Debates of Nov. 18th, 2013

Ethics

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said on a number of occasions, we are continuing to assist the authorities.

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

Mr. Speaker, the problem is that they just cannot seem to get their stories straight. The Prime Minister has given the Canadian people many versions of who knew what in the Prime Minister's Office about the cover-up cheque to Mike Duffy. First, the Prime Minister said that Nigel Wright acted alone. Then, last week, he said “Well, okay, a few knew”. Now, he is back to saying that Wright acted “by himself”.

Could anyone over there explain why the Prime Minister has such a difficult time answering such a straightforward question?

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, we have answered that question on a number of occasions. As I have said, we are continuing to assist the authorities.

What this is about is the fact that these three senators and disgraced former Liberal senator, Mac Harb, accepted payments that they did not incur. They need to be held accountable for those actions.

At the same time, we are continuing to work on all of the priorities that Canadians think are important: jobs and economic growth. That is important to Canadians, as is law and order and putting the victims of crime first.

The Minister of National Defence deployed Canada's DART team in record time. When it comes to the issues that matter to Canadians, we are on top of the file.

41st General Election

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

Mr. Speaker, did I hear law and order?

Speaking of law and order over there, on November 30, 2012, the Minister of Democratic Reform told the House that the Conservative government was “proactively co-operating with Elections Canada” to find out what happened with the electoral fraud in Guelph. Now we find out that Elections Canada is being stonewalled by the Conservatives about the issues of voter fraud.

What happened to the promise that was made in the House to get to the bottom of this fraud?

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as I just said in response to an earlier question, we are continuing to assist with this investigation. We believe, on this side of the House of course, that any individual who is found responsible for this should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

We also believe, on this side of the House, that when we make a promise, we keep that promise. Unfortunately, the member over there does not believe the same thing. When he went to his constituents and promised to vote in favour of taking away the long gun registry, he came in the House and did the exact opposite. Promise made, promise kept, that is not the same standard.

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, co-operating with authorities is just not something the Conservatives like to do. Jenni Byrne instructed campaign staff not to talk to Elections Canada for three months.

Is it really the position of the minister that Michael Sona did everything to cover his tracks, then miraculously started leaking precise details, but only to favourable Conservative staff? When will the government finally bring forward legislation to clean up this unethical behaviour?

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, here they go again. First, it is the senators who are the victims. First, it is the senators who defrauded Canadian taxpayers. They are the victims. They are the ones they stand up for with their Liberal partners. Now, when it comes to this investigation, it is quite clear that Elections Canada has brought forward an individual who it thinks it responsible. We will let the courts decide that full responsibility.

Let us be clear. Anybody who is found to have acted inappropriately during elections should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We will continue to assist Elections Canada on this.

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister keeps saying that he is fully co-operating with robocall investigators. However, we have just learned that the national campaign chair, who is now the Prime Minister's deputy chief of staff, told the Prime Minister's entourage not to co-operate. Do they have something to hide?

When will the Conservatives take election fraud seriously and pass legislation to prevent this type of activity?

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as I said on a number of occasions, we will continue to assist on this matter. We obviously take this very seriously. That is why the Minister of State for Democratic Reform is working on some new proposals which will make our elections even fairer. However, let us be very clear. It was the NDP that accepted illegal contributions from its union buddies.

It is quite obvious that when it comes to accountability, this side of the House expects accountability. That is why our first piece of legislation when we formed government was the Federal Accountability Act, to take the influence of big money and big unions out of the political process. We are living by that. We are proud of that. Unfortunately, opposition members are breaking the rules all the time.

Employment Insurance

[Mathieu Ravignat, NDP, Pontiac, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we see how accountable the Conservatives are.

For example, the Conservatives came to power by promising to help whistleblowers. However, they have done quite the opposite. The legislation does not have any teeth, and the Conservatives are ganging up on Sylvie Therrien, who spoke out about the employment insurance quotas. It is high time the law was amended so that public servants who witness serious problems, such as the employment insurance quotas or the sponsorship scandal, can speak out about them without fear of losing their job.

Can the minister commit right now to reviewing the legislation?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, we want employees to feel confident when they share their concerns about wrongdoing within the public service. We introduced rules after 13 years of scandals and mismanagement under the Liberals. That is why we passed this legislation.

We will continue to ensure this is law is applied and it should be applied fairly.

[Mathieu Ravignat, NDP, Pontiac, QC]

Mr. Speaker, even the person who blew the whistle on the Liberal sponsorship scandal and who ran for the Conservative Party now says the law is not helping people any more than it did during his time.

Conservatives promised to help people who blow the whistle on corruption and mismanagement. Why did they break their promise and when will the Conservatives introduce real protection for our courageous whistleblowers?

[Tony Clement, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, as I just said, this legislation has been put in place by this government. It gives employees options to report their concerns. It imposes consequences for individuals who fail to play by the rules. In fact the commissioner himself stated that whistleblowers “are adequately protected” by our legislation. We stand by that assessment and we will continue to protect those people.

41st General Election

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

Mr. Speaker, the PMO counselled Mike Duffy to lie. Jenni Byrne counselled Conservatives to stonewall an Elections Canada investigation. Arthur Hamilton marched six Conservative staffers into Elections Canada and surprise, they all had the same far-fetched story: one person acting alone was responsible for sophisticated election fraud across the country.

Has the minister delayed the electoral reform bill because he does not want to give Elections Canada the power to uncover the Conservatives' election fraud and cover-up?

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, again, this is the Liberals trying to defend the status quo. They are trying to make victims out of the three current senators and disgraced former Liberal senator Mac Harb. We are not going to do this on this side of the House. We were very appreciative that the Senate passed a motion that would suspend these three senators without pay. Unfortunately, the Liberals tried very hard to defend the status quo because, as we know, the Liberals are always entitled to their entitlements and they will do anything to protect that.

On this side of the House we will always put Canadian taxpayers first, and that is what we continue to do day in and day out.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives require only those who support their story to testify about the government's scandals. When someone tries to find out the whole truth, Conservative Party employees, such as Jenni Byrne, order the Andrew Prescotts of the world to block Elections Canada's investigation. People can testify if it will help the Conservatives. If not, they must refuse to do so.

Why is the government forcing only employees who support its story to testify and preventing others from telling the truth?

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as I have already stated, we will continue to assist in this investigation and at the same time, we expect that anyone who tried to do any illegal actions during the election would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. That is the standard we accept on this side of the House.

It is unfortunate the Liberals have a different standard. We know, of course, it was only the member for Guelph who has been convicted of any robocalling infraction at this point and I believe the NDP member for Ottawa Centre as well. On this side of the House we stand up for Canadian taxpayers day in and day out and we continue to do so.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, Conservatives are hoping that Michael Sona takes sole responsibility for this scandal, instead of admitting that he was a mule in the larger Conservative electoral fraud. They get witnesses to testify when they support their bogus story, but they tell others to stonewall Elections Canada when they will not. No wonder they will not introduce tough electoral fraud legislation; it might get in the way of yet another Conservative cover-up.

Why does the Minister of State for Democratic Reform not stand up and tell us why he does not have the courage to introduce tough election fraud legislation before the House?

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, this is coming from a member who is surrounded by people who have actually broken the Federal Accountability Act with leadership debts that they have refused to pay or do not want to pay. This is coming from a member who sat in a caucus in a cabinet that stole money from Canadians with something called the “sponsorship scandal”, something we are still looking for.

When it comes to accountability, the Liberals have nothing to tell Canadians about it because they have never stood up for accountable government. They talk about taxes only during election. They turn their backs on the taxpayer in between.

On this side of the House, we stand up for Canadians every day.

National Defence

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, according to new reports, the Auditor General is preparing to tell Parliament that Conservatives have failed to set aside enough money for the national shipbuilding procurement strategy. The shipbuilding secretariat recently said that the total cost for these acquisitions was $36.6 billion for large ship construction and $2 billion for smaller ships.

Could the minister tell Canadians if this is still the case? If not, will the minister tell us today what the true numbers are?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, we do not comment on rumours or speculation, but after a decade of darkness under the Liberals, our government is committed to providing the men and women in the Royal Canadian Navy and the Coast Guard with the equipment that they need at the best value for taxpayers.

By building these ships in Canada, industry analysts have estimated that 15,000 jobs will be created and that there will be over $2 billion in annual economic benefits for the next 30 years.

We look forward to responding to the Auditor General's report once it has been released.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Budget Officer already showed that budgets set aside for the joint support ships were insufficient, yet the Conservatives have been silent on this procurement mismanagement.

Given that not enough money has been set aside, will the Conservatives be putting more money into the program, or will they be scaling back the ship's capabilities, or will it be the number of ships?

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, the national shipbuilding procurement strategy will generate approximately 15,000 jobs and $2 billion in economic activity over the next 30 years according to industry analysts. Our shipbuilding strategy will finally end the boom and bust cycle that has plagued the industry for many years. So far I am pleased to report that over 75 Canadian companies have received work as a result.

Intergovernmental Relations

[Annick Papillon, NDP, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the CEO of the Port of Québec says that the wood pellet terminal project in Anse au Foulon complies with environmental assessments. However, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act was gutted in 2012.

What environmental assessment is being discussed here? The one done by Arrimage Québec? That is not an independent study.

Will the Minister of Transport tell us whether her department conducted an assessment? If so, will she finally release it, and if not, will she call for one?

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the Port of Quebec is an arm's-length organization as the member knows and as such is responsible for its own operational decisions. However, as a good corporate citizen, the port officials can consult the population when it comes to their development projects.