Debates of Oct. 7th, 2009

Employment Insurance

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, last week the Leader of the Opposition was, and has been for some time, calling on this government to engage in employment insurance reforms which would permanently add $4 billion to the bottom line of that program. This week he claims to be concerned about how EI premiums could increase in the future.

That is why when we undertake decisions on employment insurance, we make sure they are short-term, we make sure they are affordable in the long-term, and we make sure we have a plan. I would urge the Leader of the Opposition, rather than jumping back and forth, to have a plan and give us some—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for Brossard—La Prairie.

[Alexandra Mendes, Liberal, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are going to have to tighten their belts, because the Conservatives are getting ready to pick their pockets again and lighten their wallets with a new tax. Workers will have to pay $632 more with the increases in EI premiums. I do not know whether the minister knows how much this additional tax represents in groceries.

Why will the Conservatives not admit that this is a new tax they are imposing on workers and that it will cause new job losses?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, we have done something the Liberals never did: we have created a commission to administer EI premiums.

We have established a commission that will set premiums on a break-even basis over time for EI so that we do not have what the Liberals had, which was a huge surplus so they could pay off their political friends.

[Yasmin Ratansi, Liberal, Don Valley East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, starting in 2012, employers' premiums will ramp up to an extra $884 per worker.

In the words of Dale Orr, the Conservatives' own economist, “this is a tax”. This tax increase is economically harmful, it is perverse and it will kill jobs.

How can the government justify imposing a payroll tax that it knows will kill jobs?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development]

Mr. Speaker, we did freeze EI premiums during this economic crisis and, thankfully, the Liberals supported it at that point in time because they realized that was good for the economy.

This is what an Alberta director of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said:

...after years of abuse.... The creation of the CEIFB is a good thing and should serve to protect the EI fund from the sticky fingers of future governments.

Cinar

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister asked us to bring in new information in the Cinar case. Well, here it is. A case of documents concerning the production of Robinson Sucroe has disappeared from Telefilm Canada offices. Cinar admitted to committing fraud, by using only 10% of the funds, and a former RCMP investigator claimed that the Cinar investigation was going well until a memo was received from the justice minister, asking the RCMP not to press charges. Not to mention everything that is being kept hidden.

Will the Prime Minister finally abandon his opaque transparency and launch a public inquiry into the Cinar situation?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc leader is still talking about things that happened under the previous government. If the Bloc leader has real accusations to make against his centralist allies in this House, he can give that information to the authorities.

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

Mr. Speaker, that is funny; it would be very much in his interest to uncover what the opposition is up to. Is he refusing to do so because some Conservatives were also involved? Why is he refusing? Two parties, one attitude: a lack of transparency. If he is as transparent as he claims, he would release the memo he is hiding from us. He is the one in power now. He can easily ask for this memo to be released, so we know what the justice minister said to prevent the truth from coming out. He is in power. He needs to take action, or else he is just as guilty.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc leader is accusing me of covering up a Liberal scandal. Honestly. Our accountability reforms include a system for carrying out these kinds of independent investigations. If the Bloc leader, who has an alliance with the Liberals, is now claiming that they are corrupt, if he truly has accusations to make, he can pass that information on to the authorities.

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

Mr. Speaker, Telefilm dragged its feet for a number of years by failing to disclose documents, by informing Cinar of the RCMP investigation and by dismissing suspicions about Cinar as an urban legend. Only Louse Pelletier held fast and made it possible for the truth about Cinar to come to light. The new administration of Telefilm seems more combative and wants to recover from Cinar the money that Cinar clearly stole.

Does the Minister of National Revenue intend to show the same determination as Telefilm and have Cinar charged with fraud?

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

Mr. Speaker, those are all events that took place under the previous Liberal administration.

I appreciate that the Bloc members are new to the justice file, but I would point out to them that now we have a director of public prosecutions to ensure there is absolutely no political interference with the investigations of any allegations. If they have any evidence, they should turn it over to the appropriate authorities.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois has been asking questions about this for years.Telefilm is not the only victim. There are a number of small investors who were also cheated by Cinar's fraudulent moves. Telefilm has decided to take action and wants to recover the money stolen from it by Cinar. The government must do the same by having fraud charges laid against Cinar and attempting to recover the fraudulently obtained money.

If the government refuses to take action, it will be a sign that, like the Liberals, it has friends to protect.

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

Mr. Speaker, the member is imploring the government to start laying charges. Again, there is a process in place in this country and it has been in place for the last couple of years, but again the Bloc has missed this. It is the office of the director of public prosecutions.

If Bloc members have any evidence about their former friends or present friends, they should turn that information over to that office or the appropriate office.

Afghanistan

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

Mr. Speaker, this government has caused the written testimony of Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin to be sealed. That letter describes what he knows about Afghan prisoners. It describes what the government knew about the torture of those prisoners.

The Conservatives do not want people to hear what Mr. Colvin has to say. They are doing everything they can to suppress, censor, delay and conceal that information.

Will the Prime Minister tell us exactly what he is afraid of?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the government fully respects the commission's jurisdiction in this matter. We also respect the decisions made by the courts.

We are cooperating with the tribunal based on its decisions and its jurisdiction, and we will continue to do so.

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

Some co-operation, Mr. Speaker. The government is now trying to shut down the entire inquiry. It has threatened Richard Colvin with legal consequences if he co-operates with the commission.

Mr. Colvin is a career diplomat who currently serves as head of intelligence at our embassy in Washington. He is the only diplomat who worked with the provincial reconstruction team and has first-hand knowledge of what was going on in Afghan prisons at the time. The commission lawyer believes that Mr. Colvin has vital information.

What does the government know about what was going on in the Afghan prisons that it does not want to be presented to the commission?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the government has been very clear in its intention to co-operate at every stage with this commission, according to decisions made by the court regarding the commission's jurisdiction. These are important rules. We follow all the rules and, obviously, will ensure all documents, to which the commission has a right, are seen and all witnesses are heard by the commission.

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

Mr. Speaker, the ruling of the Federal Court was very clear. The Military Police Complaints Commission has the power to investigate. The government is flouting the law and the Federal Court by suppressing witnesses and documents.

The Conservatives are not serious about allowing the commission to do its work, despite what the Prime Minister says, because they keep challenging its jurisdiction. They are trying to suppress the testimony of Mr. Colvin. They are also trying to suppress the testimony of the former Canadian Forces provost marshal, Captain Moore, who was the chief of law enforcement for the Canadian Forces.

Why is his testimony being challenged, as well?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway]

Mr. Speaker, as the leader of the opposition has just said, there was a matter before the Federal Court in which the Federal Court itself defined the mandate of the Military Police Complaints Commission.

We are complying with that finding. We are complying with the mandate where it applies to the military police within the mandate. We are co-operating fully.

Now the leader of the opposition may think he will have a Matlock moment on the floor of the House of Commons but he ought to respect the rules of evidence of the commission. He ought to respect the individuals who were involved in this important investigation and leave it at that.

Foreign Affairs

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Mr. Speaker, ATIP documents show that on June 3 consular officials were already back-tracking on their decision to invalidate Suaad Hagi's identity.

Responding to demands from the Kenyan court that someone appear as a witness to back up charges levelled against Suaad, otherwise case closed, reluctant officials fretted, “is this still the CBSA official position”, and “we could open ourselves up for prosecution”.

Why did the Minister of Foreign Affairs insist that his officials continue the prosecution and persecution of Suaad Hagi?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, as I have told this House before, the role of the Canada Border Services Agency is, in part, to ensure the integrity of our immigration system and the integrity of our citizenship.

In fact, in the first eight months of this year the agency prevented over 4,000 people attempting to come into our country using false passports or other people's passports. It is a difficult job that it does, but it set out in an affidavit filed in the Federal Court in this particular case the reasons it took the actions and made the decisions it made. It is there for everyone to see.

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the position has changed. Yesterday they said, “oh no, it doesn't reach a political level”. Even though I spoke to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the parliamentary secretary, wrote them both letters and wrote the minister letters, today he calls up an affidavit signed by an individual whose report was already discredited by DNA testing. The minister continues to talk about persecuting a Canadian citizen abroad after she had provided various pieces of information regarding her identity.

Why does he insist on making the Canadian government--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. Minister of Public Safety.