Debates of June 18th, 2013

Tours of Parliament

[Élaine Michaud, NDP, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, instead of the biased training manual for Parliament Hill guides, I came up with a few suggestions to make tours more interesting and representative of reality. We should create a wing in honour of the Prime Minister, with portraits of Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin, Patrick Brazeau, Arthur Porter, Bruce Carson and Saulie Zajdel. For the kids, there would be a ball pit where they could search for the $3.1 billion the Conservatives lost. However, the highlight of the tour would be a laminated copy of Nigel Wright's $90,000 cheque.

Since we are currently in a period of fiscal restraint, I thought we could organize a fundraiser with a non-profit organization to finance this new wing. The member for Papineau could make a speech, but it seems as though his events do not go too well. At the end of the day, it does not scream champion when you have to pull out your chequebook like Nigel Wright to repay thousands of dollars.

I do not know what the best solution is, so I will share a quote from a great orator: “...I am struggling myself with my own position”.

Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as you know, childhood is a sacred time for Canadians. It is a time when friendships are forged for life, so imagine our surprise last week when a defiant millionaire Liberal leader sent out his childhood friend from across Sussex Drive, the member for Beauséjour, as the sacrificial lamb to defend his exorbitant speaking fees scammed from charities.

The member for Beauséjour demanded apologies from those who called the Liberal leader out for ripping off charities. For a few short hours, that childhood friend, the member for Beauséjour, was the one person in Canada who did not feel ripped off by the Liberal leader. That all changed when the Liberal leader abandoned his position and hung his childhood friend from Rideau Hall out to dry.

Make no mistake, the Liberal leader will not think twice about scamming the most vulnerable in our society or abandoning his best friend, if he thinks he can make a buck. The Liberal leader's favourite cause is a long way from charities or childhood. It is the Liberal leader.

Ethics

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, five days ago the RCMP publicly confirmed that it was looking into the $90,000 cheque that Nigel Wright wrote to Mike Duffy.

Has anyone in the Prime Minister's Office been contacted by the RCMP about this investigation?

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

Mr. Speaker, they asked that same question yesterday, and the answer has not changed.

The answer is no. Neither the Prime Minister nor anyone else in his office has spoken with the RCMP. The leader of the NDP is another story. He said that he did not speak to Montreal police about the scandal surrounding the mayor of Laval.

There are two different approaches here. There is the Conservative Party's approach, which is to be direct and tell the truth, and there is the NDP's approach, which is to hide details for 17 years.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Minister of Canadian Heritage said that Nigel Wright wrote a personal cheque to Mike Duffy. Does he have proof of this? If he does, will he table it today?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I have said before, no, I do not have access to other Canadians' personal bank accounts. It was indeed a fact that Mr. Wright resigned. He took sole responsibility for his behaviour, because that is indeed how these matters unfolded. This was a transaction between Nigel Wright and Mike Duffy individually.

Again, the larger question for the NDP, and they try to avoid this day in and day out, is why the leader of the NDP failed, after 17 years, to disclose corruption in the city of Montreal. Why did he hide it? Why did he not come forward with it? Why did it take so long for him to finally admit that he was offered a bribe by the Mayor of Laval?

Government Appointments

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, speaking of day in and day out, let us turn to yet another issue where the Conservatives are in trouble with the law.

Did the Minister of Canadian Heritage even know Saulie Zajdel when he hired him? Who recommended him for the job?

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

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Zajdel was a councillor for 23 years. He was a candidate for the Conservative Party. He has been arrested on four specific charges.

Let me say this. As I said yesterday very clearly, if Mr. Applebaum or Mr. Zajdel or anybody is convicted of having done anything wrong, they should have the book thrown at them and be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. That is what taxpayers expect. They expect people to respect the law, which is something the leader of the NDP absolutely failed to do for 17 years in an absolute failure of leadership for the people of Montreal.

[Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, NDP, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when he was hired by the Minister of Canadian Heritage, politician Saulie Zajdel was not particularly well known for his cultural expertise.

Did Dimitri Soudas, Leo Housakos or even the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism suggest that the Minister of Canadian Heritage hire Saulie Zajdel?

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

Mr. Speaker, if Mr. Zajdel, Mr. Applebaum or anybody else is convicted of wrongdoing, he or she should be held accountable to the full extent of the law. That is very clear.

There has to be accountability here in the House of Commons and at the municipal level in Quebec. Clearly, it will be better for Montrealers, Quebeckers and Canadians if the process is carried out effectively and efficiently.

[Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, NDP, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I did not ask about the Minister of Canadian Heritage's values. I asked him whether someone recommended that Saulie Zajdel be hired.

Let us move on to another topic. Every day, we learn that another Conservative is being investigated by the RCMP. Hubert Pichet, a former Conservative candidate and a former aide to Senator Pierre-Claude Nolin, is being investigated by the RCMP for the role he played in the awarding of a contract to renovate the West Block on Parliament Hill.

Has the PMO contacted Senator Nolin to find out why his former aide allegedly used his position to try to influence the awarding of a public contract?

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services]

Mr. Speaker, senior officials at Public Works and Government Services Canada have clearly stated that there was no political interference in the awarding of that contract.

Anyone who is found guilty of wrongdoing will face the consequences.

Public servants are responsible for managing the entire process, including the awarding of contracts.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, Saulie Zajdel, a former Conservative candidate and employee, has been arrested for corruption that was allegedly committed prior to the 2011 election.

A security check should have identified Mr. Zajdel as a potential risk. However, the Conservatives decided to give him a job paid by Canadian taxpayers.

Why did the minister hire someone with such a dubious past as that of Mr. Zajdel, at taxpayers' expense?

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

Mr. Speaker, frankly, that is not at all the case. As my colleague must know, his party asked Mr. Zajdel to run as a candidate for the Liberal Party.

There is a process under way and that involves holding these individuals to account. If anybody is found to have broken the law, he or she will be held accountable to the full extent of the law.

Ethics

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, the culture of corruption is so deep in the Prime Minister's Office that now two of his ex-chiefs of staff are facing RCMP investigations with respect to potential criminal behaviour involving legislators and other government officials.

The question must be asked: What does the Prime Minister ask his chiefs of staff to do that ends them in a police investigation and facing possible jail time?

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

Mr. Speaker, my colleague should know very well that Mr. Wright has resigned and has taken sole responsibility for his actions, which is entirely appropriate, given this matter.

Again, if today's leader of the Liberal Party wants to speak to others about the importance of acting responsibly in public office and demonstrations of leadership by those who are in positions of authority, perhaps he can explain why the current Liberal leader has, again, taken money from charities that were designed to raise money to provide beds for seniors and literacy programs for kids, that were designed to support mental health. He took hundreds of thousands of dollars from charities that were designed to help those who are the most vulnerable in our society. He should show leadership himself.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, Nigel Wright, Mike Duffy, Saulie Zajdel, Bruce Carson, Arthur Porter: the Prime Minister clearly likes to surround himself with men of conviction. In Bruce Carson's case, I think he has five.

When did the Prime Minister decide that to work for him, one must either have a criminal record or be willing to obtain one?

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

Mr. Speaker, Liberal Senator Pana Merchant has $1.7 million hiding outside of this country and is not paying her taxes, who was advocated by the member for Wascana, the Liberal Party—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. Minister of Canadian Heritage has the floor.

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is the Liberal leader who says that it is okay for Mac Harb to take $231,000 from taxpayers. As long as he pays it back, he is welcome to come back into the Liberal Party. That is the Liberal standard of ethics. Their senators can rip off the taxpayers, take money away, and as long as they pay the money back, if they get caught, they are welcome to come back into the Liberal Party. That is their approach to ethics: take money from charities, support Liberal senators who do not pay their taxes, and welcome senators back into their caucus who are a disgrace to Canadian taxpayers.

Government Appointments

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to come back to the Conservative minister's former assistant, who was arrested yesterday.

Did the Minister of Canadian Heritage personally interview Saulie Zajdel before hiring him? If not, can he tell us who interviewed him?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I said in French, if Mr. Zajdel, Mr. Applebaum or anybody is convicted of wrongdoing, he or she should be held accountable to the full extent of the law. That is what the people of Montreal expect. That is what all Canadian taxpayers expect.

Again, it is no wonder the Charbonneau commission is going to take five years and cost millions of dollars, when people like the leader of the NDP do not co-operate with these investigations as they are ongoing. That is why the people of Montreal are frustrated. That is why Canadians are frustrated when they have the failed leadership of people like the leader of the NDP not co-operating and getting to the bottom of these scandals.

[Ève Péclet, NDP, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this is strange. They hired someone who is now facing criminal charges, but they do not seem bothered by that.

Saulie Zajdel is being investigated for fraud, corruption and breach of trust for acts dating back to a period between 2006 and 2011. The last federal election was in 2011. When did the Conservatives approach Mr. Zajdel and ask him to run? What was the exact date that he became a Conservative Party candidate?

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

Mr. Speaker, at 10 a.m. yesterday, the police held a press conference regarding Mr. Zajdel. That was the first time his name was mentioned in this process. My colleague should be more familiar with this matter.