Debates of March 10th, 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, first, Chuck Cadman was going to run again.

Second, the only other offer that was put on the table was the offer, as I said, to rejoin the Conservatives, get re-nominated as a Conservative, and that we would offer him any financial support that was necessary and mandated by Elections Canada, allowed by Elections Canada, to seek re-election.

The Liberals are saying some awfully outrageous things here in the House of Commons, but the longer they continue to avoid the facts, the longer they are going to continue to delude themselves of anything other than the simple facts of what Chuck Cadman himself said is the truth here. Chuck Cadman himself said this was the only offer. I think the Liberals should accept his word.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last Thursday, I asked the Prime Minister whether he knew in September 2005 that his party had approached Chuck Cadman about rejoining the Conservative caucus.

Today, four days later, I ask the same question: did the Prime Minister know in September 2005 that his party had approached Chuck Cadman about rejoining the caucus? Yes or no?

[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, everyone knows the offer that was made to Chuck Cadman on May 19, 2005. The three people who were at the meeting have all said the same thing. At the meeting, Mr. Cadman received an offer to rejoin our caucus, run as a Conservative candidate and be re-elected as a Conservative candidate. Mr. Cadman was offered any help he needed to be re-elected as a Conservative.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that is not what I am asking. The member is telling me that the people who met with Chuck Cadman offered to have him rejoin the caucus. My question is this: did the Prime Minister know that his assistants, his advisors, had proposed that Mr. Cadman rejoin the Conservative Party? Did the Prime Minister know that in September 2005?

I do not want to know what Tom Flanagan proposed; I want to know whether the Prime Minister knew what Mr. Flanagan was doing. Did he or did he not know that Mr. Cadman had received an offer to rejoin the caucus? The question is clear.

[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, yes, the Prime Minister, like everyone in our caucus, knew that Chuck Cadman had received an offer to rejoin our caucus, run for election and be re-elected as a Conservative.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, finally, the parliamentary secretary has told us that the Prime Minister knew in September 2005 that Chuck Cadman had been invited to rejoin the caucus. So why, when he met with the journalist, did he not tell him that a proposal had been made to Cadman for him to rejoin the caucus? He talks about details; that is not a detail. Rather, he is talking about financial considerations.

Why did he not say, at that point, if he knew, that the offer was to rejoin the caucus? Let him explain it now, so we can see.

[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, the Prime Minister explained exactly those facts. He has so several times in this House now, as have I. In addition, each of the three people present at that meeting, Chuck Cadman, Tom Flanagan and Doug Finley, has said the same thing.

I understand that the Bloc does not want to understand those facts, but those facts are the reality and that is the situation. Each one of those three people says the same thing; that is the reality, those are the facts.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, what he has just said is false. He has never told this House that the Prime Minister knew it in September 2005. The Prime Minister has always refused to answer those questions. The Prime Minister did not know, for one very simple reason: that is not what Chuck Cadman was offered. That is why the Prime Minister refuses to answer questions. He talked about details, about financial considerations.

Let him explain it to us, for once. So he has told us that he knew about it. How is it that he did not tell the journalist that it had been proposed that he rejoin the caucus? He talked about details. I submit to him that rejoining the caucus is not a detail. Let him explain that, rather than answering—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services has the floor.

[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, what a vivid imagination. What is needed here is for us to use and consider all the facts we have on the table. The facts are clear, they are simple. I have presented the facts here to this House. Chuck Cadman himself said that in two national television broadcasts and also in a radio broadcast in Vancouver. He said the same thing every time.

The member wants to ignore the facts and ask questions that are in no way based on the facts. We stand with Chuck Cadman, who said himself that there had been only one offer, the offer to rejoin the Conservative Party.

International Trade

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

Mr. Speaker, NAFTA poses serious problems; workers' families know it and are suffering the consequences. The Minister of International Trade told the representative of Maine in the U.S. Congress that Canada was open to amending NAFTA. Michael Michaud, like the NDP, knows that the current agreement is not a good thing for today's families.

Will the Prime Minister inform the Americans that Canada will renegotiate NAFTA or does he prefer to allow his office to meddle in the U.S. elections?

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

Mr. Speaker, I will give the NDP members credit for consistency. At least they have always been against NAFTA, not just some of the time. Their consistency, however, flies in the face of facts that show that NAFTA has been a tremendous success and that is why we support it.

Nearly 4.1 million net new jobs have been created in Canada since 1993, representing an increase of 32% over pre-NAFTA employment levels. It is a record that has continued under this government: 43,000 net new jobs in February; 361,000 net new jobs in the past 12 months; and 799,000 net new jobs since we became a government. Almost one million more Canadians are working today.

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

Mr. Speaker, the government is refusing to answer the question. The fact is that our Minister of Industry told a U.S. congressman that Canada was willing to reopen NAFTA, but then we have public statements that suggest the contrary.

I simply want to ask the following question. Is the Prime Minister and is the government willing to improve the environmental and labour standards of NAFTA, or when it comes to standing up for something, are they only willing to stand up for their friends, the Republicans, when it comes to NAFTA?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have been consistent throughout. We believe that NAFTA is a good agreement that is serving the interests of Canada and Canadians very well. We think it is serving the interests of the other partners very well.

There has been no effort and no offer on our part to reopen NAFTA. We think it works well. That being said, if there is an effort to reopen it, we will of course continue to pursue a stronger NAFTA that continues to advance Canadians' interests.

It has served us very well. We have seen that since it was first entered into. We have seen that it continues to serve us well under a government that now has good policies that deliver nearly a million new Canadian jobs since we became the government.

Ethics

[Marlene Jennings, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in 2005 the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works told Lawrence Martin, a senior Ottawa journalist, that the Conservatives were working out a financial package for Chuck Cadman, yet last Friday he told the House that Mr. Martin was wrong.

Over the weekend, Lawrence Martin again confirmed that the parliamentary secretary laid out the scheme in 2005. Just who should we believe, a senior journalist or a parliamentary secretary with the unenviable task of defending the indefensible?

[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, what I said in the House last week was that what was reported was that at the time I knew the details of the meeting on May 19. That is what was reported and that element was in fact entirely not true.

I had no information about what was specifically offered at the May 19 meeting. We now do know what was offered at the May 19 meeting. They were the three elements that I have already mentioned in the House a number of times.

[Marlene Jennings, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, once again they are changing their story.

Lawrence Martin, to whom the parliamentary secretary spoke, said: “I fear that the parliamentary secretary's memory is short.” He wrote it in the newspaper without the immunity of the House.

Will the parliamentary secretary do the same? Will he tell the House what exactly he was discussing in 2005 or will he take Mr. Martin to court?

[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, she is asking the exact same question in French that I already answered in English. I will just reiterate again that the column last week said that I knew the specifics of the meeting of May 19. That element of the column is of course not true.

I did not know what was going on, on May 19, 2005, but we do now know. Chuck Cadman himself said what happened at the meeting and his words are very clear.

[Ken Dryden, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, let us recap. We know Mr. Cadman told his wife, his daughter and his son-in-law that he had been offered a life insurance policy, and that he considered it a bribe.

We know that the Prime Minister was aware of discussions about the policy involving Mr. Cadman and legitimate representatives of the Conservative Party.

We know that the Prime Minister, who seems willing to talk about matters that relate to Mr. Cadman and his family, will not answer questions that relate to his own words: what they mean and what he knew.

I will give the Prime Minister another chance. They are his words: “I don't know the details. I know that there were discussions”.

Tell us what those words mean.

[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, part of the problem with the Liberals' line of attack on this issue is that they had an advance copy of the book a year ago. If they really believed in these allegations, if they really believed in what they were saying, why have they been sitting on this for a year?

They have been sitting on this for a year because they are using it now as an attempt to distract from their own leadership issues and to distract from the problems they are having within their own caucus.

The truth and the facts of this matter are clear. They are right before us in the words of Chuck Cadman himself, about the only offer that was made to Chuck Cadman. The Liberals know it and they are trying to distract, spin and all this nonsense. They know it is not true. We know the truth. Chuck Cadman spoke the truth.

[Ken Dryden, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as time passes, it is clear that the answers the Prime Minister and parliamentary secretary are giving are to questions that have not been asked and no matter how hard they spin, all anyone can hear are the answers they have not given.

They are about the Prime Minister. They are about the Zytaruk tapes. They are about his own words: “I don't know the details. I know that there were discussions”.

Tell us what those words mean.

[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, there were discussions on May 19, as I have described in this House of Commons. I have said many times that those discussions took place and that they were regarding Chuck Cadman's reintegration into the Conservative Party and to run as a Conservative candidate. I have said that again and again and I will continue to do so.

I thank the member for York Centre for allowing me, for the 38th time, to say the exact same thing.

Official Languages

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the development of francophone minority communities is not a priority for the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages. Not only was there no money in the budget for these communities, but the action plan for official languages expires on March 31. While this increases the urgency of the situation, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages is holding up the release of the Lord report.

Will the minister finally take action on official languages and tell us what she intends to do when the action plan for official languages expires on March 31, 2008?

[Josée Verner, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, indeed, our government has promised to develop the second phase of the action plan for official languages. I am surprised by the Bloc Québécois' sudden interest in linguistic minority communities across the country.

As our government promised the communities, we have held consultations. I received Bernard Lord's report on March 3. We are studying the recommendations for the next phase of the plan.

That said, I would like to know what the Bloc Québécois is proposing for the anglophone minority community in Quebec.

[Carole Lavallée, Bloc, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the most recent figures on the language of work in Quebec are worrisome. In the Montreal area, more than 25% of workers work in English. This situation could be different if the Canada Labour Code had been amended to allow the application of Bill 101 on language of work to federal institutions in Quebec. This measure would affect roughly 240,000 Quebec workers.

Will the government give real meaning to recognizing Quebec as a nation and support the Bloc Québécois' Bill C-482?