Debates of May 29th, 2013

Ethics

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, he is entitled to his entitlements.

Under the law, how much severance pay is Nigel Wright entitled to? Would it just happen to be approximately $90,000?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are required to pay certain amounts under law, such as certain accumulated vacation pay. Those policies are clear. The government cannot work around them. Mr. Wright will be paid only those amounts of money.

Once again, we have been absolutely clear about this matter, unlike the leader of the NDP.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's Office was first informed of this matter on May 14. Who in the Prime Minister's Office knew on May 14?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, I have been very clear that Mr. Wright informed me of this on May 15. We have been very clear on that. As soon as we knew that information, we made it public. If we had known earlier, we would have made it public earlier, unlike the leader of the NDP who, when confronted with information regarding the improper activities of a mayor, who is now charged with various corruption offences, refused to provide that information to the public or to the authorities for 17 years.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, has the Prime Minister asked that all emails to and from Nigel Wright's email account in the Prime Minister's Office be examined to see if there is any reference whatsoever to the Mike Duffy affair, or to any and all documents concerning the Mike Duffy affair?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, we have put in place the appropriate authorities to investigate such matters when they arise. We will obviously assist those authorities and we will ensure that anybody who has broken any rules or laws is held accountable. We are doing so promptly, unlike the leader of the NDP who, in spite of the fact he knew about the inappropriate activities of the former mayor of Laval, and has now admitted it after having denied it in public repeatedly, refused to provide that information.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, what has the Prime Minister learned from the audit of Pamela Wallin's expenses that led her to resign from the Conservative caucus?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as members well know, the audit of Senator Wallin's expenses is not complete. Senator Wallin has chosen to step outside of the caucus until those matters are resolved. She obviously will not be readmitted unless those matters are resolved. If she has in any way acted improperly, she will be subject to the appropriate authorities and the consequences for those actions.

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the Prime Minister could tell us who in his office was responsible for the discussions with Senator Tkachuk and Senator Stewart Olsen between February and May 15. That is critical for us to find out.

Who exactly in the Prime Minister's Office was responsible for managing this file?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, the original Senate committee report did reflect the results of the audit and the Senate took new action yesterday. A new report has been out. The RCMP has appropriately been brought in.

More important than that, what Canadians are looking for is the action that was taken yesterday by the Senate, which is 11 new items of accountability to protect the interests of taxpayers. We think that is the action Canadians want to see and that is the action we are taking.

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there was no answer to the question. It is clear that the minister is perhaps not aware of the fact that his colleagues in the Senate have to re-eat all the words that they refused to allow in the original report because the original report was completely changed as a result of we do not know what.

I would like to ask the minister a very clear question. Who in the Prime Minister's Office had conversations with Senator Tkachuk and with Senator Stewart Olsen that led to the words being changed? Who was responsible for that?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, the premise of the question is entirely false.

Yesterday the Senate did two very important things for Canadians. The first was to issue a report that was agreed to unanimously, including Liberal members, to refer this matter to the RCMP, which is entirely appropriate. Second, the Senate took action on 11 specific items to protect the interests of taxpayers going forward.

Those are the things the Senate did and they are exactly what is in line with what taxpayers expect.

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's Office was running this whole thing.

Senator Tkachuk said yesterday that he had conversations with Nigel Wright.

The question we are asking is very clear. It is not hard. Who, other than Mr. Wright, was in the Prime Minister's Office? The Prime Minister refuses to answer the question, but the minister is here.

Who in the PMO was responsible for the conversations with Senator Tkachuk and for managing this important matter?

[James Moore, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, as he said in his statement when he stepped down, Mr. Wright took sole responsibility for this because he was the one involved.

Government Appointments

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Arthur Porter is in jail under charges of fraud and money laundering. Just two years ago the Conservatives had full confidence in Mr. Porter. They made him the chair of the CSIS watchdog and appointed him to the Privy Council. Despite charges connecting Mr. Porter to one of the largest fraud cases in Canada's history, he remains a member of the Privy Council.

Will the government remove him from the Privy Council?

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, as a matter of clarification, Mr. Porter was appointed to SIRC with the support of the NDP and the Liberal leadership.

I would like to congratulate the authorities for a successful arrest.

While I cannot comment on a specific case, anyone involved in corruption must face the full force of the law, unlike the leader of the NDP who knew about corruption, who knew about a bribe attempt, who denied it years later, and has now had to come clean.

[Françoise Boivin, NDP, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know whether they realize that they are protecting a man who tried to make a run for it and leave his wife behind in prison. They are allowing that individual to remain a member of the Privy Council.

The intelligence sharing fiasco in the Delisle case happened under Porter's watch and fraud at the MUHC happened under Porter's watch. It is time to end the charade.

The request to extradite Arthur Porter is currently in the federal government's hands.

Can the minister confirm this information and will he take immediate action to have Mr. Porter tried in Canada?

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, the member says that someone was protected. What we do know is that the Leader of the Opposition denied a specific bribery attempt, and then less than three years later, came clean on this. For 17 years, the Leader of the Opposition knew about a bribery attempt, denied it and has finally had to come clean.

Who is protecting who?

La défense nationale

[Rosane Doré Lefebvre, NDP, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, under Arthur Porter's watch at the Security Intelligence Review Committee, Jeffrey Delisle sold state secrets to Russia, and CSIS refused to share that information with the RCMP.

For the past two days, the minister has been asking us just to trust him. The problem is that when we trust him, we end up with cases like Porter and Delisle on our hands.

What corrective measures has the minister taken with regard to collaboration between Canadian security agencies?

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, if the member has any information that any member of our security forces behaved contrary to Canada's interests, I would encourage her to immediately refer to SIRC.

Let us talk about sharing information. What we do know is that it is very clear that the Leader of the Opposition failed to share information that was pertinent to a bribery attempt, which is now what we are hearing about in the province of Quebec.

Why did that particular member fail to disclose pertinent information and fail to share it with the authorities?

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister knows full well that his non-answers are all about protecting his government and nothing more. The Delisle case is an embarrassing litany of failures. It is a failure to fix well-known security problems, a failure to share key information between agencies, a failure to maintain confidence and credibility in the eyes of our intelligence partners. Worst of all, it is a failure to be accountable to Canadians.

I ask the minister once again: What is he doing to restore Canada's reputation with our allies in the wake of this embarrassing mess?

[Vic Toews, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I have answered that question. If the member has any information that security forces behaved contrary to Canada's interests, I would encourage him to immediately refer it to the Security Intelligence Review Committee.

Let us talk about hiding information. Let us talk about the Leader of the Opposition, who for 17 years, hid attempts by the mayor to bribe him. These matters are now being disclosed in a public enquiry.

Why did the Leader of the Opposition not do his duty?

Natural Resources

[Bernard Trottier, Conservative, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Speaker, our government is proud of Canada's refining sector.

Canada is a world leader in this sector. It exports more than 400,000 barrels of oil products every year, which is much more than what we can use. We know that the NDP wants to impose a carbon tax that would destroy our refining sector.

Could the Minister of Natural Resources share the latest data on Canada's refining sector with the House?

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, Valero, which operates the refinery in Lévis, said that it may have to close down if line 9B is not reversed.

However, the leader of the NDP has publicly stated that he is opposed to the reversal. The New Democrats are prepared to watch the refinery's 500 unionized workers lose their jobs, just to support their party's ideological crusade against the oil and gas industry.

Government Appointments

[Robert Chisholm, NDP, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the mismanagement and ethical problems at ACOA continue today. We learned that the CEO of Enterprise Cape Breton is under investigation by the federal Ethics Commissioner.

Enterprise Cape Breton is responsible for a budget of $50 million. I would like to ask the government to explain what it is the Ethics Commissioner is investigating. Given all the mess at ACOA, what is it going to do to restore confidence to that important economic development institution in Atlantic Canada?