Debates of April 2nd, 2019

Justice

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

Mr. Speaker, it is important that Canadians be able to hear for themselves. That is exactly why the justice committee meetings took place in public. Justice committee members sat down together and set parameters for a discussion. For the entire period of these allegations, the Prime Minister waived solicitor-client privilege as well as cabinet confidence so that Canadians could hear for themselves.

Something we heard at committee was that the rule of law in Canada is intact, that the rule of law was followed at all times. These were decisions for the former attorney general to take.

It is important that Canadians note that we will continue to raise the bar so that we can continue to improve our institutions.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Their defence, Mr. Speaker, is that everything is okay because they got caught. That is not going to cut it for Canadians. Nobody is buying the Prime Minister's excuse. The phone call between the former attorney general and Michael Wernick made it crystal clear. Michael Wernick says multiple times that the Prime Minister was firm. He says he was “determined, quite firm”, that he was in a “firm mood about this”, that “He's in a pretty firm frame of mind about this”, and finally, “And I think he is going to find a way to get it done one way or another.”

The former attorney general has implored her colleagues to let truth be the authority rather than authority be the truth. When will the Liberals finally start telling the truth?

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

Mr. Speaker, the members who sit on the justice committee set parameters. There are members from all recognized parties who sit on the justice committee. For the period in which those allegations have been alleged, the Prime Minister waived solicitor-client privilege as well as cabinet confidence, because Canadians should be able to hear for themselves. That is exactly why those meetings took place in public. Within those meetings, witnesses appeared and gave their testimony. Additional documents were requested. Those documents have now been provided to the justice committee members. We know that they can make decisions for themselves. We have confidence in our institutions, and Canadians can have confidence as well.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said a lot of things that he knew were untrue. We know that Michael Wernick called on behalf of the Prime Minister. We know this because Wernick mentioned the Prime Minister 24 times during the call. The recording is the latest piece of evidence in this corruption case.

Why is the Prime Minister obstructing justice and preventing the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights from doing its job?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I said, it is important that Canadians be able to hear the facts for themselves. That is exactly why the Prime Minister waived solicitor-client privilege as well as cabinet confidence. That is also why the witnesses came to provide their testimony. These meetings were public, so all the facts are now out in the open and Canadians can decide for themselves.

We know that the system works. We have confidence in our institutions and Canadians can also have confidence in them.

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians do not have confidence in this Prime Minister and his government.

This is the list of people we wanted to hear from at the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights: Katie Telford, Elder Marques, Mathieu Bouchard, Amy Archer, Ben Chin, Justin To and Jessica Prince. The Liberal members of the committee refused the opposition's request. They refused to hear from the real witnesses who have real things to say.

Why is the Prime Minister hiding the truth from Canadians?

Will he allow the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights to do its job?

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians could hear it for themselves. That is exactly why the meetings were public. That is exactly why the witnesses came to provide their testimony. Despite that, the Conservatives do not want to listen to the facts. All the facts are now out in the open. Canadians can decide for themselves.

We know that we can do better. That is exactly why the Prime Minister took responsibility. That is exactly why he put in place additional measures so that we can continue to balance things for Canadians.

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

Mr. Speaker, since yesterday, the Liberals have been going full steam ahead.

Rather than focusing on telling Canadians the truth, they are spending all their time criticizing and even attacking the former attorney general for recording a conversation in which she was asked 17 times in 17 minutes to change her decision. That is how the Liberals treat the women of integrity in their party.

How can the Prime Minister claim that he encourages women to go into politics when he does not stand up for them when it counts?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I said, the members of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights decided among themselves to have their own conversation and to call witnesses. The witnesses appeared and gave their testimony.

All the facts are now public. It is important to have confidence in our institutions. The NDP is now siding with the Conservatives. They are playing political games instead of letting us do our very important work. We will continue to have confidence in our institutions, and we know that Canadians can have confidence in them as well.

Indigenous Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, there is nothing wrong with joking around with donors for laughs, but making fun at the expense of a protester who wants to fix the catastrophic situation at Grassy Narrows First Nation is utterly shameful, especially considering that the Prime Minister has still not kept his promises to deal with mercury contamination in their community. This is not a game, and it is not funny.

When will the Prime Minister go to Grassy Narrows to witness the magnitude of the problem for himself?

[Seamus O'Regan, Minister of Indigenous Services, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, we support the needs of the people of Grassy Narrows. We remain steadfast in our commitment to build a health facility in that community. Officials are in regular contact with the community to advance plans for the design and the construction of that facility.

I look forward to meeting with Chief Turtle to determine how we continue moving on this critical path forward.

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

Mr. Speaker, we would have to look very long and hard to find a joke so dissonant and disconnected as the Prime Minister's decision to ridicule the people of Grassy Narrows. I was speaking with Chief Rudy Turtle and he said that nobody from the Prime Minister's Office has even bothered to call to apologize. When a leader does something so snide and so smug to such a marginalized community, the decent thing to do is to pick up the phone and say sorry. That is leader to leader, nation to nation.

Will the Prime Minister make this right and commit in the House that he will personally call Chief Turtle and apologize?

[Seamus O'Regan, Minister of Indigenous Services, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, the people of Grassy Narrows have suffered for generations and we recognize the numerous health issues that the community faces to this day. We remain committed to building a facility that will meet the needs of community members.

As I have stated, we are in contact with the community and I am eager to meet with Chief Turtle to discuss this matter personally so we can move on this together.

Justice

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

Mr. Speaker, why is the Prime Minister hiding on this? Why will he not do the decent thing? It is a question of his judgment, just like his handling of the SNC bribery case.

When we listen to the Michael Wernick tape it is impossible to think anything other than the fact that the Prime Minister was the driving force in trying to make the Attorney General fold, yet he said he was never briefed on the conversation. He took an early vacation and the first thing he did when he came back in January was to get rid of her. Just like he is trying to get rid of her today.

For damage control, the guy is a mess. Who is running the operation over there?

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

Mr. Speaker, I was elected by my constituents to make sure that I fight for them.

The member opposite chooses to talk about caucus politics but we respect that caucus will have tough conversations. We on this side know that we can have tough conversations, that it is good to have meaningful debate. It is important that we continue to advance work for Canadians as they are exactly who sent us here.

When it comes to our institutions, Canadians can have confidence in their institutions. When it comes to that call that the member is referring to, it is important to note that the tools that were available were for the former attorney general to make a decision.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order, please. I am having a hard time hearing the answer. I would ask the hon. member for Dufferin—Caledon and others not to interrupt when someone else has the floor. They would not want to be interrupted when they have the floor, I am sure.

Order. My hon. friend from Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, I would also ask to restrain himself.

The hon. member for Milton.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, a minute ago the House leader indicated that the opposition members were playing politics with this matter. That is interesting because that is exactly the theme of my question today.

On September 17, this is what was said in Jody Wilson-Raybould's testimony—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order, please. The hon. member is an experienced member and knows of course that members cannot use members' personal names in the House. I would ask her to carry on without doing so.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, but it is nice to see them defending her once in a while.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

I will get the next question.

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

Mr. Speaker, I will once again remind Canadians that the justice committee looked at this matter, the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner is currently investigating this matter and there is definitely an ongoing court case when it comes to this matter.

When it comes to the work that we are here to do, we will defend the best interests of Canada and the best interests of Canadians. Canadians sent us here to do important work on their behalf. We have confidence in our institutions. It was confirmed at the justice committee that the rule of law was followed, and we know that we can always improve and that is why the Prime Minister took responsibility. We will continue to work for Canadians.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the House leader is completely incorrect. The justice committee did not make a finding that the rule of law was followed. She should withdraw that remark because that is misleading.

If they want to talk about playing politics, the former attorney general testified that on September 17:

...the Prime Minister jumped in, stressing that there is an election in Quebec and that “and I am an MP in Quebec—the member for Papineau”.

On January 7, we learned this is how the Prime Minister concluded, that after an election, everything is fresh again.

This is all about politics. How can the House leader answer all these questions—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. government House leader.