Desjardins loaned them money at preferential rates—I could not get preferential rates, but the Bloc did, I do not know why, but it did—,that they are in the pay of the president of the Mouvement Desjardins? To answer is obvious, since the president of the Mouvement Desjardins is a well-known separatist.

We are talking about contributions. We are talking about all sorts of things. We saw that the Bloc quebecois also received contributions from corporations that were higher than $10,000. The member for Drummond received a $1,500 contribution. Is she in the pay of the contributor? The answer is obvious.

Quebec's motto is “I remember”. Looking back at past actions, they might do well to remember that if one spits into the wind, it blows back into one's face.

On October 3, 1993, we read this headline in La Presse : “Témiscamingue enumerators complain about being held for ransom by the Bloc”. The article read, in part: “The methods used by the organization of Pierre Brien, who was running for the Bloc quebecois in Témiscamingue, led to strong protests by Elections Canada enumerators who, apparently, were pressured to hand over half of their salary as political contributions”. They were told this: “If you want to work for Elections Canada, give us half the cheque that you will get and we will give you a job”.

They have principles. They are real Tartuffes, as I said earlier. They try constantly to tell us how we should behave, and yet they bring this kind of pressure to bear on people who have almost no money—as we know, enumerators also need their wages. I hope this does not happen in every riding but the current member for Témiscamingue should really be ashamed of using this method for his own financing. He should be ashamed because those persons need this money. And that is how the Bloc Quebecois gets its financing.

Does the hon. member for Repentigny agree with this method? That is what we want to know.

[Supply, October 9th, 1997]

I rise on a point of order, Madam Speaker.

I left my position as general manager in October 1996 and the allegations are supposedly about something that took place on March 6, 1997. I ask the member to withdraw his remarks.