Debates of May 9th, 2019

Justice

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

Mr. Speaker, the question of political interference was raised a number of times by the director herself, yesterday. I just read her comments into the record.

What I can say about the investigation and the legal process is that the government fulfilled all its obligations. All the documents from the individuals identified by the defence were submitted to the court. All told, over 8,000 documents involving seven organizations were submitted. As far as the status of the file is concerned, the judge even thanked departmental officials for their co-operation.

[Leona Alleslev, Conservative, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, clearly the Prime Minister does not like it when people of honour stand up to him.

He tried to interfere in a shipbuilding contract, but Vice-Admiral Norman protected the navy and the delivery of the ship it needed. When the Prime Minister did not get his way, he began a politically motivated campaign against Vice-Admiral Norman. He instructed the RCMP to investigate and told the public that Norman would be charged and end up at trial.

When will the Prime Minister realize that he cannot use the power of his office to attack those he views as his enemies?

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

Mr. Speaker, I respect the member's service to this country, as we all respect Vice-Admiral Norman's.

However, what I can underscore and perhaps elaborate for her is how the legal process works. The legal process conducts itself in an independent manner. When requests for documents are made, we identify the documents. Decisions as to what is redacted and what is covered by cabinet confidences are made independent of political actors, as they should be.

Furthermore, we do not intervene in that judicial process, because we safeguard the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law. That is the way the system is supposed to work, and that is something I would hope all members of this House would appreciate and protect.

[Leona Alleslev, Conservative, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, those independent organizations can only make informed decisions if they have the documents to read them.

The Prime Minister thinks he is above the law, and it is time to restore Canadians' confidence in the highest office in the land. We know that he politically interfered by refusing to turn over critical documents to Mark Norman's lawyers. He interfered by refusing to waive cabinet confidence. He interfered by counselling key witnesses on what to say.

Everyone knows this is political interference. When will the Prime Minister admit it?

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

Mr. Speaker, let us hear what the actual director had to say:

No other factors were considered in this decision, nor was there any contact or influence from outside the PPSC, including political influence in either the initial decision to prosecute Mr. Norman or in the decision to stay the charge today.

The reason the Minister of Border Security was so appalled by this line of questioning is that members should not impugn the integrity of the people who are leading the judicial system or who are independent officials. Second, members should not impugn the integrity of people who do not have a chance to stand up in this House and defend themselves.

I will do it for them. The director of public prosecutions operated independently at all times.

[Matthew Dubé, NDP, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, whether we are talking about Vice-Admiral Mark Norman's reputation or the workers at Davie shipyard in Quebec City, the Prime Minister's reprehensible behaviour on this file has had significant repercussions. The Liberal government is showing that it has no respect for the rule of law. Now we are hearing about allegations of witness tampering, not to mention the documents the government concealed.

Will the Liberals finally allow Canadians to hear the truth and order a genuinely independent inquiry to get to the bottom of the Mark Norman affair?

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

Mr. Speaker, what I can say in response to that question is that the investigation was handled by the RCMP.

The decision to prosecute was made by the director herself. The decision to stay the charges was made by the director herself. I want to highlight the comments of Mr. Norman's counsel once again. She said:

The decision to stay this prosecution was discretion exercised by prosecutors and the DPP, unimpacted by any political considerations, as it should be.

She further underscored that that is in fact how things are supposed to work. I agree with her assessment.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, nobody on this side is impugning the motives of the RCMP or the director of public prosecutions; what we are impugning is the motives of a government that interfered in this case when the Prime Minister said, before charges were laid, that it was going to go to court, which hired the reporter who reported on Scott Brison's pork-barrelling, and which has been accused of having told witnesses what to say. That is what we are trying to get to the bottom of.

Instead of trying to defend the director of public prosecutions with its discredited word, it should launch an independent investigation to show that nothing happened. When are we going to have—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

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

Mr. Speaker, it is quite unfortunate that it has come to this. In the last four months we have had two occasions when the director of public prosecutions has felt it incumbent upon herself to issue public statements about non-interference. The first was in February, when she talked about comments that related to a different matter that was being elaborated on in this House. The second was yesterday.

The fact that she feels compelled to issue these kinds of statements, declaring in the loudest voice possible that no influence occurred, is actually a function of the type of question we are facing in this House. I think it is a sad state of affairs, because independence is important.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when Vice-Admiral Mark Norman objected to the Liberals' scheming and interference and stood up for the navy, the Prime Minister attacked him and accused him before criminal charges had even been laid. That is interference.

The Liberals did not hesitate to drag the vice-admiral through the mud and try to destroy his unblemished career. However, we now know that the vice-admiral defended the Royal Canadian Navy against the Liberals' partisan interests. The Asterix was delivered on time and on budget.

When will the Prime Minister apologize to Vice-Admiral Norman and give him back his—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. The hon. parliamentary secretary.

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister played no role in the decision to stay proceedings. He was not aware of the decision made by the director of public prosecutions in this case. The PPSC acts independently, but in this case, it is acting on behalf of the Attorney General of Ontario, which, under the Criminal Code, is responsible for overseeing the case.

Yesterday, the director of public prosecutions said there had been no contact or influence from outside the PPSC on either the initial decision or the decision to stay the charge.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when Vice-Admiral Norman took a stand for the Royal Canadian Navy and against Scott Brison's political interference, the Prime Minister attacked him.

We know that Vice-Admiral Norman always made good decisions that were in the national interest and that the Davie shipyard delivered the Asterix on time and on budget. As far as military procurements go, it was a resounding success.

When will the Prime Minister apologize to Vice-Admiral Norman?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as the Public Prosecution Service of Canada confirmed, every decision was made completely independently. Based on this decision, the deputy minister has revised the policy in place regarding Vice-Admiral Norman's original request to have the legal fees paid for. I have agreed with this advice and have authorized it.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister himself said that Mark Norman would end up in court, even before charges were laid. Clearly, this was a political attack on someone who was standing up for what is right. It is another example of the Prime Minister attacking someone who got in his way.

When will the Prime Minister apologize and have Vice-Admiral Norman reinstated as vice-chief of the defence staff?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I want to reiterate what the Public Prosecution Service of Canada said, that every decision was made independently.

I want to quote from the statement that was released. It states:

No other factors were considered in this decision, nor was there any contact or influence from outside the PPSC, including political influence in either the initial decision to prosecute Mr. Norman or in the decision to stay the charge today.

General Vance, the chief of the defence staff, will be meeting with Vice-Admiral Norman, and then we will be talking about the next steps.

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that is not what Canadians see in the aftermath of the Vice-Admiral Norman travesty. What they see is a pattern of corruption with the Prime Minister, the PMO and the Liberal government, who attack and try to discredit anyone who stands up for truth, who stands up for what is right and who gets in their way.

What is the government really so desperately trying to hide? Will the Prime Minister apologize to Vice-Admiral Norman and reinstate him as the head of the navy and second-in-command of our armed forces?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as I stated, no other factors were considered in this case, and no influence was created.

General Vance will be speaking with Vice-Admiral Norman at the appropriate time, and a discussion will be had as to the future.

Health

[Sheri Benson, NDP, Saskatoon West, SK]

Mr. Speaker, HIV patients in Saskatchewan are not receiving treatment with free, readily available antiretroviral drugs that will save their lives and prevent transmission of the virus. This is in direct violation of the Canada Health Act. Meanwhile, many young people with HIV in my province are dying, and Saskatchewan has the highest HIV diagnosis rate in the country.

Why will the Liberal government not enforce the Canada Health Act and ensure that HIV patients in Saskatchewan have the same access to treatment and care as other Canadians?

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, our government is deeply committed to addressing HIV and AIDS. We are investing $87 million annually to tackle HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne illnesses.

If there is an issue in the province of Saskatchewan, as the member has indicated, I would be happy to have her come forward and speak to me, and I will take it forward to Health Canada.

Air Transportation

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, key members of the Trois-Rivières business community are getting behind a promising project at the airport. The City just invested in the construction of a new terminal, and the federal government is also expected to contribute soon.

Meanwhile, the Liberal government snuck a measure on the privatization of security services at Canadian airports into the most recent budget.

Are the people of Trois-Rivières and its business community right in thinking that this privatization could facilitate the implementation of security measures and the designation of their airport?

[Terry Beech, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure Canadians that we are putting forward measures to improve the air passenger experience. We have provided funding to address increasing passenger volumes at our airports and to decrease passenger wait times. Our government is committed to maintaining the highest levels of security for the travelling public while improving the passenger experience. Any decision that is made on CATSA privatization will take those into account.

International Trade

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian businesses and consumers know how important the U.S. market is for the Canadian economy. That is why it was so important to negotiate a good new NAFTA deal.

However, the Conservatives have repeatedly changed their tune about NAFTA. During the negotiations, they urged us to capitulate to U.S. demands to reduce our access, then criticized the good deal that we got. Now they are reversing themselves again.

Can the minister tell this House why the new NAFTA is such a significant achievement?

[Pam Goldsmith-Jones, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Consular Affairs)]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Ottawa West—Nepean is absolutely correct. Our government stood firm for a good deal, and we got a good deal. We did this despite the fact that the Conservatives and the Leader of the Opposition were advocating for capitulation and to accept any deal at any cost.

Yesterday, after months of criticizing the new NAFTA, the opposition leader promised to ratify it. He admits it is a good deal. He is clearly on board with our leadership.