Debates of Nov. 1st, 2012

41st General Election

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I too tell fantastic stories to my children before they go to bed at night.

The revelations from Michael Sona's testimony are truly fascinating. The Conservatives have tried to put the blame on him for their electoral fraud. However, the truth is that Pierre Poutine had access to the Conservative database to make his fraudulent calls, not Michael Sona. We have also learned that the Conservatives know who downloaded the data, but they are still hiding behind a 24-year-old kid and imposing their code of silence.

When will the Conservatives stop covering for a criminal? When will they tell Elections Canada who had access to the data, who was responsible for the fraud and who made all those fraudulent calls?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party conducted a clean and ethical election campaign. We followed all the rules. Our employees are working with Elections Canada to shed light on what happened in Guelph.

The hon. member across the way made only 14 donations to the NDP, but twice as many donations to the separatist Quebec Solidaire. Maybe if he were as generous with his own party as he is with the separatists, it would not have had to go seeking illegal union money to finance its operations.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague will do fine in 2015, if he is ever re-elected. For the moment, all he is doing is evading questions and mocking Parliament. Trivializing electoral fraud is quite simply indecent.

Fraudulent calls were made and citizens were stripped of their right to vote. That is a major problem. That criminal act would never have been possible without access to the Conservative database. Never. The Conservatives know who had access to the data and they are protecting that person. The time for a code of silence is now over; they must be clear and sincere with Canadians.

Who is Pierre Poutine? Who made the fraudulent calls? They must answer the questions.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I just did respond to the question. I pointed out that the Conservative Party did run a clean and ethical campaign in the last election, and is working with Elections Canada to address any problems that occurred in Guelph.

However, the member across the way continues to refuse to answer the question. In fact, he has been asked the question about his donations to the separatists almost as many times as he gave money to the separatists.

I give him the occasion one more time, to create a magic moment on the floor of the House and declare that after all those donations he has changed his way and he is now a federalist. Will he please stand and do that right now?

Fisheries and Oceans

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Mr. Speaker, the government has spent three years and $26 million on the Cohen report, yet it will not commit to implementing any of the report's recommendations. Along with Justice Cohen's 75 recommendations, he also expressed serious concern with the government's reckless changes to the Fisheries Act.

This is unacceptable. Will the government come to its senses, reverse the changes to the Fisheries Act and commit to implementing the recommendations of the Cohen report?

[Gail Shea, Conservative, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, obviously the previous system needed improving. Under the new act, the government will actually be better able to protect fisheries from real threats as we have expanded the act to protect more than just the fish habitat, but also to protect fish from aquatic invasive species and local stressors as well.

The new act also strengthens the government's ability to crack down on individuals who break the rules and endanger sensitive species and areas.

These changes provide common sense for our stakeholders.

Justice

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

Mr. Speaker, even though Nathan Jacobson broke bail conditions in the U.S., the government sent lawyers to plead a bail bargain for his release. It has been public since July that there was an international arrest warrant for him and that he was a fugitive wanted by the U.S., yet the government apparently did nothing.

The Conservatives like to pretend they are tough on crime. Lord knows they cannot deport two Nigerian students fast enough for an honest mistake.

Did the government take any action to proactively locate and apprehend Mr. Jacobson before October 24 and if not, why not?

[Robert Goguen, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice]

Mr. Speaker, the member knows full well that the government does not interfere with police investigations. Nor does it interfere with the court process.

The prosecutors in this case acted completely independently, without unfettered discretion. The bail that was posed was $600,000. Both his Canadian and Israeli passports were surrendered. This is a matter that was acted upon immediately upon the American's request that he be arrested on October 24. On October 25, the very next day, he was arrested.

The case is now before the courts. It would be inappropriate to interfere with it. We have the best judicial system in Canada. Let them go for it.

41st General Election

[Stéphane Dion, Liberal, Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of State for Democratic Reform knows that honesty in elections is crucial in any democracy and that in the 2011 election, thousands of misleading calls led voters to the wrong polling stations.

The political staffer fingered by the Conservatives has said that he is being used as a scapegoat and that he never could have orchestrated such a massive scam on his own.

Will the minister assume his responsibilities and get to the bottom of this organized deceit? Is he the minister for democratic reform or the minister of Conservative cover-ups?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I have already answered this question. The Conservative Party ran an ethical campaign in the last election. We will continue to work with Elections Canada to shed light on what happened in Guelph.

Now, we know that only one party has been found guilty of breaking the law by making robocalls, and that was the Liberal candidate for Guelph.

If the member wants to find out what happened in Guelph, perhaps he should walk just a few rows back and ask his Guelph colleague about all of the law breaking that they did.

Fisheries and Oceans

[Robert Chisholm, NDP, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the final report of the Cohen commission should be a wake-up call for the government. It reveals the staggering scope of the Conservatives' mismanagement of the fisheries, including the drastic changes in budget 2012, such as gutting laws on habitat protection, slashing fisheries science capacity and cutting $75 million from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

Will the minister finally agree that the government is heading in the wrong direction, end the cuts in budget 2012 and enact the recommendations of Justice Cohen?

[Gail Shea, Conservative, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, this is a very expansive report that has serious implications on a very important resource in British Columbia. We will carefully review the recommendations and work with our stakeholders and partners to take steps to ensure the salmon fishery in British Columbia is sustainable and prosperous for years to come.

We have increased science in the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Recently, the Council of Canadian Academies presented a report which said that fisheries research in Canada was ranked first in the world by top science researchers.

[Fin Donnelly, NDP, New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister does not seem to understand what is at stake. Wild salmon are at the heart of B.C.'s culture and economy. The Conservatives misled Canadians when they said that gutting habitat protection would in fact strengthen it. The Cohen report is clear that these reckless Conservative policies are putting salmon at risk.

Will the minister stop the double speak, stop stalling and commit today to implementing the recommendations to protect B.C. salmon?

[Gail Shea, Conservative, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, obviously we know the importance of B.C. salmon. That is why we commissioned the report in the first place.

Justice Cohen spent nearly 36 months drafting this report. It would be a disservice not to consider it carefully. We must do our due diligence, read the report carefully and speak with our stakeholders and partners about the next step.

I can assure the member opposite that we have been supporting, building and conserving B.C. salmon over the last number of years.

The Environment

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, according to the Cohen report, the Conservatives are already mismanaging fish stocks. Things will be worse—except for the Conservative elite—if the Navigable Waters Protection Act is weakened.

It is scandalous that over 99% of lakes will no longer be protected, but it is even worse that 9 out of every 10 protected lakes will be in Conservative ridings.

Why protect the lakes of friends of the Conservative party and not of others?

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, it is unbelievable that the New Democrats are misleading people in this way by conflating navigation with fish habitats and fish.

Navigation has to do with boats floating on water and not fish in water. It is ridiculous. It is completely nonsensical. It is an attempt to mislead Canadians.

We are going to continue to manage navigation. The officials at Fisheries and Oceans Canada will continue to manage fish stocks and officials at Environment Canada will manage the environment.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, they say that they made the decisions based on science, but Conservatives have never used science to base any of their decisions on before. What makes them think we would believe they are doing it now?

People can see through this science-based smoke screen. Ninety per cent of all lakes in Canada fall in Conservative ridings. It makes me wonder if next they are going to protect fake lakes in downtown Toronto.

Why are million dollar cottages in Muskoka being protected from pipelines, while lakes for the rest of us are not?

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, let me be clear. Ninety-eight per cent of applications received never pose a threat to navigation. This is not a responsible use of taxpayer dollars and shows just how much change is needed. This is why we have reformed the act. Now resources can focus on where navigation is and not waste valuable tax dollars by delaying projects that have no impact on navigation.

Foreign Affairs

[Ted Opitz, Conservative, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Supreme Court stood up for fair elections in my riding, including the importance of every vote.

I recently returned from Ukraine as an election observer. International observers there noted abuses of administrative resources, lack of transparency in campaign financing, imprisonment of opposition leaders and an absence of balanced media coverage, causing mistrust of the process by Ukrainian voters.

Would the Minister of International Co-operation deliver our government's formal response to what my observer mission witnessed?

[Julian Fantino, Conservative, Minister of International Cooperation]

Mr. Speaker, when the pre-electoral environment is unfairly tilted in favour of one political group over another, this interferes with the ability of citizens to freely express their electoral will. It is disheartening that this year's parliamentary elections do not appear to have measured up to Ukraine's past democratic performance. This is of great concern to Canada, as we continue to advocate for freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law for all Ukrainians.

We look forward to the report and will deal with it when it is forthcoming.

Correctional Service Canada

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, during the coroner's inquiry into Ashley Smith's death, video evidence, evidence the Conservatives did not want released, depicted Ashley's horrific experiences. Ashley Smith was transferred 17 times between 9 prisons in 5 provinces in just over a year.

This young woman was suffering with mental illness, but the system treated her self-harm as misbehaviour. The federal correctional investigator has been very clear. When it comes to self-harm in prison, the system must change. When will the minister act on the correctional investigator's recommendations?

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, this is a very sad case. Our hearts and our thoughts go out to Ms. Smith's family. We cannot imagine the sadness that they are continuing to experience.

As the Prime Minister said, the actions of some individuals in this video are clearly and completely unacceptable. The Correctional Service of Canada has taken action to change this so that it does not happen again. What this clearly shows is that not only is the federal government working, as the Prime Minister said, to address mental health in prison, but that the provinces also need to help us. We need to work together so that individuals who are dealing with mental health issues are addressed before they reach the correctional system.

[Rosane Doré Lefebvre, NDP, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Ashley Smith's family deserves real answers.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. In 10 years, the number of offenders with mental health problems has doubled. Moreover, 50% of offenders have engaged in self-mutilation, which is what Ashley Smith did before taking her own life.

In his recent report, the Correctional Investigator of Canada outlined clear recommendations to address these serious problems. Will the minister implement these recommendations?

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, our government has taken action to address mental health in prison. We have initiated a mandatory 90-day review so that individuals can have a plan and mental health assessment within 90 days of entering the correctional system. Clearly, prisons are not the place to address mental health issues.

In the case of Ashley Smith, the actions by specific Correctional Service of Canada staff were clearly unacceptable. We want to see changes. We want to see individuals who are mentally ill dealt with before they reach the correctional system.

Health

[Libby Davies, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the government has done nothing to investigate reports that people have suffered adverse drug reactions to prescription medications. Sadly some have even died. It seems astounding that Health Canada is not following up on these critical issues of life and death, nor giving grieving families the answers they need.

These families deserve an explanation and accountability from the minister. What is her response and what will she do to ensure no further deaths occur?