Debates of April 16th, 2008

Elections Canada

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

Mr. Speaker, our election spending practices comply fully with the law. Other parties do exactly the same type of spending. In fact, in the last election, the Liberal Party did grouped regional advertising, the same thing, and it even has an approach where the national campaign provides nationally produced advertising brochures and materials to local candidates who actually need to sign over their Elections Canada rebates to the central party.

It sounds like in and out and it sounds like back and forth but, guess what? It is exactly the same as what we do and we actually think it is legal.

[Garth Turner, Liberal, Halton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, when police raided the Conservative Party headquarters yesterday looking for evidence of election fraud, there was one name they left without having in their files and that was mine.

As a Conservative candidate in 2005, I refused to take part in an election scheme designed to break the law and rip off taxpayers. My campaign team--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Garth Turner, Liberal, Halton, ON]

My question is for the Prime Minister, Mr. Integrity. If what he did was legal in the last election, will he be doing the same thing this time?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Integrity for his bold stance some two and a half years after the event in question. This is the same fellow who said that anybody who ever crossed the floor should go to the people for ratification of that decision.

There will be another round of by-elections. We would be happy to accommodate him if he wants to put his integrity to the test of Canadians and voters in Halton.

[Garth Turner, Liberal, Halton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government claims that this historic raid was no big deal, just the result of a civil lawsuit. However, never before have 66 candidates, many of them obedient, pliant, silent members of Parliament, ever been indicted by the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada.

The Conservatives say that it was an imaginary raid. Were the police imaginary?

Could the Prime Minister confirm that the RCMP shut down the Conservative Party's central computer yesterday to find out what was there and what had been deleted?

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

Mr. Speaker, all of our practices entirely follow the law. We share some of the concern of the hon. member. We do not know why any search by Elections Canada was necessary because we provided every document required.

I am also given pause to wonder why it was that the Liberal Party of Canada just happened to be on the scene, camera crew at the ready. That is an interesting question to ask.

Afghanistan

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in October 2007, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said that the situation in Kandahar had improved significantly, but earlier this week, he said the opposite, adding that “The president will have to decide about the governor's future. Is he the right person at the right place at the right time—?”

Can the minister explain these contradictions and what he meant by his remarks so that we can understand what he was thinking?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I am a great champion of human rights in Canada and Afghanistan. This party, this government, is fighting for good governance in Afghanistan. We are doing so because of UN resolution 1806, which asks countries and the international community to help improve governance to “combat corruption, in particular at subnational level, and to promote development initiatives at the local level”.

That is what we are doing in Afghanistan. I would like the Bloc Québécois to support us in our efforts to help the Afghan people.

[Francine Lalonde, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, the minister is not doing things the right way. In addition to having burned diplomatic bridges, the minister handcuffed President Karzai. Dismissing the governor of Kandahar right now would give people the impression that the Afghan president is heading up a puppet government.

Is the Prime Minister aware that looking like the puppet of the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, whose most conspicuous activity during a recent visit to Afghanistan was handing out Jos Louis cakes, does not come across as particularly glorious?

[Maxime Bernier, Conservative, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, instead of indulging in partisan politics, my Bloc Québécois colleague should do what we on this side of the House are doing and help the Afghan people achieve better economic development, good governance, a stable government and improved security in Afghanistan.

But no, the Bloc Québécois is doing what it has always done for the past 18 years: speak out against everything happening here in Canada. The Bloc does not want to help the Afghan people build better lives for themselves.

Justice

[Johanne Deschamps, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Conservative Bill C-484 is creating some serious concerns in Quebec. The Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec, the Fédération des femmes du Québec and the Confédération des syndicats nationaux are speaking out against this bill that would throw open the door for the recriminalization of abortion.

Instead of hiding behind false pretenses and saying that it is a free vote, will the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages finally assume her responsibilities and defend women so that this regressive bill will never pass?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, for umpteen days we have been getting this question from the Bloc Québécois on this private member's bill. It is up to each member to decide how he or she wants to treat the bill.

I am happy if the Bloc Québécois members have finally discovered some justice issues. I want to get their help on ID theft, auto theft and drug bills. Where is their position on those? Let us hear it from them.

[Carole Freeman, Bloc, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Pro-Life is boasting that Bill C-484 is a triumph that could recognize fetal rights. It is very clear that the Conservatives' old reformist slant is resurfacing, and that it was with an eye to an election that the Prime Minister did not show up to vote on the second reading of this bill.

Why is the Minister of Justice allowing the debate about a woman's right to abortion to be re-opened via the back door and under false pretenses?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, maybe the hon. member missed this, but this is a private member's bill that has been debated in this House.

While I am on my feet, I would like to know where the Bloc Québécois stands on our drug bill. That has mandatory jail terms for people who import or export narcotics in and out of this country, and for people who want to sell drugs around schoolyards, and for people who want to get into the grow op business. I have not heard a peep out of the Bloc on this one. Let us hear it.

Minister of the Environment

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the minister who introduced the accountability act was also the chair of the Conservative campaign in Ontario. While Morton Paulsen was under contract to the Friends of Science, he was also the spokesperson for that same minister during the last election.

Why did the Minister of the Environment give Mr. Paulsen access to the results of internal polls? Why did he allow him to pick the markets where Friends of Science commercials were to be aired?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I have never met Mr. Paulsen. I had never heard his name until yesterday.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Friends of Science has admitted it was Mr. Paulsen, Barry Cooper's right-hand man, who planned the ad campaign and picked the five markets in Ontario while working for the minister on the Conservative campaign. They even bragged that these radio ads reached hundreds of thousands of people in ridings where they could influence the outcome of the election. In fact, they did.

Will Canadians have to wait until the RCMP comes knocking on the minister's door, or will he simply admit that Friends of Science act as an arm for the Conservative Party to break, yet again, campaign financing rules?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, until yesterday I was unaware of any radio ads. I have never heard of the Friends of Science, and I have never heard of Barry Cooper or Douglas Leahey.

What the Liberal member for Ottawa South is doing is saying things with which he has no ability to provide one ounce of truth to back them up. If he is so brave, if he is so convinced he has the facts, let him tender those facts outside of the House of Commons. Let him say exactly what he said here outside of the House of Commons. There is a reason why he will not, because it is not true and he knows it.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

Order. That question is over. We are moving to the hon. member for London West now. She has the floor. Order.

[Sue Barnes, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we have heard reports that a Canada Revenue Agency investigation is ongoing into whether the Prime Minister's friend and adviser, Barry Cooper, misused the University of Calgary's charitable tax status by engaging in partisan activities in election advertising.

I ask the revenue minister , who was heading up the investigation? When does he expect it to conclude, and will the conclusions be made public?

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, I am not aware of any investigation.

[Sue Barnes, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Friends of Science helped the Conservatives by launching an anti-Kyoto PR campaign on the very same day that the former Liberal government's project green was announced.

Now we learn through this week's release of the Calgary University's audit services report that they also worked with the Conservatives in the last election through the potentially illegal third party advertising during an election, an advertising campaign that hit Ontario.

Given that the revenue minister may be among those who personally benefited from these questionable ads, has the minister recused himself from any of his department's--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. Minister of the Environment.