House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2006, with 52% of the vote.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police September 25th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, in this government, the Prime Minister has silenced his Minister of Public Safety; the Minister of Public Safety has silenced the Commissioner of the RCMP, and so on. This is definitely something new for our system.
When will the government stop muzzling the Commissioner of the RCMP and allow government officials to speak freely to the media?
Royal Canadian Mounted Police September 25th, 2006
--has a bad case of new muzzlemania.
The former commissioner of the RCMP also said that it displayed a pattern of behaviour by the government of preventing people who have the facts from speaking out on them in public.
Does the Prime Minister not recognize that he is undermining our democracy when he silences officials like the head of the RCMP?
Royal Canadian Mounted Police September 25th, 2006
This new government--
Royal Canadian Mounted Police September 25th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, this government--
Royal Canadian Mounted Police September 25th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, since the Prime Minister took office Canadians have become increasingly concerned about the PMO's obsessive control of government communications. Today we have reached a new low, where that approach is affecting the ability of Canadians to understand an issue of fundamental importance.
The former RCMP commissioner, Norman Inkster, said yesterday that the current commissioner, like so many other ministers and deputy ministers under the Conservative government, has been constrained from speaking to the public. Why is the Prime Minister at this time deliberately muzzling an important official of the government, the RCMP commissioner?
Access to Information September 21st, 2006
Mr. Speaker, as we said earlier, this goes to the heart of the free press in our country. What we want is an assurance from the government and the Prime Minister that this information and ATIP information is not used by his office to screen questions that are asked of him by our free press in this country, has never been used and will never be used in the future. That is the question.
Access to Information September 21st, 2006
Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary told us that they would be taking steps to ensure this does not happen again. What about the abuses of the law that have already occurred?
The government members can make all the fuss they like, but we are talking about something here that goes to the heart of our democracy. It is about the ability of the free press being sacrificed by the freedom of information and privacy laws.
Will they tell us whether there--
Access to Information September 21st, 2006
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the minister told us that they were on top of these things right away. However, this information was discussed in March by senior people reporting to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Public Safety, Health and the Environment and six people in the Prime Minister's Office were illegally in receipt of this information about a journalist for more than six months.
In criminal law, it is not just people who steal but people who receive stolen goods who are guilty of an offence. Therefore, did anyone report--
Access to Information September 21st, 2006
Mr. Speaker, on March 15, 2006, staff in the office of the Minister of Public Safety identified to the Prime Minister’s Office a journalist who had made an access to information request, a clearly illegal act. According to the minister, he did not learn of these illegal activities until yesterday. His own office concealed this from him for 191 days.
Can the minister now explain to us who among his staff was aware of this violation? Why was it disclosed to the Prime Minister’s Office? And how many repetitions were there of this clearly illegal act?
Political Financing September 20th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, yet this government, which talks non-stop about its programs in this House, flouts Canada's election laws day after day. The mastermind of this Conservative ploy, who is now under investigation, is today the Prime Minister's chief of staff, Ian Brodie.
How will the Prime Minister reprimand his chief of staff, who the chief electoral officer clearly indicated had come close to violating this country's election laws?