Debates of April 8th, 2019

The Environment

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Lakeland.

Justice

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister shut down two committees, booted two MPs out of caucus, and is holding documents 200 days past the deadline of an access to information request to hide the truth from Canadians. After months of misleading contradictions and changing his story to cover up his wrongdoing, now he is trying to shut down the opposition by threatening a lawsuit against our leader.

Canadians look forward to the Prime Minister giving evidence, providing testimony and being accountable, finally, under oath in open court. When will the Prime Minister follow through on his threat?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is important that Canadians always know that we will not stand idly by while the Conservatives intentionally mislead Canadians.

The Conservatives and the leader of the official opposition have a history of doing this. That is exactly why the day that they were served notice—that very same day, on March 31—they deleted and edited a tweet because they know that they should be more judicious when it comes to their word choices. That is exactly the same thing that he did when the Minister of Innovation put him on notice in December.

The member might not know the court of law, but she should know that by providing him notice, the process has already begun.

[An hon. member]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I heard many, many comments during that answer from my friend, the hon. member for Chilliwack—Hope. I think he knows that we like to hear from him, but only when he has the floor. He will get his chance in due course, probably.

The hon. member for Lakeland.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we know that the Prime Minister admires basic dictatorships, but what is clear from that answer is that he does not really want to follow through with his empty threat, because it would mean that he and his senior staff and multiple officials would have to testify under oath for hours and produce documents, all under a public process that he does not control. Conservatives welcome the chance to examine the Prime Minister in pretrial discovery at the earliest possible date.

Will the Prime Minister follow through on his threat to sue, or is he ready to admit that everything the Leader of the Opposition said is actually true?

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

Mr. Speaker, because the Conservatives and their leader have a history of making untrue and defamatory statements just for political gains, yes, we have again put them on notice. When they were first put on notice, the leader of the official opposition deleted and then edited tweets because he knew that those comments were not appropriate and he knew that legal action could be taken.

Anyone who knows the court system would know that the first step is putting them on notice. Therefore, the process has already begun. We will not idly stand by while the Conservatives mislead Canadians.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when the Prime Minister does not like what he is hearing from people who do not agree with him, he kicks them out of his caucus.

Now he is using a new tactic. He is suing people to silence them. If the Prime Minister thinks he can intimidate the Leader of the Opposition or silence us, he is dead wrong.

When will he proceed with his lawsuit?

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

Mr. Speaker, we will not stay silent while the Leader of the Opposition misleads Canadians. The process has begun, and that is why we sent that letter.

When the Leader of the Opposition received the letter, he changed his tweets. He knows very well that the letter has consequences. If the Leader of the Opposition wants to make comments that mislead Canadians who do not know the truth, we will put him on notice to let him know that he cannot do that.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, first the Prime Minister denied the facts, then he changed his story every week, then he kicked out two upstanding ministers because they did not agree with him, and now he is threatening a lawsuit to intimidate and try to silence the opposition.

The Prime Minister is dead wrong if he thinks that his new tactic will work. If he has nothing to hide, he should follow through on his threat, present the evidence and testify under oath.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition pretends that he will not back down and tries to make a show out of it. We know that this is not true, because while he is saying it, he has already edited or deleted his online statements and refuses to repeat his statements in press conferences.

This past December, he was again forced to delete a statement that was defamatory to the Minister of Innovation. False statements also have consequences. This is why, once again, we put the Leader of the Opposition on notice.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister clearly has no problem getting his way when he threatens his own caucus, but it does not work on Conservatives. He put a gag order on the former attorney general, but he cannot muzzle Conservatives. He shut down two committee investigations into his interference in an ongoing criminal proceeding, but he cannot shut down Conservative questions.

We look forward to the Prime Minister giving testimony under oath, in court, where he faces real consequences if he does not tell the truth.

We will see him in court. When do we start?

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

Mr. Speaker, I will once again confirm that yes, we again have put the leader of the official opposition and these Conservatives on notice. On March 31, the exact day when he received this letter, he deleted and then edited one of his defamatory tweets. There is a repetitive behaviour here.

This is something that the Conservatives have done on numerous occasions. He did the same thing with another defamatory statement he posted on February 11, another time that we had to serve him notice. When the Conservative leader continues to make false statements outside the House, he must be called out. We will call him out to ensure that he does not mislead Canadians.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I am getting constant chatter over here during answers. I should not be hearing that. Members know that each side gets to have their turn, and that is important in this system, in our democracy. Members need to respect the fact that others may have different views and different things to say than they might, but we still have to listen to all of them.

The hon. member for Chilliwack—Hope.

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

Mr. Speaker, the government House leader has found the elusive edit button on Twitter, which does not exist. People cannot edit tweets.

The Liberals should be terrified of the Liberal Prime Minister appearing in court under oath to testify. Only last week, he testified in the House and admitted that the former attorney general had brought her concerns of his political interference to him directly. Canadians want to know what other truths he has been hiding.

When will the Prime Minister follow through on his notice and see us in court?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member has just once again proved my point, because every time I have answered I have said that the leader of the official opposition has deleted and then edited the wording of those tweets. He knows that very well, because that is exactly what I said.

The Conservatives will never let the facts get in the way of misleading Canadians. They act tough, but they are already going back and changing their online statements, and Canadians can see that for themselves. They did it on March 31 when they were served notice. They did it on February 11 when the Minister of Innovation served them notice. The only tweet that the Conservatives will not change is their affiliation with Faith Goldy. They seem to be very proud when it comes to those actions.

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

Mr. Speaker, a decision was made to leak confidential information about Chief Justice Joyal's Supreme Court application. This is a very serious breach of legal obligations, but the leak went further by trashing his reputation, insinuating that he was a Harper ideologue who would undermine the charter. This was baseless and without merit.

Justice Joyal's privacy and reputation were treated as cannon fodder in the Prime Minister's ongoing attempt to smear the former attorney general. Very few people had access to that information, so who gave the order to spread the smear and who leaked the information?

[David Lametti, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians should have complete confidence in the administration of justice. Our nomination process to the Supreme Court is solid and merit-based. It considers Canada's finest jurists for the short list.

As I said, I am deeply troubled by the publication of personal details for the most recent selection process and will ensure in any upcoming processes that this does not happen.

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

Mr. Speaker, I really like the minister. I hope he will not sue me for pointing out that there is a dumpster fire going on behind him.

Let me refer to the former president of the Treasury Board, who said that what we were dealing with were fundamental questions of the Constitution, ethical behaviour and leadership. She says, “Canadians deserve to know that someone takes responsibility.” Responsibility, I know that has been a very hard word for our Prime Minister, but we are talking about the rule of law here.

Let us try this again. Could the Attorney General tell us who gave the order to leak the information, to smear the former attorney general and Chief Justice Joyal? Who did it?

[David Lametti, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the integrity of our process depends on the confidentiality of all the parties involved. As I have stated, I am troubled by the publication of personal details. It is unfair, to any of the parties involved, when this kind of personal information is weaponized for political reasons.

I am confident that the leak did not come from my office, and the Prime Minister has already stated that it did not come from his office.

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

Mr. Speaker, on February 7, the Prime Minister told us that the Globe and Mail story was untrue, but we are finally seeing real progress on the Prime Minister's corruption case. He is so scared that he is trying to intimidate the Leader of the Opposition with threats of legal action. He hid the truth from Canadians for months, but the whole truth may finally come to light in court. The Prime Minister will have to present his evidence and testify. He will no longer be able to hide.

Can the Prime Minister provide assurances that he has ordered all documents related to this corruption scandal to be preserved in preparation for the trial?

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

Mr. Speaker, to ensure that Canadians could hear for themselves, the Prime Minister waived solicitor-client privilege and cabinet confidence. We know the members of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights did their job. We know the Ethics Commissioner is investigating, but there is more. We know that the Conservatives keep stirring the pot and that they are doing it on purpose. We know we served the Leader of the Opposition notice. When he received it, he deleted and changed his tweets.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I have been hearing a lot from the hon. member for Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier today when it is not his turn to speak. He knows he has to wait until I give him the floor.

The hon. member for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles.

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

Mr. Speaker, the government House leader likes talking about tweets, but what happened is that the Prime Minister put the Leader of the Opposition on notice in order to silence him. The Prime Minister has a habit of trying to silence people. The truth is not important to him. He is hiding because he knows that what the Leader of the Opposition is saying is true. The Prime Minister is not scaring anyone with his threats. We will not stop talking about his corruption and demanding the truth.

Now that the Prime Minister wants to take this before the courts, we want to know whether he kept all the documentation needed for the trial.