Charlie Angus

[Ethics, November 29th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, it is all in the family when it comes to the embattled Labrador minister. He received an illegal loan from his brother; then he received a corporate donation from Pennecon that happened to be in business with his dear brother Max, who happened to score really big on the Muskrat Falls project. Despite the family ties, the minister was the political point man on the project.

Now that the loan guarantees are being finalized, has that member recused himself from the cabinet discussions about the Muskrat Falls project? Will he tell us?

[Ethics, November 28th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know where the member was. I did stand and explain to all the voters in Timmins—James Bay, and we beat the Conservatives by a landslide. We did not have to buy an election.

Let us talk about their attempts and what the Conservatives told voters. We know now the calls that were made were identified to non-Conservative voters. We now know the robocalls went right back to Conservative Party headquarters. Therefore, someone on that side must know who is involved.

If we are talking about an organized campaign to suppress the vote, we are talking about breaking the law. The member should put down his little peashooter over there and stand and say when the government will get serious about holding the Conservative Party to account for voter fraud.

[Ethics, November 28th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague's problem is he cannot count. He produced some cheques, but we were talking about the 11 cheques.

Enough with the fantasy fictions, how about the facts? We know the fact is the commission is investigating three key meetings with Senator Housakos, meetings with Paolo Catania, Joe Borsellino and a meeting with Bernard Poulin who was lobbying the government to get Robert Abdallah a key post.

Senator Housakos is the Prime Minister's point man in Montreal. He was given a patronage appointment to the Senate. Therefore, since taxpayers are saddled with this guy until he is 75, will someone over there explain what Senator Housakos has been doing and why he has been holding these meetings?

[Ethics, November 26th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, we have this riding association that gets 2.5% of the vote and raises $250,000 in cash that is funnelled back to the Conservative Party. We are talking about allegations of buying an election.

Speaking of which, I see that the Prime Minister is stepping in to help the beleaguered member for Labrador by expediting a Goose Bay military announcement. The Prime Minister promised to clean up the cesspool in Ottawa. Is his idea of cleaning it up giving plum patronage appointments to the campaign manager and a big ribbon-cutting ceremony for the no-show minister?

[Ethics, November 26th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I am astounded that my hon. colleague would think there is something wrong with making false allegations, when that has been his raison d'être.

Let us go back to claims about the seven donations. We are talking about a deadbeat riding association that funnelled $300,000. There are still donors who claim they have no recollection of having made donations. There are still questions about the donations of people such as Riadh Ben Aissa now tied to the SNC-Lavalin investigation. This just does not pass the smell test.

Will the Conservatives come clean about what happened in the deadbeat riding of Laurier—Sainte-Marie under the Conservatives?

[41st General Election, November 22nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I actually feel for the member for Saint Boniface who is leaving her political reputation in the hands of a spinmeister. Who else is hiding over there? Oh yes, there is the member for Ajax—Pickering, another red-flag campaign constituency. Now, on the day before the election, Elections Canada wrote to the Conservatives, “the frequency of calls seem to be increasing”. So rather than hide behind the duck hunter in the weeds, will the hon. member do the honourable thing and tell us who at Conservative Party headquarters coordinated the dirty tricks in his riding so that he could get here?

[41st General Election, November 22nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about fiction. Let us talk about how the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance tried to divert attention from Elections Canada investigations into what was happening in her campaign by pretending to be a victim, but that tactic was a flop.

Here is what we do know. When Elections Canada called her campaign, her team said the fraudulent calls were coming from Conservative Party headquarters. Here is a chance to be clean and ethical. Do not be part of the cover-up but tell us: Who was it that was coordinating the calls into her riding?

[Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act, November 22nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, Bill S-8 would basically transfer responsibility, that is, it would transfer liability, to communities that have been calling out for years for resources to ensure that they will have safe and adequate drinking water. To New Democrats this bill seems to be aimed at cutting off a whole segment of Canadian society, a segment of Canadian society that is being denied basic water rights and safety in their communities. First nations will now told that they are responsible for anything that goes wrong, but will not have the resources to address that.

We see from the 2011 release of the national assessment of first nation water systems that over 39% of first nation communities in Canada are at high risk, meaning there is a threat to human health, and 34% are at medium risk. The shortfall is going to be $4.7 billion over the next 10 years.

Why does my colleague think the government did not bring this forward in a throne speech where it would have set out a clear commitment to clean drinking water and resources, and why is it proposing to basically leave--

[Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act, November 22nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the member asked an excellent question. The issue in terms of addressing this problem is not about shifting blame; it is about taking responsibility. That has not been happening under the government's watch. The government seems to be playing a game of bringing in a bill and blaming the bad chiefs and holding them to account.

The issue that has been identified in terms of safe drinking water is the lack of proper resources. How could one region on the James Bay coast have a complete sewage infrastructure collapse in three communities in a four-year period? That is staggering. That is something we might expect in Haiti, but we should not expect it in James Bay, especially when one of the richest diamond mines in the world is nearby. We are moving into the Ring of Fire, which will affect the people along the Attawapiskat River. There is enormous potential in these communities, but we see the desire is to take the resources out and not build the infrastructure. If we are building the infrastructure to get these mines off the ground, then we can build the infrastructure to ensure sustainable communities.

What the government is giving up is the greatest resource we have in this country, which is the young people on those first nations communities who have so much potential. So rather than treating them as a burden, we need to see their potential, get the job training, get the resource development happening in conjunction with the communities, as the infrastructure is being built.

This could be a positive story. Unfortunately we just see bills. We do not see any forward thinking in terms of fixing this relationship with our communities.

[Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act, November 22nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I do not remember a time when Canada has been under so much scrutiny for failing to meet basic human rights requirements as it has been during the last four years. This is something that the media in Germany and England and all over the world is now watching.

I say to my honourable colleagues on the other side that our primary relationship in this country is our relationship with our first nations people. That relationship will continue. I always hear the Conservative types asking when this obligation will end—as though it is an obligation—and why we do not just cut it off and ignore the treaties. Our obligation does not end. It is a relationship and it has been one heck of a dysfunctional and abusive relationship for the last 300 years, but that relationship will continue. It will either continue in a positive manner or under the Conservative government in a negative manner. It is a relationship that defines our country and it is a relationship that defines us internationally.

The UN has in the past year denounced the Conservative government for its treatment of the people in Attawapiskat, for its failure to have a plan for food in the far north and for its abuse of children in its bogus educational system. Three times in the last year, the United Nations has challenged the Conservative government and said it has to start meeting basic human rights standards.