Debates of Feb. 28th, 2019

Justice

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, we, on this side, will remain focused on Canadians. The former attorney general stated that the Prime Minister told her it was her decision to make. The former attorney general stated that it was appropriate to discuss job impacts. In the end, the former attorney general made the decision not to proceed. The law was followed every step of the way and the former attorney general confirmed that.

The job of any prime minister is to stand up for Canadians and Canadian workers. We, on this side, will keep investing in Canadians. We, on this side, will keep fighting for Canadian jobs. That is what a government does. That is what a prime minister does. It is unfortunate that the Leader of the Opposition does not understand that.

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

Mr. Speaker, the former justice minister has revealed that the Prime Minister of Canada has coordinated a campaign of intimidation and interference against her to protect his partisan interests as the MP for Papineau. The finance minister attempted to interfere in the course of justice. The Clerk of the Privy Council delivered the threats. Gerry Butts and Katie Telford said that they were not interested in what was legal. The former justice minister referred to the Prime Minister as Richard Milhous Nixon.

Will the Prime Minister stop the ongoing smears against her and call an independent inquiry?

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, we know that the justice committee is looking at this file. We know that members from both sides of the aisle are working together to have witnesses appear. Witnesses are appearing and responding to questions. We also know that the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner is looking at this file.

We, on this side, respect the work of officers of Parliament and we think the commissioner should do his work. We also know on this side that it is the job of any prime minister to defend Canadian jobs. There was a time that the NDP used to fight for jobs and workers. Obviously, those days are gone.

That member talks about providing advice. Where was his advice in December 2018 when he was making accusations on—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Timmins—James Bay.

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

Mr. Speaker, jobs? Job one of the Prime Minister is to be more ethical than Richard Nixon. Let us talk about the threats, like when Michael Wernick said that the Prime Minister “is going to find a way to get it done, one way or another. He is in that kind of mood, and I wanted you to be aware of it.” He further said that she did not want to be on a collision course with the Prime Minister. I asked her if she felt threatened. She said she was not threatened once in that meeting; she was threatened three times.

It is not the role of the Clerk of the Privy Council to act as the personal goon of the Prime Minister. At the very least, will they call on Michael Wernick to step down today?

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, when members such as that member start mis-characterizing witness testimony, it actually takes away from the debate and the level of discourse in this place. We know that the former attorney general stated that the Prime Minister told her it was her decision to make. We know that the former attorney general stated that it was appropriate to discuss job impacts.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order, please. I am having difficulty hearing the answers. I should be able to hear them. All members need to be able to hear both the questions and the answers.

The hon. government House leader has the floor.

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Waterloo, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the former attorney general stated that it was appropriate to discuss job impacts. In the end, the former attorney general made the decision not to proceed. The law was followed at every step of the way.

The job of any prime minister is to stand up for Canadians and Canadian workers. That is exactly what we do on this side of the House.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, people were appalled at the former attorney general's account of the inappropriate pressure the Prime Minister himself and his staff subjected her to.

The Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance, the chief of staff, the principal secretary and seven other highly placed individuals put inappropriate, repeated and sustained pressure on the former attorney general. She repeatedly said no, and she was fired.

How low will the Prime Minister go to get a good deal for wealthy friends of his with strong ties to the Liberal Party of Canada?

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, let us look at the facts.

According to the former attorney general of Canada, the Prime Minister told her it was her decision to make. The former attorney general stated that staff in the Prime Minister's Office said they did not want to act inappropriately. The former attorney general stated that it was appropriate to discuss job impacts. In the end, the former attorney general made the decision not to proceed. The law was followed every step of the way.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, people want the truth, the whole truth.

After the former attorney general testified, the prime minister said that he disagreed with her testimony. Then he admitted that he did not even listen to all of it. He is changing his story again. Canadians want the truth and they deserve the truth from their Prime Minister. The question is very simple. We need a public inquiry into the wrongful pressure by the Prime Minister and his office.

Will the Prime Minister agree to a public inquiry to shed light on this issue and to get the entire truth?

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, we know that the members of the justice committee are doing their work. We respect the work of the committee members.

We know that the Ethics Commissioner is conducting an investigation and looking into this file. We know that the commissioner can do his work.

We believe that we must have confidence in our institutions. We know that Canadians must also have confidence in our institutions.

We will let them do their work.

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday Canadians were told by the former attorney general that on September 17, in relation to the SNC-Lavalin affair, the Prime Minister told her that there is an election in Quebec and that “I am an MP in Quebec, the member for Papineau.”

Does the Prime Minister deny saying that?

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, what we know is that the justice committee is doing its work. The justice committee is actually having witnesses appear and answer those questions.

We also know that the former attorney general confirmed that the Prime Minister told her it was her decision to make. We also know that the former attorney general confirmed that it was appropriate to discuss job impacts. We also know that the former attorney general made the decision not to proceed. We also know that the law was followed at every step.

The job of any prime minister is to stand up for Canadians and Canadian workers. That is exactly what we do on this side of the House.

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, he does not deny it. Clearly, the former attorney general is telling the truth.

I have another question for the Prime Minister. Yesterday, the former attorney general also testified that Mathieu Bouchard, a senior adviser in the Prime Minister's Office, tried to pressure her in regard to the SNC-Lavalin deal by saying, “We can have the best policy in the world, but we need to get re-elected.” Again, does the Prime Minister deny that this was said?

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister will always stand up for Canadian workers and the importance of the rule of law. Prime ministers should fight for Canadian jobs.

On this side, we respect the work of committees. We have confidence in our institutions, as all Canadians should.

What is clear is that the Conservatives will continue their partisan ways. They will put politics ahead of Canadians. We will not do that on this side. We are fighting for Canadians and we see the results. We know that Canadians are better off today than they were under Stephen Harper's Conservatives. The Conservatives have chosen a new leader, but it remains Stephen Harper's party of austerity.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is clear: they do not dispute it, they admit it. In her testimony, the former attorney general of Canada said, “Various officials urged me to take partisan political considerations into account, which it was clearly improper for me to do”.

Can the Prime Minister tell us whether he disputes her testimony?

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, we know that members of the justice committee are doing their job. They are calling witnesses, and witnesses are appearing and answering questions. We know that the Conservatives continue to talk out of both sides of their mouths. They say one thing in French and another in English.

Canadians will have a choice to make between our plan to invest in our communities, grow our economy, and support middle-class jobs or the party of Stephen Harper that wants to divide Canadians and has no plan for the economy or jobs.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights will call on the 11 people mentioned in the former attorney general's testimony, and I hope that the Liberals will agree to let those 11 people appear.

However, in response to the former attorney general's testimony, the Prime Minister said that he completely disagreed with her when she stated that Gerry Butts told her that there was no solution that did not involve some interference.

Does that mean the Prime Minister is disputing what the former attorney general said?

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, it was important for Canadians that the former attorney general be able to speak openly before the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

The members of that committee are doing their job. They are calling witnesses, and witnesses are appearing before the committee.

We, on this side of the House, respect the work of the members of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. We will not interfere, as the Conservatives like to do. We know that committees are capable of doing their job, and we have confidence in them.

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Hope, BC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the former attorney general testified to the impact that the anonymous smear campaign had on her and her office, and we saw the Prime Minister come out and supposedly apologize for not speaking out sooner. Now the Liberal member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon is declaring that her statements yesterday were merely sour grapes and that her father was pulling her strings. What disrespect to the former attorney general.

Is this the line of the Liberal Party? Will the Liberals apologize for these sexist, misogynist comments?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. I would ask the hon. Leader of the Opposition and his colleagues to come to order.

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, we on this side know that it is never acceptable for such comments to occur. We on this side respect the work of committees. We on this side respect the work of officers of Parliament. We on this side respect the independence of our judicial system.

We on this side recognize the importance of the issue. We recognize that it is important that Canadians get to hear all of the different perspectives. Committees are doing their work. Witnesses are appearing to answer those questions.

We will not play the politics of division, as the Conservatives always continue to do.