House of Commons Hansard #210 of the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was women.
Paul Calandra ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, I have already answered that question many times. This matter is before the court, so it would be inappropriate for me to comment.
However, as I said yesterday, a number of New Democrats used House resources to violate the rules of the House.
In fact, the member for Louis-Saint-Laurent used $31,888 to support an illegal office in Montreal and is refusing to repay the taxpayers of her riding. I hope she will do the right thing and repay taxpayers that $31,000.
Peter Julian NDP Burnaby—New Westminster, BC
More evasions and more refusals to answer, Mr. Speaker. The RCMP have found some answers, though.
The RCMP is saying that the Prime Minister's Office engaged in a deliberate strategy to suppress and alter information. RCMP Corporal Jolette said this about the confidential audit change cover-up:
The report, we’ve learned through the investigation, had made its ways to the PMO, to their office, and...revisions, what they wanted to have written in the report, was done.
When will the government finally come clean about attempts from within the PMO to alter this confidential audit report to protect Mike Duffy?
Paul Calandra ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, I have answered that. Again, I will repeat that this is obviously before the court, and the member knows that it would be inappropriate for me to comment.
However, it is a sad day, because still there are 68 members of the NDP who owe taxpayers some $2.7 million. I understand that they have admitted their guilt and are trying to seek a settlement on this. They have actually taken it away from the court, they have admitted their guilt, and they are trying to seek a settlement. I think Canadian taxpayers will settle for the full $2.7 million they owe them.
Peter Julian NDP Burnaby—New Westminster, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's Office is implicated in a cover-up of serious criminal behaviour, and we get buffoonery instead of answers. That did not work for President Nixon; it will not work well for the Prime Minister, either.
The RCMP also said:
Throughout our investigation...we've learned that PMO has had a lot of communication with the diverse senators who were involved in these committees....
Will the spokesperson for the Prime Minister now tell Canadians which Conservative senators the Prime Minister's Office was in touch with about altering the confidential Deloitte report?
Paul Calandra ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, it is the members opposite who are engaged in buffoonery when they think that Canadian taxpayers do not care about the $2.7 million they used illegally. It is no wonder that the new premier of Alberta is trying to distance herself from this crew over here. It is a shame, because they came to Ottawa and said they would be different. They said they would be different when they were elected, but they are no different than the Liberal Party. They are the same group of people illegally using the taxpayers' money and refusing to pay it back. I hope they will finally do the right thing and repay the millions of dollars they owe the Canadian taxpayer.
Françoise Boivin NDP Gatineau, QC
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are not fooled by the non-answers from this member. It is all about the Prime Minister.
This political scandal is tarnishing the Prime Minister's Office. Canadians have a right to know why members of the Prime Minister's inner circle were trying so hard to protect Conservative Senator Mike Duffy in the face of serious fraud charges.
Why did the Prime Minister's entourage interfere in the Senate's internal affairs, going so far as to tamper with a confidential report? Did the Prime Minister know that his office was tampering with the Deloitte report?
Paul Calandra ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, this case is before the court. It would be inappropriate for me to comment.
As I said, 68 NDP members unfortunately used taxpayer resources to support an illegal office in Montreal, violating the rules of the House. In fact, the member for Beauport—Limoilou used more than $31,000 to support an illegal office.
I hope that these members of Parliament will do the right thing and pay back the millions of dollars they all owe the taxpayers.
Françoise Boivin NDP Gatineau, QC
Mr. Speaker, I wish he had the courage to make those accusations outside so that we could sue him.
On February 7, 2013, the Prime Minister's chief of staff wrote the following to his colleagues: “A purpose of this is to put Mike in a different bucket and to prevent him from going squirrelly in a bunch of weekend panel shows.”
That is what people in the Prime Minister's entourage were doing to protect Senator Duffy.
Was the Prime Minister okay with his chief of staff playing a part in the schemes to protect Senator Duffy and prevent his excessive and illegal spending from turning into a political scandal?
Paul Calandra ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, again, I have answered that, and the member knows that this is in front of the courts, so it would be inappropriate to comment.
With respect to going outside, I would be delighted, after question period, to meet the member outside to talk about the $24,498 this member personally owes the taxpayers. I would be very delighted to go outside and talk about the 68 members of the NDP. In fact, I invite the member to meet me outside after question period so we can go over these 68 members, the $2.7 million, and the 23 members who owe $1.1 million. I look—
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party has a plan for fairness for Canada's middle class. A Liberal government will send a tax-free monthly Canada child benefit to families to help them raise their kids. The Liberal plan is more generous, it is simpler, and it is a fairer way to help Canadian families.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives are going ahead with their income-splitting scheme, which mainly benefits the wealthy. Why are the Conservatives prioritizing tax breaks for the wealthy instead of helping middle-class families who are struggling?
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeMinister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, the member should have read the Financial Post today. If he had, he would have seen this:
Almost one in five Canadians with a TFSA have maximized the contribution room in their account, according to documents from the Canada Revenue Agency obtained by the Financial Post.
It’s not just high-income Canadians who appear to have maxed out their TFSA, which offers a life-time exemption from taxes on any investment gains. Right across the income spectrum, significant percentages of Canadians appear poised to benefit from the increase in contribution limits.
In fact, “Working-class finds ways to max out TFSAs”. It is “60% of Canadians who earn less than $60K”. That is a quote.
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
Mr. Speaker, it shows how out of touch the Conservatives are with the challenges facing middle-income families when they think that at the end of the year a working middle-income family actually has an extra $20,000 kicking around to put into a TFSA.
The Conservatives are also out of touch in terms of their priorities. They are spending $100,000 per ad during the NHL playoffs. That could create 30 summer jobs for young Canadians. At the same time, the Conservatives are holding back funding for important programs that could actually help create jobs for young Canadians.
When will the government get its priorities straight, and when will it start caring more for struggling, middle-class families?
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeMinister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals do not think that people earning $60,000 a year are middle class. The Liberals think that people who earn $60,000 are too rich and therefore should pay higher taxes.
My data comes right from the Canada Revenue Agency publication. It was just in the Financial Post today. It shows that two-thirds of people who max out their tax-free savings accounts earn less than $60,000 a year.
Maybe some of them had a loved one pass away and had a small inheritance. Maybe seniors downsized their homes and wanted to invest the proceeds. Maybe they had a one-time pension payment.
We want to ensure that those proceeds go into their tax-free savings accounts, not into the hands of a tax-happy Liberal government
Emmanuel Dubourg Liberal Bourassa, QC
Mr. Speaker, young people across the country are unemployed. The youth unemployment rate is twice the national average.
Meanwhile, the Conservative government has no trouble spending money on partisan ads, and it is neglecting hiring programs for youth. It is now May and $30 million of the funding for this program is just sitting there. That is 20% of the funding for this program that is not being used.
What are this Conservative government's priorities? Why does it not want to help our young people find jobs?
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeMinister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, our priority is to create jobs by lowering taxes.
The Liberals think that a government needs to spend money as quickly as possible in order to create jobs. However, the Liberals have admitted to a hole of at least $2 billion in their plan. Economists are saying that the hole would be much bigger than that. The only way the Liberals can fill that hole is by increasing taxes for job creators and workers. That is a big risk, and we will not adopt that policy.
Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe NDP Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC
Mr. Speaker, still no answers to our questions.
Even Jill Anne Joseph, the Senate director of internal audit at the time, found that there were far too many changes to and deletions from the reports to the Senate. As she said to police:
The report, to my mind, was becoming very scant. There was very little in there to justify the acceptance of a repayment which had already been made.
I will ask the question again. Was the Prime Minister aware that his office was tampering with the Deloitte report?
Paul Calandra ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, this is before the courts. The member knows it would be inappropriate for me to comment on that.
What is not before the courts right now, because I understand the NDP has admitted guilt and is trying to create a settlement, is the fact that this particular member personally owes the taxpayers close to $30,000 for an illegal office in Montreal. Of course, the NDP broke the rules of the House.
It is a very troubling pattern that is emerging, a pattern of abuse from the NDP, whether it is robocalls, these illegal offices, inappropriate mailings or illegal union donations. I hope it will start to do the right thing and repay taxpayers.
Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe NDP Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC
Mr. Speaker, it bothers me that the Conservatives are refusing to tell Canadians whether the Prime Minister's Office was involved in tampering with the report on Mike Duffy's expenses. That is troubling.
Corporal Jolette revealed that the Prime Minister's Office was in frequent contact with several senators involved in Senate committees that, coincidentally, were studying the Deloitte reports on three senators' expenses.
Can the Prime Minister confirm his office's involvement in tampering with the Deloitte report?
Paul Calandra ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, again, I just answered that question.
It is sad. When the NDP members came to the House, they came as a party, and said they would be different. Ottawa has really changed them. They have actually outdone the Liberals.
Now, the Liberals still owe $40 million, but the NDP members are catching up very quickly. It is more its members who are personally responsible to the taxpayers, 68 of them for $2.7 million, and another 23 of them for $1.1 million. That is a lot of money that Canadians worked very hard for. I hope they will do the right thing and repay that money.
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Mr. Speaker, let us go through some facts.
The RCMP have found that the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada secretly engaged in an elaborate strategy to cover up potential fraud and breach of trust, and manipulate the findings of the audit of Mike Duffy, and yet the Prime Minister continues to duck and hide.
Canadians deserve answers. Will the Prime Minister at least admit what the RCMP have already made clear, that it was his office that organized the coverup, that it was his key senators who manipulated the audit, and that it was his chief of staff who cut the $90,000 cheque to keep Mike Duffy quiet? It is a simple question.
Paul Calandra ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, again, that is before the courts. It would be inappropriate for me to answer.
Let me quote a justice who reviewed our boundaries, “The advice received at those public hearings, combined with the inappropriate involvement of at least two Members of Parliament, persuaded the Commission to conclude that the status quo, with a few minor” changes was needed.
That is about the member of Parliament for Timmins—James Bay who just asked this question. He voted against his constituents on a number of occasions, so he was worried that he would not be elected again. He tried to gerrymander his riding to get rid of those people.
He gets up and asks a question about ethics, when he broke the biggest rule of all: do not interfere with the court process.
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Mr. Speaker, that the Prime Minister of Canada has to hide behind that man and those pitiful evasions is pretty sad.
We are talking about whether or not the Prime Minister of Canada misled this House and Canadians. He assured Canadians that that audit report was completely independent, and that has been proven false by the RCMP. It was his key advisers who told Tkachuk to whitewash issues of potential fraud and breach of trust.
The Prime Minister needs to explain himself. Either his key advisers misled him about the coverup, or the Prime Minister of this country has misled Canadians. Which is it?
Paul Calandra ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and for Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, what is sad is this member of Parliament interfering with one of the most important processes that happen here. A justice brings that out and highlights two members of Parliament, of everybody in this place, highlights two NDP members of Parliament for trying to interfere in a very important process. The reason he was trying to do that is because he broke his promise to his constituents time and time again.
As opposed to apologizing to his constituents, he tried to get rid of them by realigning the boundaries in his favour.
Whether it is this member or the 68 others who owe $2.7 million, they are not the same party that came here in 2011.
Guy Caron NDP Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC
Mr. Speaker, Canada lost 20,000 jobs in April. In the regions, jobs are disappearing faster than we can count them. Some 30 workers lost their jobs at Enercon in Matane. Another 125 workers at the Resolute Forest Products mill in Mauricie will be out of a job. In Havre-Saint-Pierre, 31 workers learned last month that they will be laid off from Rio Tinto Iron and Titanium.
Why is there nothing in the Conservative budget for those workers?
