Stephen Owen

[Points of Order, March 25th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, in answer to a question earlier in question period today about the meeting between the president of the Privy Council and a Mr. Tremblay, I was referring in my answer to the evidence given today at the public accounts committee from Ms. Tremblay about a possible meeting between him and Mr. Guité. I wanted to make that point of clarification.

[Sponsorship Program, March 25th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has answered no.

[Sponsorship Program, March 25th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I think relevant to this question and to the earlier question is the misquoting by hon. member's opposite of Ms. Tremblay's evidence before the public accounts committee.

If I can repeat. This morning Ms. Tremblay said “I do not know because it was not me who they were calling. Therefore if they said to me that it was the Office of the President of the Privy Council calling it would not mean that it was him. It could mean that it was someone else. I can't tell you”.

That was her evidence. It should not be misrepresented by that side of the House.

[Sponsorship Program, March 25th, 2004]

First of all, Mr. Speaker, we have allegations, uncorroborated allegations, about something that was said to have happened, and now totally uncorroborated and unsupported by anyone other than this member making up a question.

These processes are set up to answer them. All members of the government are willing to come forward when asked to answer these sorts of questions in the proper way in the proper forum.

[Sponsorship Program, March 25th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, this question is clearly related to the sponsorship incidents which are the subject of the inquiry by the public accounts committee and by the judicial inquiry to be held by Justice Gomery. That is where we should be putting these questions. The minister has favoured the House with a denial to an earlier question, but clearly these questions belong before the processes that have been set up to answer them.

[Sponsorship Program, March 25th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker--

[Sponsorship Program, March 25th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the processes are set up. There will be a public inquiry in public, judicially. We have the public accounts committee. It will hear evidence from various people.

These are fact finding processes. Let the processes go forward, and if any of those processes require documents, let them ask for them and the government will produce them.

[Sponsorship Program, March 25th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the public accounts committee is hearing evidence from various people and has obviously been getting different points of view, different evidence. The process is to find the truth. It is not complete yet. What the hon. member referred to has contradicted in the House a statement by that witness.

Members of this cabinet have said they will come forward to any of these processes to say what they knew, if anything, or to defend themselves, and we stand ready to do that. That is why these processes are continuing, but that allegation this morning has been directly contradicted by this minister.

[Sponsorship Program, March 25th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's reference to the public servant who gave testimony this morning refers to someone who the Prime Minister has encouraged to come before these processes and provide evidence.

The hon. member for Provencher, at the public accounts committee this morning, said himself, with respect to other testimony, that unless the testimony was corroborated in a material respect, he did not intend to give these two allegations any weight. He said this morning that we need to focus on what is relevant.

[Sponsorship Program, March 24th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, some of the hon. members on the other side have been deriding process. We have processes set up so these questions can be answered. There are certainly problems with the sponsorship program. That is why we are getting to the bottom of it. If the hon. members want to assist in that process they can put the evidence--not allegations but evidence--before the processes that are set up to hear them.