Debates of March 8th, 2011

Citizenship and Immigration

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my website is paid for by the federal Liberal riding association of Papineau.

We are also seeing a very harmful confusion of roles. On the one hand, the minister wields an enormous amount of power, but on the other hand, he is also the Conservative Party's main recruiter among cultural communities. He is confusing his two roles. He put the blame on his assistant, but back in 2009, he handed out some minister's excellence awards that he himself signed and that displayed a huge Conservative logo.

When will he stop using departmental resources for partisan purposes?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship]

Mr. Speaker, what we have here is a party that took new Canadians for granted far too long. More and more, the Liberals are losing the support of new Canadians, who now realize that the Conservative Party reflects their values and aspirations.

I have a question for the member for Papineau. Speaking of using public resources for partisan ends, how about private ends? Has that member ever taken money from private organizations for speaking events when he should have been in the House of Commons or appearing at committee? I would like to know.

Political Financing

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have no respect for the Canada Elections Act or the Chief Electoral Officer, whom they dragged through the mud when he appeared before a parliamentary committee.

Furthermore, two Conservative organizers who came up with the scheme to circumvent the election spending limits were rewarded with Senate appointments. This shows how little respect the Prime Minister has for the Canada Elections Act.

When will the Prime Minister acknowledge that he authorized the violation of the act and that his party must repay the dirty money it tried to swindle out of taxpayers after the 2005-06 election?

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

Mr. Speaker, on July 15, 2004, the Bloc Québécois transferred $17,071.20 to the candidate in Québec. On July 16, the following day, the candidate transferred $17,071.20 to the Bloc Québécois. The money went in and the money went out.

Where is Elections Canada?

[Meili Faille, Bloc, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in addition to spending $1 million over and above the limits allowed by the Canada Elections Act in 2005-06, the Conservatives tried to use a lobby group as a front to attack the Liberal government.

During that same election campaign, a law firm with ties to the Conservatives approached the organization Lost Canadians about financing an advertising campaign developed by Conservative strategists.

Do these tricks not prove that the Conservatives were prepared to do anything to gain power, including violating the Canada Elections Act and using fronts?

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

Mr. Speaker, once again, on July 15, the Bloc Québécois transferred $17,071.20 to the candidate in Québec. On July 16, the following day, the candidate transferred $17,071.20. That is the exact same amount, the same candidate and it happened the same week. The money went in and the money went out. Where is Elections Canada?

Foreign Affairs

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, according to a memo from the Library of Parliament, a number of Canadian laws, particularly the Criminal Code of Canada, already allow assets to be frozen, seized or confiscated in Canada. Library of Parliament experts are therefore confirming what the Bloc Québécois has been saying: the government already has all the tools it needs to freeze the Ben Ali family's assets.

Is the Minister of Foreign Affairs aware that, the way things are going, by the time the government tries to seize the assets of Ben Ali and his family, there will be nothing left?

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

Mr. Speaker, obviously, the hon. member has missed the testimony at the committee.

We have introduced legislation to freeze the assets of corrupt regimes in our efforts to continue to help countries in turmoil. We are sending out the right message in this area: If one steals money or assets from one's homeland and tries to move them to Canada, Canada will be the wrong place to put those assets.

This should have the Bloc's support.

[Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government is using the lack of a decision by the United Nations Security Council to justify its refusal to freeze the Ben Ali family's assets, contrary to what happened with Gadhafi. This does not make sense.

Does the Minister of Foreign Affairs expect us to believe that, if a member of the Security Council had exercised its veto power, the Canadian government would not have frozen Gadhafi's assets? He cannot be serious.

Who is he trying to protect by sparing the Ben Ali family?

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

Mr. Speaker, what all of us would want this House to believe is that the Bloc does not know what it is talking about.

There are rules and laws on the books now. What we are doing is we are supplementing those to make sure that any individual who moves money from their homeland to Canada will face the consequences.

Why does the member not just read the legislation? It will just take a couple of minutes, and she will be able to figure it out.

Former Public Sector Integrity Commissioner

[Siobhan Coady, Liberal, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the former integrity commissioner ignored all 228 whistleblowers. All complaints were swept under the rug.

Fact: the office is supposed to be independent, yet there was a close relationship with the PMO. Fact: the Prime Minister's Office paid her half a million dollars to quit and disappear. Fact: the departure agreement requires that she:

—not engage in any conduct or make any statements...which may be otherwise detrimental to...the Government of Canada.

What could possibly compel the Prime Minister to pay so much hush money?

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway]

Mr. Speaker, in this matter the government sought legal advice and received that advice.

The government, following the Auditor General's report, immediately put in place an interim commissioner, who is quite rightly following up on all of those complaints from public servants. Also, the whole question of recoverability of funds is being looked into as a result of that report.

Our concern and priority remains with the whistleblowers, the hard-working public servants who bring their concerns forward.

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Speaker, we are starting to understand why the Prime Minister was prepared to pay half a million dollars to buy Ms. Ouimet's silence.

Emails show that Ms. Ouimet contacted the office of the President of the Treasury Board to organize a meeting to discuss certain files. The President of the Treasury Board continues to hide the truth regarding the commissioner's independence from the House even though we have evidence to the contrary.

When will the Prime Minister admit that his accountability agenda is a farce?

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway]

Mr. Speaker, in response to a question like that, it is very important to state the truth, the whole truth. Yes, the person in question sent me a letter requesting a meeting, but we did not meet.

There is something more important here: the government sought legal advice and followed it. There is a new commissioner in place now, and he is looking at all the cases.

International Co-operation

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, while the immigration minister tries and fails to take responsibility for his recent conflict of interest activities, one must ask, why is he permitted to explain his misdeeds but the CIDA minister is not?

First, the PM kept her behind him, seen and not heard. Now that she is allowed to speak, she answers imaginary questions and never why she doctored the KAIROS document. She continues to show contempt for the House and Canadians.

Why will she not fess up and say who told her to cut funding?

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

Mr. Speaker, today is International Women's Day. What an opportunity to talk about the accomplishments of the Minister of International Cooperation.

Whether it is young girls in Afghanistan who are finally being able to realize the dream of going to school or the millions of women and children in Africa who will benefit from the maternal and newborn initiative brought forward by this government, the Minister of International Cooperation has always stood up for women around the world. She has done an outstanding job and we should celebrate her success today on International Women's Day.

[Marlene Jennings, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC]

How impressive, Mr. Speaker. The Minister of International Cooperation does not even have the right to defend herself on International Women's Day, yet the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism can stand up and try, in vain, to defend his conflicts of interest.

How can it be that on International Women's Day, the Minister of International Cooperation is not allowed to stand up and tell us why she doctored a document and why she cut funding to KAIROS without any justification? She is not allowed to defend herself, but the male minister—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. Minister of International Cooperation.

[Bev Oda, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, that gives me the opportunity when people are worried about our economic recovery to tell Canadians how their development dollars are delivering results, particularly for women.

In fact, in Sudan where we have seen a referendum and a new country, we have delivered water for 744,000 people and ensured the enrolment of 4,000 girls in schools. We have established 30 women's community-based organizations so that woman can speak up for themselves and be part of a new nation in south Sudan.

Status of Women

[Nina Grewal, Conservative, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister for the Status of Women

Today, Canadian women and men are celebrating the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, and there is much to celebrate. Women and girls have overcome great obstacles to the advancement of their equality.

This year, Canada's theme for International Women's Day is “Girls' Rights Matter”. Would the minister tell the House why Canada chose this theme to mark the 100th anniversary?

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women]

Mr. Speaker, this year's theme for International Women's Day is “Girls' Rights Matter”. It was chosen because girls across the globe face serious obstacles that must be overcome. A girl who enjoys equality has a greater likelihood of being self-confident and aware of her own potential and being empowered to access education and job opportunities that will contribute to her success.

At Status of Women, we have doubled our funding in support of community organizations that want to empower Canadian women and girls.

I urge all members today, on International Women's Day, to reflect on the incredible progress that we have made and, more importantly, on the potential for our girls to reach even greater heights.

Pensions

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day today. While we have much to celebrate, too many women in Canada still face an uphill battle.

After a lifetime of building our country, almost one-quarter of senior women live in poverty. Canadian women deserve to retire with dignity and security.

Will the government ensure that senior women do not have to choose between paying for food, medicine or even home heating? Will the government enhance the Canada pension plan and give women the respect they have earned?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government has gone to great lengths to help seniors and women, particularly senior women who face financial challenges. We have brought in pension income splitting. We have lowered the tax rates. We have increased the age credit, not once but twice.

There are so many things we have done just to help those people she is talking about. It is a darned shame the hon. member and her party have not supported a single one of those efforts.

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, constituents tell me they face significant delays in receiving GIS payments. For new applicants, the wait can be 20 weeks. For the recently widowed, the wait is four months or more. For those with changes in income, it is five to six months. It has been suggested that the delay is due to a lack of resources. The majority of low income seniors seeking GIS are women.

On International Women's Day, will the government commit the resources to clear the backlog and help our seniors?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to ensuring that seniors do receive the benefits to which they are entitled on time. That is why we have done things like the automatic renewal of the guaranteed income supplement as long as the senior files a tax return. In fact, over 95% are now having their GIS automatically renewed.

As to the rest, many times people apply for GIS and old age security long before they are eligible, many months before. That is why they get delayed. We wait until they are eligible to pay them. Well over 90% of seniors do receive a cheque within the first month of eligibility.