Debates of Dec. 6th, 2013

Status of Women

[Susan Truppe, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary for Status of Women]

Mr. Speaker, since 2007, we have invested over $62 million in funding for over 300 projects to end violence against women and girls through Status of Women. This is the highest level of funding ever.

We have also ended house arrest for sexual assault involving serious personal injury and aggravated sexual assault, strengthened sentences for child sexual abuse and toughened penalties for those who import, produce and traffic date rape drugs.

If the member opposite was so concerned about helping women and girls, perhaps she should have voted for Bill S-2.

Ethics

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it was another week of changing stories on the Conservative Senate scandal, another week of the Prime Minister trying to have everyone except himself take any modicum of responsibility, another week of the Senate's blocking an investigation into Senator Gerstein and the Deloitte audit.

Every single Conservative senator voted for the cover-up. It is obvious to everyone watching that the PMO continues to play puppet master to the so-called independent Senate.

Here is a simple question. Who in the Prime Minister's Office contacted the Conservative senators to help deliver the vote and help cover up Senator Gerstein's tracks?

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

Mr. Speaker, no one.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member across the way thinks that by having shorter answers he might appear more credible, but no one believes the Conservatives did not contact sitting Conservative senators to help cover up for their friend and bagman, Senator Gerstein.

On February 15, Nigel Wright wrote that he was not only concerned about Senator Duffy's residency claims, but “Possibly Senator Patterson in BC too”. Wait, that could not be the same Patterson who represents Nunavut in the Senate, could it? No, because then he would not meet the residency requirements to sit in the Senate.

Does the parliamentary secretary actually believe that this Prime Minister appointed a senator from British Columbia to represent Nunavut legally?

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

Mr. Speaker, Senator Patterson is a great advocate for the region of the country that he represents. He has done some tremendous work in the Senate, and of course I am very proud to serve with the senator.

With respect to the Senate, the Minister of State for Democratic Reform has brought in a number of reforms that are being discussed at the Supreme Court right now. I note that the New Democrats have no opinion on those discussions in front of the Supreme Court. They are always full of a lot of hot air, but when it comes to action, they never act.

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, talking about hot air, we got absolutely no answer on why the PM's chief of staff was worried about whether Senator Patterson was actually qualified to sit in the Senate.

The Prime Minister said he learned of the Conservative Party's cheque to pay Mike Duffy's legal expenses on May 15. Then, for 167 days the Prime Minister failed to mention this, until Mike Duffy spoke to the Senate. Why did the Prime Minister not tell Canadians about that second cheque for almost six months?

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

Mr. Speaker, as we have said, the party does assist members of caucus with their legal fees. That is not something that is abnormal. That is something that the NDP does. Of course, we understand that the Leader of the Opposition himself took thousands of dollars from his own political party to cover his legal fees. In fact, once the Leader of the Opposition was found guilty, in order to pay thousands of dollars he actually asked his party to pay for that as well.

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is a record-breaking day for the hot air that the member was talking about a little while ago.

What we are interested in is what the Prime Minister knew after May 15 but hid from Canadians. He must have discovered from his staff that his lawyer, Ben Perrin, and his chief of staff, Nigel Wright, had arranged a second cheque as part of their $90,000 cover-up.

The Prime Minister must have learned about the legal arrangement in May, so why did he keep telling the House that there was no legal agreement for months on end?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member asked about what the Prime Minister knew. As the Prime Minister has said, as soon as he found out on May 15, he made this public.

However, he went even further. As is stated on page 20 of the RCMP documents, it is quite clear:

Rob Staley, legal representative for the PMO, advised my office [the RCMP] that he had clear orders from the Prime Minister to provide complete cooperation with the investigation, and to provide any assistance or documentation that the RCMP requested.

That is the real type of leadership that this Prime Minister shows day in and day out. Full co-operation and full assistance are what Canadians expect, and that is what this Prime Minister delivered.

[Chris Charlton, NDP, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this week ends like so many others, with Conservatives blaming everyone else and taking no responsibility for their actions.

One day the Prime Minister blamed “the bureaucracy”, which really is his own department, for Ben Perrin's missing emails; the next he blamed Ben Perrin for destroying them.

Does the Prime Minister expect us to believe that Ben Perrin could have been able to permanently erase all of his emails simply by hitting the delete button?

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

Mr. Speaker, it was the assistant secretary to the cabinet who informed the Prime Minister's Office that they had actually preserved those emails. They had been preserved in another file for different litigation that was ongoing. At the same time, the assistant clerk of the Privy Council did apologize to the Prime Minister's Office and informed the RCMP that these emails would be made available.

[Laurin Liu, NDP, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said that Benjamin Perrin was not involved in a legal agreement, but the RCMP documents show that that is not true.

The Prime Minister said that only Nigel Wright was aware of the agreement, but the documents show that that is not true.

How many times does the RCMP have to contradict the Prime Minister before he starts telling the truth?

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

Mr. Speaker, again, the exact same documents that the member refers to clearly indicate it is Nigel Wright and Senator Duffy who are the subjects of this investigation. Page 72, of course, goes on further to say that the RCMP have absolutely no evidence that the Prime Minister knew of this plan.

At the same time, as the Prime Minister has said, had he known that this plan was being undertaken, he would have put an immediate stop to it.

[Laurin Liu, NDP, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we know that the Prime Minister's Office is not just blaming public servants for the saga of the lost and found emails. It is also blaming Benjamin Perrin.

Mr. Perrin no longer works for the Prime Minister's Office. Can the Prime Minister or his parliamentary secretary tell us whether Mr. Perrin was dismissed or whether he resigned?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister answered that two days ago in the House. I think I have, as well. Mr. Perrin left the Prime Minister's Office to accept employment at a Canadian university. If I am not mistaken, it is the University of British Columbia.

Employment Insurance

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the tourism minister came off sounding very pleased with himself in front of Quebec farmers. He seems to think that the people who are having their employment insurance benefits taken away just need to stop flaunting their Speedos on Cuban beaches. One would have to be quite heartless and have a lot of nerve to say that to these farmers, who have been watching their qualified employees slip between their fingers since the Conservatives implemented their reform that is an attack on seasonal industries.

Will the Conservatives start listening to concerned farmers and employers instead of insulting them?

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Minister of State (Social Development)]

Mr. Speaker, this kind of fearmongering is frankly very irresponsible. The fact is that the changes we made to EI are modest. They will only impact 1% of recipients. In fact, no changes to the rules have had any impact on the process whereby individuals can apply for, or qualify for, EI.

While the opposition wants to build an economy around temporary foreign workers and EI, we want to build an economy around jobs and opportunity for Canadians across the country.

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I challenge her to say that to the people of eastern Quebec and the Maritimes. It is easy for her to stand there in her Armani suit and pretty pink blouse and insult people.

Farmers and Quebeckers in general know that the unemployed are people just like the rest of us, people who are going through a difficult time. It is also a difficult time for seasonal industries. These people are not taking advantage of the system to go spend time on Cuban beaches, as the member for Beauce alleges from his ivory tower.

As if ignoring the concerns of the agricultural community were not enough, did the government really need to insult the unemployed as well?

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Minister of State (Social Development)]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that 80% of individuals who are disqualified for EI benefits disqualify because they are not in the country. Maybe the opposition members, including their 45 day work week, now want to start paying people EI benefits when they are outside of the country.

On this side of the House, we are responsible with taxpayers' dollars, and more importantly we want Canadians who want to work to have jobs. That is why we have created over one million net new jobs.

CETA, for example, is helping farmers across this country, in my riding, in Quebec, and in provinces across the country. We are acting to get Canadians to work. They just want to bring in temporary foreign—

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

The hon. member for Avalon.

Ethics

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the RCMP had to ask repeatedly for Benjamin Perrin's emails before the Prime Minister finally coughed them up. No one believes the story that they were simply forgotten about.

The only way to get to the bottom of why Perrin's emails were hidden from the RCMP is for the Prime Minister and the Clerk of the Privy Council Office, Wayne Wouters, to appear before the ethics committee under oath.

Will the Prime Minister and the Clerk of the Privy Council appear before the ethics committee?

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

Mr. Speaker, I will tell you who does believe that the Privy Council made an honest mistake in not being able to find those emails. It was actually the member for Wascana, who on Sunday night said, “Beyond apologies to the PMO+RCMP, the Privy Council owes its biggest apology to all Canadians”. That was the member for Wascana on Sunday, before he came to the office on Monday and was beaten up by his advisers who then told him to change his mind and say something different on Monday in the House.

I accept the Privy Council—

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

Order, the hon. member for Avalon.

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

Mr. Speaker, also this week, Conservative senators voted to block Michael Runia from appearing before a committee to explain his interference with the Senate ordered audit. Senator Gerstein, using his position as chair of the Senate banking committee, removed himself to explain his role, to protect his own self.

I have a motion before the ethics committee to call Senator Gerstein and Michael Runia to appear and testify. Will the Prime Minister and the Conservatives commit to supporting the motion on Tuesday to finally end this cover-up?

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

Mr. Speaker, the committee will deal with its own affairs when that motion is brought forward.

By way of an update for the hon. member, after a number of months Mr. Runia was not one of the three auditors on the file. The three auditors who actually were on the file did appear before the Senate committee. They did confirm that the audit was done with the utmost in confidentiality. They did confirm that the Senate could have confidence in the report that was issued.

Of course, that was the report that we used as the basis to remove these three senators from the Senate. The Liberals fought every step of the way. They fought for the status quo. We fought for taxpayers.