Debates of June 4th, 2013

Ethics

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, last week, the Prime Minister's Office confirmed that it was the Prime Minister himself who asked Mike Duffy to reimburse his expenses.

Who was present when the Prime Minister asked Mike Duffy to reimburse his expenses?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have been clear since the beginning: inappropriate expenses should be refunded to taxpayers. My statements have been clear and transparent. My responses have been consistent.

Again, the leader of the NDP refuses to tell us why he hid the truth about the goings on of the mayor of Laval for 15 years. It is high time that he answer the questions.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister' Office says that the Prime Minister himself spoke with Mike Duffy to ask him to reimburse the expenses.

Who was present during that conversation?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, I have been very clear. My views were known to the entire caucus. Mr. Duffy approached me to seek some clarification. I was very adamant that any inappropriate expenses should be repaid. Those were the facts of the matter. I have been very clear and consistent on that.

Once again, we are waiting for some clarity and some consistency from the leader of the NDP on matters that are now before a major commission. Maybe if that individual had been clear with the public and with authorities some 17 years ago, the kinds of things that led to the Charbonneau commission would not be happening today.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, on May 17, the Prime Minister's director of communication said, “The prime minister has full confidence in Mr. Wright and Mr. Wright is staying on”. Who told Andrew MacDougall to say that?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, Mr. Wright believed, as we all believe, that the taxpayers of Canada should be reimbursed for the inappropriate expenses. He decided to do that on his own without informing us. For that reason, upon reflection, I accepted his resignation. As soon as I learned other relevant information, on May 15, I made that public.

Once again, why does the leader of the NDP, when knowing about things like bribery, think it is not appropriate for 17 years to appropriately inform the police and the public about those kinds of things?

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, last week, the Prime Minister confirmed that Nigel Wright would be receiving an executive severance package. Is that severance package greater than $90,000 or less than $90,000?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, first, I have been very clear. Mr. Wright will receive only the monies that are required absolutely under law Those amounts are obviously less than the amount in question. Let me be absolutely clear. Any suggestion that Mr. Write is being compensated by taxpayers, directly or indirectly, for his cheque to Mr. Duffy is absolutely and categorically false.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, was Ray Novak involved in any discussions about the Senate expense scandal?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, Mr. Wright decided to do this on his own, using his own funds. He has taken full responsibility and he will be accountable to the various authorities' inquiries for his actions in that regard.

It is time for the leader of the NDP to do the same thing. He sat in the cabinet of Quebec for years when the cabinet of Quebec was doing business with the mayor of Laval and others.

They are now matters of inquiry before the Charbonneau commission. Why did he think, as a minister of the Crown, it was not appropriate to inform the public and the authorities of his knowledge of the dealings of that particular individual.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, did Senator Marjory LeBreton recuse herself from any of the cabinet discussions involving the Senate expense scandal? Now we are not talking about the illegal payment from Nigel Wright to Mike Duffy. We are talking about whether or not she recused herself from cabinet. This is not a question of cabinet confidence. The Prime Minister has to answer.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, last week the member asked if this was ever a matter of cabinet business. I said it was not a matter of cabinet business, so why would someone recuse himself or herself from something that was not a matter of cabinet business?

The answer to that question is pretty obvious before he even asked it, which makes it pretty obvious why the leader of the NDP simply does not want to answer questions about his knowledge of potentially illegal activities in Quebec of which he was fully knowledgeable. Why not come clean on that subject?

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, who—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Order. The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, who at the PMO is responsible for the Senate?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, under our Constitution, the Senate is an independent entity. Obviously, we still have discussions with our Senate colleagues, as all parties have done.

Again, why did the leader of the NDP not tell the authorities and the public about his knowledge of the possible illegal activities of the mayor of Laval, knowledge that he had for more than 15 years?

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, last week, we learned that Mike Duffy regularly billed the taxpayer for partisan political work that he did for and on behalf of the Conservative Party, including during the last election campaign.

Are there other senators who did the same thing: bill the taxpayer for partisan work for the Conservative Party?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party has been clear that it pays its own campaign expenses.

In fact, those were reported. When we became aware that Mr. Duffy had possibly in effect double billed, that is why the Senate has now referred the matter to other authorities.

Once again, in this case, the Conservative Party acted immediately on the information it knew. Why, when knowing about envelopes stuffed full of cash, did the leader of the NDP not think it appropriate for 17 years to report these matters to the public and to the police?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in December 2008, despite promises to the contrary, the Prime Minister appointed 18 senators. I would ask the Prime Minister to explain why he chose Mike Duffy to be a senator.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this is an interesting question. For almost three years, I left the Senate vacancies unfilled. What happened in that period when we were trying to get those filled by elected people? The Liberal Party and other parties got together and tried to fill those Senate vacancies with their own people. That is why, as I said at the time, I acted to ensure that if the Senate was not going to be elected, it would at least support the government that Canadians did elect.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, apparently the Prime Minister does not quite know why he appointed Mike Duffy to the Senate either.

Pursuant to another appointment made, I would like to hear from the Prime Minister why he appointed Pamela Wallin to sit in Canada's Senate.

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I suppose for the same reason the previous government made Ms. Wallin Canada's consul general for New York.

None of these things answers why the Liberal Party has tried to resist making Senate expenses transparent and why it is now resisting the Auditor General looking—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member for Papineau.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Ms. Wallin did not do any fundraising for us when she was consul general for New York.

In December 2008, the Prime Minister appointed 18 senators.

Can the Prime Minister explain to Canadians why he chose Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin to sit in the Senate?