Debates of April 19th, 2005

Sponsorship Program

[Michel Gauthier, Bloc, Roberval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, speaking of the sponsorship scandal, a few short months ago, we were told exactly the same sort of thing, until we learned the extent of the turpitude of this government and the illegal activities.

Today, the Prime Minister is also in up to his neck, as are his friends, his chief of staff, his officials, his department and a firm closely involved with him and his leadership campaign. There are too many coincidences, too many accusations and too much evidence. He will not get out of this.

Can the Minister of Finance tell us why we should accept this and not be scandalized by the Prime Minister's actions?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the government has said from the very beginning that where there was wrongdoing it must be identified, it must be condemned and it must be thoroughly punished.

That is why we called in the Auditor General, why we called in the RCMP in those cases that were appropriate and, most important, why the Prime Minister, within a half an hour of receiving the Auditor General's report in the spring of last year, called the Gomery inquiry to get to the bottom of this issue and make sure it was thoroughly exposed.

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

Mr. Speaker, Alfonso Gagliano said that the current Minister of Transport had approached him to put in a good word for his friend François Duffar of Cossette, a company trying to land federal contracts.

Does the Minister of Transport recognize that what he did for Cossette, despite what he says, was nothing short of lobbying?

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

Mr. Speaker, that is not true, but we know that Groupaction employees gave $100,000 to the Parti Québécois and that Groupaction won contracts from the Société des alcools du Québec and Télé-Québec.

That is quite something for a party that claims to be clean.

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

Mr. Speaker, we were talking about Cossette. The Minister of Transport would have us believe that he invoiced only for policy analysis or brainstorming, but not for time spent arranging meetings with ministers for his friends, and their subsequent meals.

Does the Minister of Transport think we believe that? No one believes the Minister of Transport.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is also interesting to note that Groupaction won a contract from Société générale de financement, which is headed by the husband of former PQ minister Pauline Marois.

During the last election campaign, Ms. Marois worked in support of the Bloc. Again, quite something for a party that claims to be clean.

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister testified that he barely knew Groupe Everest president, Claude Boulay, and his wife. Yet the Prime Minister's letters entered into evidence show this relationship was in fact warm and quite personal.

Here is what he said about Boulay's wife, the queen of Liberal ticket sellers, “I still believe that the years wash over Diane with such grace and beauty that she remains youthful”, a statement so fresh to an acquaintance it deserves a slap.

Will the Prime Minister finally admit that his Gomery testimony was not the full truth?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, I think we all send out such letters of congratulations on people's birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions.

As I also said yesterday, I think it is absolutely ridiculous that the opposition takes this simple letter of birthday congratulations and turns it into something that it simply is not.

The Prime Minister has been absolutely clear about the nature of his relationship with Claude Boulay.

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if the Prime Minister wrote a letter like that to my wife, I would have him outside this House real quick.

According to the Prime Minister's Office, the Prime Minister sent out 53,000 greetings last year. I have a very simple question. I would like to know how many he sent out when he was finance minister and how many of those greetings referred to wine, golf games and hot wives?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister of Canada sends out about 50,000 birthday and anniversary letters every year. The fact is that last year I received a Christmas card from the member for Calgary—Nose Hill. In the card it said, “Ron and I send Christmas greetings and wishes for good cheer now and the whole year through”. In fact, not only was it a very pleasant greeting but she drew a happy face with her name on it.

I do not know why she drew that happy face because, frankly, I have not seen a happy face on the member for Calgary—Nose Hill for a long time. Was she hitting on me, Mr. Speaker, or trying to--

[The Speaker]

Now we will hear from the hon. member for Calgary Southeast.

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Mr. Speaker, well before his intimate letters of—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker]

Maybe we should start again. I realize there is a lot of merriment in the chamber at the moment but the hon. member for Calgary Southeast now has the floor and I am sure he is going to ask a serious question.

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Quite right, Mr. Speaker. Well before he sent his intimate letter to Claude Boulay in 2001, the Prime Minister sent another “Dear Claude” letter in 1994, in which he stated, “The services you provide could be of interest to the federal office of regional development for Quebec, of which I am the minister responsible. Your letter has been forwarded to my office in Montreal”.

Is this not proof that the Prime Minister intervened in order to make sure his buddy Claude Boulay got some of the dirty money?

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

Mr. Speaker, the simple answer to the hon. member's question is no.

Part of the testimony that we have heard, as indicated by Mr. Boulay, was that he has done business with the Government of Canada going back to 1984. That was not a Liberal government; that was a Conservative government.

Mr. Boulay has dealt with the Government of Canada and has done business with the Government of Canada for over 20 years under successive governments.

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Calgary Southeast, AB]

Yes, Mr. Speaker, and he has known the Prime Minister for some 20 years. Why is it then that the Prime Minister said it was a short term relationship? Why is it the Prime Minister said that he barely knew him when the Prime Minister was recommending him for business 11 years ago, when he was commenting on the good looks of his wife four years ago and when he was working on the Prime Minister's leadership 15 years ago?

Why did the Prime Minister not tell the whole truth under oath to Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister of Canada always tells the truth and he did tell the truth under oath.

The fact that they take one of the 50,000 anniversary and birthday letters that the Prime Minister sends out every year and try to make an issue out of it is absolutely shocking. It speaks to the desperation that they have in trying to sully the reputation of the most respected and trusted political leader in Canada. They will not succeed because Canadians know that they can believe our Prime Minister.

Immigration

[Ken Boshcoff, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, new Canadians are very concerned about the proposal of the hon. member for Newton—North Delta who demands his constituents post a $50,000 to $100,000 bond in return for support of short term visa applications--

[The Speaker]

Order, please. I am afraid there is a slight problem with the hon. member's question in that under the Standing Orders of the House of Commons, matters that have been referred to the Ethics Commissioner for a review cannot be raised as questions in the House.

The Standing Orders were adopted very recently and I would refer the hon. member to that, so he will want to avoid a reference to that in his question. If he has a question for the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, he will want to put it directly.

[Ken Boshcoff, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration outline some serious initiatives the government has taken to improve our system of immigration?

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the question, which is a serious question regarding governance and the programs the government is putting forward. I was pleased yesterday on behalf of the Government of Canada to indicate three initiatives in our immigration and citizenship program, things that are of no interest to members opposite, the Conservative Party members or others.

We accelerated the process by which parents and grandparents will be brought into the country. As well, we put in a program for regionalizing immigration and recruiting more international students who will be trained here and who will be given an opportunity to gain Canadian experience and then locate in regional municipalities. That is unification and that is--

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Halifax.

International Cooperation

[Alexa McDonough, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has made speeches ad nauseam about launching a policy review on how to give the world more of the Canada the world wants.

Two years later, the foreign policy review is stillborn. Mr. Dithers has become Mr. Do Nothing with his betrayal of our 0.7% commitment for overseas development assistance.

Why, to the collective embarrassment of Canadians, has the Prime Minister gutted our commitment to meet our millennium development goals and made our contribution to making poverty history?

[Aileen Carroll, Liberal, Minister of International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud as Minister of International Cooperation to have joined my colleagues in the release today of the international policy statement. It is an excellent portrayal of where the Prime Minister will take us and Canada in its role in the world.

The government is aiming for 0.7%. We are aiming to continue to increase our aid in the international assistance budget by 8%. We will see it doubled by the year 2010. In the last year alone we have seen an increase of 21%, which by any federal budget comparison is a remarkable benchmark. We are standing proud in our--