Debates of Jan. 29th, 2014

Veterans Affairs

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, what the leader of the NDP will not accept is that sometimes government officials and bureaucrats make mistakes. When that happens, it is up to the elected government to make sure they do the right thing, which is what the minister has done in this particular case.

More generally, when we have a small number of duplicative veterans offices that have a very small case load, it makes a lot more sense—I know the unions do not like it—to have 600 points of service for veterans that will be closer to that—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. The hon. Leader of the Opposition has the floor.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Actually, Mr. Speaker, the veterans do not like it either.

Until now, veterans were able to go to individual appointments to get help.

As of Monday, those same veterans, some of them over 90 years old, will have to line up at a Service Canada office only to be sent to a computer. They even talked about that yesterday when they met with us.

Does the Prime Minister understand the difference between a human and a computer?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, veterans have access to in-person services not just in a few service centres, but at 600 points of service across Canada.

It is important that we state the facts and ensure veterans get these facts. This government is increasing points of service for veterans from a very few number of offices, the 600 points of service across the country. I know why the unions and the NDP oppose that, but this is in the best interests of veterans. They can play politics; we are going to keep delivering services to veterans.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, those who have served their country and put themselves in harm's way for all of us deserve our respect, and they deserve our courtesy. The Canadian heroes who tried to meet with their minister yesterday received neither. Will the Prime Minister fire his Minister of Veterans Affairs?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, this government's record, not only of increasing services to veterans and funds for veterans, is unprecedented. So is our support for the men and women who actively wear the uniform of the Canadian Forces, and we will continue to serve them.

The Senate

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister does not need to wait for his government's reference to the Supreme Court. Liberals have taken action this morning to remove partisanship and patronage from the Senate.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Andrew Scheer]

Order, please. the hon. member for Papineau has the floor.

Order. The hon. member for Papineau.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we believe that the only people who should be in our party caucus are those put there by the people of Canada. Will the Prime Minister finally take action and only allow members of Parliament in his Conservative caucus?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I gather the change announced by the leader today is that unelected Liberal senators will become unelected senators who happen to be Liberal.

In fact, his leader in the Senate said the following in response to his announcement: “I'm not a former Liberal. I'm a Liberal and I'm a Liberal senator”. He also said, “I suspect that not a great deal will change”. That has to be the understatement of the year.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government is in a tough spot because the Liberals took action this morning.

We took action to remove partisanship and patronage from the Senate. We believe that the only people who should be in our party caucus are those elected by the people of Canada.

Will the Prime Minister finally take action on the Senate, and only allow elected members of Parliament in his caucus?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this announcement is just as odd in French as it is in English.

His leader in the Senate said the following in response: “I am not a former Liberal senator. I am a Liberal. I suspect that not a great deal will change”.

What the Liberal Party does not seem to understand is that Canadians are not looking for a better unelected Senate. Canadians believe that for the Senate to be meaningful in the 21st century, it must be elected.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it would have been interesting were it not for the fact that the Prime Minister has broken Brian Mulroney's record for naming unelected senators: 59 in total.

Three months ago, Liberals and Conservatives stood hand in hand in this House to defeat the NDP motion to end partisan activity in the Senate by removing senators from party caucuses and making them sit as independents. That's impossible, they said. Well, we are glad the Liberal leader has changed his mind. Hopefully he will see the light again and work with us to abolish the Senate.

Why will the Prime Minister not also support the NDP motion to abolish the Senate?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as you know, the Government of Canada cannot abolish the Senate. That is ultimately a power that rests with the provinces, which is why we have suggested, in the absence of that, that we undertake some meaningful reforms.

Conservative senators are not trying to pretend they are anything other than senators who support the elected government of Canadians. Canadians are not fooled. The only problem the NDP has with the Senate is that it does not have any senators.

Ethics

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

And we are quite proud of that, Mr. Speaker, because you see, the NDP is a party of principle, something the Prime Minister used to believe in nine years ago when he was in opposition.

Speaking of the Senate, yesterday we learned about a $10,000 payment from Canadian taxpayers to cover the legal bills for Mr. van Hemmen, Nigel Wright's former executive assistant. Since taxpayers are paying the legal fees of PMO staff now, would the Prime Minister not agree that this means that, indeed, his office is under investigation?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, of course, it is a long-standing government policy, predating this government, to provide legal assistance to such individuals.

I cannot let the previous comment pass about the so-called party of principle over there. We put to the Supreme Court the question about abolishing the Senate, and what happened? NDP governments went to court to argue against it.

The NDP's problem is it has not had the chance to name any senators, and it is never going to get any chances.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals tried to name someone. Poor Madam Dyck, who is there now, thought she was going to be named an NDP senator, and we said no thanks. Now she finds out she is not even a Liberal senator.

What will the law firm of Carroll & Wallace in Ottawa be providing Conservative staffer van Hemmen that all the lawyers in the Canadian Department of Justice cannot? Why does the Prime Minister think that is worth an extra $10,000 of taxpayers' money?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Once again, Mr. Speaker, as you know, the payment of legal assistance for crown service under certain circumstances is a long-standing policy that predates this government. Indeed, as we know well, the House of Commons, through the Board of Internal Ecology—Economy—has similar policies for members of Parliament.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Leader of the Opposition]

We do need a board of internal ecology to clean things up, Mr. Speaker.

On Monday, the Prime Minister told the House that Conservative Senator Irving Gerstein is not under investigation. He officially stated that here, in the House, more than once.

Since the RCMP does not comment on this kind of investigation, and especially not on this investigation, how was the Prime Minister able to make that statement? How is he able to tell us that Mr. Gerstein is not under investigation?

[Stephen Harper, Conservative, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the RCMP has been quite clear with respect to the matter under investigation. We will obviously offer our assistance to the RCMP in its investigation, which is its responsibility.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday it was the Minister of the Environment who was caught out at another questionable Conservative fundraiser. The minister must have known that there was something not quite ethically right about this event when she snuck in via the back door, but perhaps she hoped that sneaking in through the back door would mean that no one noticed she was breaking the same ethical rule her colleague, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, did just last week.

When is the Prime Minister finally going to put an end to this unethical behaviour, and what sanctions will this minister face?

[Leona Aglukkaq, Conservative, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank that member for the question so that I can correct that inaccurate news story and that inaccurate question.

There was an event for a local riding. It was never advertised as anything more and was fully consistent with the guidelines that are in place. The local riding association has taken great care, before and after the event, to follow those guidelines, and only appropriate donations were accepted.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Environment used the same playbook as the Minister of Canadian Heritage, who got tripped up for it. Just this month alone, we have the Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Minister of the Environment, the member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, and Chuck Strahl, the Enbridge lobbyist. It is like they take their ethics lessons from the Conservative Senate.

When it comes to the bar of accountability, the Conservatives are over there every day doing the ethical limbo. How low will they go before the Prime Minister finally sets some rules for them?