Mr. Speaker, during debate on this legislation on Friday of last week the member for Elk Island put forward a series of questions concerning Bill S-3 and the Minister of Finance which were similar to the statements made by the hon. member for St. Albert.
The member asked, so I will reply, and I would like to reply on the record.
First of all, at no stage of the process was the Minister of Finance involved in the preparation of Bill S-3, nor did he have discussions with officials with respect to its content, nor did he receive representations on its impact. Indeed, the Minister of Finance specifically requested that the department not involve him in any aspect of this legislation whatsoever.
I would like to quote directly from a memorandum prepared on October 4, 1995 by then deputy minister of finance David Dodge. The memorandum was addressed to the Minister of Finance and copied to the then secretary of state for international financial institutions and read as follows:
The purpose of this memorandum is to advise you that the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions is dealing with a matter in which you are in a potential or apparent conflict of interest and therefore should not become involved.
In your letter of March 3, 1994, you asked that you not be involved in any discussion or decision making process involving Passage Holdings Ltd. This matter involves the pension plan for members of the Canadian Maritime Officers Union; beneficiaries of the pension plan include persons employed on ships owned and operated by the CSL Group, a subsidiary of Passage Holdings, and the CSL Group is a contributor to the pension plan. OSFI has not as yet forwarded any documents to you and, after discussion with the office of the Ethics Counsellor, Departmental and OSFI officials have been instructed to ensure that you are not to be involved in this matter in any way.
In this case this may not be sufficient, as the issues may become public, or the persons involved may seek your assistance. Mr. Peters (then secretary of state) is aware of this matter and has been briefed by OSFI officials as part of the responsibility you asked him to assume for the Pension Benefits Standards Act. Should you be asked any questions in the House, or receive any inquiries directly from the public, you should decline to become involved and allow Mr. Peters to respond on behalf of the government.
I am forwarding a copy of this memorandum to the Ethics Counsellor and the Clerk of the Privy Council so that they are aware of this situation.
In keeping with the spirit of openness and transparency the finance minister has adhered to, I would certainly make the document available to other members of the House.
Accordingly Bill S-3 was first introduced into the House in 1995 under the sponsorship of the Minister of Industry. Following the 1997 general election it was reintroduced directly in the other place by the Leader of the Government in the Senate.
Throughout the process the Secretary of State for International Financial Institutions has taken responsibility for the management of the legislation within the Department of Finance and with the Office of the Superintendent for Financial Institutions.
I would simply reiterate that there is no basis whatsoever for any suggestion of conflict. The minister has remained entirely uninvolved with the handling of Bill S-3 and has taken every step necessary to remove himself from any aspect of the bill.
I trust this puts this matter to rest.