Debates of Feb. 28th, 2011

Political Financing

[Michael Ignatieff, Liberal, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the government is playing fast and loose with the facts. This is not a debate. The party opposite is facing criminal charges and jail time if it is convicted.

It forms part of a pattern. When the government faces tough questions, it shuts Parliament down. When a minister misleads the House, the Prime Minister actually gets up and applauds her. When Conservative Party operatives are faced with serious criminal charges, the government turns it into an argument with Elections Canada.

It is not an argument; this is an accusation of fraud. Why does the government not understand that this is undermining Canadian democracy?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, allow me to correct my hon. friend. In fact, this is an administrative dispute that dates back five years. Fortunately, I would inform the Leader of the Opposition that the Federal Court has ruled in favour of the Conservative Party and against Elections Canada in this dispute.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, what has happened to openness, transparency and accountability? This is unprecedented in Canada's history: criminal charges have been laid against two senators appointed by the Prime Minister himself. If these senators are convicted of election fraud, they could be thrown into jail.

How can the Prime Minister condone such schemes?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, allow me to begin my correcting the hon. member. This is an administrative matter. This is a dispute between the Conservative Party and Elections Canada that has lasted for five years. Fortunately, the Federal Court has already ruled in favour of the Conservative Party and against Elections Canada in this matter.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, is this an example of the Prime Minister making the rules?

The RCMP has even searched the Conservatives' offices. Unfortunately, taxpayers will have to pay a fortune to prove what we already know: the Conservatives cheated by committing election fraud.

Why is the Prime Minister allowing this money to be wasted? What exactly does the Prime Minister mean when he says that he is accountable?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member opposite knows very well that this is an administrative dispute that has been going on for five years.

In addition, I can tell the hon. member that the Federal Court has fortunately ruled in favour of the Conservative Party and against Elections Canada in this matter.

Foreign Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, I would first like to congratulate the Prime Minister for having acted quickly in freezing the assets of Libyan dictator, Moammar Gadhafi. However, we would like to know why he has not yet frozen the assets belonging to Tunisia's former dictator, Ben Ali, and his family, as we have been calling for for over a month now.

What is the government waiting for before it freezes the assets of the Ben Ali family, as it has just done for Gadhafi?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, members of the Ben Ali regime are not welcome in Canada. Canada is ready and willing to use all the tools at its disposal, including working with the international community, to support democracy in Tunisia.

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

Mr. Speaker, the government tells us that it is waiting and that steps have been taken to obtain documents from Tunisia. I still cannot believe that Gadhafi sent documents to the government to have his assets frozen.

How can it be that the government took action so quickly in the case of Gadhafi and Libya, but that it is complicit in the case of Ben Ali, Tunisia's former dictator? He will have had time to move his assets to tax havens. Why has the government not taken action and why is it still not taking action today?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, no orders have been given, but the Canadian authorities are working closely with their international counterparts. Once the request is made, we will co-operate. We are more ready than ever to work with the Tunisian government to take all legal measures available to us concerning this issue.

[Jean Dorion, Bloc, Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the evacuation of Quebeckers and Canadians stuck in Libya was characterized by the utmost amateurism and confusion. A full 24 hours after the United Kingdom and Turkey began evacuating their citizens, the Conservative government finally woke up and decided to provide assistance to its citizens. The government was so disorganized that the first plane came back empty.

How can the Minister of Foreign Affairs possibly justify this confusion and Canada's remarkable inability to provide assistance to its citizens?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, we are very proud of the efforts of our diplomats and Canadian Forces members during this evacuation.

To date we have facilitated the evacuation of over 255 Canadians from the country. I want to commend the diplomats, the Canadian Forces members, particularly those in consular affairs, who worked around the clock in this effort.

In fact, we have deployed a C-17 Globemaster aircraft as well as two of our new C-130J Hercules aircraft. A team of Canadian Forces is now on the ground in Malta.

We continue to provide assistance to those who need it. We encourage Canadians who need further assistance to contact the Department of Foreign Affairs.

[Jean Dorion, Bloc, Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC]

Mr. Speaker, does the minister not find it worrisome that at the precise moment when Canada was chartering a plane to evacuate Canadian citizens stuck in Libya, his department was advising those same citizens not to go to the airport?

How does the Minister of Foreign Affairs explain such disorganization? Does he realize that his wavering and incompetence put hundreds of citizens in danger?

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, sadly there were a number of Canadians who found themselves in the midst of a very terrifying and dangerous situation. We knew that violence was flaring up. That is why we had officials doing everything possible and working diligently and tirelessly to secure their evacuation.

As I mentioned, over 255 Canadians have made their way safely on aircraft and ships to Malta. We continue to work with the international community and our partners, particularly the British.

I spoke with the foreign minister of Malta this morning. They continue to co-operate fully. This is an international effort that will continue, and our efforts will continue as well.

Political Financing

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have been caught red-handed. The in and out scandal is a perfect example of one of the government's broken promises: the promise to do things differently and to put an end to partisan scandals in which money is slipped questionably from hand to hand.

The Prime Minister should do some housecleaning and he should begin by removing all the bagmen from the Senate. When will this major cleanup be done?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, let me begin by thanking the honourable member for his question. This issue, an administrative dispute, has been going on for five years. Fortunately, the Federal Court has already ruled in favour of the Conservative Party and against Elections Canada on this issue.

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

Mr. Speaker, this in and out business is the epitome of the Conservative Party's hypocrisy when it comes to the whole issue of accountability, open government and broken promises.

It is time for the Prime Minister to take some responsibility. He cannot pretend to be tough on crime when he has his own minions out there wilfully breaking the very laws that are the underpinning of our democracy, which speak about fairness in election campaigns. It is another example of why so many Canadians think that Ottawa is broken.

When is the Prime Minister going to show some leadership and tell the senators who are fundraisers to get out of the Senate and get out of--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Allow me to start, Mr. Speaker, by thanking my hon. colleague for his question.

This is a five-year-old accounting dispute. Fortunately, the Federal Court has already ruled in favour of the Conservative Party and against Elections Canada on this very question.

International Co-operation

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

Mr. Speaker, it is always a question of passing the buck and debating responsibility. That is what the Prime Minister is all about.

We have the case of a minister misleading the House, but for the Prime Minister, evading the truth and doctoring a document is a job well done. How about that? I do not think anybody is buying the government's feeble excuses.

Where is the accountability? Where is the leadership? When is the Prime Minister going to take some responsibility for the mistakes that are being made and replace the minister and restore KAIROS' funding?

[John Baird, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, it will not come as a surprise to the House or the member opposite that I do not share the characterizations that he made in his preamble.

The minister had a decision to make on whether she wanted to award a $7 million grant to a particular non-governmental organization. She made a decision not to provide that funding, as she is entitled to properly do.

The minister has done an outstanding job in Africa. She has done an outstanding job in promoting the rights of women and children in Afghanistan. When the people of Haiti needed a friend, they certainly had one in the minister.

[Judy Foote, Liberal, Random—Burin—St. George's, NL]

Mr. Speaker, we know that not one minister in the government is allowed to make a decision without the Prime Minister's approval. The Prime Minister and his office pull the strings and his cabinet members are the puppets.

The minister responsible for CIDA has misled the House and misled Canadians about why she cut funding for KAIROS, and we all know why. She was ordered to do so.

Why can she not simply tell the truth and admit she was just following orders?

[John Baird, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I believe it was a former leader of the Liberal Party who said that MPs were a bunch of nobodies only 100 metres from this place.

The minister made a decision not to provide funding to a particular non-governmental organization, as is her right. She made a difficult decision. It was the right decision. She has made a great contribution to international development right around the world and she has a record all Canadians can be proud of.

[Judy Foote, Liberal, Random—Burin—St. George's, NL]

Mr. Speaker, for months we have heard different excuses. First the funding did not meet CIDA's priorities. Soon after the Minister of Immigration went to Israel and said it was because KAIROS was anti-Semitic. Now we have seen the handwriting. We know that CIDA recommended the funding, but the decision was later reversed.

Who told the minister to cut the funding for KAIROS?

[John Baird, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, last December the minister appeared before the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development. At that committee she said, I think some 11 times, that she was the one who made the decision not to provide the funding to this non-governmental organization.

I know it is a bit interesting for Liberals. Only Liberals would charge that someone got into a scandal by not giving a grant.