House of Commons Hansard #187 of the 37th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was students.
Don Boudria LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member tells us that in 1999-2000, there was an internal audit. He claims that our predecessors took no action at that time. Once again, this is incorrect.
Don Boudria Liberal Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON
Furthermore, an audit framework was established. It is even available on the Internet, although the member for Saint-Hyacinthe--Bagot does not want to hear about it.
Michel Guimond Bloc Beauport—Montmorency—Côte-De- Beaupré—Île-D'Orléans, QC
Mr. Speaker, the report obtained under the Access to Information Act talks about overbilling, double billing, intimidation and ministerial interference.
Will the minister of public works admit that ministerial interference and the relationship between the government and its pet companies are not part of the auditor general's mandate, and that only through a public inquiry will we find out what really went on and who is responsible?
Don Boudria LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member refers to the mandate given to the auditor general. As far as the report she is going to produce is concerned, she has the mandate given her by parliament. This is not a specific mandate given by the government. In this case, the Auditor General's Act gives her the authority to conduct any audit she wishes. This is what she does four times a year. As things now stand, she can comment on any file she wishes.
Bill Blaikie NDP Winnipeg—Transcona, MB
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister or whoever happens to be answering for the Minister for International Trade.
It has to do with the fact that members of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union were on the Hill this week and were expressing concern that the peace in the war over softwood not be worse than the war itself. They are concerned that whatever arrangement might be arrived at with the United States would be a danger not only to the softwood industry but also to the pulp and paper industry. The two are connected and any surrender of our forest management practices would be harmful to them as well.
Could we have an assurance that the peace will not be worse than the war itself?
Herb Dhaliwal LiberalMinister of Natural Resources
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is correct that the softwood lumber problem also affects the pulp and paper industry because the supply of chips may have an effect. We are certainly concerned with that.
It is in the best interest for the U.S. to come forward with a reasonable offer so we can come to an agreement. The softwood tariff is unacceptable to Canada. We urge the parties to go back to the table. We ask that the U.S. government administration put on the table a reasonable offer so we can come to an agreement to ensure that people can continue to work and our sawmills can continue to operate.
Bill Blaikie NDP Winnipeg—Transcona, MB
Mr. Speaker, what we want to hear from the government is that under no condition will it surrender the ability of Canada to manage its own forestry. The agreement with the United States cannot be the acceptance of an offer whereby we conform to how the Americans think we should manage our forests. We want that assurance from the minister.
Herb Dhaliwal LiberalMinister of Natural Resources
Mr. Speaker, the Minister for International Trade throughout this whole matter has worked closely with the provinces and with the industry. I can assure the hon. member that we will not allow Washington to dictate how we manage our forestry in Canada. We will manage it here.
Peter MacKay Progressive Conservative Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS
Mr. Speaker, the indignant denials and attacks on the impartiality of the auditor general are insulting. What was uncovered was one sampling of one file in one department.
What Canadians are concerned about is mounting evidence of rampant corruption throughout government. No public servant would jeopardize his or her career to see that good Liberals got rewarded with taxpayer funded contracts. The order had to come from a political master. What is needed is a broad examination of all documents, records of private companies and immunity for whistle-blowing bureaucrats.
In the interest of integrity, when is the current don of public works going to call a full public inquiry?
Don Boudria LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, the auditor general has referred the matter of the three contracts to the RCMP.
Don Boudria Liberal Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON
I see somebody in the Conservative Party disagrees with that.
I would like to quote the right honourable member for Calgary Centre, the member's own leader. On March 19 he asked why the problem had not been referred to the RCMP. That is what the members wanted. That is what they got.
Peter MacKay Progressive Conservative Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, NS
Mr. Speaker, the minister is a master of minutia.
The auditor general's scathing report is only a sampling of evidence of patronage and corruption. A public inquiry would reveal the true source of the corruption that must exist. Perhaps this is the reason the Prime Minister will not act.
The Prime Minister crows about no cabinet resignations. No wonder: no standards, no resignations.
The Prime Minister is off on another world tour. Perhaps he should hop on his multimillion dollar Challenger, recall the former don of public works and launch that full public inquiry.
Don Boudria LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member referred to the sampling. If he wants to quote the auditor general, why does he not also quote when she said that we should not generalize about the contract awarding process by way of the inquiry that she did in those two contracts? Why does he not actually say that? Why does he not quote the auditor general for what she did say?
Carol Skelton Canadian Alliance Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is now shamefully using smear tactics to discredit an officer of parliament. Let me quote from the auditor general's website:
We are committed to making a difference for the Canadian people by promoting, in all our work for Parliament--
Government ContractsOral Question Period
The Speaker
Order. I would point out to the hon. member for Pictou--Antigonish--Guysborough that he has had his supplementary. We are continuing now with the hon. member for Saskatoon--Rosetown--Biggar. She has the floor.
Carol Skelton Canadian Alliance Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK
Mr. Speaker, the quote from the website is:
We are committed to making a difference for the Canadian people by promoting, in all our work for Parliament, answerable, honest and productive government--
Some Liberal MPs over there have publicly attacked the auditor general. Will the government stop its attack on her now?
John Manley LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Crown Corporations
Mr. Speaker, nobody who is speaking on behalf of the government has attacked the auditor general. We have complete confidence in the work that she will undertake on behalf of parliament and Canadians.
Carol Skelton Canadian Alliance Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK
Mr. Speaker, I guess the Liberal backbenchers are not part of this government.
The mission of the auditor general is to “conduct independent audits and examinations...advice and assurance to Parliament. We promote accountability and best practices in government operations.”
Will the Deputy Prime Minister fully endorse the auditor general's role, both here in parliament and for Canadians?
John Manley LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Crown Corporations
Mr. Speaker, perhaps we should have some sessions for new MPs so that they understand how officers of parliament function and what authority they operate under.
We have provided the auditor general with the reference to do the initial work. What I do not understand is why the opposition members therefore are not satisfied with relying on the auditor general to complete her work. Instead they want who knows how many different kinds of processes in order to simply do what the auditor general already has the authority to do under the statute that creates her position.
Yvan Loubier Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Mr. Speaker, hon. members will recall just what a marked increase in federal propaganda we experienced around the 1995 referendum. Last week, the Prime Minister confirmed that, for him, all means are acceptable for crushing what he calls “the separatists”.
With such a statement, is the Prime Minister not revealing that this entire operation had his blessings, even though he had been aware for two years that the rules of ethics and good management were being flouted regularly?
Don Boudria LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member over there is saying that the Government of Canada's sponsorhip program is nothing more than propaganda, or something akin to it, I trust that he will pass the same message on to the Government of Quebec, which has a similar program and it is even run from the premier's office.
Yvan Loubier Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Mr. Speaker, I will speak seriously and without demagoguery.
When a minister receives an audit report that makes charges as serious as those contained in the report tabled in 2000 by the department's internal auditors, it is clear that the PMO and the Privy Council are aware of the situation.
How could we believe that the Quebec political lieutenant of the Prime Minister, Minister of Public Works Alfonso Gagliano, could have received this report without acting on it and without discussing it with the Prime Minister or the PMO?
