Debates of April 12th, 2019

Justice

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

Mr. Speaker, we know that Canadians need to hear the truth. That is exactly why the Prime Minister waived solicitor-client privilege and cabinet confidence. That is exactly why all the facts are now public.

The Conservatives continue to mislead Canadians and that is not acceptable. That is what this member is also doing. We see that he is following the lead of the Leader of the Opposition. They should show some respect for Canadians. We know that they heard the truth. All the facts are public. Canadians will decide for themselves.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are increasingly worried about the political interference by the Prime Minister and his office in our independent justice system. Instead of reassuring them, the Liberal government continues to try to cover up its wrongdoing and scandal.

Canadians know there was inappropriate pressure on our justice system for the government's rich Liberal friends. The OECD's anti-bribery unit is also paying attention. It put Canada on notice, in a letter to the NDP, that it is watching what the Liberals are doing.

Will the Liberals just do what is right, reassure the OECD and Canadians, and call a public inquiry now?

[Andrew Leslie, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada-U.S. Relations)]

Mr. Speaker, in March, the minister spoke to the chair of the OECD working group. She confirmed to him that we are fully committed to co-operating with the good work they do. Obviously, we fully support the OECD's work in all such endeavours. Canada is a strong supporter of the rules-based international order, including the OECD, which is a flagship organization.

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, if they really respected the OECD, they would not have wrapped up the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights' investigation.

The Liberals would like everyone to stop talking about the political interference scandal, but people still want the whole truth about the SNC-Lavalin affair. The government seems to have a double standard: one for its friends and another for everyone else. Look at how cozy Loblaws lobbyists and the Liberal Party are. That tells us who the Liberals are really working for, and that is just the latest example. This has gone on long enough. The public is entitled to greater transparency.

Will the government finally launch a real public investigation into the allegations of interference before the next election?

[Andrew Leslie, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada-U.S. Relations)]

Mr. Speaker, in March, the minister spoke to the chair of the OECD working group. She confirmed to him that we are fully committed to co-operating with the good work her team does and that we fully support the OECD's work.

Canada is a strong supporter of the rules-based international order and this flagship organization.

Government Priorities

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we learned this week that the Minister of Finance is working hand in glove with Canada's big banks. This is another example of the special treatment the Liberals' pals enjoy.

This Liberal government promised to provide more transparency, do politics differently and take real measures to fight climate change. What did those measures turn out to be? A gift of $12 million for one of the country's richest corporations. To Loblaws with love, from the Prime Minister of Canada.

When will the Liberals stop favouring the upper class and put our priorities first?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I am always happy to talk about what we are doing to fight climate change.

We are putting a price on pollution. We are phasing out coal. We are investing in clean technologies. In the context that the member opposite was talking about, we are only investing 25%. It will have the equivalent impact of taking 50,000 cars off the road. I think it is a great investment.

We all need to work together to tackle climate change, including businesses, the provinces, cities, the government—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the environment minister should actually ask Canadians whether they think it is a good idea to give $12 million to a company that made nearly $1 billion in profits last year, all while refusing to pay its staff a fair wage.

People across the country are desperate for the government to act on climate change, but instead, they see Liberals padding Loblaws' profits. Two Loblaws lobbyists were at a Liberal cash-for-access fundraiser with the Prime Minister and the environment minister's senior staff. Canadians want to know, is that why Loblaws got this sweetheart deal?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, no. The reason Loblaws got this deal was because there was an open tender process that was open to businesses, communities, big businesses, small businesses and indigenous peoples. There were 54 winners. It was based on emissions reductions. In this case, in this open and transparent process run by public servants, we are only putting up one-quarter of the amount of the $48 million. A $50,000 reduction in emissions is like 50,000 vehicles off the road. We should all support that. We should all be looking to work together to tackle climate change.

Justice

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, everyone knows that the Prime Minister has been misleading Canadians now for over two months. He said that the SNC story was false, that no one raised concerns and that he did it for jobs, yet each one of these statements is a proven falsehood. Then he foolishly tried to bully the opposition leader into silence by threatening to sue, but the opposition leader has now called this ridiculous bluff.

It is the Prime Minister's move. When will we see him in court?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is important that Canadians know, and I guess members should also be informed, that when people say things that they should not say, there are consequences. What happened is that the Leader of the Opposition used terminology and made accusations that were inappropriate. What we did was not stand idly by, and Canadians can have confidence, and we put him on notice. Really quickly after he received notice, he deleted those tweets. He took a step back from his messaging and now reiterates his new messaging that I guess we helped him discover.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, our leader has repeated exactly the words he said in the first place. It is the Prime Minister who has been misleading Canadians. He told them the SNC story was false, and that is not true. Then he said that no one raised concerns; not true. Then he said he did it for jobs. The company says that is not true.

The Prime Minister's threat to sue the Leader of the Opposition is clearly a bluff. If he truly believes he has a case, when will we see him in court?

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

Mr. Speaker, they say repetition works. When it comes to hearing the answer, obviously repetition does not work, so let me remind the hon. member, who is more focused on privatizing health care than she is focused on making sure that we have a universal health care system that actually works for all Canadians. That is something Canadians pride themselves in, but that is not the focus of the dreamy future minister of health, as she likes to refer to herself.

I will remind her that all facts are now public. The justice committee meetings took place in public. They took place in public so that witnesses could appear, and the Prime Minister ensured that solicitor-client privilege as well as cabinet confidence were waived.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister himself is the one who misled Canadians. He said that the SNC-Lavalin story was not true. Obviously that is not the case. Then, he said that no one had come to him with their concerns, which is also not true.

If he really believes that telling the truth would be defamatory to him, when will we see him in court?

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

Mr. Speaker, once again, all the facts of this matter have been made public because the Prime Minister waived solicitor-client privilege and cabinet confidence.

The members of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights examined this matter for five weeks and made their own decision. All the meetings were public so that Canadians could watch them. We know that the facts are public.

We will always speak out against the Conservatives when they mislead Canadians, because that is not how things are done here.

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

Mr. Speaker, obviously misleading Canadians is not the way to go, but that is what the Liberal government has been doing since the beginning of the SNC-Lavalin case.

The Prime Minister put our leader on notice. Our leader repeated word for word what he said outside the House. Every time we ask questions about SNC-Lavalin, the Prime Minister changes his story.

Will he follow through on his notice and—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order. The hon. Leader of the Government in the House of Commons.

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

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite forgot one small detail: the Prime Minister sent a letter to the Leader of the Opposition putting him on notice because he has a habit of misleading Canadians. Everyone knows this is not the right approach, so the Prime Minister sent him a letter. I think the Leader of the Opposition read the letter and then deleted his online statements and his tweets. He and his team probably changed the words he used, but now he is repeating them. It is a—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order. The hon. member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has been misleading Canadians for months now. That is nothing new for the Prime Minister, with his track record of four ethical breaches. Now he has the audacity to threaten the opposition leader with a lawsuit for speaking the truth, but the opposition leader will not be intimidated.

When will the Prime Minister put his money where his mouth is and meet the opposition leader in court?

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

Mr. Speaker, we should have confidence in our institutions and the court of law, and no one should be intimidated, because we know that the rule of law in Canada is intact. That is exactly why, when the leader of the official opposition received a notice from the Prime Minister, he quickly erased his tweets. He erased his online statements, and then he chose better words. That probably was the right thing to do, and now they continue to repeat those words.

The Conservatives have a history of misleading Canadians. This is now new terminology that they have been echoing for months. They did it in December, they did it in February, and now they just did it in March, but most recently, they sent out a publicly funded tax booklet and forgot to talk about the climate action incentive.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we know the Liberals are obsessed with Twitter. They have started diplomatic feuds on Twitter. They have damaged the integrity of our immigration system on Twitter. They have even praised dictators on Twitter, but this is not about Twitter. This is about the opposition leader's March 29 statement. That is why he repeated every word from that statement inside and outside the chamber.

When will the Prime Minister meet the opposition leader in court, or should I just check his Twitter?

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

Mr. Speaker, we know that members who want to be on the Conservative benches have to follow their leader. They are not allowed to speak out of turn, so I encourage him to follow his leader on Twitter so that he can maintain that speed.

More importantly, what is clear is that Conservatives are focused on—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order, please. The hon. member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes asked a question, and the hon. government House leader was answering it. I am having a hard time hearing the answer. I am sure the hon. member is as well. I would ask everyone to show a little politeness. I notice a lot of students watching today, and we want to set an example for them. We do not want to act out of line.

The hon. government House leader has 18 seconds remaining.