House of Commons Hansard #147 of the 38th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was liberal.
Michel Guimond Bloc Charlevoix—Montmorency, QC
Mr. Speaker, in his testimony at the Gomery inquiry, Marc-Yvan Côté, chief Liberal organizer, said that 18 ridings in eastern Quebec had received brown envelopes of dirty money and, in 9 of those, candidates received the money personally.
Since the Prime Minister keeps telling the world that he wants to clean up his party, will he agree to release the list of 18 ridings that received and used this money for the 1997 election campaign?
Jean Lapierre LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, in every case, I imagine that all the ridings and organizations submitted their financial reports to the returning officer, as required. That is where the audit needs to be done. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has the mandate to look into any irregularities.
Michel Guimond Bloc Charlevoix—Montmorency, QC
Mr. Speaker, is the minister saying that a Liberal candidate has to declare receiving $10,000 of dirty money in a brown envelope? That makes no sense. He should have listened to what Mr. Kingsley had to say yesterday about his inability to do anything about such situations under the current legislation.
I will ask the question again. How can the Prime Minister claim to be cleaning up his party when he is turning a blind eye to those who used this money for personal gains in the 1997 election under the Liberal Party of Canada banner?
Jean Lapierre LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, every dollar identified by Justice Gomery has been paid to the Receiver General of Canada for a total of $1.143 million. The cheque was remitted yesterday to the Receiver General of Canada and everything has been reimbursed. No one can ask for more than complete integrity and respect for Justice Gomery's findings, and we acted immediately.
Benoît Sauvageau Bloc Repentigny, QC
Mr. Speaker, let us read from the Gomery report. On page 305, it states: “Mr. Côté divided the money into ten envelopes, which he gave to the candidates in need of assistance at the time the Liberal campaign was officially launched in Shawinigan, for payment of their personal expenses”.
How can the Prime Minister claim to accept the Gomery report, announce a major cleanup of his party, and yet not take this compromising revelation into consideration?
Jean Lapierre LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, we have taken into consideration all the revelations recognized by Justice Gomery. Moreover, every dollar mentioned in the report that appears to have been an inappropriate donation to the Liberal Party has been paid back by that cheque for $1.143 million.
Benoît Sauvageau Bloc Repentigny, QC
Mr. Speaker, things are not right. The Minister of Transport claims that the decision on the lifetime banishment of certain persons from the Liberal Party applied to all those directly or indirectly connected with the dirty money by the Gomery report, yet a dozen or so Liberal Party of Canada candidates are directly implicated as having personally received some of the dirty money in 1997, according to that report.
Why would this lifetime ban not apply to those individuals? What makes them any different?
Jean Lapierre LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, all those identified by Justice Gomery as directly or indirectly connected with inappropriate funding have been banished, and all the money has been paid back to the Receiver General of Canada. We cannot make it any clearer than that. All those blamed by Gomery have been banished. We are, therefore, following Justice Gomery's recommendations to the letter. We have done everything required.
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Mr. Speaker, former deputy minister Arthur Kroeger has stated that the sponsorship scandal was created “outside of the rules”. The Auditor General did not say more rules were needed; she said “every rule in the book was broken”.
The President of the Treasury Board's response to the sponsorship scandal is to pile 238 new rules on bureaucrats and the Canadian public. Mr. Kroeger predicts the result will be a demoralized public service and worse service to the public.
Will the President of the Treasury Board admit that these 238 new rules are just a smokescreen for Liberal corruption?
Reg Alcock LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, of course I will admit nothing of the sort. The reality is that what we are doing is modernizing the management of the Government of Canada. This is something that this Prime Minister has been deeply interested in for many years, something he instructed me to begin doing on December 12, 2003 and something that I take very seriously.
I can tell the House that the public servants of this country are anxious to have it done because they know how good they are and they know the kind of support this will give them. If the member would only read the report, he might understand it.
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Mr. Speaker, let me tell this minister what Professor Ned Franks, an expert in government ethics and accountability, thinks of the plan. In reply to an observation that this plan looked like the work of one of his first year political science students, Mr. Franks said, “I think you're being unfair to political science 101 because I would have flunked a student who had presented the arguments in defence of the government's position that I see in the documents”.
This minister has failed the Canadian public and this government has failed the Canadian public. When will this Liberal government stop hiding behind phony announcements and simply stop breaking the rules?
Reg Alcock LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, I noted that comment with some interest. Given that three of the authors of the document were Robert Marleau, Camille Montpetit and Donald Savoie, I am rather surprised at the mark that Mr. Franks would give them.
Jason Kenney Conservative Calgary Southeast, AB
Mr. Speaker, when corporate fraudsters at Enron and WorldCom abused the trust of their shareholders they were sent to jail with sentences of 15, 20 and 25 years.
The Liberal Party systematically violated the public trust and stole millions of public dollars and not one Liberal has been sent to jail. Now the government even refuses to launch a civil action against the Liberal Party to reclaim the money that is still missing.
Why does this government continue to confuse the Liberal Party with the Government of Canada? Why not put the interests of Canadians ahead of the interest of that party and sue the Liberal Party for the missing millions?
Scott Brison LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, I understand why the hon. member is feeling litigious these days. I was reading earlier today in the Globe and Mail that his dear friend, ethics counsellor, mentor and spiritual leader, Conrad Black, Lord Black of Crossharbour, is in fact suing the U.S. government.
The Conservatives can take their guidance on ethical issues from Conrad Black. We would prefer to take ours from Justice Gomery.
Jason Kenney Conservative Calgary Southeast, AB
Mr. Speaker, a member of the party of Jacques Corriveau and Jean Chrétien is lecturing us about ethics. What Canadians want to know is why the Liberal Party continues to make the same mistake it did in setting up ad scam, which was to confuse the Government of Canada with the Liberal Party of Canada. The Liberals think the two are one and the same. That is how all these millions got stolen in the first place.
We are asking them to take a step back, to separate the interests of the Canadian taxpayer from those of the Liberal Party and to sue the Liberal Party for the missing millions, at least $40 million of which is identified in the Gomery report. Will the--
Sponsorship ProgramOral Questions
The Speaker
The hon. Minister of Public Works and Government Services.
Scott Brison LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, the fact is that Justice Gomery heard from 172 witnesses. He and his commission reviewed 28 million pages of documents. We based our analysis on his facts and his report.
Beyond that, lord penny of pompous pond over there, who wants to follow in Conrad Black's footsteps, ought to listen to Justice Gomery and not take his ethical guidance from Conrad Black.
Roger Valley Liberal Kenora, ON
Mr. Speaker, Canadians want people living in communities like Kashechewan to enjoy the same standard of living enjoyed by all of us. One of the things that has emerged is that solutions for many rural and remote communities must include elements of health, education and housing, in addition to safe drinking water.
Could the minister update the House on measures the federal government is taking to ensure that solutions are found for the people of Kashechewan and other people in Canada so they can all look forward to a better tomorrow?
Andy Scott LiberalMinister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians
Mr. Speaker, our five point action plan will address housing, education, water, health and social services. It was developed with the community and its leadership.
We have addressed the water situation. We have additional health care workers.
A barge with building materials to renovate 35 homes will arrive in the community next week, with more to follow. We will build 50 new homes this year and each year for the next 10 years.
We said we would fix Kashechewan together and we will.
Ed Broadbent NDP Ottawa Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister. Our leader has just asked a question, giving three specific illustrations of the continuation of a culture of Liberal entitlement. Instead of answers, he got evasions.
My question to the Deputy Prime Minister is this. Is it not true that the Prime Minister named a Liberal staffer as ambassador, appointed a Liberal bagman to the Senate and continues to allow Liberal lobbyists to collect illegal fees? In the name of ethics, answer the question.
Anne McLellan LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Mr. Speaker, I would hope the hon. member is not suggesting that those people are without merit. If so, I suggest--
EthicsOral Questions
The Speaker
Order, please. The hon. member for Ottawa Centre asked his question of the Deputy Prime Minister, not of the official opposition. The answer is coming from the Deputy Prime Minister despite the help from the other side. Perhaps the member for Ottawa Centre will want to hear what the Deputy Prime Minister has to say and consult the opposition later.
Anne McLellan Liberal Edmonton Centre, AB
Mr. Speaker, as I said, I hope the hon. member is not suggesting that those people are without merit or casting aspersions upon the abilities of those people to carry out those jobs.
I would also remind the hon. member that recently the Prime Minister made an outstanding Senate appointment from the province of Saskatchewan and, if I remember correctly, that person was a New Democrat.
Ed Broadbent NDP Ottawa Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, there is no better illustration of the arrogant Liberal culture of entitlement than that answer. The Deputy Prime Minister equates Liberalness with competence. No one else in Canada does so.
I come back to the question. For four days we have asked specific questions about entitlement and for four days we have had evasions. Is this not the best illustration of the culture of Liberal arrogance being perpetuated?