Debates of March 19th, 2019

Justice

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite just admitted that he does not want to hear what is in the budget coming up in a few hours. The reason is that Conservatives do not understand that investing in the middle class is the way to grow a stronger economy. That is what has created over 900,000 new jobs. That is what has led to the lowest unemployment in almost 40 years.

Our plan is working to help the middle class. The Conservatives' plan to give advantages and benefits to the wealthy failed under Stephen Harper, and it is failing them now to actually even be able to talk about the budget.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

Order, please.

I encourage the hon. member for Carleton and others not to interrupt when someone else has the floor. I am sure they would not want anyone to interrupt them.

[Jagmeet Singh, Burnaby South, NDP]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that appointing a former Liberal cabinet minister is a weak attempt to change the channel from the scandal. It does not get to the bottom of Liberals' giving special access to big corporations, quietly passing laws when powerful lobbyists ask and potentially interfering with a criminal trial.

People deserve answers. Why will the Liberal Prime Minister not call for a public inquiry? What is he so afraid of?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, what is puzzling in this whole thing is that I could see the Conservatives not standing up for workers, but not the NDP not standing up for workers and not standing up for jobs across the country.

We have always, and we will consistently stand up to defend workers and stand up to defend hard-working Canadians and the communities they support. We will be unequivocal about making sure that we are growing the economy and creating jobs like the 900,000 new jobs we have created over the past three years. We will continue to focus on what matters for Canadians, because that is what Canadians expect.

[Jagmeet Singh, Burnaby South, NDP]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's interference scandal is costing him dearly. In the past month, he has lost two cabinet ministers, his chief adviser and, now, the Clerk of the Privy Council. He has also lost the confidence of Canadians.

What is his solution to this problem? A former Liberal minister and party fundraiser.

Why does the Prime Minister believe this will restore Canadians' confidence?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, instead of talking politics, the member should focus on what Canadians have gained.

We have created over 900,000 new jobs in this country over the past three years. We have lifted over 300,000 children out of poverty across the country. We have lifted nearly 825,000 people out of poverty thanks to our policies and Canadians' confidence in their families, their communities and their future.

We will continue to stand up for workers and invest in Canadians. That is what Canadians expect, and that is what we will keep doing.

[Jagmeet Singh, Burnaby South, NDP]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister must explain himself to Canadians.

The Prime Minister is caught up in a political interference scandal. It is alleged that he snuck legislation through to help his rich friends.

How can he believe that Canadians would trust a former minister from the sponsorship scandal era to discover the truth?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to see the member opposite tell SNC-Lavalin employees across the country, not just in Quebec, but also in Newfoundland and Labrador, Regina and Grande Prairie, Alberta, that he does not care about their jobs.

We on the government side will always stand up for jobs. We will always respect our institutions and the rule of law. We will continue to stand up for jobs and invest in jobs. Other people may not like it, but we will continue to work for Canadians.

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

Order. The hon. member for Calgary Rocky Ridge will come to order.

The hon. member for Burnaby South.

[Jagmeet Singh, Burnaby South, NDP]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians deserve to know the truth. Back in 2004, it was Anne McLellan defending her scandal-plagued Liberal government. Now we have another Liberal government plagued by scandal, obstructing the justice committee from learning the truth.

At least previous prime ministers called inquiries when they were faced with scandals. Why is the Liberal Prime Minister refusing to let Canadians learn the truth through a public inquiry?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we have confidence in the committees and their work. We have confidence in the officers of Parliament, like the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner. We respect the work that the justice committee did for five weeks, with hours and hours of testimony. Indeed, we even took the unprecedented step of providing a waiver for solicitor-client privilege and attorney-client privilege so that the former attorney general could speak to the matter before the committee. These are things that we know Canadians need and that is why we provided them.

At the same time, we focus on—

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Milton.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister spins an incredible story, and indeed it is incredible, because it is not true.

Let us take the tale of the tape, shall we? Two cabinet ministers have resigned from cabinet. There is one resignation of the best friend, the principal secretary to the Prime Minister, and one early retirement of the Clerk of the Privy Council.

This is extraordinary in normal circumstances and Canadians deserve to know exactly what is going on, but this morning, the Prime Minister has made sure that the justice committee, the only public venue studying this matter, was shut down. What is he afraid of? Why is he covering it up?

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

Mr. Speaker, as we know, clearly members of the justice committee have been studying this issue for over five weeks. We know that they have asked for witnesses to appear to ensure that Canadians can hear from those witnesses, including the former attorney general. We waived solicitor-client privilege as well as cabinet confidence. That is unheard of. It has only happened four times since 1987. The last time under Stephen Harper was a time when he actually did not waive all privileges, because perhaps the Conservatives had something to hide.

That is not our approach. We will focus on Canadians while they focus on tactics.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, let us just level with Canadians. Something happened after January 14 that terrifies this government. They will go to a great extent to ensure that we never hear about it, but we will.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs indicated that with respect to the concerns of the OECD she was going to assure it by saying that the process was both robust and independent. How can the minister tell us today, after they shut down the justice committee, that this is anything towards robust?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is important that Canadians know that when it comes to our parliamentary committees, they actually work independently of this place. There are members of Parliament from all parties who sit on committees, including the justice committee. When we had witnesses appearing, we saw that members of other parties were also able to present themselves and ask questions of the witnesses.

It is important that Canadians also know that there is the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner that is also looking into this matter and the independence of the judicial system, because there is an ongoing court case.

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

Mr. Speaker, the former attorney general left cabinet because the Prime Minister's Office was pressuring her to circumvent the law. The former president of the Treasury Board stepped down because she had lost confidence, in her words. Gerald Butts left and we are not sure why, and the Clerk of the Privy Council is retiring. It is odd.

However, the Prime Minister says there was no corruption in the SNC-Lavalin affair. If that is true, then why so many resignations?

Why not allow the former attorney general to tell her whole truth? What is he afraid of?

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

Mr. Speaker, we know that the members of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights did their job. They studied this issue for five weeks. We know that the Office of the Ethics Commissioner is also looking into the matter. We know that this work will be done in several ways.

Nevertheless, the Conservatives do not want to talk about the more than 900,000 jobs that have been created since our government was elected.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to hear her talk about the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. I was in committee over the past five weeks, and I can say that the Liberal members on the other side were controlled by the Prime Minister's Office. There was no way that we could get to the bottom of this matter.

The former attorney general was under a gag order. The other witnesses who testified were able to speak.

Why can we not get the truth about the period from January 14 to February 12?

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

Mr. Speaker, as we have said, we waived solicitor-client privilege and cabinet confidence so that the former attorney general could share her story and testify before the committee.

I think the member opposite is speaking from experience, since we know that the Leader of the Opposition gives him instructions, but members on this side of the House can make their own choices, and we know that they will continue to do their jobs.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals on the justice committee wrote in a letter last night, “As committee members, we have achieved our objectives with respect to these meetings.”

I will say they have. The Liberal objective during this whole scandal has been to cover up for their Prime Minister's corruption. Not only will they not allow the former attorney general to fully tell her story, they are shutting down the entire investigation. What is the Prime Minister so afraid of that he is willing to sink to these depths to cover up his corruption?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is clear that the member has a copy of that letter, but does not respect the choice of those members. We also know that when it comes to the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, that office is looking into this matter. We also know that there is an ongoing court case.

What is clear is that the Conservatives are covering up the fact that they do not have a plan. They do not want to talk about the 300,000 children who have been lifted out of poverty. They do not want to talk about the 900,000 jobs that have been created by Canadians since this government came into office, because we invest in Canadians rather than taking the approach of austerity of the Conservatives.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's corrupt actions on the SNC-Lavalin affair have created a Liberal government cesspool of chaos and cover-ups. The former attorney general has resigned. The President of the Treasury Board has resigned. The Clerk of the Privy Council has resigned. The Prime Minister's closest adviser has resigned. Other than that, it is going really well and there is nothing to see here.

Today, the Liberals shut down the investigation. Why are they so afraid of Canadians getting to the truth of this Liberal corruption?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner is investigating this matter. We know that there is an ongoing court case.

On this side of the House, we will focus on Canadians. We know that Canadians have created 900,000 jobs since we took government. We know that 300,000 children have been lifted out of poverty. We know that over 800,000 Canadians have been lifted out of poverty. We know there are nine million Canadians whose income tax has gone down since we lowered taxes on middle-class Canadians by increasing them on the wealthiest 1% of Canadians. It is Canadians who sent us here. That is who we focus on.