Procedure and House Affairs Committee on Dec. 8th, 2009

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

There are a lot. There is one on every block in my neighbourhood. I would say there are nearly 40 synagogues.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC]

There are 40 synagogues in the riding of Mont-Royal?

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Yes. Some of them are small, but there are still 40.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC]

How many Jewish people are there in Quebec?

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

In Quebec, I believe there are around 90,000 Jewish people.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC]

And the vast majority of those live on the island of Montreal?

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Yes.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC]

You are here today because a document was sent out to your riding that the Speaker deemed a prima facie question of privilege, offensive and potentially damaging to your reputation. So you used your parliamentary privilege to be heard. Is that correct?

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Yes, as I said, this is the first time in my 10 years as a member.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC]

Our chair, the member for Elgin—Middlesex—London, did what he was supposed to do, but what is unusual is that he gave up his chairmanship because his name was associated with the incident. However, he made a public statement earlier, while he was still chair, saying that he never sent it.

I have not seen the document that was sent to your riding. Who signed it? Why was the name of the member for Elgin—Middlesex—London associated with it? Was it pulled out of a hat?

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

I think his name was involved because the Speaker of the House, Peter Milliken, mentioned it. But I can tell you that, in my riding, the flyer was signed by Vic Toews, the President of the Treasury Board. I received two.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC]

I got 14 at home suggesting that I was against protecting children. They were signed by Conservative members.

Since you are denouncing the document, do you still have any copies? Does the clerk have a copy? Could we see it?

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Yes, I have some here. I received a bilingual one and another in English only. That is another thing, the fact that an English-only flyer was sent to my riding, in Quebec. I wanted to mention that, as well, because I have the right to receive flyers from a federal institution in both official languages. But that is another matter.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC]

Pardon me for interrupting, Mr. Cotler.

Could you submit the bilingual document to the clerk of the committee, so we could have a look at it?

For the benefit of my colleagues, I do not want to go back over its substance or content. A mailing was sent out that the Speaker ruled a prima facie case of privilege, offensive.

I still have a few quick questions. In your view, why were you, Irwin Cotler, targeted, in particular? Why was I not targeted, a French-speaking, practising Catholic from Quebec? Why did I not receive a ten percenter from the Conservatives calling me anti-Semitic?

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Because the flyers in question targeted only ridings with Jewish populations. It was directed at Jewish populations. You need to see the kind of language that is used in the flyer I am submitting.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC]

I will have a look at it in a moment.

Are you still a member of the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism?

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

I am a member, but frankly, after these events, I find it very hard to sit alongside those accusing me of spreading and supporting anti-Semitism.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Guy Lauzon]

Thank you, Mr. Cotler and Mr. Guimond. The seven minutes are up.

Mr. Godin.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I have the document in front of me. It reads: “On Fighting Anti-Semitism Abroad...” At the top, the Conservatives are on one side and the Liberals, on the other. It is as if they were saying, here is what we, the Conservatives, stand for and here is what you, the Liberals, stand for. That is what it describes.

Led the world in refusing participation in Durban II hate-fest against Israel. Insisted on banning Hezbollah and led the world in defunding Hamas-led Palestinian Authority. Strongly backed Israel's right to self-defence against Hezbollah during 2006 conflict.

That is what it says on the Conservative side.

On the Liberal side, it reads:

Willingly participated in overly anti-Semitic Durban I. Opposed defunding Hamas and asked that Hezbollah be delisted as a terrorist organization. Michael Ignatieff accused Israel of committing war crimes during 2006 conflict.

Below that, it asks the following question:

Who is on the right track to represent and defend the values of Canada's Jewish community?

Then, it lists the names of the leaders of the four political parties.

Would you say it is more a flyer from a political party's organization?

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

When I received the flyer, I was stunned. I will start with the first point. You need to see the type of language used in the flyer you just quoted, because it is very important. It says that the Liberals “willingly participated in overly anti-Semitic Durban I”.

That sort of statement is shameful. It is false, prejudicial and slanderous. Not only is it a clear breach of members' privileges, but it is also a breach of House of Commons' privileges. It claims that the Liberal Party supports anti-Semitism and associates myself and the other Liberal members with those who endorse anti-Semitism. As I said before, it is shameful.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Okay.

I have the flyer; I will show it to you. Who is the person on the flyer?

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

It's Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Okay.

Normally, if an apology is given before Parliament, CPAC would broadcast it. Do you think the 25,000 Jewish people in your riding will have a chance to see the government's apology?

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

If the Conservative government wants to tell people what it has done to support Israel in the Middle East, I have no problem with that. If it wants to distribute a flyer in my riding telling people that the Conservative Party has always supported Israel, I have no problem with that. What I have a problem with is the false information.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Okay. You say the flyer contains false information. The government may not agree with you. It may think it is telling the truth, since it is attempting to defend itself rather than apologize.

The way I see it, 25,000 people, even more actually, received the ten percenter with the Prime Minister's picture on it. If you say it contains false information, should the same method not be used to correct it, in other words, should the Conservative government not use the same method to convey its apology to those people?