Debates of March 19th, 2013

Ethics

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

Mr. Speaker, the matter at hand has nothing to do with this party or this government. In fact, the engineering firm in question only donated to the provincial Liberal Party at the time, when the NDP leader was part of that provincial Liberal government.

If that member wants to talk about provincial politics, what about this article that I see in the Canadian Press?

Political party wants to honour Paul Rose, late FLQ kidnapper, following his death.

That party, of course, is Québec solidaire, which seeks to celebrate this convicted terrorist. That member donated to Québec solidaire as late as last year. Will he stand and condemn that party?

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Secretary is entitled to his opinion, but he cannot make things up.

We are not talking about the period from 2003 to 2006, when the leader of the NDP was the best environment minister. We are talking about 2009, when he was the NDP's Quebec lieutenant. Those are two different time periods.

I want to get back to the link between the Conservatives and corruption. In 2009, the pressure that Riadh Ben Aïssa put on SNC-Lavalin to make more donations obviously paid off. Thousands of dollars were transferred to bogus Conservative associations.

Will the Conservatives admit that they benefited from SNC-Lavalin's generosity? What are they doing to investigate these fraudulent donations?

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

Mr. Speaker, the NDP leader is in a better position to explain what went on with the fraudulent donations because he was a member of the organization that received them.

Let us talk about real links. That member donated as late as last year to Québec solidaire, a party which, according to Canadian Press, is now trying to honour “convicted terrorist Paul Rose, who died Thursday of a stroke [and] is best known as an architect of the 1970 October Crisis”.

I am merely asking the member to stand in his place and condemn Québec solidaire for this outrageous stand.

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

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, my hon. colleague seems to have a pattern. He will say anything in order to attempt to change the channel. The fact is that we will take the integrity of our leader any day over any member over there.

The issue is about that party's links to corruption in SNC-Lavalin. Speaking of fallen ethics, we now learn that Peter Penashue set up his own electoral website before he resigned his seat. Does the government not agree that Mr. Penashue was acting in a deceptive manner in his final days as minister in order to gain an unfair advantage in this coming byelection?

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

Mr. Speaker, the contrast could not be better. The people of Timmins voted NDP, and they got a big talker for the big city. The people of Labrador voted for a Conservative, and they got a hard worker with a record of results.

Let us look at the difference. Peter Penashue took responsibility. They took $340,000 in illegal union money, and no one over there has taken responsibility. Peter Penashue has defended the seal hunt and helped scrap the gun registry. He kept his word. That member over there had the chance to do the very same thing, and he decided to walk out on his constituents and break his promise.

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

Mr. Speaker, the people of Timmins—James Bay voted for New Democrats, and the people of Labrador got someone with a record. That member, of course, is remembered for the fact that he personally ridiculed the child victims of the residential school crisis and then was promoted by the Prime Minister.

Speaking of the Prime Minister's judgment here, he said:

...bend the rules, you will be punished; break the law, you will be charged

The Prime Minister knows that Peter Penashue could be facing criminal charges. Why would this Prime Minister support a potential criminal running under his banner?

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

Mr. Speaker, I encourage him to finally have the courage to repeat those kinds of allegations outside. We know he would not do it. We know that he is nothing more than a big talker for the big city, and that is why he will only repeat those kinds of falsehoods on the floor of the House of Commons.

The reality is that the member is supposed to speak for the people of Timmins, but he sold them out long ago for his big city bosses. He broke his promise.

We stand for Peter Penashue, who has kept his word to the people in rural and remote communities from across Labrador, and we are proud to have him as our candidate in this byelection.

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

Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons on integrity from that member. He is defending one set of rules for the Conservatives and another one for everybody else and blindly defending a man who made government spending announcements after learning he had violated election laws, a man who had his re-election campaign running before he resigned, a man trying to spend his way out of financial corruption allegations.

Why will the government not allow the investigation to be completed? What is it trying to hide from the people of Labrador?

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

Mr. Speaker, once again, the contrast: That member stands with a party that calls our resource sectors a disease.

Those of us on this side of the House of Commons are thrilled and proud to look at Newfoundland and Labrador succeeding and enjoying prosperity, precisely because of our natural resources sectors. The people of Labrador will have a chance to re-elect a hard worker with a record of results. The Trans-Labrador Highway is paved, the seal hunt is here to stay and the gun registry is gone.

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

Mr. Speaker, Lance Armstrong will not be participating in the Tour de France this year. Why? Because he cheated and was banned for life. Peter Penashue cheats, and he is made the Conservative candidate in a byelection. There is no mandatory minimum for Peter Penashue's cheating and stealing an election.

Here is my question: Is the Prime Minister aware of a compliance agreement or plea bargain between Elections Canada and Peter Penashue that even allows him to run? Why is the Conservative government so hypocritical on crime and ethics?

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

Mr. Speaker, the people of Labrador had a big-talking Liberal who delivered nothing for far too long. Like Elvis, they asked for a little less conversation and a little more action, please, and that is precisely what they got from Peter Penashue. The Trans-Labrador Highway is paved, thousands of Canadians are working now on the Muskrat Falls project, the seal hunt is here to stay and the gun registry is gone forever.

[Judy Foote, Liberal, Random—Burin—St. George's, NL]

Mr. Speaker, had the disgraced Peter Penashue not broken the rules by illegally accepting and spending almost $50,000 in unlawful donations, he would not have won a seat.

As a Conservative MP, Penashue failed to defend seasonal workers, and he failed to stand up for search and rescue, even in the face of the tragic death of young Burton Winters in Makkovik.

Given Penashue's cheating record, how do we know he will not attempt to steal the election again? Will the Prime Minister wait until Elections Canada completes its investigation before allowing Peter—

[The Speaker, Andrew Scheer]

Order. The hon. parliamentary secretary to the minister of transport.

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

Mr. Speaker, the people of Labrador saw how futile it was to have a big Liberal talker who delivered absolutely no results. That is why, instead, they opted for a hard worker with a record of results, a man whose hard work has led to the paving of the Trans-Labrador Highway, the thousands of jobs in the Muskrat Falls project, the elimination of the wasteful Liberal long-gun registry and the protection of the seal hunt.

As Benjamin Franklin said, well said is good, but well done is better.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Mr. Speaker, Peter Penashue resigned as member of Parliament to avoid having Elections Canada rule on his 28 illegal campaign contributions. His plan to run again shows that the Conservatives want victory at all costs and that they are prepared to let honesty and ethics take a back seat.

How can the Prime Minister think that victory at all costs—including cheating—has a place in our democracy?

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

Mr. Speaker, normally they attack Peter Penashue for spending too much time in Labrador with his constituents. Today they have been attacking him because he has a website and ultimately because he helped deliver the high-speed Internet that allows his constituents to see websites.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Andrew Scheer]

Order. There is far too much noise at the far end of the chamber. We need to have a bit of order.

Perhaps the member for St. Paul's and the member for Crowfoot could carry on the conversation by sitting a bit closer to each other. Then they would not have to shout across the floor and disrupt the rest of the House.

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals way over there in the corner are hard to ignore, but I assure you, it is well worth the effort to try. I think that our friends in Labrador will agree.

They will vote, I believe, for a hard worker with a record of results, a man who has delivered for the Trans-Labrador Highway, who has created thousands of jobs with the Muskrat Falls project, and who helped to eliminate the long gun registry and protect the rural way of life.

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, some people say that oil spills are good for the economy, because jobs are created to clean it up. That is even more ridiculous than the Conservatives' public relations exercise, which involves installing cameras to simply watch oil spills, and this is after they cut emergency programs.

As we all know, the Conservatives are big fans of hidden cameras. Is this for a new Conservative reality TV show?

When will they finally bring in some tough environmental protection rules?

[David Anderson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, we have consistently worked to protect the environment, the economy and Canadian jobs. When our leaders travel around the world, they do not come back and get comments such as the NDP leader. Once again, he demonstrated he is not prime ministerial material. We do not have premiers saying that the NDP leader is betraying Canadian interests. We do not have premiers saying that they do not think it shows national leadership. We do not have, as he does, his own colleague, the NDP leader from Saskatchewan, saying that he supports the Keystone XL pipeline and would like the NDP here to get onside with that.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister closed the environmental emergencies programming in B.C. The Prime Minister closed the marine traffic control centre in Vancouver. The Prime Minister closed the Kitsilano Coast Guard station. The Prime Minister gives new meaning to the word “reckless”. The leader of the opposition is responsible, and that is why we stand behind him.

Canadians want the federal government to ensure—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. member for Burnaby—New Westminster has the floor.

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

Mr. Speaker, they cannot bear to hear the truth.

Canadians want the federal government to ensure strong environmental protections to ensure that oil spills never happen, not to watch the spills on TV.

Why do the Conservatives not properly evaluate projects in the first place? Why will they not get serious about preventing spills? Why are they so irresponsible?