Debates of June 4th, 2002

Cabinet Ministers

[Stephen Harper, Canadian Alliance, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, whatever the evaluation it is hard to believe that post September 11 national security can be properly handled on a part time basis by someone who is Deputy Prime Minister, infrastructure minister and finance minister, especially when we have a new defence minister in place.

Canadians need full time ministers. When will the Prime Minister appoint a full time finance minister and a full time public security minister?

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have absolute confidence that the Deputy Prime Minister can handle it very effectively. He has established an extremely good rapport with Governor Ridge of the United States. The file is about to be completed and I wanted to finish the job. The job will be well finished and relations with Governor Ridge are excellent.

The Leader of the Opposition said that to have good relations with the Americans is to bend and receive a kick in the back and turn and ask the person--

[The Speaker]

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

[Stephen Harper, Canadian Alliance, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister himself has admitted he cannot handle all the portfolios that have been assigned to him and he is waiting for the summer recess for some reassignments. Already the finance minister is signalling that he will not give the planned update on the nation's economy to the finance committee that his predecessor promised in June.

When can we expect the next cabinet shuffle to deal with the problems that the last two created?

[Howard Hilstrom, Canadian Alliance, Selkirk—Interlake, MB]

Sunday.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Sunday perhaps.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

Order. We will want to hear the Prime Minister's reply. The Prime Minister has the floor.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Saint-Maurice, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this morning in cabinet the minister of fisheries said “Prime Minister, you have to play golf on Sunday and I will be your caddy. I want you on the golf course on Sunday, not at the governor general's”.

[Grant Hill, Canadian Alliance, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Ottawa South has said he is too busy. Listen to the things he has on his plate. He is the political minister for Ontario, he is in charge of infrastructure, he has security, he is the Deputy Prime Minister and now he is the finance minister.

My question is pretty straightforward. Which of these jobs is he going to do part time, or does he expect a salary for each one of them?

[John Manley, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

I will quit my job at Tim Hortons.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, he just told me that he has a part time job with Tim Hortons on top of that. If he has too much work, I will become his assistant.

[Grant Hill, Canadian Alliance, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister fired one of the major leadership rivals. Brian Tobin quit in a huff. I just wonder if this is not a new mechanism to keep another leadership rival so busy that he will hardly be able to breathe.

[Jean Chrétien, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I never thought about it but it is a good idea.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

Government Contracts

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in April 1998, Groupaction got a new contract to produce a second report on the opportunities provided by the federal program's visibility program. This report does not even exist. So, for a job that it did not do, Groupaction not only received $550,000, as we already know, but, in addition to this, this major contributor to the Liberal Party's campaign fund, collected a 12% commission.

Could the minister of public works tell us why Groupaction, whose half a million dollar report cannot be found, received a $66,000 commission to act as a go-between between itself and the government?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. gentleman will know that this has been the subject of an examination by the auditor general. The auditor general has taken the step of referring matters with respect to Groupaction to the appropriate police authorities.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as regards the missing report, the former minister of public works said, on March 11, that the contract had been drafted, and I quote, “in accordance with treasury board guidelines”. This was said in the House.

Since no go-between was required, could the President of the Treasury Board explain how the payment of a $66,000 commission to Groupaction is in accordance with the guidelines she is supposed to enforce and which we are told she did enforce?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, again as the hon. gentleman knows, all of the matters with respect to Groupaction are now subject to a police investigation.

Not only has the auditor general referred the matter to the RCMP, but the RCMP have publicly confirmed that they are pursuing an investigation. Accordingly, it would be highly inappropriate for us to do or say anything in the House that might impede or interfere with that investigation.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in 1998-99, the Government of Canada paid the firm Media IDA Vision, a subsidiary of Everest, a sum of $16,500 to examine the report to be produced by Groupaction and to send out the cheque.

How does the government explain that this Everest subsidiary managed to get paid $16,500 to examine Groupaction's report, a report that never existed?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot confirm the preamble of the hon. gentleman's question. I do not know precisely the point to which he is referring. However, the firm that he refers to in his question was at certain relevant times the agency of record responsible for billing matters.

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, under its mandate, Media IDA Vision was to examine the report that Groupaction was supposed to prepare.

When the government was looking for Groupaction's report, how could it not realize that it had paid this Everest subsidiary $16,500 for absolutely nothing, except to send out a cheque for a job that was never done?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, again let me put this whole matter in some context. The point I want to make is that the government is absolutely determined to get to the bottom of this series of transactions.

In the first place, my department is conducting a thorough examination of all relevant time periods from 1997 to the year 2000. The auditor general is conducting a government wide audit. Where matters arise that are appropriately of interest to police authorities, those references are made. In every instance we will ensure that the process is transparent and the public interest is protected.

Housing

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, in typical Liberal fashion, just before leaving office the former finance minister promised a new funding plan for municipalities. Yesterday the Prime Minister confirmed there is no plan. No matter who it is, the government is full of empty promises.

Last week the new finance minister signed a social housing deal with Ontario from which most communities will never benefit. More empty promises.

When will the Prime Minister get beyond the problems in the Liberal house and deal with the housing problems of Canadians?