House of Commons Hansard #79 of the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was use.
Stéphane Dion LiberalLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, for the Prime Minister, who is also the leader of the Conservative Party, it is about him and his government.
Elections Canada has already ruled that the Conservative Party broke the law. Now, the RCMP, Canada's national police force, is raiding Conservative Party headquarters.
What will it take for the Prime Minister to finally admit that the Conservative Party broke the law?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, as the House leader has said many times, that is completely false.
This is the reason that the Conservative Party itself has initiated the court action and, obviously, we will abide by whatever the courts decide. However, in this case, our legal position is rock solid.
Stéphane Dion LiberalLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, for six months now, the government has been systematically obstructing the work of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs to prevent it from looking into the Conservatives' in and out advertising scam during the last election.
Considering the RCMP raid on the Conservative Party offices this morning, will the Prime Minister finally promise to fully cooperate with this Parliament, with Elections Canada and now with the RCMP, or will he continue to cover up the truth?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
On the contrary, Mr. Speaker, this case is before the courts and it was the Conservative Party that initiated judicial proceedings. In fact, Elections Canada officials were scheduled to be examined by Conservative Party lawyers tomorrow. Whether or not there are delays because of today's events, we remain completely confident about our legal position.
Michael Ignatieff Liberal Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON
Mr. Speaker, how did it get to this? An RCMP squad raiding the offices of the Conservative Party, shredders working overtime in some back room and spinners in frantic damage control. How did we get here?
Why did Elections Canada need to get a search warrant and the help of the RCMP in the first place? Why did it need to pry information from the government's clenched fist? Why did we get here?
Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, the deputy leader of the Liberal Party asked a very good question because we have been cooperating fully. We have provided every document that has been requested by Elections Canada as a consequence of the lawsuit which we initiated with them over an interpretation of the law. So his question is a very good one. We do not understand why this was necessary.
Michael Ignatieff Liberal Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON
Mr. Speaker, this is what one gets when one plays fast and loose with election law. This is what one gets when one stonewalls Elections Canada. This is what one gets when one cheats and gets caught.
This is what we get with the Prime Minister. He sets the tone. Will he finally admit that this is about his character?
Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, it is about no such thing. It is about the fact that we have initiated an action against Elections Canada over a difference of interpretation in the law. That is an action we have taken to the court because we are very confident of our interpretation.
The fact is that Elections Canada initiated today's action. We do not believe it is necessary. We have always been forthcoming with any documents that have been requested, which does pose the question that the deputy House leader asked at the start, which was a very good question.
Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, this government truly has a problem with coordination, consistency and transparency. Since 2006, there has been a high turnover in Ministers of National Defence and Foreign Affairs. Yesterday, the current Minister of Foreign Affairs committed a huge blunder. Today we learn that the chief of the land staff, General Hillier, has tendered his resignation for some unknown reason.
Is General Hillier's resignation directly tied to the Minister of Foreign Affairs's blunder?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, General Hillier has worked well with the government. He has done an excellent job rebuilding the Canadian Forces. He is a great Canadian and we are proud to have worked with him.
Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, not so long ago, General Hillier said he was satisfied with the governor of Kandahar. The Minister of Foreign Affairs wonders about the governor, saying, “Is it the right person at the right place at the right time?”
Was the Minister of Foreign Affairs referring to himself or the governor of Kandahar?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Foreign Affairs is a good Quebecker and a good Canadian who is working for Canadian interests internationally. Canadians and Quebeckers are very proud, not only of this minister, but of the role Quebec plays in Canada and in the world.
Claude Bachand Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Speaker, in 2007, when the Bloc Québécois was concerned about the allegations of corruption and torture brought against the governor of Kandahar, the Minister of Foreign Affairs declared that the situation in Kandahar had greatly improved. Yesterday, this same minister short-circuited the diplomatic efforts now underway by openly asking President Karzai to replace the governor of Kandahar.
Are these blunders and contradictions not enough to prove two things: this government's lack of transparency and the incompetence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs?
Deepak Obhrai ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and to the Minister of International Cooperation
Mr. Speaker, Afghanistan is its own state and it makes its own decisions about government appointments.
Canada is helping Afghanistan to become a stable, democratic and self-sustaining state so it can never again serve as a haven for terrorists threatening global and Canadian security.
Since 2006, Canada's efforts have been guided by the Afghanistan Compact. We are there to do our business. As the Prime Minister said, we have full confidence in the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Claude Bachand Bloc Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Speaker, it is the same old story: lack of transparency in the matter of Afghan detainees, lack of transparency with regard to current or future NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, lack of transparency with regard to the commissioner's inquiry into complaints against the military police.
Does the Prime Minister realize that his government lacks transparency, that his ministers are acting like amateurs and that these are additional reasons for leaving Afghanistan in February 2009?
Peter MacKay ConservativeMinister of National Defence and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Mr. Speaker, it is evident that the Bloc Québécois does not support the Canadian mission in Afghanistan. Its members are acting like rank amateurs in the debates in the House of Commons. The Bloc Québecois contributes nothing at all to the real debate in this matter.
It does not support the mission in Afghanistan. This government supports the Canadian Forces and supports international aid efforts in Afghanistan. We will continue to support our mission as well as the men and women in the Canadian Forces.
Jack Layton NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON
Mr. Speaker, Liberal Party activities resulted in several RCMP investigations into the sponsorship scandal and tax leakage from income trusts. During their campaign, the Conservatives called for greater transparency and criticized Liberal scheming. They were right to do so. However, when the Prime Minister says that he will keep his hands perfectly clean, then proceeds not to do so, we have a problem. As it happens, there is a problem: RCMP officers are at Conservative headquarters.
Why did Elections Canada have to ask—
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, with respect to the case that is before the courts, the Conservative Party provided all of the information requested by Elections Canada. We are impatiently awaiting the resolution of this matter before the courts because we have a great deal of confidence in our legal position.
Jack Layton NDP Toronto—Danforth, ON
Mr. Speaker, it sounds to me as though the Prime Minister is suggesting that the RCMP has gone on a fishing expedition, prompted by Elections Canada, in the offices of the Conservative Party.
In actual fact, what the government is doing is closing the doors to the transparency that it promised the Canadian people. The Conservatives campaigned that they would to be as pure as the driven snow. It turns out that it is not much different over here than it was over there and the RCMP has had to be called in again. The question is, why? What do the Conservatives have to hide?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, once again, in this particular case, a case that is before the courts because the Conservative Party initiated the case, the Conservative Party gave Elections Canada all the documents it asked for.
As the House leader said, it is unclear in our mind why exactly Elections Canada is undertaking this action today. Its officials were scheduled to be examined by our lawyers tomorrow. In any case, that will go ahead at some point. We remain extremely optimistic and confident about the public resolution of this matter.
Dominic LeBlanc Liberal Beauséjour, NB
Mr. Speaker, for eight months, the Conservatives have been stonewalling attempts by a parliamentary committee to investigate the in and out scandal. The Conservatives even took Elections Canada to court in a phony attempt to delay the investigation. Now the Conservatives have stonewalled so long that the elections commissioner has had to call in the RCMP.
Will the government now, at long last, with its pants on fire, admit the truth and tell Canadians why it covered up this scandal?
Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, the visit by Elections Canada today to the office is related to the issues of the court case that we initiated because of our difference of opinion with Elections Canada, and we are very optimistic about that.
As for the procedure and House affairs committee effort, which members of the Liberal Party initiated, let us be honest about why they are doing that. There is legislation waiting to be studied at that committee that the Liberal Party demanded, legislation on the visual identification of voters, which their leader stood up and told Canadians that he wanted to see passed, but guess what? He has changed his mind and is against it. He does not want Canadians to know about that flip-flop.
Dominic LeBlanc Liberal Beauséjour, NB
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives deny having offered compensation to Chuck Cadman. They refuse to hold an inquiry into the Mulroney affair. The RCMP is going through their offices to investigate election financing irregularities. The mayor of Ottawa is the subject of a criminal investigation because of the Minister of the Environment.
Will the man at the centre of all of these scandals finally stand up and take responsibility? My question is for the Prime Minister.
Peter Van Loan ConservativeLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party, for some time, has had no substantive policy. There has been a vacuum of leadership. When its members take positions they change them.
As a result, without any vision for the country, all they can do is focus on and create imaginary scandals.
The imaginary scandal they are chasing today is actually on a court case initiated by our party, the Conservative Party, to advance our interests because of a disagreement we have with Elections Canada. That is hardly a scandal. It is a question of a solid interpretation of the law as a result of the fact that we do follow all Canada's election laws, a stark contrast with what we saw in the past from that party.
