Debates of May 31st, 2017

Government Appointments

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it is incredible to see how the Liberals have completely erased the line that keeps officers of Parliament independent from political partisanship. They can talk all they want about Ms. Meilleur's CV, but the truth is that she should have been eliminated from the process because of the donations she made to the Liberal Party and the Prime Minister.

What partisan appointment will this Prime Minister make next? Will the Liberals find the next ethics commissioner by perusing the list of party donors?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, we promised to find the best person to be the official languages commissioner, and that is exactly what we did.

Mrs. Meilleur has been recognized for her skills, experience, strength, professionalism, and integrity throughout her career. The work she has done for language rights in Canada is some of the best work that has been done over the past 30 years. Why? Because she protected the Montfort Hospital to ensure that French-language health care services are available in Ottawa, and she also helped create the Office of the French Language Services Commissioner in Ontario. In short, we know that we have found the best candidate, and that is exactly why she will be—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

Public Safety

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, our criminal justice system is so broken that one of Canada's most notorious serial killers is now volunteering at a school. As a father, I cannot imagine the horror of listening to my children come home and tell me that they just spent the day with Karla Homolka. It is sick.

When will the Prime Minister close the loophole that is allowing this to happen?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, the system that is in place for doing vulnerable sector checks makes sure that employers and those who organize volunteers or who run schools and churches have access to information to make sure they make informed and prudent decisions. That is the system that is in place today, and it was in place similarly under the previous government.

Government Appointments

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Ms. Meilleur admitted that she attended inappropriate meetings with Gerald Butts and Katie Telford, the Prime Minister's chief advisers, outside the official appointment process. Yesterday, the NDP proposed conducting a committee investigation into the appointment process, and the Liberals completely shut down the meeting.

My question is this: will the Liberals block an investigation into the process for appointing the Commissioner of Official Languages, yes or no?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to explain the process for appointing Mrs. Meilleur over the past few weeks, and the process is clear.

Seventy-two candidates applied; 12 individuals were interviewed; then 10 individuals took tests and went through reference checks; and lastly, I had a chance to interview a shortlist of candidates. I had the opportunity to speak with two Canadian Heritage critics. The colleague of the leader of the second opposition party even told me then how much he recognized Mrs. Meilleur’s qualifications and experience.

That is why we are satisfied that we have—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Outremont.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

What a crock of nonsense, Mr. Speaker.

Madame Meilleur told the committee that she did not know if she would be able to recuse herself from future investigations of the Prime Minister to whom she directly donated. Well, we have just learned that the interim commissioner has had to recuse herself from investigating whether the Prime Minister violated the law during the appointment of Madame Meilleur.

How can the Liberals explain appointing a commissioner who cannot even investigate the Prime Minister?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, in line with the question that my colleague asked earlier, I would like to remind him that committees of the House are independent—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

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

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would therefore like to stress the experience and the expertise of Madame Meilleur. She has been involved in the protection of the Montfort Hospital and the creation of the Office of the French Language Services Commissioner. She has been involved in the protection and promotion of official languages for 30 years.

We know we have the right candidate, and I really hope the House and the Senate will support her candidacy.

Democratic Reform

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, she is the right candidate for the Liberals because she is a Liberal, period.

The Liberals were supposedly elected to do politics differently. They were not going to act like other governments before them, that is by saying one thing to get elected and something completely different once elected.

Now here we are moments away from a vote on the electoral system. Will the Liberal members prove that they have more credibility than their cynical leader? Will they stand up to keep their promise about changing the electoral system?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Democratic Institutions]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the members of the Special Committee on Electoral Reform for their excellent work.

I find it a little odd that the members of the party over there want us to vote in favour of a report, when they themselves did not completely agree with the report. The members are going to vote today, and I am satisfied that our government made the right decision.

Canada Revenue Agency

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, what a disgrace.

Five weeks after KPMG was ordered to maintain all records during an ongoing investigation, a group of offshore shell companies set up by KPMG went ahead and shredded documents related to that probe. This is the very definition of obstruction of justice.

Then the Liberals blocked the investigation into KPMG. It must be another independent parliamentary committee of the Liberals.

I am curious. Is there any way the Liberal front bench can twist obstruction of justice and sweetheart deals for crooked billionaires into support for the middle class?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, as we promised the Canadian public, our government is firmly committed to fighting tax evasion and tax avoidance in order to ensure that the tax system is fair and equitable for all Canadians. In the last year we have invested $444 million—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. I am hearing a lot of noise today. We must be able to hear both the questions and the answers.

The hon. member for Banff—Airdrie would do well to be quiet when I am speaking.

The Minister of National Revenue.

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Gaspésie—Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last year we invested $444 million and in budget 2016-17, we invested $524 million. Our investments are already producing significant results. We recovered $13 billion last year. Some 122 Canadian taxpayers named in the Panama Papers are being audited, and criminal investigations of certain taxpayers are already underway—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Lac-Saint-Jean.

Government Appointments

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals could have used that $13 billion to help the families of Canadians with autism. That would have been a good idea.

During the campaign, the Liberals cultivated a squeaky-clean image. They were going to come in here, clean everything up, and make sure all appointments were absolutely spotless, and above all, transparent, and non-partisan. Now the minister is telling us the committee is independent.

Did Mrs. Meilleur meet with people from the PMO during the process?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind everyone that the process is important here. The process is about getting the best candidates possible, and there were 72 of them. There was a selection committee made up mostly of public servants, all of whom had an equal say. Then an independent firm put together a short list of 12 candidates. The selection committee conducted 12 interviews. After that, 10 candidates went through testing—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Lac-Saint-Jean.

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I will ask my question again. If the committee is independent, why did Ms. Meilleur meet with people from the PMO?

In this so-called independent and non-partisan process, did Ms. Meilleur meet with people from the PMO, yes or no?