Debates of March 30th, 2000

Justice

[Peter MacKay, Progressive Conservative, Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS]

Mr. Speaker, that is encouraging because the Truscott case, as we know, has been a festering wound on the psyche of this nation and casts a shadow over the entire criminal justice system.

The case against Truscott was based on ambiguous, circumstantial and inconsistent testimony from children, impossible medical analysis of the murder victim and Mr. Truscott himself.

It seems obvious that the irregularity surrounding the investigation and subsequent trial and the new evidence warrant a full inquiry. In the pursuit of justice and public confidence, will the Minister of Justice commit to conducting a full public inquiry upon receipt of Mr. Truscott's application?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I hope the hon. member knows that we take any allegations of wrongful conviction very seriously. If such allegations are submitted to me by Mr. Truscott or his lawyer, we will review them expeditiously and seriously.

Human Resources Development

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, nowhere in the minister's six point plan is there mention of protection for HRDC employees who want to blow the whistle on unethical behaviour, but according to the audit seven out of ten employees in her department felt that they could not expose that type of behaviour without fear of reprisal.

If the minister is so concerned about cleaning up the problems in her department, why is there nothing in her plan to protect employees who want to expose that kind of wrongdoing?

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, my approach would be to encourage employees to come forward with areas where we can improve our undertakings.

I want to remind the hon. member that it was the department that identified shortcomings in the internal audit and we made it public. I would ask the hon. member opposite if he thinks that his daily chastising of the department for coming forward and taking action to make improvements is helping to encourage employees to come forward in the future.

[Monte Solberg, Reform, Medicine Hat, AB]

Mr. Speaker, make no mistake. I blame the minister for the problems in the department, not the employees.

Seventy per cent of the people in her department fear that they will lose their jobs if they expose wrongdoing in her department. This is a department that handles tens of billions of dollars every year and every protection should be put in place to protect taxpayer money. How does the minister expect her plan to work if employees are afraid to expose wrongdoing in her department?

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, let me point out that employees were not afraid to expose areas for improvement. That is what these audits do.

From our point of view the strength of a government can be seen in its ability to be transparent and accountable. We are doing that, but I would say to hon. members opposite every day pointing fingers at the Department of Human Resources Development Canada and its employees, undermining their confidence, undermining the relationship they have with communities, is destructive. It is debasing and building on the negative, and that is not appropriate.

[The Speaker]

Once again, the microphones are on two desks. Sometimes it is difficult to hear the answer either from the minister or the question from the other side. I appeal to members.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, our questions for the Minister of Human Resources Development concern the payment of a grant of $1.2 million to Placeteco in the Prime Minister's riding, and no other business.

We know that $1 million was paid to the bank and $200,000 cannot be accounted for. These are our questions.

I would ask the minister whether her main mistake in this matter involves the conflict of interest arising from the threefold role played by Gilles Champagne, the friend of the Prime Minister, who is the government trustee, a creditor of the company and the lawyer of the individual purchasing it—

[The Speaker]

The hon. Minister of Human Resources Development.

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, I will go through it again and I will say to the House that indeed we reviewed this file. We have undertaken, along with our partners, to ensure that the invoices that were required to satisfy the investments made have been obtained.

We also know that employees are working in this undertaking as well as its former sister company in Trois-Rivières. From our point of view, continuing to invest in this undertaking is the right thing to do.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are not talking about Trois-Rivières. The minister is intentionally mixing the files. We are talking about Placeteco. That is quite clear.

[An hon. member]

P-l-a-c-e-t-e-c-o.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Placeteco got $1.2 million from the government. That is what we are talking about.

My question to the minister is: Where did the $1.2 million go? Where are the invoices? Where is the truth in this matter?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order, please.

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Minister of Human Resources Development]

Mr. Speaker, let me say again, the administrative—

[Suzanne Tremblay, Bloc, Rimouski—Mitis, QC]

Show us so we can check them.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. The hon. Minister of Human Resources Development.

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Brant, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would remind the hon. member again that one of its partners was the Government of Quebec.

Ms. Harel said “This project meets Quebec's job creation priorities and was initially discussed by our two organizations. I understand that you will be paying this amount over three years”.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[An hon. member]

It is a scheme.

[The Speaker]

Order, please. Let us hear the minister's answer.

[Jane Stewart, Liberal, Brant, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my only point being that along with other partners we believe this was a good investment. We have confirmed that again by doing an administrative review of the files, by determining that the appropriate invoices supporting the investment are clear, and by supporting those people in the ridings that those companies exist in for a period of time so that the companies can become stabilized and grow and develop.

Export Development Corporation

[Deepak Obhrai, Reform, Calgary East, AB]

Mr. Speaker, if you are a debt plagued American company and your own government turns off the money supply, where do you go to secure a desperately needed line of credit? The Export Development Corporation. Canada will help.

EDC officials confirmed this morning that the sky is the limit for Amtrak loans. Why does the government continue to write Amtrak blank cheques with taxpayer money? Why?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister for International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, let me be clear on this particular file. The government does not write blank cheques, as the opposition is alleging.

The EDC is an arm's length corporation. The government is helping Canadian exporters to export around the world. In this particular case the EDC has had Amtrak as its client, EDC has said, since 1985. It buys good Canadian products, creating jobs in Canada in transportation.