David Emerson

[Technology Partnerships Canada, October 4th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said over and over again, in the case of Mr. Dingwall and any other lobbyist who has been in receipt of a contingency fee, our recourse is to the company. Our contract is with the company. We are dealing with the company. We have recovered the money and the company may in fact choose to take action against Mr. Dingwall.

[Technology Partnerships Canada, October 3rd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, as he crawls through the gutter alleging illegal payments, these are breaches of contracts. They are not illegal payments, they are breaches of contracts. They are being corrected and the money recovered.

[Technology Partnerships Canada, October 3rd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I did undertake to give information to the House with respect to the audits being undertaken under the old TPC program. I am disclosing the information as we are able.

There are privacy laws in the country. There are access to information laws in the country. I am observing those laws. I am working with the companies. As soon as we have factual information that could be put on the table, I am presenting it to Parliament.

Again, it is a vicious guttersnipe over there.

[Technology Partnerships Canada, October 3rd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, disgusting maliciousness is what it is. There were breaches of contracts entered into by companies. We are correcting those breaches. Those companies have recourse to lobbyists. Wherever a lobbyist is not registered, it is being referred either to the RCMP or the registrar of lobbyists. We are correcting the breaches. All they are doing is muckraking because that is all they know how to do.

[Technology Partnerships Canada, October 3rd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, we are recovering all the money from Bioniche. It will deal with Mr. Dingwall on the recovery of those funds.

The use of the language “kickback” is an affront to civilized debate in the House. It suggests illegality. It is illegal to be an unregistered lobbyist. It is not illegal to receive a contingency fee. It is against government policy. It was etched into contracts with companies. Those contracts were breached and we have corrected those breaches.

[The Economy, September 29th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, it is very interesting that the World Economic Forum, at a time when members opposite are trashing one of our pre-eminent programs of innovation support, had this to say about the Government of Canada:

We have been well impressed by Canada's strong performance among her G-7 peers, particularly the cautious management of public finances.

It went on to say that more importantly, the country continues to nurture its capacity for innovation and there have been improvements with respect to company spending on R and D, the extent of absorption of new technologies and the level of business community and continued penetration—

[Technology Partnerships Canada, September 29th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member knows or should know that it is not illegal to hire a lobbyist under Technology Partnerships Canada. The only thing that was in breach of contract was either to not be registered or to have a contingency fee or a success fee.

That program has accounted for over $14 billion of small businesses investing in research and development and technology. For the member to malign a program that has that kind of positive impact on Canada I think is just wrong.

[Technology Partnerships Canada, September 29th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I see that the hon. members have finally got back to their core niche, which is to drag people through the muck rather than talk about the public policy issues of this country.

We have worked closely with the Auditor General to audit the technology partnerships program. We will find any breaches of the program. We will correct them. We will recover the money. The hon. member should just sit down and think about what the best interests of Canadians are.

[Technology Partnerships Canada, September 29th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, if only the hon. member would remind himself that nearly 90% of the companies that are assisted under Technology Partnerships Canada are small companies. The Government of Canada is in the business of supporting small businesses in Canada and helping them to become competitive, not in the business of punishing them.

We are getting the money back, we are correcting the breaches and that is the right thing to do.

[Technology Partnerships Canada, September 29th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member knows that there is a prohibition against companies paying contingency fees to lobbyists under the technology partnerships program. We have dealt with the company. The company was in breach of contract. The company can deal with Mr. Dingwall. We have recovered the money.

I might also say that the technology partnerships program has led to $14 billion plus in research and development and innovation in Canadian companies