House of Commons Hansard #224 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was c-55.
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, minister Penashue has done the right thing under difficult circumstances and he is prepared to take his record and be accountable to the people of Labrador, everything from defending the seal hunt to promoting the Lower Churchill project. This is the best member of Parliament Labrador has ever had.
Bob Rae Liberal Toronto Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, let us talk a little more about the difficult circumstances. The difficult circumstances that Mr. Penashue found himself in involved buying an election, paying back $47,000 to Elections Canada. Now the Conservative Party is starting a campaign before Elections Canada has completed its work and its investigation.
Could the Prime Minister please tell us, when do his standards start taking effect? When does he start applying these standards to his own members and to his own party? When is that going to start to happen?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, it is the people of Labrador who will make the decision on this matter. Minister Penashue will be accountable to the people of Labrador. Unlike the Liberal Party in Labrador, minister Penashue will be fighting for the Lower Churchill hydro project.
Bob Rae Liberal Toronto Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, this is truly incredible. A Prime Minister is refusing to admit that his member of Parliament broke the law, that the investigation by Elections Canada is not yet over and already on the floor of the House of Commons he has started a campaign with the same disgraced member of Parliament.
When does the Prime Minister start to apply some standards of shame to his conduct and the conduct of the members of his cabinet?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, of course, it is the Liberal Party and the opposition which raised this particular issue today on the floor of the House of Commons. While they are doing it, let me point out the work that minister Penashue did, not just securing the Lower Churchill falls—
Stephen Harper Conservative Calgary Southwest, AB
He worked, Mr. Speaker, to improve Internet service for the people of Labrador, federal funding for the—
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
Order, please. The right hon. Prime Minister has the floor and this is eating up quite a lot of time.
The right hon. Prime Minister.
Stephen Harper Conservative Calgary Southwest, AB
Mr. Speaker, I know the truth hurts over there, but the fact is, as I have said, the minister has been doing important work, working to scrap the long gun registry, to bring federal funding to the Trans-Labrador Highway, defending the seal hunt against the attack of the NDP and Liberals. As I said, he is the best member of Parliament Labrador has ever had.
Bob Rae Liberal Toronto Centre, ON
Mr. Speaker, I hope that the best MP Labrador ever had is not someone who paid over $47,000 to buy an election. That is not what makes a good MP.
I would like to ask the Prime Minister this very clear question again: where is the clear rule that will ensure that members obey the law and that will allow Elections Canada to complete its work and its investigation into Mr. Penashue's activities?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the minister resigned and is prepared to run again in Labrador. In our democratic system, voters are the ones who make the decision in such a situation.
I am convinced that minister Penashue is the best member of Parliament that this riding has ever had.
Olivia Chow NDP Trinity—Spadina, ON
Mr. Speaker, traffic gridlock costs billions of dollars a year. Cities and communities need long-term, predictable infrastructure funding so that we can end the gridlock, support industry and grow Canada's economy. Significant projects take significant funding and take significant time. Just renewing build Canada is not enough. Reannouncing old initiatives like gas tax and GST exemptions is not enough.
Will the minister finally act and break the gridlock?
Denis Lebel ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, in Canadian history, never has a government invested as much in our infrastructure as ours has. That is because the Prime Minister believes that when we invest in support for communities, we respect jurisdiction, which is very important. We will not manage everything from Ottawa. We respect municipal and provincial jurisdiction. She will have to wait for the budget for the rest.
Peggy Nash NDP Parkdale—High Park, ON
Mr. Speaker, let us talk about the provinces. In 2007, Conservatives agreed to hand over skills training money to the provinces. Now their budget is focused on picking a fight with the provinces. The Minister of Finance even wrote to his caucus colleagues, and he gave them a sneak peak at what his budget plans are.
Will the government simply be cutting this transfer to the provinces for training, or will it seek to work on some of the practical solutions the NDP has raised?
Jim Flaherty ConservativeMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, here is the practical “alternative budget”, as it is called by the NDP. The NDP finance critic was asked whether it was costed. She said: “I'm not going to...say here's the price tag because I think it's a shift in approach....
[W]e have not costed out specifics in terms of this campaign”.
Talk about irresponsibility with taxpayers' money—to bring forward something called an “alternative” budget with no numbers. There will be numbers on Thursday. I encourage the member to wait just two more sleeps.
Guy Caron NDP Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Mr. Speaker, why does the Minister of Finance not table—
The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer
Order. The hon. member for Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques has the floor.
Guy Caron NDP Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Mr. Speaker, why does the Minister of Finance not just table his budget now, rather than leaking it through phoney letters to his colleagues?
You have to be really self-important and want to control your image at all costs to show such a blatant lack of professionalism.
There is nothing reassuring for Canada's provinces in the leaks orchestrated by the Prime Minister's Office.
The same Conservatives who did no impact study before gutting the employment insurance program are now supposed to take over training programs. There was no consultation, no impact study.
Do the Conservatives at least know that skills training comes under provincial jurisdiction?
Jim Flaherty ConservativeMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, it is true that I corresponded with my caucus colleagues. They have worked very hard, all of them, in consulting with people across the country and in their constituencies, including with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, to make sure that the initiatives that are in the budget will meet the needs of Canadians come Thursday. As I say, be patient. Only two more sleeps.
Jean Rousseau NDP Compton—Stanstead, QC
Mr. Speaker, it is the same old thing with the Conservatives: they make promises and then they break them.
Worse yet, they are attacking our regions' economies. They have abandoned our forestry industry, gutted the employment insurance program, closed post offices and now they are cutting $55 million from the budget for the Economic Development Agency for the Regions of Quebec.
Consolidating the agency's activities and saving money cannot be done without sacrificing services.
Why are the Conservatives cutting front-line services again by closing regional offices and moving the services to urban areas?
Denis Lebel ConservativeMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, the question is full of untruths.
No other government has invested as much as ours in the forestry industry. We have gone through the worst crisis in the history of the forestry industry with a reduction of more than 60% in construction in the United States. That is what he should have said.
His statement about Canada Economic Development is not true. He must recognize that we looked to temporary programs, such as cruise tourism development and the one-time initiative to support forestry-based economies.
Instead of acknowledging the good work that has been done, he is making things up. The program is coming to an end, as planned. These are not budget cuts at Canada Economic Development.
Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives can wash their hands of this all they want, but the commission on collusion, corruption and construction is giving us an idea of how they fill their coffers.
It is quite simple. The illegal financing scheme orchestrated by SNC-Lavalin, with donations of the same amount, on the same date and to the same associations, is the same pattern we saw with the Conservative Party financing.
Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier was used to funnel donations from friends of SNC-Lavalin. It was the same people and the same corruption.
Why are the Conservatives standing by and allowing this election fraud to happen?