Debates of June 7th, 2012

Ethics

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

Mr. Speaker, it is a general rule in this House that when that members stands, whoever he is defending has been benched. So I guess that is our answer. He has not been put on the backbenches until this investigation is complete.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister is named in court documents for questionable election spending with Holinshed Research Group. In 2009, Holinshed received $125,000 from the Canada economic plan.

Who signed off on this expenditure and when? Will the government show us the GeoVote application that Canadian taxpayers paid for? Where is it?

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

Mr. Speaker, they ask the same question again and again but they refuse to answer the obvious questions that Canadians are posing to them--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport has the floor.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Nepean—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, they do not like these facts, which is why they keep interrupting me.

They received illegal donations from unions in contravention of the law.

The only thing that we do not know, because yesterday the leader of the NDP refused to reveal it, is how much illegal money it took and whether it will actually pay it back.

On this side of the House, we follow the rules. Why can the NDP not?

Elections Canada

[Scott Armstrong, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP's glass house from which it throws stones is getting larger and larger.

The NDP has been caught breaking election laws twice this year, and we have learned of yet another time when it issued questionable practices. This time, in the 2012 leadership guide “Moving Forward”, it had advertising from corporations throughout. Today I will be referring this matter to Elections Canada to investigate how much sponsorship money the NDP collected from these advertisements.

Could the Minister of State (Democratic Reform) please remind the House of the steps our government took to crack down on these types of sponsorships from big business that the NDP is accepting?

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

Mr. Speaker, that type of behaviour is absolutely unacceptable and breaks Canadian election laws.

The Elections Act clearly indicates that corporate and union donations are not allowed. Political parties are required to raise their own money through donations from ordinary Canadians.

In fact, it was this government that brought accountability and transparency to political financing after 13 long years of Liberal rule, such as outright banning of union and corporate donations, in 2006.

The NDP must provide transparency on these questionable and potentially illegal practices.

The Environment

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

Mr. Speaker, to adequately manage the environment and the economy, in-depth knowledge and expertise are required, however the Conservatives have decided to make do without them. They are shutting out scientists and promoting their ideology without taking the facts into account.

Eliminating the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy is irresponsible. Who said that? A former Conservative member and environment critic, Bob Mills.

Will the minister listen to his former colleague and the Canadian public, and reconsider his irresponsible decision to shut down the round table?

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, once and for all, the national round table has served its purpose. When it was created a quarter of a century ago, there were very few sources of policy advice on the relationship between the environment and the economy. That is not the case today. This $5 million can be better spent elsewhere to protect the environment and the economy.

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

Let's be clear, Mr. Speaker, the government still needs facts, and fact seems to be a four-letter word that the Prime Minister is really offended by.

Let us be clear about what we are talking about. Bob Mills is a former Conservative MP and former environment critic. He is harshly criticizing this reckless decision.

The national round table has provided decades of non-partisan, expert advice on managing economic and environmental challenges. The Conservatives are punishing the round table for stating facts.

Why will the Conservatives not end the attack on science and restore the national round table?

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the commercial.

As I've said, the national round table's time has past.

Unlike the previous Liberal government, and in stark contrast to what the NDP would do, our government has been able to simultaneously successfully create jobs, grow the economy and protect the environment .

We are committed to protecting the environment and growing the economy, which is exactly the opposite of what the NDP would do by sending $50 billion to bail out—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for Dartmouth--Cole Harbour.

The Budget

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

Mr. Speaker, what we do know is that the Conservatives are ignoring the experts, ignoring Canadians and ignoring the facts.

Last weekend, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities lent its overwhelming support to splitting up the Trojan Horse budget bill and removing, among other things, the changes to the Fisheries Act. The message was clear. Yesterday, the minister stood up in the House and misrepresented the FCM's position.

Will the minister stand up here today and apologize to Canada's mayors? Will he finally agree to do the right thing and split the bill?

[Keith Ashfield, Conservative, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway]

On the contrary, Mr. Speaker. My comments from the day before yesterday were actually reaffirmed by the federation of cities and municipalities in its documents.

It says,

That the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) request the Government of Canada to ensure that changes to the Fisheries Act continue to protect our fisheries and natural environment while improving administrative efficiency by reducing unnecessary, ineffective and burdensome procedures;

That is exactly what we are doing.

Fisheries and Oceans

[Philip Toone, NDP, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Conservatives are not listening to Canada's mayors.

The Conservative proposals to change the fleet separation policy are destroying the way of life of fishers on the east coast. Yesterday, the parliamentary secretary admitted that there may be no desire for change, but that he could not say whether he agreed or disagreed.

I will explain clearly what the residents of coastal areas think. No. Is that clear enough for the minister?

When is he going to put an end to his battle against fleet separation?

[Keith Ashfield, Conservative, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know what box of Cracker Jacks the member is getting his information from. We have said nothing in the budget implementation act about fleet separation. I do not know what the gentleman is talking about.

National Defence

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

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence loves having his picture taken, and in fact spent $47,000 of hard-earned taxpayer money to get a photo op in the cockpit of an F-35.

Since he loves photographs so much, I have a deal for the government. I can arrange for the minister to get a ride in the space shuttle simulator and he can even land the thing, for free, if he promises not to waste taxpayer money. Heck, I will even throw in a trip to Space Camp.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I know the hon. member is so bright and so intelligent, so I will give him the answer he is looking for.

This announcement, as the member knows, was intended to inform Canadians. It was an important announcement about a defence procurement. What happened with the costs—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. Minister of National Defence has the floor. Order.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, this particular announcement was intended to inform Canadians. It included video conferencing and translation services. Almost half of the cost was to accommodate the media who were there and the employees who were preparing the event. There were accommodation and travel expenses for members of the Canadian Forces who attended, and a range of—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please.

The hon. member for Westmount—Ville-Marie.

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

Mr. Speaker, I think I hit a nerve.

I will say it again, in French this time. This minister spent $47,000 getting photographed in an F–35 fighter jet. We know that he likes to be photographed, so I have a proposal for him. I can arrange a trip to Houston so that he can be photographed in a space shuttle. He can even land the shuttle on the condition that he promises to not spend and waste any more taxpayer money. I can even arrange a trip to the space camp on his behalf.

[Peter MacKay, Conservative, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the joke was very effective the second time round in French. I repeat: I disclosed the cost of this announcement. The purpose of the announcement was to inform Canadians about this extremely important purchase for the Canadian Forces and for Canada as a whole.

The range of broadcasters who were there, and officials in attendance, demonstrate the importance with which we and the Canadian Forces and the government take this procurement.

We will continue to inform Canadians about the important investments we are making in the Canadian Forces.

Justice

[Françoise Boivin, NDP, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there was a rare moment of unity last night on the Conservatives' side. With the support of one Liberal member, they voted to eliminate the sections on hate speech from the Canadian Human Rights Act, confusing the concept of freedom of expression with that of hateful expression.

By voting in favour of Bill C-304, the Conservatives are creating injustice for women and reducing the level of protection provided to women, visible minorities and LGBT groups.

Now that Bill C-304 has passed, will the minister commit to immediately filling the legal gap that exists in the Criminal Code regarding gender?