House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2011, with 50% of the vote.
41st General Election February 28th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, during the recent election, Elections Canada has confirmed that at least 127 polling stations were changed, affecting as many as 1,000 polls. This impacted hundreds of thousands of Canadians.
Like any other party, we called our supporters to ensure that they were aware of these changes. That is the evidence. That is what we know for sure. This party has no such evidence.
41st General Election February 28th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, once again, if the NDP has any information, any evidence at all to substantiate the smears that it is levelling in the House, then I call on it to provide that information to Elections Canada. It is not enough to stand in the House and level these types of smears. They actually need to have evidence, and we do not believe the evidence exists because we did not do it.
41st General Election February 28th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, if the NDP has any information at all, it should provide that information to Elections Canada so it can review that information and investigate it appropriately.
That member, who has never been shy of making mendacious comments here in the House, should well know that this party is fully co-operating with any investigation we have been made aware of, and to date that is only one.
Ethics February 28th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the interim leader of the Liberal Party revealed that his own backroom operatives were behind a campaign of vicious, anonymous smears against a member of Parliament and cabinet minister. This is just the latest in a long history of shady Liberal practices that harm our democracy. These nasty, dirty Internet tricks were deeply personal and fall short of the standard of behaviour that Canadians have come to expect.
While that alone may offend the sensibilities of many Canadians, equally troubling is the fact that these dirty tricks were carried out using resources provided to the Liberal Party by the House of Commons and paid for by Canadian taxpayers.
Today I notified the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics that I intend to move a motion calling former Liberal research bureau staffer Adam Carroll to committee next week. We need to get to the bottom of this inappropriate use of resources and the attempts by the Liberals to conceal this anonymous smear campaign against a public official. It is shameful.
Goverment Spending February 27th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, again, this three day summit that was hosted with these guests from the OECD was the first time this had occurred in some 20 years. We extended hospitality to them no different from how Canadians are treated when they attend these meetings in other countries.
It is no secret that this government has sought savings across government when it comes to travel and hospitality. We put our record up against any government that has preceded us. We respect Canadian taxpayer dollars and we are working to reduce spending in every way possible.
Goverment Spending February 27th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, this was the first time that Canada hosted this group from the OECD in 20 years. We extended hospitality to these guests similar to that extended to Canada and in keeping with international protocol. It is no secret that our government has taken significant steps to reduce and restrain spending on travel and hospitality across government.
Let me be clear. Canadians can count on our government to spend tax dollars responsibly while meeting our commitment to international organizations like the OECD.
41st General Election February 27th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, that is very interesting rhetoric from the member opposite.
If the hon. member believes that voter suppression occurred in the last election, I would simply point out the numbers to her. Almost 900,000 more Canadians voted in the last election than in the previous election. Voter turnout went up significantly, including in a number of the ridings the Liberals cited yesterday specifically.
If the members opposite have any information at all related to the allegations that they have made, I call on them to submit all of that information to Elections Canada and for Elections Canada to report back without delay.
41st General Election February 27th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, Elections Canada has confirmed that during the recent election, at least 127 polling stations, affecting as many as 1,000 polls, received late changes. Like any party, we called our supporters to ensure that our voters were aware of these changes.
We call on the members of the official opposition and members of the Liberal Party who have been making these allegations to provide any evidence they have related to this matter to Elections Canada. Let us call on Elections Canada to look into this matter and get back to this House and all Canadians without delay.
41st General Election February 27th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, once again that is very interesting. The member for Winnipeg Centre was counting ridings yesterday claiming that he had evidence, and now this member says they have no evidence at all to back up any of the claims they have made.
We say to these members very clearly, if they have any evidence, any information at all related to the allegations they are making, they should provide that to Elections Canada and Elections Canada should review that evidence and report back to the House without delay.
41st General Election February 27th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, that is interesting. As recently as Friday the interim Leader of the Opposition was calling on all members to provide all evidence and information to Elections Canada.
That is what we are saying today, and I would say to this member that Elections Canada has now confirmed that at least 127 late polling station changes were made during the recent election, affecting as many as 1,000 polls. We contacted our supporters to make them aware of those polling station changes so they could cast their votes.
If the member has any evidence to back up any of the allegations he has made, we call upon him to turn it over to Elections Canada and for Elections Canada to look into that matter without delay.