Debates of Feb. 28th, 2019

Alleged Interference in Justice System

[Eva Nassif, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

Mr. Speaker, thank God that we live in a country governed by the rule of law.

I am not a lawyer, but after everything I have heard from the members opposite, I find that it is healthy to listen to debates in our democratic institutions.

Having said that, I have a question for the member from Elmwood—Transcona.

Does he not think it would be wise to wait for what the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner has to say? Should we not wait to hear the testimony of witnesses who appear before the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights before jumping to conclusions or making assumptions about what they have to say?

SNC-Lavalin is one of the most renowned engineering firms in the world. It provides 9,000 direct jobs in Canada. I said “direct” because there are also 30,000 indirect jobs, with 3,500 in Quebec. In my riding, Vimy, which is in Laval, hundreds of jobs will be lost if we do not entertain a remediation agreement for SNC-Lavalin.

Does he not think that makes sense?

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the concerns I talked about were raised to justify a public inquiry.

A public inquiry will give us answers to these questions. I do not think we should wait for the commissioner to complete his investigation because we already know his mandate is too narrow to cover all the issues. We want to know what he has to say, but we already know he will not be able to answer all the questions due to his limited mandate. We therefore want a public inquiry to get answers to all the questions.

Testimony that may be given before the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, though it is not guaranteed, can also be given in the context of a public inquiry.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Anthony Rota]

It being midnight, the motion that the House do now adjourn is deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly the House stands adjourned until later this day at 10 a.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 12 a.m.)