House of Commons Hansard #81 of the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was producers.
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Mr. Speaker, another one of the Prime Minister's puppets who usually has his pants on fire and perhaps that is why we had fire trucks here today.
On the tape, when the Prime Minister was asked about the offer made to Mr. Cadman, he said, “I don't know the details. I know that there were discussions.”
Why is the Prime Minister refusing to answer? Will he explain what he said in the recording?
James Moore ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics
Mr. Speaker, I guess the students at the University of British Columbia have their answer about their member of Parliament and her commitment to raise issues regarding UBC in the House of Commons. She can continue to raise these fantasy questions and can continue to try to raise issues and scandals that in fact never happened.
We have answered this question. We made it clear. The Liberals have accused us of offering Chuck Cadman a million dollar life insurance policy. It is entirely untrue. We have stuck to the facts and I wish that my colleague from Vancouver Quadra would stick to the facts on her website where she said she would stand up for her constituents. So much for that.
Ken Dryden Liberal York Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, with every scandal around him, the Prime Minister can pretend--
The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken
Order, order. This is question period not a hockey game. We are hearing now a question from the hon. member for York Centre and we have to be able to hear the question. Order, please.
Ken Dryden Liberal York Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, with every scandal around him, the Prime Minister can pretend it is about somebody else. With the Cadman affair he cannot. It is all about him. His voice. His words.
Yesterday, the parliamentary secretary said there have been 150 questions, and from the Prime Minister, not one answer. But if he does not answer, there will be 150 more.
To the Prime Minister, do not slink down. Stand up. Explain.
James Moore ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics
Mr. Speaker, again, a little bit rich coming from the member for York Centre, asking anybody in the House of Commons to stand up. We have had a number of votes in the House of Commons in the past few weeks where the hon. member was, well, less than standing up.
We have some votes coming up in the future, so I would like to say to the member for York Centre, do not slink down. Do not sit down. Stand up and vote.
Ken Dryden Liberal York Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, I ask the parliamentary secretary to think hard about two things. Recently, hoping to distract from his Prime Minister's silence, he pointed out how Watergate all happened before he was born, but Watergate was not just about the downfall of a president. It was about a spokesperson, just like him, left in the dark, not asking questions, hung out to dry.
Last week he talked about something else he was almost too young to know. Pull the goalie? This is April. I do not get pulled.
James Moore ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics
Mr. Speaker, he says he does not get pulled. He pulled himself on every confidence vote in the House of Commons. He did not show up.
Again, I know 1972 was a fond year for my colleague from York Centre, and 1974 may be a fond one for him as well with the Nixon administration, but the reality is that we have spoken the truth. We have stood up and have consistently voted in the best interests of Canadians.
The member for York Centre can sit there and sulk, and slowly skate to the bench as he sits there and does nothing for Canadians.
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Mr. Speaker, Chief of the Defence Staff Rick Hillier once called the time the Liberals were in power the “decade of darkness”. That decade is over. Our government is firmly committed to rebuilding the Canadian Forces and supplying our military with the resources it needs in order to protect our land and to offer military assistance around the world.
Our valuable resources are our women and men who dedicate their lives to making a difference and serving their country. Our government is committed to increasing the number of recruits in the forces.
Could the Minister of National Defence tell us what is being done to encourage Canadians from all walks of life to join the military?
Peter MacKay ConservativeMinister of National Defence and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke for her question and for her support for the Canadian Forces. In fact, I was honoured this week to unveil the latest ad with respect to the Canadian Forces, the recruitment campaign called “Fight Fear”. This is in addition to two previous, very successful, ad campaigns. These ads showcase our work in Afghanistan, the Arctic, search and rescue, and interoperability with the RCMP.
We are proud of the work being carried out by the men and women of the armed forces. We are proud of their professionalism, their great courage, and in fact, as the ad says, they are going to continue to fight chaos, terror--
Thomas Mulcair NDP Outremont, QC
Mr. Speaker, in the Kanesatake matter, a mere forensic audit will simply not suffice. Last night, Radio-Canada reported that the Liberal government engaged in shameless interference in the 2004 election in Kanesatake and that these irregularities resulted in the tragic events that we are all familiar with.
Will the Minister of Public Safety agree to hold a full investigation? Who orchestrated this interference? Who pulled the strings? Who benefited from it? Canadians have the right to know.
Dave MacKenzie ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated earlier, our government will not tolerate mismanagement of Canadian taxpayers' money. There was a forensic audit which followed up on the observations made by auditors working on a financial audit regarding the mismanagement of financial activities at Kanesatake between April 2003 and March 2005. That is why we had that audit done.
Thomas Mulcair NDP Outremont, QC
Mr. Speaker, that is not enough. The documents obtained by Radio-Canada clearly show that the use of all this police force was unjustified. On its own, the police intervention teleguided by Ottawa cost $900,000. But since the crisis, Quebec has spent over $30 million on security at Kanesatake, and the SQ patrols continue to cost $300,000 a month.
Is the government prepared to pay its share of the damage done by the Liberals? That is the question.
Dave MacKenzie ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, as I have already indicated, we had a forensic audit done. The report will be submitted to the minister and we will go from there.
Judy Sgro Liberal York West, ON
Mr. Speaker, when the finance minister got caught giving an untendered $122,000 contract to his friend, he tried to blame his officials. Now we know that the minister was advised not once but twice by those same officials that it was against the rules and he decided to do it anyway.
Will the minister apologize to those officials that he blamed and explain to taxpayers why his friends are on the take?
Jim Flaherty ConservativeMinister of Finance
What I said, Mr. Speaker, was that administrative functions were not followed, which is absolutely true and accurate. I made that clear in the House. For the hon. member to suggest anything else is beneath contempt.
Judy Sgro Liberal York West, ON
Mr. Speaker, just a reminder that the minister is responsible, no one else. He is the minister. He takes the last hit on it.
We already know about two of Mr. MacPhie's finance contracts, one for $122,000 and another for $25,000. We also know there was a third contract for work on a tax credit scheme, originally for $7,500 but ballooned to $20,000. That is more than $160,000 in untendered contracts to this Conservative crony.
Why should taxpayers be on the hook for the minister's political debts?
Jim Flaherty ConservativeMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, we have been open and transparent about these contracts. They were listed online as part of proactive disclosure. They are on the website for anyone to read. Work was done. Value for money was done in very sensitive matters pertaining to national budget matters. Competent work was done.
There was an error made administratively with respect to one of the contracts and I have acknowledged that from the word go.
John McCallum Liberal Markham—Unionville, ON
Mr. Speaker, when the Minister of Finance awarded an illegal contract worth $122,000 to a friend, he said it was an administrative error. Nonetheless, today, we know that his own officials had told him in advance that such a contract was not allowed. It was not an error, but a deliberate act.
Why did he deliberately break the rules? Why did he try to blame others? And why did he mislead the House?
Jim Flaherty ConservativeMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, if the member opposite is suggesting that I deliberately broke the rules, he is wrong. It is absolutely not so. As I said weeks ago in this place and I will repeat again, with respect to that one contract, the administrative rules were not followed. That has been corrected and has not recurred.
John McCallum Liberal Markham—Unionville, ON
Mr. Speaker, there have been sole source contracts to friends, a train through his riding that VIA Rail says is uneconomic, big time campaign donors appointed to crown corporations, and millions of dollars of funding associated with his wife.
The Prime Minister sits only feet away from this minister. He must smell the pork by now. Or is it the Prime Minister's view, after the RCMP raid and the Cadman scandal, that pork and corruption are business as usual for the government?
Jim Flaherty ConservativeMinister of Finance
The member opposite, Mr. Speaker, speaks about pork. Let us talk about beef. Where is the beef? It is in billions of dollars of new support for R and D. It is the landmark tax-free savings account. It is solving the fiscal balance in Canada. It is the lowest unemployment rate in a generation. It is cutting the GST by 2%. It is in the historic $33 billion for infrastructure. It is the strongest economic fundamentals in the G-7.
We have a plan, “Advantage Canada”. The problem over there is that they have no plan, no policy, no vision and no leadership.
Nicole Demers Bloc Laval, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Fédération des femmes du Québec and the Fédération du Québec pour le planning des naissances are again stating their opposition to Bill C-484, because it represents a real threat to the right to abortion. While the women's movement is mobilizing across Quebec and Canada, the Minister of Status of Women is doing nothing.
Will the minister stop hiding behind excuses, such as saying that it is a free vote? Will she do her job and defend women?