House of Commons Hansard #185 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was project.
Mélanie Joly LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to point out that my colleague acknowledged many times in the past that Mrs. Meilleur was an excellent candidate with experience and expertise, and I thank him for that.
Of course, I would like to reassure him by saying that we held an open, independent, and merit-based process. None of the employees from my team who had any contact with Madeleine Meilleur in the past were involved in the process. That is exactly what happened.
Thomas Mulcair NDP Outremont, QC
Mr. Speaker, we also found out today that when Madame Meilleur was interested in becoming an Ontario Liberal candidate, she bypassed the standard candidate nomination process. Who pulled the strings so she could be parachuted into a riding? It was none other than Gerry Butts. No wonder they are such good friends.
Does the minister not understand that the more she defends the partisan appointment made by the Prime Minister, the more she loses credibility? Will she do the right thing and recommend that Madame Meilleur be now removed from consideration as commissioner?
Mélanie Joly LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, since Madame Meilleur has been such an important person in the protection and promotion of official languages rights in this country, including the protection of the Montfort Hospital and the creation of the francophone affairs commission in Ontario, I wanted to talk about the awards and recognition she has had, including the fact that she received the Order of Merit of the University of Ottawa, the Bastarache-Charron award for the common law section of the University of Ottawa.
The office—
Government AppointmentsOral Questions
The Speaker Geoff Regan
Order. Speakers have long held that Speakers cannot comment on the quality of questions or answers or other things said in this House. We simply have the powers conferred on us by the House, including the enforcement of the rules. I encourage members to follow the rules and not to interrupt when another member is speaking on whatever side.
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île dOrléans—Charlevoix, QC
Mr. Speaker, we have learned that there are very obvious ties between the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the future commissioner of official languages even within her inner circle. Former staffers of Ms. Meilleur are currently working for the minister. These staffers worked closely with Madeleine Meilleur when she was the Attorney General and minister responsible for francophone affairs.
Will the minister cancel this proposed appointment or will we have to get to the bottom of the process and call for a public inquiry?
Mélanie Joly LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, we are very proud to have found a very good candidate, because when searching for candidates to become the commissioner of official languages, we wanted to find the best one.
This is exactly what our process allowed us to do. Based on a short list I received, I had the opportunity to conduct interviews and then appreciate Mrs. Meilleur’s 30 years of experience and expertise during these interviews.
She clearly emerged on top, so I am very pleased that she is our candidate.
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île dOrléans—Charlevoix, QC
Mr. Speaker, do you remember that 70s quiz show Who is Telling the Truth? We have been watching it since May 15. The Minister of Canadian Heritage assured the House that Madeleine Meilleur never talked to either Mr. Butts or Ms. Telford.
However, on May 18 in the Standing Committee on Official Languages, Ms. Meilleur said that she had discussed an appointment as a senator or commissioner with Mr. Butts and had coffee with Katie Telford for the same reason.
Will she apologize for misleading the House once and for all?
Mélanie Joly LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to hear my colleague talk about Mrs. Meilleur because, when I had the chance to speak with her on the phone to tell her that Mrs. Meilleur would potentially be a candidate we would select, she told me that Madeleine Meilleur was indeed a good candidate and that she had the necessary experience and qualifications. This was also the case for the other official languages critic, from the NDP.
Clearly, Mrs. Meilleur is a good candidate. The process was properly followed, and my staff who worked with her in the past were not involved. Everything was done according to the rules.
John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON
Mr. Speaker, we know that Madeleine Meilleur met with Gerry Butts and Katie Telford. Why? She told us in committee. Madeleine Meilleur confirmed that she met with both of them.
Yesterday in the House the minister said that never happened. Was the Minister of Canadian Heritage misleading the House when she said so? It is time for the truth. How many times did Madeleine Meilleur meet with members of the PMO before being appointed as the nominee to the official languages portfolio?
Mélanie Joly LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, of course, as I have said many times, the discussion about Mrs. Meilleur becoming commissioner of official languages never took place.
I would like to remind members of the important awards that Mrs. Meilleur was able to gather during her amazing career, including something that the Conservative Party will actually like a lot, which is the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. She even received the Ontario College of Social Workers—
Government AppointmentsOral Questions
The Speaker Geoff Regan
Order. This is a good way to shorten question period, colleagues.
The hon. Minister of Canadian Heritage.
Mélanie Joly Liberal Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC
Mr. Speaker, I will continue. As I was saying, she received the Order of Merit from the Association of French-Speaking Jurists of Ontario in 2007.
She was admitted into the Ordre de la francophonie de Prescott et Russell in 2006.
She also received the Réseau socioaction des femmes francophones award of excellence in 2002.
She received a United Way Community Builder Award—
Government AppointmentsOral Questions
John Nater Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON
Mr. Speaker, we are not talking about the awards that she received, but about the rewards that she is being given for being nominated for being a Liberal donor.
Let us talk about Madeleine Meilleur's time as an MPP and a Liberal cabinet minister. Her director of communications is now the minister's director of communications. The director of policy was a former executive director to the Kathleen Wynne Liberals.
The minister claims she set up a firewall, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the firewall is as flimsy as the minister's answers in this House. Will the minister provide evidence that this firewall actually exists, or does it exist at all?
Mélanie Joly LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, I am glad to see that my colleague recognizes that she received many awards. Not only that, the fact that she won so many awards is based on the fact that she has had lots of accomplishments in her public life.
That leads us to the question of the importance of giving importance to public servants. To that extent, I would like to understand the point of view of the Conservative Party that it is not okay to appoint a person who has served in the past but it is okay to appoint a former—
Government AppointmentsOral Questions
John Brassard Conservative Barrie—Innisfil, ON
Mr. Speaker, if I were a minister, I would have spent the last 24 hours getting my story straight with respect to Madame Meilleur.
The government is playing fast and loose with the facts when it comes to this appointment. Rules have been broken, and at least one very qualified applicant was completely ignored in favour of a Liberal friend. Yesterday we heard the contradicting versions of the same event. This will not end well.
Why is the minister continuing with this farce of a process? Why is she not shutting it down before she and the Liberals do any more damage to the integrity of this Parliament?
Mélanie Joly LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, of course we value the importance of public life, we value the experience of Mrs. Meilleur, and that is what was shown by the fact that we had a very thorough process.
Since we value the importance of public service, we also appointed the former Conservative prime minister, Kim Campbell, to be in charge of a very important process, which is to appoint bilingual Supreme Court justices for the first time, because we believe in the importance of official languages. Therefore, since we value public service, it is just normal that Mrs. Meilleur is our candidate.
John Brassard Conservative Barrie—Innisfil, ON
Mr. Speaker, this so-called open and transparent process is anything but. Key staff members who worked for Madame Meilleur at Queen's Park are now working in the office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage. As scary as it sounds, it is as if the Liberals at Queen's Park are a farm club for the bigger in-debt-and-deficit Liberal club here in Ottawa managed by Gerry and Katie.
Will the minister do the right thing and finally admit how many times Madame Meilleur met with PMO staff and her staff before they gave their Liberal friend and donor this appointment?
Mélanie Joly LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, since we are talking about the importance of expertise and experience, and because I have already given many explanations regarding the process, I would like to talk about Madame Meilleur's participation in associations and organizations.
She has been a member of the Association of French-Speaking Jurists of Ontario. She has been on the Ottawa-Carleton Regional District Health Council. She has been on the board of directors of the Cité Collégiale. She has been on the board of the Vanier housing corporation.
Tracey Ramsey NDP Essex, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals promised to settle the softwood lumber dispute last year, but now, with no deal in sight and massive unfair tariffs imposed by the U.S., their failure has already cost Canadian jobs, and more are on the line. After 18 months of failing Canadians on this file, finally the Liberals are offering support to struggling workers in communities, and it is still not clear if it will be enough.
How quickly will the EI funds be available, and will the minister guarantee that each and every worker who loses their job because of the government's failure will receive support?
