Debates of Nov. 4th, 2005

Government Appointments

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Gomery report found what we know to be so true. Ottawa is suffering from a Liberal culture of entitlement. No matter where we look, it lurks.

Since the Prime Minister took office, his friends and a disgraced cabinet minister are in the Senate, a staffer is off playing ambassador, totally ignoring the votes in the House to oppose patronage.

Would the Deputy Prime Minister answer this? How do government members reconcile their rhetoric on ethics with the glee and arrogance with which they practice patronage and cronyism in everything that they do, every day in every decision they make?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, let us look at the record of the Prime Minister and this government. He cancelled the sponsorship program the very first day he became Prime Minister. He put in place an independent commission of inquiry, Judge Gomery. He introduced new ethical guidelines for ministers, senior staff and crown appointees. He established a fully independent Ethics Commissioner who reports to Parliament, the House of Commons and the Senate. He ordered the re-establishment of the Office of the Comptroller General.

In the history of our country, no prime minister and no government have done more.

National Defence

[Bill Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister's capacity for self-congratulation seems to know no end. The Liberals continue to be ethically challenged with respect to their own behaviour, but I would hope against hope that they are not ethically challenged when it comes to something like torture.

Given the recent revelations about secret CIA prisons on top of what we already know about Guantanamo Bay, could the Minister of National Defence or the Deputy Prime Minister tell us whether the government is reconsidering its policy of uncritically handing over those captured by Canadian Forces to the American forces?

[Keith Martin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, when our Canadian Forces apprehend members from Afghanistan, those people are questioned, some are released, some are handed over to U.S. troops and some are handed over to Afghanistan authorities. For all of them, we notify the Red Cross about their whereabouts and the conditions upon which they were released. All are treated under the Geneva Convention. We feel utterly confident that our Canadian Forces members are treating those people in full accordance with humanitarian law.

Sponsorship Program

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, SK]

Mr. Speaker, Justice Gomery's report indicates that there was widespread corruption and criminal activity within the Liberal Party of Canada. Simply put, the Liberals owe the Canadian taxpayer over $40 million and it is the government's responsibility to recover that money.

Will the Prime Minister commit today to launch a lawsuit against the Liberal Party of Canada to recover the millions of dollars that were stolen from Canadian taxpayers?

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, I have already answered that question and the Liberal Party has responded as well.

It is interesting to note that the leader of the Conservative Party operated for four years as an unregistered lobbyist. He failed to register under the Lobbyists Registration Act. Furthermore, during that period of time, the National Citizens Coalition that he led, that right-wing organization that fights against health care, that fights against child care and that fights against Canadian institutions, was charged six times with violations of Canada's Elections Act. They break the rules. They do not follow them.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake, MB]

Mr. Speaker, that was complete nonsense. On Page 438, Justice Gomery describes the sponsorship scandal as:

--inappropriate political interference in administrative matters...excessive concentration of power in the Prime Minister's Office, carelessness and incompetence and blatant disregard of Treasury Board policies, greed and venality. The public trust in its system of government was subverted and betrayed, and Canadians were outraged, not only because public funds were wasted and misappropriated, but also because no one was held responsible or punished for his misconduct.

The Prime Minister has been aware of this for a long time. Why have no Liberals gone to jail yet?

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has never been charged with violating the Canada Elections Act. However, the organization that the leader of the Conservative Party led for four years, during which he failed to register under the Lobbyists Registration Act, did break the rules, was convicted once under the Canada Elections Act and, furthermore, was charged six times. He is now trying to create the impression that he believes in the rules when the organization he led broke the rules, and he knew it.

Public Works and Government Services

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Nepean—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, here is another one. What does a well connected Liberal company run by Jean Chrétien's son-in-law do when it has a mouldy, leaky, toxically dangerous building that no one wants? The answer is: sell it to the Liberal government. Never mind that the building needs $80 million in repairs and that it would have been cheaper to buy a new one of the same size and quality. As long as Power Corp., the Prime Minister's old company, gets its money, taxpayers can clean up the mess.

Why did the Liberal government reward the Prime Minister's old company and hit taxpayers with an $80 million cleanup bill?

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member ought to realize that we, as a department in our real estate dealings, always seek the best possible value for the Canadian taxpayer. The purchase of the former Nortel building was consistent with that. In the real estate markets it was being sold far below the actual value. The investments to upgrade it to an appropriate status for public servants has been made. This deal does meet the requirements of best possible value for the Canadian taxpayer.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Nepean—Carleton, ON]

And the building has been empty for almost two years, Mr. Speaker.

This is not just any company, though. Power Corp. hired the current Prime Minister when he was just a young lad and handed him CSL in a sweetheart deal. The Prime Minister is deeply indebted to Power Corp. No wonder he wanted to help his old friends when they needed to drop this mouldy monstrosity.

The government could have built a brand new building for less than the cost of repairing this one. Why did the Liberals stick taxpayers with this $80 million cleanup cost all to help the Prime Minister's old friends?

[The Speaker]

I am very concerned about the preamble to the hon. member's question. Personal attacks, as he knows, are out of order. The hon. Minister of Public Works and Government Services may choose to respond.

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, I will respond to the tiny bit of substance that the hon. member tried to put into his pithy partisan personal attack against the Prime Minister of Canada.

Our professionals, on an ongoing basis, monitor real estate markets to identify the best possible accommodations for Canadian public servants at the best possible value for the Canadian taxpayer. This acquisition and the subsequent renovations meet that standard.

If he wants to take his question period questions off the news wire this morning from an unsubstantiated report, he can do so. Otherwise, we can give him a briefing so he really knows what happened.

Sponsorship Program

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Charlevoix—Montmorency, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the reason why the Gomery commission could not make a list of the Liberal candidates who received dirty money from Marc-Yvan Côté is that the government strongly opposed it, through its lawyer, Doug Mitchell.

By objecting to the identification of these candidates as part of the Gomery inquiry, and by refusing to identify them now, the government is acting as accomplice and is clearly showing that the cleanup promised by the Prime Minister was not done and will never be done.

[Jean Lapierre, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, is the member saying that Justice Gomery did not do his job properly, that he did not ask the right questions? Is he trying to discredit Justice Gomery? Let us hear him say so openly.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Charlevoix—Montmorency, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is not Justice Gomery who did not do his job, it is the government and the Liberal Party, by preventing Justice Gomery from getting answers.

The Minister of Transport, who has been playing Mr. Clean since getting into politics, and who swears in front of every camera that the cleanup will be done, is losing face because one of the only things we are asking of him is that he identify the nine candidates and the 18 ridings, out of the 21 for which Marc-Yvan Côté was responsible, but he refuses to do so.

How could he let himself get swallowed so quickly by the machine—

[The Speaker]

The hon. Minister of Transport.

[Jean Lapierre, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I will read something that hurts the Bloc Québécois. It is on page 430 of the Gomery report. It reads as follows: “[The Prime Minister] is entitled, like other Ministers in the Quebec caucus, to be exonerated—”.

This is what is hurting the Bloc Québécois, and this is why they are trying to change the conclusions. They cannot accept that. They did everything they could to say the contrary, and they even prepared an advertising campaign for that purpose. Now, they know that it would be defamatory libel if they were to say something other than what Justice Gomery wrote.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Gomery report does not list the Liberal Party candidates who had dealings with Marc-Yvan Côté. The Minister of Transport refuses to provide this list of candidates who received dirty money in 1997, even though this is information he could very easily obtain.

In spite of the major cleanup announced by the Prime Minister, does the Minister of Transport not realize that his actions are bringing all candidates into disrepute because, instead of clearing those who have done nothing wrong, he is undermining the reputation and credibility of all of them, nothing less?

[Jean Lapierre, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, what we have just heard is the height of hypocrisy. These people have disagreed with the findings of Justice Gomery from the beginning, and they lack the backbone to say so. Now, they are trying to smear more people, to cast doubt on the reputation and integrity of a great many people. The member claims that the list can easily be obtained. If it is that easy, let her table the list.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in his report, Justice Gomery commented that those who took the dirty money they were offered brought disgrace on the Liberal Party.

Does the Minister of Transport not understand that, by refusing as he has been doing for the past two days to produce the list of those who received dirty money, he is acting as accomplice, and all his efforts to whitewash only confirm that he is not prepared to go through with the promised cleanup and would rather just sweep the dirt under the rug?

[Jean Lapierre, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, Justice Gomery's mandate was to seek the whole truth. He heard testimony, he got to the truth, and everything is set out in his report. Bloc Québécois members are not pleased with the work of Justice Gomery because he exonerated not only the Prime Minister, but also the members on this side of the House. This is why Bloc Québécois members are now out to smear more people. We will not let them. These people will not accept the truth from Justice Gomery, but they lack the backbone to say so. They should come clean once and for all.

Election Campaign Financing

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last year the Minister of Transport attended a gala where over $40,000 was raised. Since then, the Liberals have lost all trace of these funds.

The assistant campaign manager for the Liberals in that riding stated, “There is no longer anyone who knows where this money went. Our questions go unanswered. I wash my hands of those scumbags in Ottawa”. This person is now a member of the Conservative Party.

How can they lose $40,000?

[Jean Lapierre, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, like the member, I have read the newspaper articles. I am told that everything was tabled with the report on the 2004 election. So, everything has been tabled. The Chief Electoral Officer has the documents. Such accusations are unfounded.

Government Spending

[Joe Preston, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today we learned that the Liberal government spent $751,000 of taxpayers' money on a ball at a football stadium for the Governor General, even though she wanted a more modest event.

I respect the new Governor General, but this issue is simple. The Liberals used the gala to invite hundreds of Liberal donors, lobbyists and fundraisers, all at taxpayers' expense.

It was just another way of getting around the rules to reward their friends and supporters. Is this how they do business?