House of Commons Hansard #145 of the 38th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was price.
Carole Lavallée Bloc Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC
Mr. Speaker, according to Justice Gomery, former Prime Minister Chrétien has to shoulder part of the blame for the sponsorship scandal. The current Prime Minister has refused to answer questions from the media about whether he blames Jean Chrétien.
This is my question. Does the Prime Minister share Justice Gomery's conclusion that Jean Chrétien must take part of the blame for the sponsorship scandal? Yes or no?
Jean Lapierre LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, I invite the hon. member to read the report. She should know that everyone is responsible for his own actions, acts of omission or negligence. Justice Gomery is very clear as to how and to whom he assigns responsibility. All she needs to do is read the report and she will have the truth, the only truth, Justice Gomery's truth, and not one concocted by the Bloc Québécois' fertile imagination.
Carole Lavallée Bloc Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC
Mr. Speaker, today the Gomery report clearly demonstrates that there was political direction from the head of the government down and an organized kick-back system to the advantage of the Liberal Party of Canada.
Will the Prime Minister admit that all Liberal Party of Canada candidates in the 1997 and 2000 elections benefited from sponsorship money?
Jean Lapierre LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, the report is very clear on this, and the Liberal Party authorities have just issued a cheque for $1.14 million to cover all donations that appear to have been made to that party improperly. It has all been paid back, every cent of it.
Diane Ablonczy Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Justice Gomery has confirmed that millions were looted from the public treasury by Liberals. Sadly, such abuse of the public's money has spread throughout the operations of the government, like the out of line expenses claimed by ministers and Liberal patronage appointees, kickbacks to highly placed Liberals for lobbying activities and contracts awarded to break the rules, to name just a few.
How can Canadians trust their country to such a culture of corruption?
Scott Brison LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, once again I would draw the hon. member's attention to page 77 of the summary document which says that the Prime Minister, as finance minister, is exonerated from any blame.
Beyond that, the Prime Minister recognized that this kind of activity was inappropriate. It is just plain wrong. That is why he appointed Justice Gomery to get to the bottom of this issue for Canadians. He is making the fundamental changes to governance which will provide benefits to Canadians for generations. He has only started the job and Canadians need the Prime Minister to continue to do the job and to get the job done.
Diane Ablonczy Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, Justice Gomery found that Liberals in high office bypassed departmental procedures and controls. He found a deliberate lack of transparency, a veil of secrecy.
He noted clear evidence of political involvement, public servants cowed by fear of reprisal, deliberate actions to avoid compliance to the law, fighting elections with dirty money and a refusal to accept responsibility.
If he believes this was wrong, why did the Prime Minister stand up in the House today and say that he was proud to be a Liberal?
Scott Brison LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister leads a Liberal Party and a Liberal government that is implementing the kinds of reforms that will prevent this sort of thing, the types of activities that have gone on for generations, from happening ever again.
Beyond that, while we are cleaning up and strengthening procurement, members from that party, including the member for Edmonton—St. Albert, last week criticized the Deputy Prime Minister for not interfering more in contracting.
We recognize that political interference in contracting is just plain wrong. The member for Edmonton—St. Albert is attacking the government for not interfering in the direction of contracts.
Jason Kenney Conservative Calgary Southeast, AB
Mr. Speaker, those Liberals talk a lot about Canadian values, but there is one basic Canadian value they forget all about, simple, ordinary justice. Canadians are law-abiding people. They expect to see those who violate the public trust and steal public money pay a price for it.
The corporate fraudsters at WorldCom and Enron were convicted, tried, and they are in prison. The Liberals involved in ad scam have walked away without consequences, scot-free.
When could Canadians expect to see justice done? When will the Liberals finally pay a real price for the kickbacks, the money laundering and the fraud?
Scott Brison LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, there are ongoing criminal investigations. There have been criminal charges laid. Beyond that, the government has laid civil charges against, now I believe, 22 firms and individuals. We have expanded that list now. We are looking to collect $57 million from these individuals. We have added $12 million in additional claims today.
We are seeking justice for Canadians. We are seeking justice for the Canadian taxpayer. We are ensuring that in doing so that Canadians get the justice that they deserve.
Jason Kenney Conservative Calgary Southeast, AB
Mr. Speaker, there are no consequences. Today, Judge Gomery confirmed what Canadians have known for a long time: the Liberals created a parallel funding system enabling them to illegally divert taxpayers' money to the Liberal Party.
Had an ordinary Canadian committed such fraud, he would be sent to jail. Can the Prime Minister explain why the Liberals involved in this scandal will escape scot-free?
Jean Lapierre LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, I assume the hon. member has not grasped the fact that the report was given today to the RCMP, which the Liberal Party itself has asked to investigate those who misused the name and resources of the Liberal Party.
Marlene Jennings Liberal Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC
Mr. Speaker, recently we learned through a survey on migratory birds that in two provinces wild ducks had been found to have a mild strain of the avian flu virus.
Can the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food tell us what measures have been taken to prevent poultry flock infection by the virulent strain of avian flu?
Andy Mitchell LiberalMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister of State (Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario)
Mr. Speaker, there are a number of measures that we are taking. First, the survey itself, which is designed to give us a baseline of how much prevalence there is that naturally occurs in wild flocks, and then monitoring whether that is increasing and whether we should be taking additional measures.
Given the preliminary results, we are going to do testing at abattoirs in the regions in which the preliminary tests indicate the presence of H5. We also are going to remind producers about the necessary bio-security measures that they should be undertaking. We are going to take a look at mortality patterns to see if there is any concern in that respect.
We will remain vigilant as we move forward.
Ed Broadbent NDP Ottawa Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister. Justice Gomery was very critical of what he called the Liberal culture of entitlement. That culture persists today. The Prime Minister continues to appoint Liberal staffers as ambassadors and Liberal bagmen as senators, and a Liberal lobbyist like David Dingwall can continue to collect $350,000 payments that were illegal to offer.
Does the Prime Minister deny any one of these three accusations and, if not, why has he not done something about them?
Scott Brison LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, once again, the Prime Minister has strengthened governance and has strengthened procurement practices of the government. We are operating the most open and accountable government in the history of our country because Canadians deserve better.
The Prime Minister appointed Justice Gomery to do his work so Canadians would have the truth. Frankly, his second report in February is going to be extremely important to this debate, as he contributes to the public policy debate around governance and the work that is being done by the Treasury Board President and others in the government who are looking to provide best value for taxpayers in the most open and accountable system possible.
Ed Broadbent NDP Ottawa Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, on today of all days, it says a lot about the ethics and accountability of the Prime Minister that he has refused to answer these three serious accusations about the failure to act and accountability measures.
Does the Prime Minister deny any one of these accusations, and if not, why does he continue to perpetuate this culture of entitlement?
Reg Alcock LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, contrary to the member's allegation earlier today, the Prime Minister has done nothing but act, starting on December 12 when he ordered the reinstatement of the Comptroller General, the refocusing in Treasury Board, the signing of senior financial officers, the tightening up in accreditation of the financial process, and on and on. The member knows that only too well, yet he continues to misrepresent what is going on.
Brian Pallister Conservative Portage—Lisgar, MB
Mr. Speaker, today Judge Gomery highlighted that the author of the sponsorship rules which allowed the government to award contracts to Liberal-friendly firm without breaking the rules was David Dingwall. Right under the Prime Minister's nose, Dingwall then exempted himself from the spending rules at the Mint so he could spend without breaking the rules. So much for doing due diligence. So much for vigilance.
The Prime Minister claims he did not know anything about the sponsorship scandal, but he knew David Dingwall. Now he wants to pay him severance. Why should Canadians pay severance to an architect of the sponsorship scandal?
John McCallum LiberalMinister of National Revenue
Mr. Speaker, sadly, the hon. member is wrong again. He was wrong on September 28 when he described several people's salaries as part of Mr. Dingwall's personal expenses. He was hugely wrong when he characterized Mr. Dingwall's cost to taxpayers at $1 million.
I would commend to him a quote from a very famous Nova Scotian who wrote, “When a man is wrong and won't admit it, he always gets angry”.
James Rajotte Conservative Edmonton—Leduc, AB
Mr. Speaker, the facts are these. David Dingwall violated the lobbyists' code of conduct by failing to register as a lobbyist. He also received a kickback for $350,000 after lobbying for a Technology Partnerships Canada grant for Bioniche. He has been punished for neither of these. Instead the government actually is considering giving him a half million dollar handshake.
Could the industry minister stand in his place and explain to Canadians why Dingwall has not been held to account for either of these wrongdoings?
David Emerson LiberalMinister of Industry
Mr. Speaker, as I have explained, I do not know how many times to the hon. member, the government's agreement was with Bioniche. We recovered all the money that was improperly paid in contingency fees. Bioniche can deal with Mr. Dingwall.
We have recovered the money and we continue to ensure that the program drives innovation and competitiveness and gets the Canadian economy on the platform it needs to be on, going forward.
Rona Ambrose Conservative Edmonton—Spruce Grove, AB
Mr. Speaker, New Brunswick is asking the federal government to be more flexible on child care, but this Liberal government insists on imposing conditions. It rejects the idea of New Brunswick giving money to parents who choose to stay at home with their children. As a result, there is still no agreement.
Why is this government punishing New Brunswick for wanting to give parents more options?
Ken Dryden LiberalMinister of Social Development
Mr. Speaker, as I have said to the House many times before, there is plenty of flexibility in all the agreements that have been signed. There are eight agreements that have been signed now, including with jurisdictions that have a significant rural and remote population, as New Brunswick does.
I would ask the hon. member to check the amount of money that the Government of Quebec has spent on early learning and child care in each of these last number of years and the amount of money that the province of New Brunswick also has spent toward early learning and child care. The difference is very dramatic.
Rona Ambrose Conservative Edmonton—Spruce Grove, AB
Mr. Speaker, the government continues to ignore the millions of families across this country who are demanding choice in child care. New Brunswick is asking for the flexibility to offer a child care program that best suits the needs of its citizens. This includes supporting stay at home parents.
The Liberal government will not give New Brunswick the deal it wants because the Liberals only support regulated, institutionalized day care. When will the government offer New Brunswick the child care plan that families are demanding?