Debates of Feb. 8th, 2019

Justice

[Arif Virani, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and to the Minister of Democratic Institutions, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments of my colleague opposite. I work very hard to stand up for both official languages in the House.

At no point has the Minister of Justice or the former minister of justice been pressured or directed by the Prime Minister or the Prime Minister's Office to make any decision on this or any other matter.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister did not invent the expression, but he was right when he said that sunlight is the best disinfectant. However, when faced with evidence of a serious potential obstruction of justice, the Liberals can only deny and delay.

A well-connected multinational company lobbies the Liberal government more than 50 times, shovels to it more than $100,000 in illegal donations and then gets changes to the Criminal Code to help it get out from under corruption and fraud charges. When the former AG does not bend to the will of the Prime Minister, she is fired.

The Liberals should be working with us to get to the bottom of this mess. Instead, we get non-answers and resistance. Therefore, I have a very specific question for my friends. Will they support our call for an ethics investigation into this scandal, yes or no?

[Arif Virani, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and to the Minister of Democratic Institutions, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, we have been abundantly clear. At no point has the Minister of Justice or the former minister of justice been pressured or directed by the Prime Minister or the Prime Minister's Office to make any decision on this or any other matter.

The Attorney General is the chief law officer of the Crown and provides legal advice to the Government of Canada, with a responsibility to act always in the public interest. He takes those responsibilities seriously.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it does not matter what question we ask them, the Liberals give us the exact same answer back. By refusing to agree with even the most simple and obvious requests for answers, the Liberals look even more guilty.

Let us remind Canadians what we are talking about. Obstruction of justice is the crime of wilfully interfering with the process of justice by influencing or threatening a legal officer or a legal process. It comes with a 10-year jail sentence. What we are talking about is the most serious form of corruption and political criminality. This is why people are cynical about politics. This is why people do not trust government.

Again, I ask a simple question. Will the Liberals help us get the answers we need and support our call for an investigation into this mess?

[Arif Virani, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and to the Minister of Democratic Institutions, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, I will reiterate for the House that at no point has the current Minister of Justice or the former minister of justice been pressured or directed by the Prime Minister or anyone else in his office to make a decision on this or any other matter. As the Prime Minister said very clearly yesterday to the journalists gathered, the allegations contained in The Globe and Mail article are false.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, let's not pretend that we have never seen rich corporations buy off politicians with illegal contributions. After decades of Liberal governments in Ottawa, we have been down that road before.

Whether we are talking about KPMG, Kinder Morgan or SNC-Lavalin, it is the same old story. When it comes time to lend a hand to their millionaire friends, the Liberals take their marching orders from the powerful.

If the Liberals think they have absolutely nothing to hide, why do they not ask the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner to investigate and shed some light on this scandal?

[Arif Virani, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and to the Minister of Democratic Institutions, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, at no time was the current Minister of Justice or his predecessor pressured or directed by the Prime Minister or his office to make any decision on this or any other matter. As the Prime Minister said yesterday, these allegations are false.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in last year's budget implementation bill, the Liberals amended the Criminal Code. Companies accused of corruption can pursue out-of-court settlements, thus ensuring their continued eligibility for lucrative federal contracts.

Which company has been accused of corruption in other countries many times over? SNC-Lavalin. Which company talked to the Prime Minister's Office 14 times? SNC-Lavalin.

The Liberals are corporate puppets. Will the people ever find out just how much sway SNC-Lavalin holds over the Liberal government?

[Arif Virani, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and to the Minister of Democratic Institutions, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, the remediation agreements the member opposite is referencing are something that were widely consulted upon by the Government of Canada. That process was led by PSPC. That consultation concluded during the year 2017. There was an announcement made in the budget. There was a press release. There was a study done at committee.

The government has been entirely transparent with respect to amendments we have made to the laws of Canada with respect to remediation.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, former Liberal Ontario attorney general Michael Bryant has made his opinion known as to how serious these allegations are and the impacts they are having on our democracy and the judicial system.

We found out this morning from The Globe and Mail that the Prime Minister's principal secretary, Mr. Butts, spoke to Ms. Wilson-Raybould about the SNC-Lavalin remediation case, according to the Prime Minister's deputy communications director.

The question is simple and requires a straightforward answer for Canadians. Did the Prime Minister's Office discuss a special deal for SNC-Lavalin with the former attorney general, yes or no?

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

I will remind hon. members not to use the family names of other hon. members.

[Arif Virani, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and to the Minister of Democratic Institutions, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, to be crystal clear, the principal secretary, like many others, is a member of the Prime Minister's Office.

What I said is that the Minister of Justice and the previous minister of justice have not been pressured or directed by the Prime Minister or anyone else in the Prime Minister's Office to take any decision on this or any other matter.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

The questions we are asking, Mr. Speaker, are crystal clear. We are asking a very simple question that has not been answered. It was not answered yesterday and it has not been answered today. I am going to ask again, crystal clearly.

Did the Prime Minister's Office discuss a special deal for SNC-Lavelin with the former Attorney General, yes or no?

[Arif Virani, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and to the Minister of Democratic Institutions, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, at no point has the current Minister of Justice or the former minister of justice been pressured or directed by the Prime Minister or the Prime Minister's Office to make a decision in this or on any other matter.

As the Prime Minister stated clearly yesterday, the allegations contained in the original article in The Globe and Mail are false.

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

Mr. Speaker, after she was shown the door, the former attorney general of Canada stated that the justice system must be free from any political interference, that she must always be ready to speak the truth and that anything less than the whole truth is unacceptable.

Did the Prime Minister's Office discuss a special deal for SNC-Lavalin with the former attorney general of Canada, yes or no?

[Arif Virani, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and to the Minister of Democratic Institutions, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, at no point has the current Minister of Justice or his predecessor been pressured or directed by the Prime Minister or anyone in his office to make a decision on this or any other matter.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that was not the question.

Given that the Attorney General of Canada has unique responsibilities in relation to upholding the rule of law and the administration of justice, and that our justice system must be free of any political interference and maintain the highest level of public confidence, that position should never be tainted by partisanship and must always be absolutely transparent.

The question is simple. Did the Prime Minister's Office discuss a special deal for SNC-Lavalin with the former attorney general?

[Arif Virani, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and to the Minister of Democratic Institutions, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, at no point has the current Minister of Justice or the former minister of justice been pressured or directed by the Prime Minister or the Prime Minister's Office to make any decision on this or any other matter.

I absolutely agree with my colleague across the way that the Attorney General of Canada is the chief law officer of the Crown and provides legal advice to the government, with a responsibility to act in the public interest, as the hon. member points out. The Attorney General takes those responsibilities very seriously.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Again, Mr. Speaker, that was not the question.

The former attorney general said very clearly, “It is a pillar of our democracy that our system of justice be free from even the perception of political interference”, yet we know from the lobbyists commissioner that over a dozen times, SNC-Lavalin met with members of the Prime Minister's Office, including principal secretary Gerry Butts.

The Prime Minister says that sunshine is the best disinfectant, so let us shine some sunlight on this issue. Did the Prime Minister's Office discuss a special deal for SNC-Lavalin with the former attorney general, yes or no?

[Arif Virani, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and to the Minister of Democratic Institutions, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, to be crystal clear, at no point has the current Minister of Justice or the former minister of justice been pressured or directed by the Prime Minister or the Prime Minister's Office, including all employees therein, to make any decision on this or any other matter.

The Attorney General is the chief law officer of the Crown, providing legal advice to the government. He takes that responsibility very seriously.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Speaker, that clearly was not the question. We are not talking about directing or influence. We are talking about discussions.

The former attorney general was clear that “It is a pillar of our democracy that our system of justice be free from even the perception of political interference”.

The Canadian public is not confident in the Prime Minister or that parliamentary secretary's answer. Was there any discussion of a special deal between the Prime Minister's Office and the former attorney general about SNC-Lavalin, yes or no?

[Arif Virani, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and to the Minister of Democratic Institutions, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, at no point, N-O point, has the current Minister of Justice or the former minister of justice been pressured or directed by the Prime Minister or members of his cabinet.

I take issue with the member opposite. The member opposite has construed this as not being about pressure or direction. That is exactly what is at issue here. That is exactly what I am saying on the record. There was no pressure and no direction given by the Prime Minister or members of his cabinet on this or any other matter.

Health

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it was over 20 years ago that the Liberals committed to introducing a universal drug plan, but they failed to act. In the meantime, Mr. Lorenzen, in my riding, has paid over $25,000 for prescription medication following a surgery.

The Liberals lack the political will to get the job done. Enough with the studies. Enough with the expert panels. Enough with the rhetoric. Will the Liberals please tell Mr. Lorenzen, indeed all Canadians, if they are ready to end the empty promises and implement a fully public, national and universal pharmacare plan?

[John Oliver, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, we agree that Canadians are paying too much for their prescription medicines, but unlike the NDP, we are doing our homework. When it comes to something as big and important as pharmacare, we want to get it right. Unlike the NDP, we want to know how much something costs before we implement it.

What the NDP unveiled yesterday is not a plan. They cannot call something a plan when it has nothing about costing or how it will be implemented. Unlike the NDP, we do not do a nation-building policy of pharmacare on the back of a napkin. This is an issue far too serious for half-baked, no-detail plans.

Child Care

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that is more Liberal obfuscation.

Canada needs a federal child care program. CCPA's “Development Milestones” report reveals that the distressingly high cost of child care burdens Canadian families. Child care costs are 10 times higher in Toronto than in Montreal. In fact, universal child care in Quebec pays for itself. It has actually created revenue.

What will it take for the Liberal government to smarten up and implement a national child care program for all Canadian families so everyone wins?