Debates of Jan. 31st, 2008

Public Works and Government Services

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on another file, this one dealing with an international company in the military sector, there was a surprising meeting between Dimitri Soudas, who is currently the Prime Minister's press secretary, or rather, his in-house lobbyist, and Leo Housakos, a Conservative Party backer and agent for a military equipment supplier.

The question is a simple one. Is this not a case of going beyond information gathering into the realm of political interference? Is the Prime Minister prepared to acknowledge that?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, let me be clear. Mr. Soudas and Mr. Housakos have never discussed government files in my home or my office. That is the truth, and that is all I have to say about it.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, let us go back to something that happened a few months ago, say about two and a half years ago. Would the leader of the opposition at that time, who is now Prime Minister, have found it acceptable for Jean Chrétien's press secretary to meet with a military company and a party backer, such as Jacques Corriveau, to talk contracts? Whether or not the meeting produced results, contracts or regulations, would the Prime Minister not have called such activity political interference?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, those are absolutely not the facts.

The reality is that often many of us, in doing our jobs, are, from time to time, approached by people who have issues relating to interests they have in procurement with the government.

The answer that Mr. Soudas gives every time is the same one, which is that he has no responsibilities for procurement by the government, there is no point in talking to him, and he tells them to go and talk to the people who might have something to do with it. That is his standard answer and it was the answer in the case in question.

Afghanistan

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the handling of detainees in Afghanistan, Canadians are wondering who is telling the truth and who is in charge here.

Today, in the Federal Court, the government's own lawyer said that the practice of transferring detainees had stopped. However, right here in this House of Commons last Monday, the Prime Minister said that the transfer could happen any time.

Who is telling the truth, the government lawyers who say that the transfers have stopped or the Prime Minister who says that they have not?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, what the lawyers have said is exactly what the position of the government is. There is a transfer agreement with Afghan authorities that controls issues of transfer, of surveillance and of dealing with any complaints or problems. Those transfer arrangements are in effect. Officials of the government and people responsible for military operations make the decisions in the field whether to transfer or not and they will continue to make those decisions.

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that is another example of the Prime Minister abdicating his responsibilities when it comes to the war.

First he turned to someone else, and it turns out it was a Liberal hawk, to lay out the vision of the war for the future. Then he asks our hard-working military to explain to Canadians what is going on in the war, something that he should be doing. Then he admits that he has never even talked to the Chief of Defence Staff or the governor of Kandahar regarding the transfer of detainees, the issue of torture and what is going on in the prisons.

When will he take some responsibility and stop the transfer of the detainees?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is extremely proud of the work that Canada's defence personnel, our diplomats and our development workers are doing in Afghanistan.

Yesterday the Leader of the Opposition said that there was a Taliban prisoner who died in Canadian custody so I went back and asked my staff to tell me about that. This was a Taliban individual who had apparently been wounded in combat, was treated on the field by Canadian doctors and later died in a Canadian hospital.

Public Works and Government Services

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Speaker, although the Prime Minister tried to create a diversion yesterday by making degrading comments about the Greek community in Montreal, the fact remains that he must answer to Canadians.

His right hand man, Dimitri Soudas, and his trusted friend and Conservative fundraiser, Léo Housakos, engaged in influence peddling on two specific issues.

Can the Prime Minister tell us which military arms companies his press secretary, Dimitri Soudas, and his friend Léo Housakos had formal meetings with?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

None, Mr. Speaker.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to note that he said there was no meeting with any military arms company.

We also understand that Léo Housakos, a friend of Dimitri Soudas and the Prime Minister, engaged in influence peddling although Mr. Housakos was not officially registered as a lobbyist. So he acted illegally. That did not stop the Prime Minister from appointing him to the board of directors of Via Rail, for services rendered to the Conservatives.

Does the Prime Minister plan on keeping his press secretary and will he let Léo Housakos keep his seat at Via Rail?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, I hope he will keep his appointment.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Mr. Speaker, when accounting for Dimitri Soudas' attempt to peddle PMO influence on behalf of unregistered lobbyist friends, the government House leader's unbelievable response was to say it was “behaviour we can be proud of”.

Just for the sake of clarification, what is the government most proud of? Is it the fact that Mr. Soudas ordered a PMO meeting with unregistered lobbyists to benefit a land developer and Conservative ally in a $50 million deal or that it took them so many months to be caught?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, I know the hon. member is very proud of himself. He left his home town to set the world on fire and I guess he has gone back now for more matches after a bit of a break.

The reality is that what he said is entirely false. We are dealing with the situation very differently from what used to happen under the Liberal government, which is why the Liberals think this is a scandal.

Their view of how the world works is that people come to the government for favours from friends. That is what the Liberal Party is all about. That is not what our party is about. That is why no favours were given out here. That is why there is no scandal here. That is what the Liberal Party thinks is surprising.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Mr. Speaker, while the Conservatives were publicly touting an accountability act, the PM's spokesman was privately doling out all-access PMO passes. The government's defence: Public Works officials saw illegal lobbying and refused to join in. The Conservative House leader even said we should be proud of the government for only trying to break the law.

In the last election, the Prime Minister held up Brian Mulroney as his ethical mentor, claiming he was quick “to pull the trigger” on impropriety. Now that he is Prime Minister, will he act or are Mulroney's ethical standards just too high for today's Conservative Party?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, I know the hon. member specializes in false and libellous statements. There is absolutely nothing true in almost anything he said.

The one thing I can say that is true is a comparison that came out yesterday. Global Integrity, an independent non-governmental organization, reported that since taking office this government has made real changes for whistleblowers, fixed election financing, toughened ethics rules and improved accountability.

In fact, Global Integrity rates the anti-corruption rules put in place by this government as strong, the highest rating possible. It is a big difference from what we saw under the Liberals.

Manufacturing and Forestry Sectors

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Prime Minister gave the following reply concerning help for the manufacturing sector:

—we cannot spend money without having concluded [legal] agreements with the provinces, or without the approval of this Parliament.

However, the Prime Minister knows very well that to allocate money to the trust, only Parliament's approval is required. The responsible thing to do would be to table a bill now, before the budget, to take that money from the $11.6 billion surplus, and to give us a chance to increase the amount and vote on it.

Does the Prime Minister acknowledge that linking the creation of this trust to agreements with the provinces is an attempt to transfer the blame for his failure to act—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. Minister of Finance.

[Jim Flaherty, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the reductions in taxes on October 30 were well received, the business taxes that is, by the corporate sector in Quebec. The manufacturers and exporters of Quebec said:

We’re pleased the Finance minister acknowledged the competitive challenges facing manufacturers.

In addition, there is the $1 billion proposal for single industry towns that are hardest hit by the rise of the Canadian dollar in reduced exports. That is an important--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for Trois-Rivières.

[Paule Brunelle, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, how deplorable that the minister did not listen to the question before replying.

Last Sunday, the member for Québec and I, along with over 1,500 other people, participated in a march in support of the AbitibiBowater mill in Donnacona. Yesterday, the mill closed. Today, the company announced the closure of its Dalhousie mill. Over 600 workers will lose their jobs. The manufacturing crisis is getting worse, and just moments ago, the CSN reiterated its request for $1 billion to support the forestry sector alone.

The Prime Minister should table a bill immediately so that we can improve the Conservatives' plan to help—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. Minister of Natural Resources.

[Gary Lunn, Conservative, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, we are very much aware of some of the challenges facing the forest industry. That is in fact why we are so committed to this vital industry and why our Prime Minister recently announced a $1 billion community development trust to work with the provinces to help assist these workers.

In addition to that, since we have taken office, we have put in $72.5 million for the targeted initiative for older workers, we have committed $127 million to help the forest industry on its competitive strategy, including $70 million to promote innovation and $40 million to look at expanding markets. We are delivering for the industry.

Public Safety

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the CBC reports that the taser was tested on pigs and that some died. These tests showed that tasers are dangerous. The president of Taser quotes studies that prove the guns are harmless, but does not say that some of the authors of these studies are shareholders in his company.

Given such contradictory findings, it is clear that the precautionary principle should prevail. Consequently, will the Minister of Public Safety declare an immediate moratorium on the use of tasers by the RCMP?

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I have asked that this issue be looked into, just as the member has requested.

The chair of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP has conducted a preliminary study, and another study will follow. I believe that there are currently about a dozen studies in Canada on this issue. In addition, the RCMP has accepted Mr. Kennedy's recommendations and will continue to study the situation and act on the recommendations.