Debates of Oct. 20th, 2009

Justice

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

Mr. Speaker, it is obvious that the Prime Minister is not tackling the real problems with his bill on white-collar crime. In fact, the bill announced does not abolish parole after one-sixth of the sentence has been served, nor does it go after tax havens, two measures that would directly target white-collar criminals.

How does the Prime Minister expect to truly tackle white-collar crime with a bill that is so flawed?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of Justice already indicated, this government will introduce other measures against white-collar criminals. I hope that the Bloc will support these measures when they are introduced in Parliament.

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

Mr. Speaker, he will introduce the measures when Vincent Lacroix and Earl Jones are eligible for parole after serving one-sixth of their sentences.

He could have agreed to the Bloc's proposal that these two individuals not be eligible for parole after serving one-sixth of their sentence but he preferred to do nothing. This is also the case for tax havens: the government refuses to introduce any legislation. Consequently, once white-collar criminals are paroled they can access the money that they transferred to tax havens without any worries.

Is that the Prime Minister's fight against white-collar crime?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this government proposed eliminating house arrest for white-collar criminals and the Bloc opposed the measure.

This party has taken steps to protect our children against trafficking and the Bloc also voted against that.

When the Minister of Justice introduces the measures it has asked for, I hope that the Bloc will finally support measures to reduce crime in this country.

CINAR

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it was not a bill about child trafficking; it was about the exploitation of minors.

The CINAR affair is one of the largest financial scandals in Canadian history. Taxpayers and thousands of shareholders were taken to the cleaners. Although CINAR admitted to committing fraud against Telefilm in a document filed with the Court of Appeal, the Conservative government is refusing to lay charges.

How can the government claim to be going after white-collar crimes when it refuses to take action against people who admit to fraud?

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

Mr. Speaker, I do not know where the Bloc has been, Mr. Speaker. Just a couple of minutes ago, before question period started, those members were holding up the bill on identity theft by getting up one after the other.

Again, I want to point out for those members that when we brought in bills to get rid of house arrest for people who committed serious fraud, the Bloc members were the very first ones on their feet to oppose that. They should get their act together and start to stand up for victims in our country.

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that is a second falsehood, because I was here this morning to say that the Bloc supported Bill S-4.

Yesterday, the federalist parties refused to allow the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights to begin an investigation into the CINAR affair. But in recent weeks, a number of new facts have surfaced. Former RCMP officers spoke out about interference in their investigation. A court confirmed the allegations made by Claude Robinson about front men. CINAR itself admitted committing fraud against Telefilm Canada.

By refusing to reopen the CINAR case, does the government realize that, just like the Liberals and the NDP, it has no credibility when it claims to be going after white-collar crimes?

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

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member supports the bill on identity theft, get the bill passed. I have been saying that to those members for months now.

If the Bloc members have discovered that there is a problem with crime in our country, why do they not do the right thing? When we have now made two attempts to ensure that white collar criminals do not get to go home after they have been sentenced on house arrest, they have opposed us on it. They should get up and apologize for that and let us move forward.

Infrastructure

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister ran on a platform of doing things differently than the sponsorship scandal Liberals. The Conservatives ran on a platform saying that public money should not be used to buy votes. They seem to have forgotten all about that.

Yesterday we had the spectacle of the transport minister standing and boasting that what he and his government were doing was exactly like the Chrétien Liberals.

May I ask thePrime Minister, has the Conservative Party become exactly like the Chrétien Liberals? Is this what is going on today in the Conservative Party?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Oh, Lord help us, Mr. Speaker. The fact is we remember in the dark days of the previous government, public money went into private hands. It disappeared. It was stolen.

This government has a multi-billion dollar economic stimulus program. Where that money is going to every valuable project in the country is on the website. It is delivering the results. That is one of the reasons our economy is pulling through this recession so much better than so many others.

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

Mr. Speaker, these practices are not acceptable. Even worse, they are bad for national unity.

The Bloc Québécois owes its resurgence to the Liberal Party at the time and its sponsorship scandal.

The Conservatives have not learned anything.

On the one hand, they are not giving Quebec its fair share, with only 7% of the stimulus money, and on the other, the money being spent in Quebec is going mainly to Conservative ridings.

Did the Prime Minister not learn anything from the sponsorship scandal?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, this money was not stolen from taxpayers. This money is going to projects that are vital to communities during this recession.

They are not just our projects. They are being carried out in cooperation with the Government of Quebec and the municipalities of Quebec. Conservative members are working very hard to bring such projects to their ridings. I encourage the opposition members to do the same, because it is important for Quebec as a whole and Canada as a whole.

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

Mr. Speaker, a joint study by the Citizen and the Chronicle-Herald clearly establishes that the Conservatives are using the stimulus package on a very partisan basis.

I remember Preston Manning founding a movement and coming to Ottawa to fight against exactly this kind of pork-barrelling practice. The Prime Minister used to be a proud member of that movement.

Now he has his members of Parliament hiding behind the Chrétien Liberals and using exactly the same approaches that they used to adopt.

Why has the Prime Minister abandoned Preston Manning and sided with the Chrétien Liberal plan?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure Preston will be delighted to hear he has the support of the leader of the NDP, even if it is a bit overdue.

The fact is even this incomplete list indicates that the largest projects were in opposition ridings and almost half of the projects went into opposition ridings. That is what the list shows.

What it shows is the Conservative MPs are working hard not only for their own ridings but for all the country. I would encourage members of the opposition, instead of opposing these projects, to work hard to ensure good things are done in their communities.

[Gerard Kennedy, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the Prime Minister about his breach of trust on recreation infrastructure funds.

All across the country there are community centres and arenas that need renewal and unemployed Canadians who need work. Yet the Prime Minister has let his ministers favour their own ridings and those of their colleagues.

In Ontario his Minister of Industry gave Conservatives 34% more dollars at the expense of the majority of unemployed in other opposition ridings.

Will the Prime Minister now direct his minister to fix this unfairness, or did he direct him to do it in the first place?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, let me assure the chamber and all Canadians that we had a rigorous selection process for these recreational infrastructure projects throughout the country, but certainly in Ontario. All parts of the province had access to these funds. In northern Ontario, southwestern Ontario and the city of Toronto, I had Liberal MPs thanking me for the recreational infrastructure in their ridings.

This is a fair program. It is good for Canada and good for Ontario.

[Gerard Kennedy, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the minister would have us believe that it was just a coincidence. He got five times as many projects for his riding as the average for the province of Ontario.

What his Prime Minister forgot to say when he visited Toronto was that he was shortchanging that city by 25% in the infrastructure program. His Ontario Conservatives took $27 million more for themselves in just this one program.

Will the Prime Minister now direct his ministers to start treating all Canadians fairly, or does he prefer to continue to put his Conservative Party first?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, if he checks the record on my riding, we in Parry Sound—Muskoka did in fact receive a lot of $30,000 to $40,000 projects. The city of Toronto got a lot of $500,000 to $600,000 projects. If he wants to compare apples to apples, I dare him to do that.

This is a fair program. It works for all of Ontario. It is important to get recreational infrastructure done. It is part of our stimulus package. It is for jobs, it is for opportunity and it is for the health of our communities. We are in favour of that.

[Marcel Proulx, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, another huge sign has been put up nearby, at St. Andrew's Tower.

Can the Conservatives tell us the costs of this project, which, according to their own information, consists in removing the tiles from the floor of the mechanical room?

How many jobs did this project create?

And how much did this sign cost taxpayers?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I will tell the member opposite a number of things. When we arrived in government in this place and when I arrived on Parliament Hill, I was absolutely astonished by the neglect of the nation's capital by the previous government.

We are facing some unprecedented economic challenges and I am very proud to be part of a government that is making investments to improve the quality of life for our public servants all over the national capital region.

As we restore hope and opportunity and create jobs, we need the Liberals to stop voting against these important investments in infrastructure.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, that is some fabricated story by the Minister of Transport. The fact is that is a government that claims maintenance work as economic stimulus, doorknob for doorknob. Worse, Conservative deception is becoming standard to government practice. There is deception on everything from deficits to Conservative cheque signings to staged town halls to partisan ads and signs, all at the expense of the taxpayers.

How can the Prime Minister impose additional deficit on our children and grandchildren for these partisan antics?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we have been working hard on construction projects, big and small, in every part of the country. The Minister of Finance came forward with an important initiative, the home renovation tax credit. These are some of the smallest projects right across the country in the homes of families. We are providing a bit of support for families to help improve their homes and make them more energy efficient, safer and better able to meet the demands of their family.

Maybe if the member for Malpeque spent less time polishing doorknobs and more time working for his constituents and worrying about jobs and opportunity, we would get further in our country.

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Prime Minister's political lieutenant said that he did not think there was a problem with two Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated officials participating in a Conservative Party fundraiser, yet the crown corporation's spokesperson acknowledged that its code of conduct prohibits its officials from taking part in such partisan activities. An internal investigation was launched.

Does the minister admit that he supported inappropriate actions that clearly violate the crown corporation's code of conduct for officials?

[John Baird, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, as I said moments ago, this government recognizes the importance of operating openly and transparently. A crown corporation awarded a contract, and that corporation operates at arm's length from the government. This government is committed to ensuring that all corporations operate openly and transparently. If the Bloc member has any further information about this, she should tell the House immediately.

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

Mr. Speaker, this whole business stinks. On the very day that the political lieutenant for Quebec announced $212 million to repair the Champlain bridge, people from Senator Housakos' company, which was about to get the contract to study the project, attended a cocktail fundraiser along with JCCBI officials.

Does the Prime Minister realize that this situation appeared, at the very least, to be a conflict of interest?