Debates of Jan. 27th, 2014

Intergovernmental Affairs

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the Liberal Party, we think it is necessary for the Government of Canada to act directly to deal with job creation and a skills mismatch in the labour market. We provide significant support directly to the provinces for post-secondary education and for skills training.

This government remains absolutely committed to the notion that to address some of these problems we need to get employers and institutions and individuals who are looking for work working together to fill jobs that can be filled.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, each province has its own unique challenges when it comes to the job market. This government came up with an unacceptable policy program that the provinces rejected wholesale.

When will the Prime Minister drop his paternalistic approach and work with the provinces to help Canadians get the training they need to find work?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this government has already transferred massive amounts of money to the provinces for post-secondary education and skills training.

However, there is still a shortage of some skills in the job market, and we have to solve this problem if we want to create jobs. Obviously, our thinking differs from the Liberal Party's. We think that it is also our responsibility to support job creation for Canadians.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear on this. The Canada job grant was the government's signature economic policy of the last budget. It spent millions of taxpayer dollars on partisan ads boosting it, but it is a mess. It was rejected by the provinces. It will cost more and help fewer people.

Will the Prime Minister listen to the premiers and scrap this plan?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I noted that the Canada job grant was in fact very well received by those in the marketplace, by people who want to upgrade their skills, want to receive more training, want to gain jobs, and by employers who want to create jobs.

For that reason, we remain fully committed to ensuring we do everything we can to build upon the very good job creation record of this country and to make that record even better.

Ethics

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, has the Prime Minister had any contact whatsoever with the RCMP since we last met here in the House before the holidays?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as I and the RCMP have said many times, this government will give the RCMP any information that it requests.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the RCMP has submitted documents, emails, in Federal Court, where Nigel Wright states that the Prime Minister gave the good to go on the deal with Duffy.

If that is not true, the question is, did the Prime Minister so inform the RCMP?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the financial transaction, the RCMP is investigating. The RCMP itself has been very clear that I had no knowledge of that.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Great answer, Mr. Speaker. It just had nothing whatsoever to do with the question.

There is another Nigel Wright in this whole scandal. It is the Prime Minister's chief fundraiser sitting in the Senate, Irving Gerstein. On page 12 of the RCMP documents, Nigel Wright tells police that Senator Gerstein approved the initial $32,000 payoff to Mike Duffy.

Why then is Mr. Gerstein still sitting next to the Prime Minister in the Conservative caucus?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the RCMP has made very clear that there are two individuals under investigation. The individual referred to by the leader of the NDP is not under investigation.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, he is in the caucus, and here is the problem. Is the Prime Minister's position that giving a $90,000 payoff to sitting Senator Mike Duffy is morally reprehensible, but approving a $32,000 payoff is good to go?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, again, the leader of the NDP knows that those facts are not accepted. As a matter of public record, the individual he is making accusations against is not under any investigation.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in June 2012, Conservatives replaced Arthur Porter, the disgraced chair of the CSIS watchdog committee, with Conservative Chuck Strahl. We were already concerned about CSIS spying on Canadians and environmental charities that had the audacity to be critical of Enbridge's northern gateway pipeline proposal. Then we learned that Mr. Strahl was moonlighting as a paid lobbyist for who? For Enbridge, the same company that this watchdog was meant to be protecting.

Mr. Strahl was forced to resign. But why did no Conservative recognize this blatant conflict of interest?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Strahl was not only not forced to resign; the Ethics Commissioner said very clearly there was not a scintilla of evidence that he had done anything wrong whatsoever.

Chuck Strahl is one of the most honourable and decent people I have ever worked with in the Parliament of Canada. It is a shame that for the sake of his personal reputation, he decided he is no longer willing to provide his services.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, speaking of questionable ethics, recently the member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke had the bright idea to campaign against the incandescent light bulb. She tried to turn the light out on her own government's legislation. Not only did she campaign against her own party's policy, if we go to the website, we can donate. Where does it bring us? To a Conservative riding association.

This clearly breaks the rules. The question is: What sanctions is this member facing for breaking the rules?

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, of course, the members of this caucus are working day in and day out to represent their constituents. In this particular case, the member wanted to express an opinion that had been brought to her by her constituents.

As the members opposite know, on this side of the House, we are very free to represent our constituents, as is evidenced by our voting patterns when private members' business comes before the House. Unlike the opposition, which is whipped for every private members' vote, on this side of the House, we consider everything, we vote our conscience, and we do what is right for our constituents.

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

Mr. Speaker, talk about turning out the lights on accountability.

The principle of ministerial responsibility is a fundamental of the Westminster system, but the Conservatives have turned this on its head. They give their ministers a “get out of jail free” card any time they need it. The latest to make use of it is the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

Has nobody told her that she cannot charge admission to the very groups coming to her for grants? What sanctions will the minister face?

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said clearly on a number of occasions, I had absolutely nothing to do with the planning of this event. I proactively and very swiftly took action to address the situation, and I proactively reported it to the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.

While she is doing her examination, I am happy to help her with her work.

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

Mr. Speaker, that was great. I think we could get her a third-party manager just to help her in helping the Ethics Commissioner with her work.

The Conservative government is under investigation for a cover-up in the Prime Minister's Office. On December 19 the Prime Minister was asked about plausible deniability in his office. He said:

Yeah, well, Mr. Wright knows full well that I don’t believe in that doctrine.

Can the Prime Minister tell us, when did he made that clear to Mr. Nigel Wright?

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said on a number of occasions, and as the Prime Minister has said, the moment he found out about this, he instructed his office to work with and assist the RCMP in an investigation. It is quite clear from the number of emails and the information that has been turned over that we are continuing to assist the RCMP in this investigation.

I would also like to take a moment to congratulate the member for recognizing all of the investments we continue to make across northern Ontario. Over the holidays, he issued a press release outlining the number of investments we have made in his riding. I congratulate him for recognizing that. Unfortunately, he voted against all of those investments, but we will continue to invest in northern Ontario to create jobs and economic growth in the area.

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

Mr. Speaker, last Wednesday, the NDP received a response to an access to information request regarding the Privy Council Office's documentation on senators Duffy, Wallin and Brazeau.

The problem is that the response was a series of blank pages. It is not that the Privy Council Office does not have the documentation, but that it does not want to share it.

What is the Privy Council Office hiding, and at whose request?

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, rules with respect to access to information are handled and requests are made by independent public servants. The information that is required is made by those individuals, following the law.

Ukraine

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, there is deep anguish in Canada about the Yanukovych regime in the Ukraine and its attacks on human rights and freedoms.

Beyond general statements about considering options with respect to Yanukovych, will Canada specifically, one, send official observers to scrutinize what is going on; two, provide expedited visas to any victims who need to leave that country for their own safety; and three, target Yanukovych and his crowd with personal sanctions, asset freezes, and travel bans, for example, to push them to stop their anti-democratic behaviour?

[David Anderson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, we have been active on this file. I can tell him that the minister has condemned, in the strongest possible terms, the killing of protesters by the Ukrainian police force. He has personally spoken to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara. In addition, the deputy minister has called in the Ukrainian ambassador to express Canada's condemnation of the violence that has occurred.

We fully support the efforts of the members for Etobicoke Centre and Selkirk—Interlake to bring this issue forward for emergency debate in the House of Commons. We are urging the Ukrainian government to find a political solution by engaging in a real dialogue.

We stand with the Ukrainian people, who courageously continue to speak out in support of democracy.