House of Commons Hansard #226 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was amendments.

Topics

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Order, please. There is far too much noise in the chamber. I am having difficulty hearing the hon. member for St. John's South—Mount Pearl. Order, please. We need a little bit of order.

The hon. member for St. John's South—Mount Pearl.

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

NDP

Ryan Cleary NDP St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL

Mr. Speaker, as of last week there was a vacancy on the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board.

Reg Bowers, former campaign manager for Peter Penashue, resigned from the C-NLOPB just hours after Penashue stepped down as MP. With the vacancy, I am sure the Conservative puppet masters are waiting patiently until they can make their next appointment.

This time can the minister at least promise, and I ask this on behalf of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, that the next patronage appointment will not be an inexperienced volunteer?

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Eglinton—Lawrence Ontario

Conservative

Joe Oliver ConservativeMinister of Natural Resources

Mr. Speaker, our government will work as expeditiously as possible to fill the vacancies with highly qualified and independent individuals. The offshore board's top priority is the health and safety of workers and protecting the environment. Canada has strong and independent regulators that will not approve any project other than what is safe for workers, safe for Canadians and safe for the environment.

EthicsOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

NDP

Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL

Mr. Speaker, penalties for breaking election laws can carry a five-year ban on running. That is five years. Mr. Penashue knows he broke the law. The Conservatives have paid back over $40,000 in illegal donations, but instead of waiting for Elections Canada to finish its investigation, the Prime Minister has chosen him to run and is promoting his candidacy.

Should the government not let Elections Canada finish its investigation so the voters would at least know whether or not Mr. Penashue can even sit in the House of Commons?

EthicsOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Nepean—Carleton Ontario

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, the voters of Labrador will decide whether or not Peter Penashue can sit in the House of Commons.

It is clear why NDP members would not want Mr. Penashue to run. They do not want to tear down the efforts that he has made to deliver for the people of Labrador. Whether it is the project at Muskrat Falls that has delivered thousands of jobs, his work to eliminate the wasteful long gun registry, his defence of the seal hunt or his securing of funding for the new paving of the Trans-Labrador Highway, this is a man who has delivered for Labrador.

EthicsOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

NDP

Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives might try to tell people that Peter Penashue invented the Internet, but he still had to resign in disgrace for breaking the law. Those are the facts.

We know that Peter Penashue accepted $5,000 in illegal donations from Pennecon, but that is only a small number of the larger illegal donations that brought him down. The finances were in such a state, no one could even tell where these donations were coming from. There are donors who do not remember donating. There are receipts that were suppressed. There are donor names that do not even match the Elections Canada review file, and we have a disgraced former MP who may be facing charges.

Before the Prime Minister allows this man to run, why will he not insist that Peter Penashue come clean?

EthicsOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Nepean—Carleton Ontario

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are still waiting to find out when the NDP will finally come clean. It accepted $340,000 in illegal union money. NDP members still have not taken responsibility. They have shown no accountability. One-third of their caucus is former union bosses and union bureaucrats, and their entire policy agenda is dominated by the union agenda.

On this side of the House, we work to deliver results for our constituents. That is why Peter Penashue has been so successful for his constituents, and why we believe they will re-elect him.

EthicsOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Liberal

Scott Simms Liberal Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL

Mr. Speaker, on March 11, Peter Penashue flew back to Labrador on the taxpayers' dime on the very same day his campaign website was registered.

Will the Conservatives refund the taxpayers for the campaign spending? Since Pete is gone, perhaps “re-Pete” could get up and take some responsibility for a change.

EthicsOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Nepean—Carleton Ontario

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the very clever wordsmith for his question.

Peter Penashue delivered on the Muskrat Falls project to deliver jobs for his constituents and the Liberals opposed it. When Peter Penashue worked to get rid of the long gun registry, the Liberals opposed him. When he worked to defend the seal hunt, Liberals in the Senate once again opposed him. The reason they do not want to run against him is because he has delivered for Labrador and they have so demonstrably failed.

EthicsOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Liberal

Scott Simms Liberal Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL

Mr. Speaker, the European Union put a ban on seal products. Where did it happen? On your watch, my friend, your watch.

EthicsOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

EthicsOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Conservative

John Baird Conservative Ottawa West—Nepean, ON

He is blaming you. Why is it your fault, Mr. Speaker?

EthicsOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Order. I do not think I was Speaker at that time.

The hon. member must remember to address his comments to the Chair and not directly at other members.

EthicsOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Liberal

Scott Simms Liberal Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL

I apologize, Mr. Speaker.

On Peter Penashue the record is clear. He ran away from the TV cameras. He ran away from the public. He ran away from all of his commitments. The only time Peter Penashue felt it necessary to stand in the House was to use the washroom. It is absolutely ridiculous.

Will the Prime Minister take—

EthicsOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Order, please. The hon. parliamentary secretary.

EthicsOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Nepean—Carleton Ontario

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, Peter Penashue is proudly running for the people of Labrador. He has a strong record to run on. He delivered thousands of jobs. He helped scrap the long gun registry. He defended the seal hunt against Liberal attacks. He defended the polar bear hunt. All along the Liberals opposed him.

They should know what George Bernard Shaw said. He said that if you don't believe it can be done, the very least you should do is get out of the way to let those who are doing it get it done.

EthicsOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Liberal

Gerry Byrne Liberal Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL

Mr. Speaker, Penashue's current campaign manager across the way insists that having a fraudulent election campaign is not a serious offence under the Canada Elections Act. Guess what? It is.

Let me tell the Conservatives right here and now that Labrador is not for sale at any price. It is only Conservative ethics that are at a bargain basement price right now.

With the cost of a fraudulent election campaign now at $50,000 and climbing, will the Prime Minister stand in this place and say to the people of Labrador that the Conservative Party of Canada is apologizing for elections fraud and for denying the people—

EthicsOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Order, please. The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport.

EthicsOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Nepean—Carleton Ontario

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals ask the same questions over and over again. We deliver the same answers, which are that this was a member of Parliament who delivered for his constituents. He goes back to them with a track record of the Muskrat Falls project, which created thousands of jobs. He has helped scrap the Liberal long gun registry. He has defended the seal hunt, protected the polar bear hunt, helped have the funding made available for the Trans-Labrador Highway. He has delivered for the people of Labrador and they will have a chance to make their decision.

Science and TechnologyOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

NDP

Kennedy Stewart NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' war on science continues. Yesterday, they stood one by one and voted against public science, basic research and evidence-based policy-making. The Conservatives voted to continue their anti-science policies and to muzzle their scientists. They committed to end research that does not serve their ideological agenda and slash overall scientific funding.

How can Canadians have faith in any scientific research that comes out of the government when it so blatantly puts its partisan agenda ahead of the scientific community, ahead of the public interest and ahead of Canadians?

Science and TechnologyOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Cambridge Ontario

Conservative

Gary Goodyear ConservativeMinister of State (Science and Technology) (Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario)

Mr. Speaker, the only people in the House who are trying to silence scientists are the members of the opposition. They reject and ignore the science on the Keystone XL pipeline. It is a bit rich to hear from the members opposite when they also reject all of the scientific articles that show that bitumen is not more corrosive than any other type of comparable heavy crude.

When will the NDP stop pretending to support scientists and stop attacking Canada?

Science and TechnologyOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

NDP

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

When the Conservatives talk about science, they have no credibility. Our scientists must be able to carry out their research without fear of any political repercussions. Despite the public outcry provoked by the closure of the Experimental Lakes Area, the Conservatives continue to deny the inestimable value of that research. That closure will be devastating to the scientific community.

Will the Conservatives cancel that budget cut and stop waging war against our scientists?

Science and TechnologyOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Cambridge Ontario

Conservative

Gary Goodyear ConservativeMinister of State (Science and Technology) (Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario)

Mr. Speaker, if it were up to the NDP, there would be no funding for science.

The NDP votes against funding for science at every opportunity. It rejects science anyway. It rejects the science behind the Keystone XL pipeline and the scientific studies that show that bitumen is no more corrosive than comparable heavy crude.

It would be my advice, Mr. Speaker, through you, that you stop pretending to support science and stop attacking Canada and Canadian jobs on the world stage.

Science and TechnologyOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

I just want to remind the hon. minister that he cannot say “through the Speaker” and then use the second person, if he could keep that in mind.

The hon. member for Beauharnois—Salaberry.