Debates of March 12th, 2012

41st General Election

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

Mr. Speaker, in 2006, the Conservatives were caught red-handed conducting an in and out scheme. They recently decided not to appeal because they are guilty of violating the Canada Elections Act. And yet, during the last election campaign, we once again saw mystery cheques for $15,000 being given to RMG in a number of ridings across the country. Some candidates admitted that they paid $15,000 and did not receive any services in return.

This is the 10th anniversary of the Liberal sponsorship scandal, and clearly nothing has changed in Ottawa.

When will the Conservatives change the legislation to give Elections Canada more power?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is right in saying that the Liberal Party has not changed since the sponsorship scandal.

The problem is not a loophole in the legislation. The legislation is here. I have it in my hands. The problem is that the Liberal Party refuses to obey the law. The Liberal Party is breaking the law.

I am therefore calling upon the Liberal Party to rise and explain why it hid the fact that it broke the law during the election.

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

Mr. Speaker, in reality, we simply traded Liberal scandals for Conservative ones. It is the same old same old.

Let us talk about the facts and the connections that the Conservatives do not want to hear about. First, we know that a plan was put in place to interfere with the voting process. Second, we know that the person or persons responsible are connected to the Conservative Party. Third, we know that Elections Canada's investigation extends much further than the riding of Guelph.

If the Conservatives are not afraid of getting to the bottom of this matter, will they change the legislation to give Elections Canada more power and will they hold a public inquiry?

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

Mr. Speaker, the opposition told us that our allegations were completely ridiculous when we said that the Liberals had paid millions of dollars to make hundreds of thousands of calls and that some of the calls that may have resulted in complaints were made by the Liberal Party.

However, we now know that the hon. member for Guelph, a Liberal, broke the law. He has since admitted to doing so. So what we have been saying from the beginning is completely true. The Liberals should rise in the House and explain their unlawful behaviour.

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians know there were dirty tricks on the last campaign and they want an inquiry. What are the Conservatives hiding?

Elections Canada is now asking for the age of those who received the fraudulent calls and evidence suggests that an overwhelming number of those targeted were seniors. We are talking about seniors who are vulnerable to being misled and who were first identified as not supporting the Conservatives.

How can the Conservatives be so underhanded that they would attempt to trick seniors out of their right to vote? Why did they target seniors?

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, this party and the Prime Minister enjoy fantastic support from seniors right across the country because they know this party has stood up for them.

We know there were deceptive calls made in the last campaign. We know it for a fact because we gathered evidence on it. However, the member for Guelph, for the last number of weeks, has taken part in this opposition unsubstantiated smear campaign. He has done so knowing full well the entire time that his campaign ran these illegal robocalls into the riding of Guelph, but he never indicated it to the House. He has acted in a fashion that is disgraceful, deceptive and dishonest.

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

Mr. Speaker, that is a pox on both their houses.

What we are seeing is evidence of a coordinated nationwide campaign to target the most vulnerable voters. Of course, the Conservatives have been going after seniors for a long time. First, they want to raise the OAS and take away seniors' right to retire in dignity. Now they want to take away their right to vote.

Conservatives will stop at nothing to get what they want. Canadian seniors are paying the price. Why are the Conservatives targeting seniors?

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, when we brought in budgets that increased the age credit, not once but twice, the NDP voted against it. When we brought in legislation to increase OAS, the NDP voted against it. When we brought in legislation to introduce pension income splitting, the NDP voted against it. We have no apologies to make with respect to what the NDP has done with seniors.

However, what we can also say very clearly is that the opposition, the NDP and Liberals, has taken part in an unsubstantiated smear campaign for these past two weeks. We know now that the liberal member for Guelph conducted illegal robocalls into his riding. He acted in a fashion that is deceptive, disgraceful and dishonest.

Elections Canada

[David Christopherson, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, given the government has formally and finally indicated its intent to support our motion and the amendment to clean up elections and increase the power of the Chief Electoral Officer to demand documents from parties in future and past elections, now it is time for the government to put its money where its mouth is.

Will the government give a clear, unambiguous commitment today that after tonight's vote, when it honours its commitment to support our motion, it will indeed honour that vote and bring in the legislation within the six months specified in the motion, yes or no?

[Tim Uppal, Conservative, Minister of State (Democratic Reform)]

Mr. Speaker, the government has been clear. We support the motion that was before the House last week. The Conservative Party is assisting Elections Canada with its work.

However, the fact remains that the opposition paid millions of dollars for hundreds of thousands of phone calls that it made in the last election, including the Liberal member for Guelph, who has finally admitted that he paid for illegal robocalls, concealing the fact that they came from the Liberal campaign.

Canadians need to know how many other illegal phone calls were paid by the Liberals in the last election.

Government Appointments

[Jamie Nicholls, NDP, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Alain Sans Cartier, Mario Dumont's former chief of staff, has been given a plum patronage appointment at Canada Post. Howard Bruce, who ran three times for the Conservatives, was made a member of the National Parole Board. As for Bernard Généreux, he was appointed to the board of directors of the Quebec Port Authority.

The Conservatives treat the boards of directors of transportation agencies as though they were their playthings. When will they stop making patronage appointments?

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, it is rather interesting that the member did not mention the qualifications of the people appointed to the boards of directors. These people have all the administrative qualifications needed to sit on boards of directors. They will make good administrative decisions for these boards. Jacques Tanguay, who resigned from the board of directors of the Quebec Port Authority, had never before worked in the ports industry and did an excellent job. These people are very competent and will continue to do a good job.

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the line at the patronage trough keeps getting longer. Last Friday, Jennifer Clarke, a failed Conservative candidate, was appointed to the Prince Rupert Port Authority. Generous donor Andrew Paterson got the job at the Canada Post Corporation. The Quebec Port Authority got stuck with another failed Conservative candidate. The riding president for the finance minister was dropped on the Oshawa port.

Why will the Conservatives not work on a real jobs plan instead of rewarding their insider friends?

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I think that over 600,000 jobs created in our country is a very good plan. All appointees are great Canadians who have the skills and experience necessary to ensure that Canada does not trail in this global economy, and the economy is still our main goal.

Air Canada

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, we can see that the Conservatives are not working for Canadians.

Once again, the Conservatives are threatening to introduce a bill to force Air Canada back to work in the event of a strike or a lockout. The government must respect the right of employees to collective bargaining.

Why are the Conservatives attacking this fundamental Canadian right? When are they going to stop interfering in labour disputes?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Minister of Labour]

Mr. Speaker, disruption at Air Canada will damage Canada's fragile economy that is recovering and it would have an immediate effect on those hundreds of thousands of passengers and, indeed, a million passengers in the next week who are flying Air Canada as a result of the March breaks across the country.

We have been following the negotiations closely. Unfortunately, despite hard bargaining, the parties have failed to reach an agreement. That is why today our government will take further action to protect the travelling public. We will table legislation to sustain its services for Canadian families and businesses.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, this does not respect the rights of workers.

The Conservatives must respect the right to collective bargaining that Air Canada workers and other Canadians enjoy. Why are the Conservatives ignoring that right?

The Conservatives cannot choose winners and losers. Will this government do the right thing and urge both parties to negotiate in good faith? Can the Conservatives promise us that they will not intervene in the dispute?

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Minister of Labour]

Mr. Speaker, our government has made ample opportunity and availability for conciliation and mediating services, and indeed extraordinary means too, appointing conciliators from the outside in each of these disputes to try to help the parties get to a deal, but they simple have not done so.

We are faced right now with a strike and a lockout at Air Canada, which is an incredibly important piece of our economy and incredibly important to the travelling public.

I feel much more strongly introducing this action and having the Canadian public feel certain and know what is going on, rather than taking the position of the opposition members just letting matters happen as they may and wishing for good luck.

41st General Election

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this is not about robocalls. This is about election fraud.

In my riding, Susan Lapell was called by a real person, claiming to represent a Conservative candidate. Not only was she given the wrong polling station, but after Ms. Lapell corrected him, she was told that she could vote twice, once in her regular polling station and again at the other one.

When will the Prime Minister take responsibility for his horrible example of election fraud?

[Dean Del Mastro, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

A real person, Mr. Speaker, like Laurie MacDonald from Guelph?

The Liberal member for Guelph paid for illegal robocalls that concealed the fact that the calls came from the Liberal campaign. He did so in a deliberate fashion.

We know that members of the Liberal Party and the NDP have spent millions of dollars to make hundreds of thousands of calls. We need to know how many other illegal calls were paid for by the Liberal Party. The Liberals should provide all of that information to Elections Canada right now.

As I said, the Liberal Party and the Liberal leader have acted in a fashion that is disgraceful—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. member for Random—Burin—St. George's.

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

Mr. Speaker, a government's number one priority is to ensure the integrity of our democratic system, and that includes election financing.

Three Conservative members of the Vaughan riding association have sworn affidavits that there was a second and third bank account containing hundreds of thousands of dollars used to fund other Conservative candidates, which is in contravention to the rules.

What is the government doing to ensure Elections Canada investigates these serious allegations?

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, all of the allegations made by the hon. member are entirely false. The activities of the Vaughan riding association and those of the member for Vaughan in this campaign have complied fully with elections laws. That is my first point.

My second point would be that I really fail to see what this has to do with the administration of government business.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in many ridings, including Eglinton—Lawrence, Etobicoke Centre, York Centre and Nipissing, hundreds if not thousands of people voted without being on the voters list and without presenting valid proof of residence.

The Conservatives are blaming Elections Canada and saying that Elections Canada is ultimately at fault for not being able to prevent Conservative organizers from engaging in such hijinks.

What will the government do to protect the integrity of Canadian democracy and ensure that no one stuffed the ballot boxes?

[Tim Uppal, Conservative, Minister of State (Democratic Reform)]

Mr. Speaker, the member very well knows that voter registration is the responsibility of Elections Canada, not political parties, and any specific complaints arising from a specific riding can be directed to Elections Canada.