House of Commons Hansard #32 of the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was leave.
Claude DeBellefeuille Bloc Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives promised that ministers would be required to report all contact with lobbyists. Once in power, they changed their minds: only lobbyists are required to report such contact. As a result, it is impossible to compare lists to see who is telling the truth.
Will the government acknowledge that, had it kept its election promise, secret lobbying such as that carried out by Rahim Jaffer would be impossible?
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member was here when the Federal Accountability Act established the rules.
The Bloc never tried to present amendments. The Lobbying Act, which the Bloc supported, requires anyone lobbying federal public office holders to register with the lobbying commissioner.
If the member has any evidence that someone has broken the rules, she should forward that information to the commissioner.
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Mr. Speaker, when it comes to Afghan detainees, the ministers are The Untouchables.
It is never the minister's fault for the government's reckless disregard of international law and the torture of detainees. First it was the slandering of the reputation of Richard Colvin. Now, Ben Rowswell, chargé d'affaires at the Canadian embassy in Kabul, is being blamed for a letter suggesting that the NDS be given prior warning of visits to detention facilities. The government says that the letter was a misstep.
Could the government confirm that the NDS was never given prior warning?
Lawrence Cannon ConservativeMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, Ambassador Hoffmann was clear in his response during his appearance this week before committee. The provisions of the letter had neither standing nor effect. The chargé d'affaires did sign the letter but the contents of the letter were never implemented.
Immediately after reviewing the letter, Ambassador Hoffmann reiterated Canada's long-standing new transfer policy to the NDS, that officials would conduct unannounced visits with considerable frequency, and the NDS did know that.
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Mr. Speaker, Canadian soldiers are doing their jobs professionally and with great courage. We wish the Conservative government would do the same. Instead, what we have is a culture of secrecy. The government is hiding the truth and the truth is that it has botched the handling of detainees. The truth is that it could not care less what happens to detainees and it has failed to monitor for torture.
Canadians deserve to know the truth. Are detainees being handed over to NDS torturers to be interrogated, yes or no?
Peter MacKay ConservativeMinister of National Defence
The answer is no, Mr. Speaker. We heard that from the Chief of Defence Staff who clearly told us that was not the case.
Here is what the respected former ambassador to Afghanistan said about this issue of transferring to torture, “we never transferred any detainees who were captured by the Canadian armed forces if there was any suggestion that there would be a substantial risk of torture”. He went on to say, “So we met and we exceeded our international obligations”. He also said, “Canada's standards, and the regime we've put in place, exceeded our obligations and were over and above those put in place by other countries”.
We have a lot to be proud of in that regard.
Paul Dewar NDP Ottawa Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, when Canada hosts the G8, world leaders will discuss many of the most important issues facing the planet, except the planet itself.
The environment has been a focus at all but one G8 meeting since 1992.
Sadly, Canada is refusing to host a G8 environment ministers' meeting before the full summit. This follows the Conservatives poor performance in Copenhagen.
Will the government organize a meeting of environment ministers to discuss the environment before the G8 meetings are held here in Canada, yes or no? What is going on?
Mark Warawa ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, the member well knows this government's commitment to the environment. Our government, along with 116 other countries, representing 90% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, have signed on to the Copenhagen Accord.
The IEA executive director praised Canada's climate change target of 17% reduction below 2005 levels.
I have great news. Greenhouse gas emissions have gone down 2.1%. Under the Liberals they went up. Under this government they are going down.
Bonnie Crombie Liberal Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
Mr. Speaker, after weeks of stonewalling and denying, the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities finally released limited information about three proposals submitted to his office by Rahim Jaffer and Patrick Glémaud. Given the Conservative culture of deceit, we all know there is more.
When can the House expect the government to table all documents about meetings that the principals of Green Power Generation had with Conservative ministers, parliamentary secretaries and MPs?
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, the member refers to Mr. Jaffer and Mr. Glémaud having inquired about three projects. The parliamentary secretary in question did not support or recommend any of them. In fact, none of these projects received any funding.
Only a Liberal would think it is a scandal that someone did not get money.
Bonnie Crombie Liberal Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
Mr. Speaker, special access for special friends.
Every day we learn more. We know the government has more information about its interaction with Green Power Generation.
Earlier this week, the Minister of State for Science and Technology and Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario admitted that his office met with Patrick Glémaud. He said, “There were some projects talked about”.
When will the minister end the Conservative culture of deceit, release all details about the proposals and tell us what he talked about?
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, the member is referring to Mr. Jaffer and Mr. Glémaud and their inquiry about three projects.
The parliamentary secretary in question did not support or recommend any of these projects and none of the projects received any funding.
Anthony Rota Liberal Nipissing—Timiskaming, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of State for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario admitted this week that Patrick Glémaud, Rahim Jaffer's business partner, had submitted at least three proposals for funding to Andrew House, the former director of operations. These proposals seem to have received preferential treatment and special access to the minister's office.
Will the Conservative government break with its culture of deceit and make Mr. Glémaud's three proposals public?
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, the question of course is about the Lobbying Act. I would be pleased to inform the member how the act works. It puts the onus on the lobbyists to first register and then report their activities to the Office of the Lobbying Commissioner.
If that member across the way has information suggesting that somebody did break the rules, then he should report that to the lobbyist commissioner for independent investigation.
Anthony Rota Liberal Nipissing—Timiskaming, ON
Mr. Speaker, not only are the Conservatives refusing to disclose the documents, but none of these interactions were reported to the lobbying commissioner, as required under the act.
Mr. House was a Conservative Party candidate in 2006 and again in 2008, so he certainly is familiar with the Federal Accountability Act.
Can the minister tell us why none of these activities were registered with the lobbying commissioner?
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, the Lobbying Act was brought in by this government as part of the Federal Accountability Act. It put an end to the revolving door that we saw under the previous Liberal government which led to things like the sponsorship scandal and the gun registry.
Now that we are on the subject of the gun registry, I note that the member promised his constituents he would vote against the gun registry. He thinks it is a waste of money and his rural constituents voted for him believing that he would keep his word.
I expect that he will rise now and reaffirm his commitment to scrap the wasteful Liberal long gun registry.
Meili Faille Bloc Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party president has appealed to party supporters for money to help abolish the firearms registry. That is really quite shameful. The Conservatives see firearms as nothing more than something to help fill party coffers. Too bad if that policy makes firearms more accessible; too bad if safety suffers.
How can the Prime Minister allow his party to collect money at the expense of victims of crime?
Vic Toews ConservativeMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, we know that the Bloc, the Liberals and New Democrats have conspired to keep out witnesses from being heard by the committee. In fact, they attempted to stack the entire committee with individuals who were in favour of the gun registry. They would not allow the Calgary Chief of Police to give testimony at the committee.
Why are they so afraid of the truth? Why are they so afraid of what a chief of police will say?
Serge Ménard Bloc Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC
Mr. Speaker, the government is being hypocritical when it tries to claim that a backbench MP is behind the dismantling of the firearms registry. We are not fooled. This is a government policy; the Prime Minister speaks out in defence of this project. He authorizes vicious ads and fundraising campaigns.
Why does the Prime Minister always try to sneak his Conservative policies in through the back door?
Vic Toews ConservativeMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois, together with the Liberals and New Democrats, attempted to hijack the public safety committee by desperately forcing a pro-long gun registry list of witnesses. They would not hear from any other witnesses other than the ones they specifically hand picked.
That is a culture of deceit being practised by all three parties on the other side.
Thierry St-Cyr Bloc Jeanne-Le Ber, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government promised to fast-track family reunification applications from Haiti. However, according to the department's latest numbers, only 311 people on file in the Canadian system have been given permanent resident visas.
How can the minister explain his inability to deliver on his promises?
Rick Dykstra ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
Mr. Speaker, in actual fact, no government has moved quicker in terms of assisting Haiti with respect to the issues it is dealing with.
We said at the very beginning that we would expedite the 2,000 cases that we have on file and that we would make them a priority. We have made them a priority and we are now bringing families back together, just as we committed to do.
Thierry St-Cyr Bloc Jeanne-Le Ber, QC
Mr. Speaker, that is simply not plausible. Quebec's Minister of immigration and cultural communities says that the federal government is at fault for the delays. She said that there have been operational problems at the federal level with health and security checks. Quebec and Ottawa need to stop passing the buck.
When will the minister really start working to help Haitian families?
Rick Dykstra ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
Mr. Speaker, I totally reject the premise of the question because it actually is not the case.
On January 16, we said immediately, first, that family class sponsorships would be put forward and, second , spouses or common-law partners with in-Canada class applications, protected persons with family members in Haiti, citizenship and citizenship certificates and in-Canada applications for work permits would be extended on a temporary basis.
We have done more. We have moved this forward. We have said that we would work with the provincial government in Quebec to do exactly what we are trying to do, and that is help Haiti.
Judy Sgro Liberal York West, ON
Mr. Speaker, when we first raised the issue of pensions, the finance minister said that pension reform was not a federal matter. When we asked what was being done to amend the Bankruptcy Act to help pensioners, the Minister of Finance said that the matter had already been resolved.
The issue of pension reform is neither resolved nor is it someone else's problem.
Instead of busily perpetuating the Conservative culture of deceit, why does the government not do something to help these pensioners who are left out in the cold?