Debates of June 17th, 2013

Government Appointments

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, so we can expect the Prime Minister himself to come and clear that up for us this week. Is that right?

The arrest of one of the Conservatives' star candidates has tainted everyone directly associated with them. After his defeat in 2011, Saulie Zajdel benefited from the patronage of the Conservatives when he was given a bogus job by the Minister of Canadian Heritage. The minister raved about the great job Saulie Zajdel had done for the Conservatives.

What was this great job Saulie Zajdel did?

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

Mr. Speaker, the charges relate to municipal issues and not the federal government. Until today I had not even heard about an investigation or charges against Mr. Zajdel.

However, to be clear, if Mr. Zajdel, Mr. Applebaum or anybody broke the law, they should be punished to the full extent of the law.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we do know that Saulie Zajdel was a star Conservative candidate. We know he got a patronage job from that minister just days after his defeat. We know that he was going around Mount Royal acting like he was the member of Parliament and not our distinguished colleague. We know that a little over a year ago, Zajdel joined the Prime Minister at a happy hour pub stop for some Conservative fundraising. We know that Zajdel was arrested today on a series of corruption charges.

What we do not know is what Zajdel was doing on the payroll of the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages. Tell us.

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

Mr. Speaker, as I just finished saying in French very clearly, if Mr. Zajdel or Mr. Applebaum have in any way broken the law they should have the book thrown at them and they should be accountable to the full extent of the law.

With regard to what my office has been doing proudly for the city of Montreal, we have been doing things like investing in important events like Les FrancoFolies, Festival International de Jazz, festival Juste pour rire, and inventing a cultural infrastructure in the city of Montreal like les 2-22, le Quartier des spectacles, and expanding the programming and physical space of the Segal Centre for Performing Arts. That is the work that indeed my office is very proud of, because it will serve the people of Montreal and all Canadians.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

It is like Whack-a-Mole, Mr. Speaker. They whack one scandal down and another one pops up. The Conservatives' former shadow MP from Mount Royal was arrested this morning. Saulie Zajdel is now facing charges of abuse of trust, fraud and corruption.

Mr. Zajdel was praised by the Prime Minister and he was hired by the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, and then suddenly, without explanation, he left his lucrative ministerial job. Why?

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

Mr. Speaker, as my colleague knows very well, I found out this morning, of course, we all found out, that Mr. Zajdel was under investigation and now there are charges pending. If he or Mr. Applebaum or anybody broke the law, they should be punished to the full extent of the law. That is how it works.

The justice system also works best when those who are aware of corruption, like the leader of the NDP, co-operate with police and tell the police about corruption that they know about. The leader of the NDP was offered a bribe 17 years ago, which is a crime, and he did not report that bribe and that crime to the police. Why was he covering for corruption in the city of Laval?

Ethics

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, so many Conservatives under police investigation and yet, so little contrition.

Let us stay on the topic of criminal investigations involving the Conservatives. In February, the Prime Minister claimed that he had personally reviewed Pamela Wallin's spending and found nothing unusual about it. However, in August 2012, the Senate administration found problems with Ms. Wallin's expense claims.

Why did the Prime Minister choose to ignore this information?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I just said to the leader of the NDP in English, the Prime Minister made it very clear that any expenses claimed by senators have to be associated directly with their responsibilities as senators.

It is the ethical and responsible thing to do. Just as the ethical and responsible thing to do for any member of Parliament, for example, is to do work for charities and to give money to charities, not take money from charities.

The member for Halifax knows that. The member for Outremont knows that. We know that. A member of Parliament showing up at a charity event should give money to charities not take it away from charities like the leader of the Liberal Party does.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians' confidence in our public office-holders has been shaken by the opening of a criminal investigation into the Prime Minister's own office.

By raising the bar on openness and transparency, we can begin to restore confidence in our public institutions.

Will the government choose transparency over secrecy? Will it publicly release a copy of the $90,000 cheque written by the Prime Minister's chief of staff to Mike Duffy?

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

Mr. Speaker, somebody really should advise the Liberal leader not to lead with his chin in question period.

As I said last week, we do not have access to a personal cheque of Nigel Wright.

However, the leader of the Liberal Party does have access to a personal cheque that was given to him, for example, from the Canadian Mental Health Association that paid him. He took $20,000 from the Canadian Mental Health Association while speaking at a charity event. He also took $7,500 from the Nova Scotia Nature Trust. He took $10,000 from the Children of Hope, which is a charity organization that helps orphaned children.

If he believes in accountability and transparency, he should show us the money he took from the charity.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, while they break the rules any chance they can get, we do not just follow the rules, we raise the bar.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please.

The hon. member for Papineau has the floor.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, a simple question. In the weeks following Nigel Wright's resignation, has any member of the cabinet or any senior member of the Prime Minister's Office met with him?

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

I have not, Mr. Speaker.

However, if the leader of the Liberal Party wants to talk about raising the bar, I do not think he is talking about an ethical bar. Do members know those novelty thermometers that they have at charity events when they raise the bar when they are increasing money for the charity? He must have one in his home or in his office and he raises the bar of that thermometer of money that he personally gets from charities across the country. That is the bar that is being raised.

Again, if the Liberal leader wants to lecture others about accountability, he should come clean. What is it about the ethical standard of giving money to charities rather than taking money from charities that he does not understand?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I will ask the question again to give the minister a chance to think about his answer.

Did any government minister or PMO staffer meet with Mr. Wright in the weeks following his resignation, yes or no?

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

Mr. Speaker, no, I did not speak to Mr. Wright after he resigned.

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

Mr. Speaker, a prime minister once said, “The RCMP is doing very independent work...the Auditor General...is a very important independent officer of the House and both of them are doing their jobs.... I have nothing else to add.”

Who said that? That was Jean Chrétien defending the Liberal sponsorship scandal, sounding an awful lot like this Prime Minister, speaking of which we now know the RCMP is investigating the secret payout to Mike Duffy.

Has the current Prime Minister been in contact with the RCMP and who is the point person in his office for ensuring the full co-operation with the RCMP and the PMO staff?

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

Mr. Speaker, again, the RCMP operates independently.

Frankly, it would irresponsible for the government to tell the RCMP to whom it should or should not be speaking. I, the Prime Minister's Office and the Prime Minister personally have not been contacted by the RCMP on this matter.

However, if the hon. colleague has questions about how the RCMP is fulfilling its obligations, he should direct those questions to the RCMP. It operates independently of the government.

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

Mr. Speaker, it sounds like the Liberal speaking notes from the sponsorship scandal.

Let us try something else. Saulie Zajdel was hired by this minister as his special adviser in Montreal. He was part of the Prime Minister's entourage on the trip to Montreal in 2012.

He is now charged with abuse of trust, fraud and corruption. What exactly was he doing working for the Minister of Canadian Heritage? Did the Minister of Canadian Heritage hear any of the rumours that were swirling about Montreal, about the reputation of Mr. Zajdel before he hired him?

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

Mr. Speaker, as my colleague should know, he was a municipal councillor for over 23 years. His job in my regional office was to do the coordination with cultural communities in the city of Montreal.

If in his municipal career, and this is what the allegations are, prior to his involvement in federal politics, he in any way broke the law, he should have the book thrown at him. He should be held responsible and he will be by our justice system.

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

Mr. Speaker, the RCMP is investigating a possible crime in the Prime Minister's Office.

UPAC, Quebec's anti-corruption agency, arrested their former candidate for the riding of Mont-Royal, who is also a former employee of the Minister of Canadian Heritage and a good friend of the Prime Minister's former director of communications. The Conservatives should start taking this a little more seriously.

Dimitri Soudas's buddy, Saulie Zajdel, pocketed plenty of cash thanks to corruption. Once on a Conservative minister's payroll, he is now facing several charges, including breach of trust, fraud and corruption.

What exactly did the Conservatives know about him before hiring him?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I just explained to the member's colleague, we were not aware of any of the activities related to these charges.

I learned this morning that there was an investigation concerning Mr. Zajdel's activities between 2006 and 2011, before his involvement in federal politics. He was involved in municipal politics in Montreal during the period in question. That is what this is about, and we did not know what was going on until this morning.

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

Mr. Speaker, this all looks very suspicious.

Their man in Mont-Royal in 2011 was Saulie Zajdel. UPAC's charges relate to his activities between 2006 and 2011. We have to wonder what particular skills made the Conservatives nominate him as their candidate and then reward him with a job working for the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

Let us be honest: trusting Zajdel with any kind of file is like trusting Vladimir Putin with a Super Bowl ring.

Did any law enforcement agency contact the Minister of Canadian Heritage or his office about Mr. Zajdel? Was he contacted, yes or no?

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

No, Mr. Speaker, because this investigation is related to municipal affairs near Montreal. They never contacted me because this is not a federal issue.