Debates of June 18th, 2012

Privacy

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member that the privacy rights of law-abiding Canadians are respected at all times.

I also want to point out that two years ago Justice Major completed the Air India report. Our government responded with the Air India report action plan which focused on key areas, including combatting the financing of terrorism, streamlining the prosecution of terrorism offences and protecting air travellers.

We will continue to take steps in line with the recommendations of Justice Major.

Ethics

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

Mr. Speaker, eavesdropping on conversations should not be happening at airports; it should be happening inside the Conservative Party.

Then, at least, we would have an idea of what happened with the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister's falsified documents, or use of front men, during the election campaign. Now people working for a company owned by the cousin of the hon. member for Peterborough are saying that they gave money to his campaign, money that they got back with a $50 bonus.

In the face of this deluge of scandals and ethical lapses, is he going to step down from his duties while he is under investigation?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member gave all the documents to Elections Canada almost four years ago. The documents were audited and verified by the agency. The hon. member has not been contacted by Elections Canada since.

But while we are on the subject of donations to political parties, the hon. member now has a chance to rise and tell the House whether, after his donation of $3,700, he still supports Québec Solidaire. Will he do so? I will accept his answer.

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

Mr. Speaker, it must be a real pain for him to have to sit on his behind and listen to someone else give meaningless answers for him.

The parliamentary secretary's campaign runneth over with false documents, front men and who knows what else, for goodness' sake. And now the hon. member for Peterborough is taking a leaf out of the President of the Treasury Board's book. When he was caught with his hand in the secret G8 kitty, someone answered for him too.

Does the parliamentary secretary realize that he cannot remain in office while he is under investigation? He is not answering, not doing any work, as it is. Replace him.

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has already filed, explained and had audited all of the documents related to his election filing.

However, what the hon. member across has not done is explain why he gave $3,700 to Québec solidaire, a party that states in its own declaration of principles that “Québec Solidaire Opts for...Sovereignty”. It is the hardest line separatist party in Quebec. The hon. member even gave donations to this party while he sat in the federal caucus of a supposedly federal party. I am simply asking him to stand up and say that he no longer supports Québec solidaire and that he will not give it any more money.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad the Conservatives raised the issue of donations because nobody on our side is being accused of a kickback scheme, unlike the Conservatives.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Your whole party.

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Except you were.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this has gone on and on. Last week we learned about fraud and forgery in the Peterborough election scandal. Now we are learning about this alleged kickback scheme for donations. Yet the Prime Minister seems to think that he will just damn the torpedoes and ride this one out. It is a question of his judgment. Does he really think that Canadians would believe that he was not aware of these damning court documents? When was he aware—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order. The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport.

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member claims that the NDP is facing no existing allegations of breaking electoral financing laws. He might be right because his party has already been found guilty of the allegations that were outstanding against it. It had to admit that on two separate occasions it broke the law, once to funnel money to a left-wing pressure group and on another occasion to accept illegal donations explicitly outlawed under the Accountability Act from a union.

I am just asking for him to stand and explain this. How much illegal money did his party take and how much has it given back?

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, again I appeal to the member for Peterborough. He has a pretty lousy defence attorney because the issue here is the fact that he is being investigated for concealing and misrepresenting spending. He is being investigated for fraud and forgery. Now there are allegations of a bonus-for-bucks kickback scheme. Could he just move the Nepean member out and explain whether or not he has spoken to the Prime Minister, whether the Prime Minister is backing him, and why the Prime Minister is not asking him to step down while this ethical cloud hangs over his head?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member in question filed all of his documents almost four years ago with Elections Canada. That agency confirmed those documents. They were audited and verified many years ago. The member has still not even heard anything from the agency to this day.

By contrast, the NDP admits now to having accepted illegal donations from union bosses and admits that it had to give some of that money back. I am just asking that those members come clean now, stand up and tell us all how much illegal money they took and how much they gave back.

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's parliamentary secretary is facing the highest personal election fines amid allegations--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order. The hon. member for Avalon has the floor.

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

--allegations of thousands in unlawful spending and the filing of a false return. Now, employees of his cousin's company have come forward and signed affidavits saying that they were paid to help the company pump illegal donations into the member's campaign. Shockingly, the member continues to act as the Prime Minister's personal parliamentary secretary and ethics spokesman above all else.

Will the government at the very least support a motion to have the member appear before the ethics committee so we can get to the bottom of this?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is obvious why that member would want to discuss this in a parliamentary committee. As he knows, such committees being creatures of parliament are extended parliamentary privilege, meaning he can level any false allegation he wants there without facing any of the consequences that normal Canadians would face when they speak outside the walls of Parliament.

Last week I challenged the member to repeat his false allegations outside this place. In great braggadocio he claimed that he was going to run out and do it. Instead, we had nothing but radio silence from the member all weekend long. I have to admit though, that was rather merciful of him.

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister allegedly exceeded the election spending limits and submitted a false declaration. His cousin's employees declared under oath that they were paid to have their company illegally finance this member's campaign.

Will this government fire him? Will the government support our motion calling on the member to testify before the House ethics committee?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member already handed over all the documents to Elections Canada nearly four years ago. The documents were verified and confirmed. Since then, he has not been contacted by Elections Canada regarding this situation.

The hon. member for Avalon again last week promised that he was going to storm outside and repeat the allegations that he made. Then he became curiously quiet, which is very unusual for him and merciful for us.

I would ask him to stop using parliamentary privilege as his security blanket as he makes these kinds of serious allegations.

International Trade

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, under our system ministers should be in charge of their files and accept accountability for their results. It used to be that, failing that, they were removed from cabinet, but now, on the most important of files, the trans-Pacific partnership, the Minister of International Trade has been replaced by the Prime Minister's chief of staff.

Why has the Prime Minister humiliated his trade minister on the international stage? Why has he placed a person in charge who is not accountable to Parliament?

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade]

What sheer nonsense, Mr. Speaker.

As a Pacific nation, Canada's interest in joining the trans-Pacific partnership is consistent with our active, ongoing and growing presence in the Asia-Pacific. The Minister of International Trade has been very active on this file. He has met with all nine of the TPP countries and all have welcomed Canada's interest.

As a full and ambitious partner at the table, we look forward to helping develop a 21st century agreement that would benefit all of the TPP countries.

The Environment

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, Enbridge's oil spill response plan is obviously deficient. That is really not surprising considering the Conservative government's laissez-faire attitude toward pipeline safety.

The National Energy Board admits there has been an increased trend in the number and severity of incidents in recent years. Yet the Conservatives are ramming through the budget bill that would repeal the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and would allow cabinet to overrule expert advice on pipeline safety.

Why is the minister willing to put Canadians at risk?

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, the northern gateway project is currently before a joint review panel, which will study all aspects of the proposal to ensure that it is safe for Canadians and safe for the environment.

Our officials analyzed the plan and agreed that the proposal was safe for the environment with certain mitigation measures. This is precisely the purpose of the review and it happens in the case of every review. Our government is further increasing pipeline safety by devoting significant funds to increasing inspections by 50% and doubling the number of audits.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians would have more faith in what the minister was saying if the National Energy Board did not fail to follow up on violations 93% of the time.

The Conservatives are gambling with Canada's west coast, and now we hear that down in Rio, they are reneging on their promise to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies. Basically they are doing whatever their big oil friends want them to do. Is there anything that this minister would not do for his big oil lobby friends?