Debates of Feb. 28th, 2008

Ethics

[James Moore, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

Mr. Speaker, it is simply not true.

I know that does not stop my colleague from saying it, but what is true is in fact the word of Chuck Cadman on this matter, who again said on May 19, on the Mike Duffy Live national television show, “There were no offers”.

Liberals may not like it, but it is in fact the truth.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister of the phony accountability act refuses to come clean about the Conservative envoys who tried to bribe Chuck Cadman.

Will the Prime Minister confirm here in the House of Commons that the two men who tried to bribe Chuck Cadman with a $1 million life insurance policy were Tom Flanagan and Doug Finley, his current campaign manager? Or, is the Prime Minister saying that Mr. Cadman's widow is a liar?

[James Moore, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

Mr. Speaker, I wish my colleague from Beauséjour would not call Chuck Cadman a liar, which is what he is doing. He ought to take his word. Chuck Cadman himself said on national television that “There were no offers”. I hope my colleague accepts his word because we do and so do Canadians.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister admitted it himself: he knew that Conservative representatives would try to break the law, but he did nothing to stop them.

By doing nothing, the Prime Minister may have turned a blind eye to an illegal act. The Prime Minister should have put a stop to this unethical behaviour, but, in fact, it was Chuck Cadman who put a stop to it.

Why is the Prime Minister not telling the whole truth about this? Is he trying to protect his two lieutenants?

[James Moore, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

Mr. Speaker, that is absolutely wrong. What my colleague is saying does not reflect the facts.

Canadians are getting tired of these false scandals, false smears, and false attacks on people, without any evidence, day in and day out.

The Liberals have done this against Dimitri Soudas, against cabinet ministers and against myself. They have done it over and over again without any evidence whatsoever.

What matters here is the truth. The person who knows the truth and spoke the truth on the record was our former colleague, Chuck Cadman, who said that no deal was offered. The Liberals should accept his word and accept the truth.

Cultural Policies

[Maria Mourani, Bloc, Ahuntsic, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has managed to eliminate culture from his budget—not only the word, but also the financial resources, by not including any provisions for museum policy, film or television, and this has been denounced by the Union des écrivains and the Association des producteurs de films et de télévision du Québec

Why is it that with a budget of $240 billion, the minister was unable to find $398 million to re-establish the museum assistance program or the public diplomacy program or the feature film or television funds?

[Jim Abbott, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary for Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I find that the member's question is all over the map. I am not really clear exactly what it is that she is asking.

I can tell her that if she takes a look at the finances of this government, takes a look at the entire picture, she will see many tens and hundreds of millions of dollars directed to her concerns, the concerns that she has just raised in this House.

Status of Women

[Nicole Demers, Bloc, Laval, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the 450-page budget document has only six lines pertaining to women and these do not reflect their demands. La Fédération des femmes du Québec has even called it irresponsible. The minister has talked about an action plan, but the solutions have already been identified; they just need to be implemented.

Can the Minister of Finance tell us why he could not find $11 million to reinstate the court challenges program, restore the original criteria for the Women's Program, and re-open the regional offices of Status of Women Canada?

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Status of Women]

Mr. Speaker, our record on this side of the House is very good with regard to women's issues. The same will never be said of the Bloc. Our government is providing $20 million annually to projects that directly impact women and young girls—a record for Status of Women Canada. The Bloc has done nothing.

International Trade

[Serge Cardin, Bloc, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, regarding the NAFTA file, both candidates for the Democratic nomination have taken a position that poses a serious threat to our access to our primary export market. Since 2005, the Bloc Québécois has been urging the government to enter into discussions with the European Union in order to diversify our markets. The Quebec government fully agrees.

What is the government waiting for to begin serious discussions with the European Union in order to conclude a free trade agreement?

[David Emerson, Conservative, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to remind the hon. member that this government entered into the first free trade agreement in the last six years with the European Free Trade Association.

We have been carrying on discussions with the European Union with an eye to a deeper trade arrangement with the European Union at the first leaders level at the Canada-European Union summit. We are pushing a Canada-EU free trade agreement and that will continue to be our position. We are working closely, diplomatically and in other ways.

[Serge Cardin, Bloc, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when the time comes to talk free trade with Colombia, the government goes full speed ahead, even though no one here wants such an agreement. However, when the time came to talk to the European Union in Davos, the minister had but a few words to say between the dessert and the cheese course.

What is preventing the government from entering into serious negotiations with Europe, as called for by the Quebec government?

[David Emerson, Conservative, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member would speak to Premier Charest and to my counterpart in Quebec, he would know that we are working very closely with the Quebec government.

We are working closely with leaders in industry. We are working closely with other provinces. We are working closely with nation states within the European Union with the express purpose of furthering a Canada-EU trade agreement.

Ethics

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, as an esteemed representative of the people of Surrey, Chuck Cadman was a man of integrity. But despite its accountability act, this government clearly has no integrity of its own. Mr. Cadman was clear that he would make his decisions based on the will of the people of Surrey.

Why do the Conservatives have so little respect for the people of Surrey that they would bribe their MP? How can this government continue to condone such behaviour?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals continue to change stories that just do not exist.

What happened on May 19 is a matter of public record. Tom Flanagan wrote about it. He went with Doug Finley, met with Chuck Cadman, and gave indications of a willingness to assist him in a nomination were he a Conservative candidate. No other offer was made.

Does anyone know who confirmed that? Chuck Cadman said on national television that, yes, he was made an offer about assistance with a nomination and no other offers were made.

It is simple. It is clear. It is in his words. It is on the public record in Tom Flanagan's books and it is in open statements by Doug Finley and Tom Flanagan.

There is no mystery--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for Newton--North Delta.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have already had many calls about this today. It is disgusting for the government to suggest that the constituents of Surrey can be bought, let alone Mr. Cadman. When two shady operatives of the Conservative Party offered a bribe to him, they were showing their disrespect to the entire community.

Why did the Prime Minister do nothing to stop this shameful act? What has he done since then?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am sure that when the hon. member ran for his nomination for the Liberal Party, he was actually offered assistance by his party, too. I do not know if the individuals who did were shady characters or not from the Liberal Party, but I really do not think that is any form of a bribe. I think that is normally what parties do and there is nothing improper about it.

[Todd Russell, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Mr. Speaker, allegations that shadowy Conservative operatives offered a bribe to Chuck Cadman in exchange for his vote in 2005 go far beyond the boundaries of acceptable partisan activity. It is outrageous, an insult to the integrity of the political process, and shows the depths to which the government is willing to sink to seize power.

My question is for the Prime Minister. Why does he show such little respect for the people of British Columbia, why did he not stop his operatives from offering a bribe to Chuck Cadman, and why has he remained silent for three years, two years as Prime Minister of this country?

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

Mr. Speaker, the insult is to the integrity of Chuck Cadman, who stated, when he was alive, on the very day that we are talking about that no such offer was made.

The insult to the integrity of our Parliament is that Liberals do not respect that and continue to ask these questions in the House. The insult, which they will suffer the consequences for, is if they would make those allegations of bribes outside the House.

What I am not surprised about is that the member for Newmarket—Aurora is not asking these questions.

[Todd Russell, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Mr. Speaker, this is a Prime Minister that uses the word “accountability” but clearly does not understand what it means.

Chuck Cadman was a man of integrity. Those who were privileged to have known him and served alongside of him are disgusted to hear of the shameful actions of that Conservative Party and now people who are associated with that government.

Will the Prime Minister apologize to the House of Commons, and apologize for this outrageous and illegal political behaviour?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would simply ask that the members opposite accept the word of Chuck Cadman. They claim to respect him. They claim he was a man of integrity. If they really believed their own words, they would also believe the words of Chuck Cadman when he said no offer was made.

Manufacturing Industry

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

Mr. Speaker, with economic difficulties in global markets and a slowing U.S. economy, some Canadians who work in our industries, especially in manufacturing, are being affected.

In response, the government created the community development trust. It will create opportunities for workers in segments of the economy facing difficulties and help vulnerable communities to refocus their economy and create new jobs. Budget 2008 further addresses manufacturers' concerns.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry confirm and elaborate on what we have in the 2008 budget for our manufacturing industry?

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for St. Catharines for all of his hard work in the manufacturing sector.

In fact, budget 2008 does contain more assistance for manufacturers, and the workers and communities that depend on them. We provided over $9 billion in tax relief to manufacturers, so they could invest and innovate. We have extended the targeted initiative for older workers.

We are investing to support innovation in the automotive sector. As well, our government was ahead of the curve with pre-emptive actions in budget 2007 and the fall economic update that is injecting $21 billion in stimulus into the Canadian economy as a result of our tax relief measures.

Ethics

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, Chuck Cadman was one of the most decent and honourable members of Parliament I have ever known. I like him even better now that I know when emissaries of the Conservative Party tried to encourage him to change his vote, he threw the bums out of his office and he sent them packing.

When the Liberals tried to bribe Gurmant Grewal, the Conservatives howled with derision. In the absence of any tape recordings this time around, we have the widow of Chuck Cadman, the candidate in that riding, with one story and the Prime Minister with another.

Will the government please clarify the situation?