House of Commons Hansard #16 of the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was problem.
Rob Nicholson ConservativeMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is proposing a hypothetical scenario for a court decision. It would be highly inappropriate to start speculating what the court will rule. I think we should all wait and see what the court has to say. I think that is the prudent and proper thing to do.
Sue Barnes Liberal London West, ON
Mr. Speaker, Canadians deserve to have all the facts with regard to the Schreiber affair. If anyone involved in the Schreiber file has made contributions to the Prime Minister's 2002 leadership campaign, Canadians deserve to know, but the Prime Minister never revealed all his donors.
Will the Prime Minister guarantee that the public inquiry will examine all donations made by Mr. Schreiber to the Conservative Party, its predecessor parties, and all of the numerous leadership campaigns of those parties?
Rob Nicholson ConservativeMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has already indicated, with the appointment of Dr. Johnston as an independent third party, that Dr. Johnston will be tasked with the responsibility of setting out the parameters for a public inquiry.
Dr. Johnston, of course, is an outstanding Canadian citizen who has served this country very well in the past, and I think we should put our trust in his recommendations.
Sue Barnes Liberal London West, ON
Mr. Speaker, that certainly did not answer the question.
The list that the Prime Minister released on the old Canadian Alliance website is missing about 95% of the names. That is not a disclosure. The names on that 2002 donor list are only a portion of those who contributed to his campaign. It is only a list of those people who consented to have their names published.
Canadians deserve to know if the Prime Minister was bankrolled by anyone involved in the Schreiber affair. When will the Prime Minister make the full donor list public?
Rob Nicholson ConservativeMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, questions of this type are precisely why a fact-finding inquiry is important. I appreciate that the Liberal Party would like to go on a witch hunt, but that is not what a public inquiry would be about. Again, Dr. Johnston will set the parameters for that, and it will be fair and it will be seen to be fair.
The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken
Order, order. Perhaps the member for Peterborough and the member for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine could carry on their discussion outside the House. The hon. member for Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor.
Scott Simms Liberal Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL
Mr. Speaker, the Canada Border Services Agency declaration card states that everyone entering the country must declare the following: “--endangered species...plants and currency and monetary instruments totalling CAN$10,000 or more”.
Can the Minister of National Revenue assure the House that the former prime minister did just that after returning from the United States with $100,000 in his wallet?
Rob Nicholson ConservativeMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, I do not know who is right--
The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken
Order, order. I am sure the Minister of Justice appreciates the generous help he is being given with his answers, but it is very difficult for the Chair to hear the answers when everybody is yelling helpful suggestions, so we would like the minister to have some quiet while we hear the answer to the question.
Rob Nicholson Conservative Niagara Falls, ON
Mr. Speaker, again, this is a follow up from the question yesterday, to start revealing taxpayers' information. We are not prepared to do that, but what we are prepared to do is to have a full public inquiry where many of these issues I am sure will be raised.
Scott Simms Liberal Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL
Let us try this again, Mr. Speaker. The declaration card goes on to say: “Failure to do so could result in penalties, seizure and/or prosecution”.
Once again, to the Minister of National Revenue, yes or no? Did the former prime minister declare the cash payments, yes or no?
Rob Nicholson ConservativeMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, again, the Liberals want us to reveal tax information. That would be completely improper.
The member for Wascana is wailing over there. What he was suggesting yesterday was completely illegal. This is why I have made it a point never to accept advice from the Liberal Party.
Serge Ménard Bloc Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC
Mr. Speaker, the sale of contraband cigarettes has taken off again. According to several studies, contraband is now ranked second in sales in Quebec and Ontario. The federal and provincial governments lose $1.6 billion in tax revenues annually. Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada has determined that the lower cost of illegal cigarettes threatens progress in the fight against tobacco addiction, particularly among young people.
Is the Minister of Public Safety prepared to ask the RCMP to take vigorous action and put an end to cigarette smuggling?
Dave MacKenzie ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, the government does take our border security very seriously. We put additional money in for border security and for our Canada Border Services Agency, and it is making seizures at the border.
Serge Ménard Bloc Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC
Mr. Speaker, although police and customs officers are key in the fight against illegal cigarette sales, action from several other departments is required to wage an effective campaign.
These actions must be coordinated by a ministerial committee, which requires strong leadership in order to consolidate and continue the fight against tobacco addiction and against organized crime, which benefits from this illegal trade.
In the name of justice for honest merchants, is the Minister of Public Safety prepared to chair such a committee and to ensure that all necessary measures are taken?
Dave MacKenzie ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, as I already indicated, the government has put additional funds and resources into our border agency. We do have an integrated border enforcement team that works along the borders. The RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency are active.
Mark Holland Liberal Ajax—Pickering, ON
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Prime Minister made jokes rather than answering when his office received explosive letters about Mr. Mulroney, letters containing the same information that the Prime Minister claimed was new, and the same information that forced a full public inquiry.
Canadians are not laughing. We know every piece of paper that goes into the PMO is tracked. We know these letters would have been given to senior staff in the PMO. Canadians know his office knew everything yet did nothing until it was forced months later.
Will the Prime Minister table in the House all routing slips and dockets pertaining to this correspondence and reveal the truth, yes or no?
Rob Nicholson ConservativeMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister addressed that question yesterday.
What we have done is put in place a process that I think reasonable Canadians, and I am not including members of the Liberal Party in that group, would find is a careful and prudent way to act, by means of an independent third party who will make recommendations with respect to a public inquiry. I think that is what is expected by Canadians.
Bev Shipley Conservative Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON
Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that our government is truly committed to Canada's veterans and their families. These families deserve to be treated with the respect and the dignity they have earned. All Canadians know this and we know this.
As a result, could the Minister of Veterans Affairs please tell the House what action has been taken to deal with the case of Annie MacKenzie, which has been widely covered in many of the newspapers?
Greg Thompson ConservativeMinister of Veterans Affairs
Mr. Speaker, this case goes back to 1968. I think most of us would argue that it should have been dealt with years ago.
I have given clear direction to our officials to contact the family. Just prior to question period I was informed that this has occurred. This will be fixed immediately, with a fair and compassionate settlement for the family.
Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, if it is likely that Karlheinz Schreiber was greasing the wheels of commerce by lining the pockets of Tories, is it not just as likely he was greasing some Liberal wheels as well?
Why else would Marc Lalonde join Elmer MacKay in putting up a million dollars in bail for Karlheinz Schreiber? Why did Schreiber's Bear Head Manufacturing Industries donate $10,000 to the Liberals in 1993?
Will the government assure us that the public inquiry will dig deep enough into the Mulroney Airbus kickback scandal to reveal whether Mr. Schreiber was buying influence with Liberals as well?
Rob Nicholson ConservativeMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, I would not presume to answer for the Liberals.
We have put a process in place that, again, I think most reasonable Canadians would agree with. We have indicated that the mandate of Dr. Johnston is to set out the parameters for a public inquiry. We have already indicated that we would abide by those.