Debates of Nov. 8th, 2013

Ethics

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

Mr. Speaker, of course there are a number of lawyers in that caucus who have illegal campaign bills that they refuse to pay. I hope the member will be referring that matter to the Minister of Justice.

We have been very clear. We will continue to assist authorities in this matter.

It is very interesting today. I was criticized for saying that the Liberal leader has been muzzled by his own party, but now I learn why he is muzzled by his own party. Last night, when he was asked what other kind of administration he admires, he stood up for a dictatorship. Why? It is because they can force things through, and if they need to go green, they can go green faster. That is the—

[The Deputy Speaker, NDP, Joe Comartin]

The hon. member for Westmount—Ville Marie.

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

Mr. Speaker, RCMP court filings show that Nigel Wright told the police that the Prime Minister's personal lawyer, Benjamin Perrin, was involved in the $90,000 payment to Mike Duffy. Mike Duffy has said that he has emails that show that another PMO lawyer was involved in this scheme. Duffy has now provided these emails to the RCMP.

Will the Prime Minister tell the House who the other PMO lawyer is, or will he wait for the RCMP to lay charges before Canadians can find out?

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

Mr. Speaker, I think I have already answered that, but let me just quote the Liberal leader last night at his fundraiser. Not only did he insult millions of women across the country, but when asked what type of administration he admires, he talked about admiring a dictatorship because “...their basic dictatorship is allowing them to actually turn their economy around on a dime and say 'we need to go green fastest' ”.

Let me get this straight. He has talked about policy. He supports the status quo in the Senate. He supports dictatorship. He wants a carbon tax and he wants to legalize marijuana.

[Françoise Boivin, NDP, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I believe the parliamentary secretary has never heard the saying “a fault confessed is half redressed.” This is going to be a long process.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister confirm that Nigel Wright told Mike Duffy in December 2012 that his expenses were in keeping with all the rules? Did the Prime Minister agree with his chief of staff at the time?

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

Mr. Speaker, let me review the timeline again for the hon. member.

On February 13, Senator Duffy approached the Prime Minister to justify his inappropriate expenses. The Prime Minister told Senator Duffy that he had to repay those expenses. He also told the rest of our caucus, including the senators, that if we had inappropriate expenses, we had better pay them back, because that is not something we would support in our caucus.

After Mr. Duffy went on TV and said he had repaid expenses by taking out a Royal Bank loan, we then learned, as all Canadians did, that what Mr. Duffy had said was not true. We also know that Nigel Wright repaid those expenses by using his own resources. He has accepted full responsibility for doing that and is prepared to accept the consequences.

[Françoise Boivin, NDP, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, now I have that banking commercial, “You're richer than you think”, come to mind.

Mr. Speaker, once again, the government is not giving us an answer.

The Prime Minister confirmed that employees in his office gave advice to senators about talking to the media.

I would therefore like to know which employee or former employee of the PMO told Mike Duffy to say that he took out a bank loan to repay the $90,000. What is that employee's name?

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

Mr. Speaker, again, I, like many other Canadians, saw Mike Duffy go on TV and say that he took out a loan to repay those inappropriate expenses. We obviously learnt that was not true on May 15 when it was reported in the media. At the same time, the Prime Minister said he expected more from his staff.

Nigel Wright has accepted sole and full responsibility for this. He is prepared to accept the consequences of that decision. I hope that Mike Duffy will do the same. He is the only one who has not paid a dime back of any expenses, and he should do that.

[Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, NDP, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

No answer, Mr. Speaker. What a surprise. We will try again.

With regard to the emails mentioned by Mike Duffy, the RCMP said: “The existence of such documentation may potentially be evidence of criminal wrongdoing by others.”

This documentation pertains to the behaviour of staff in this Prime Minister's Office.

What documents has the Prime Minister's Office given to the RCMP?

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

Mr. Speaker, of course, as I have mentioned on a number of occasions, we are assisting the authorities on this matter. At the same time, I was glad to hear that, finally, Senator Duffy is co-operating with the RCMP. He might also take the opportunity to cut a cheque to the Canadian taxpayer for the thousands of dollars in expenses that he owes the Canadian people.

At the same time, I hope that the Liberals will reflect on this and try to put Canadians first, and when it comes to protecting the status quo in the Senate, maybe think twice and get on board with some of the reforms that our minister of democratic reform has brought forward with respect to the Senate.

[Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, NDP, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question was not: were documents given to the RCMP? My question was: which documents were given to the RCMP by the Prime Minister's Office?

Perhaps the parliamentary secretary did not understand my question. Perhaps he does not know the answer. Perhaps he cannot give the answer, all these answers, any of these answers.

To help the parlimentary secretary, I will try to ask a very short and very simple question. On exactly which date did Nigel Wright visit the Langevin Block for the last time?

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

Mr. Speaker, let me suggest that this member take her acting classes, not from the member for Papineau, but from the member for Jeanne-Le Ber, because he is a much better actor than she is.

At the same time, she asked about what documents the RCMP have. They have whatever they have asked for.

[Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, NDP, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are not talking about a schoolyard quarrel here. We are talking about a criminal investigation. One would think that the parliamentary secretary would take this a little more seriously.

What was the exact date of the most recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his former chief of staff, Nigel Wright?

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

Mr. Speaker, this is a member who gets up and acts out a question every day and then talks about being serious in the house. Come on, give me a break.

I will tell the House what we are serious about. We are serious about democratic reform on this side of the House. That is why we have a number of reforms that we have put in front of the Supreme Court of Canada, so that we can actually get a road map to changing the Senate, so that we do not get mixed up in big, long constitutional battles with our provincial partners.

We are serious about growing the economy. That is why I am happy that the economy has grown by 2% annually. That is why I am glad that new jobs were created. That is why I am glad that we have an economic—

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that member gets up and gives laughable answers time and time again, and he expects people not to laugh at him.

The RCMP is now knocking at the door of the Prime Minister's Office. Conservatives should really take answering questions a little more seriously because Canadians deserve the truth.

When was the last time anyone in the Prime Minister's Office spoke with Nigel Wright?

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

Mr. Speaker, the questions from the opposition get more laughable by the minute. Let me get this straight. We have in front of us an economy that is doing better but still has a lot of challenges in front of it. We have the biggest trade deal in Canadian history. We have natural resources that need to get to market. We have pipelines that need to be built in order to do that, and he wants to know who talked to who last.

My daughter sometimes asks me about that. She asks “When was the last time I talked to Natasha, Daddy? I had better giver her a call”, but she is in grade one. She is not sitting in the House of Commons—

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Mr. Speaker, she might be in grade one, but I bet she would give more truthful answers than that member.

This is no fishing trip. These are serious questions about people being named in connection with a potential criminal cover-up orchestrated out of the Prime Minister's office. Outside of the House, Conservatives are speaking with Nigel Wright and saying that he has quite the story to tell. Even some ministers are now defending Mr. Wright.

Can the Minister of Employment and Social Development tell us the last time he spoke with Nigel Wright?

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

Mr. Speaker, he is a real tough guy when he is covered by immunity in the House of Commons. He is probably not so tough in front of the TV cameras outside of this place.

This is about what the NDP or Liberals want to make it about, making victims of these senators. This is about the fact that these senators accepted payments that they did not incur and they need to repay those expenses. We have accountability in the Senate because our senators passed a motion that would see these senators suspended. We will continue to fight for the taxpayer; they can continue to fight for the status quo in the Senate and for these three senators who are rightfully out of the Senate.

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

Mr. Speaker, as one father to another, I will ask my hon. colleague not to use his children to defend corruption.

Maybe I will give him a break. Surely somebody over on that side has been paying attention to the culture of corruption that has gone in the Prime Minister's office. We know the Minister of Justice has been out in the media defending Nigel Wright. Maybe the Minister of Justice, now that he is supporting Nigel Wright, would tell us when was the last time he spoke with him.

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

Let me just say this, Mr. Speaker. A lot of people are upset at the fact that I talk about my family. They are upset at the fact that I talk about my parents. On the other side, they laugh about those stories.

Let me tell you something, Mr. Speaker. It was my parents who gave me the confidence to be here, and unlike maybe some other members, it is for my kids that I am here every single day, trying to build a bigger, better, stronger, safer Canada. That is what my parents did for me, and that is what I want to do for them. I am not embarrassed or ashamed to talk about how proud I am of my kids or my family, or to get up in the House and fight for them every single day.

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

Mr. Speaker, here is something we will ask if he is proud of.

Section 121 of the Criminal Code, “Frauds on the government”, reads:

(1) Every one...who (a) directly or indirectly...

...demands, accepts or offers or agrees to accept from any person...

a loan, reward, advantage or benefit of any kind as consideration for cooperation, assistance, exercise of influence or an act or omission in connection with...

...any matter of business relating to the government...

...is guilty of an indictable offence...

Will the member tell us who over on that side has broken the law? Who is guilty of this offence?

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

Mr. Speaker, it might surprise the hon. member to learn that I am not actually a police officer. That is why there is an investigation and that is why we are assisting the authorities. I will let them make that decision.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Chris Woodcock was the Prime Minister's director of issues management, the top official, the go-to guy for handling dangerous political files. He crafted the strategy to cover up the Wright-Duffy deal; he wrote the false media lines which instructed Mr. Duffy to hide the real source of the $90,000 cheque.

Mr. Duffy has provided the RCMP with all his emails and records related to Mr. Woodcock. Has the government turned over to the RCMP all of Mr. Woodcock's records relating to Mr. Duffy?

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

Again, as I have said on a number of occasions, Mr. Speaker, we are assisting all authorities on this matter and providing anything that is asked of us.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we know that the PMO was forced to provide emails and other records to the RCMP. For months, countless ministers stood up in the House and asserted there was no written agreement between Wright and Duffy. Over and over again, it was outright denial.

Can the government confirm that one of the documents it turned over to the RCMP is the February 20 email which summarizes the Wright-Duffy legal agreement, and can it confirm that Mr. Woodcock has had this email in his possession since last spring?