Denis Coderre

[Government Appointments, June 18th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives can try to run away from their responsibilities, but they will not be able to hide forever. People need not worry—just because we are heading into the summer break does not mean that the Couillard affair will be forgotten. Far from it.

Despite attempts at infiltration and allegations of influence peddling, the Prime Minister and his cabinet, with the blessing of his Quebec lieutenant and in the presence of the former minister—if you please—appointed Julie Couillard's mother to chair the Saint-Jérome board of referees. That is what we call a “conflict of interest”.

It turns out that the Prime Minister was party to the member for Beauce's schemes. Why?

[Government Appointments, June 17th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, if I understand correctly, through her relationship with the Conservatives, Julie Couillard not only took advantage of Max, she took advantage to the max. That is the problem: attempts to infiltrate, possible influence peddling, access to secret documents, interest in airport security, appointment of Julie Couillard's mother, and it does not stop there.

Who in this government will confirm that the Prime Minister's Office was aware that the member for Beauce spoke to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, and that the former foreign affairs minister was there when Ms. Bellemare's name was put forward to cabinet? We want some answers, please.

[Government Appointments, June 17th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, today we are going from Mom Boucher to Mom Couillard, but we should really be talking about Ms. Bellemare.

The Couillard web is a wide one: the Department of Foreign Affairs, Transport, Public Works and Government Services. Now, it is the turn of the Department of Human Resources. Actually, it is the turn of the Quebec lieutenant and Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, who is responsible for giving his approval to the Prime Minister for any political appointments in Quebec.

My question is simple. Why did the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and Quebec lieutenant agree to the appointment of Julie Couillard's mother as chairperson of the Board of Referees in the Saint-Jérôme region?

[National Security, June 12th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if it is private or public interest here.

Let us cut to the chase here. There were security breaches. There was ample warning and yet the government ignored every clue it got.

Given her connections to organized crime and biker gangs, did the government ever wonder whose ambition Ms. Couillard was serving? First, foreign affairs and now public works. What is the Prime Minister waiting for? When will he call a full public inquiry?

[National Security, June 12th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, like security expert Michel Juneau-Katsuya we believe the Julie Couillard affair was an attempt to infiltrate the government. In whose name? For whom? These are good questions. And to think that the Conservatives were ready to ask her to run in the next election.

After foreign affairs, she took a run at public works. No matter how well Michael Fortier can skate around the issue, no one believes his story that he did not meet Julie Couillard.

Infiltration? Cover up? Undue pressure? Perhaps blackmail? What is the Prime Minister waiting for to launch a public inquiry?

[Foreign Affairs, June 3rd, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, what it means is that there is a file somewhere and the Prime Minister should be aware of it because the former foreign affairs minister's spouse has a well documented past. Her previous partners included shady characters and criminal bikers. She was also linked to a prominent mobster who was under surveillance by the RCMP. She was interrogated for 15 hours by the Wolverine Unit, a joint RCMP and Sûreté du Québec task force.

She was well known to law enforcement, yet the Prime Minister is telling us that the RCMP and CSIS were asleep at the switch. How is it possible that they never informed him of any of this and of potential security risks?

[Foreign Affairs, June 3rd, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, Ms. Couillard not only had ties to biker gangs, but also to the mafia. In the 1990s, Ms. Couillard was associated with Tony Volpato, a mafia leader and close friend of Frank Cotroni. When Ms. Couillard was dating Mr. Volpato, the mafia boss was under electronic surveillance by the RCMP. We already knew that Ms. Couillard had been questioned about the Giguère affair for 15 hours at the Parthenais prison by the Carcajou squad, a joint-force operation between the RCMP and the Sûreté du Québec.

Is the Prime Minister still going to maintain that no one told him about Julie Couillard? What does he have to hide?

[Foreign Affairs, May 30th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, maybe we have an answer on the red, but we do not have an answer on the green, that is for sure. That is the issue. If she passes as the official spouse and she is going all over the world with the former minister of foreign affairs, it means that she might detain that passport.

The question is simple. Because it has an impact on diplomatic ventures, we want to know if, yes or no, she was detaining a green passport. It is as simple as that. She was supposed to be there officially for the past year. We want an answer and we want it now.

[Foreign Affairs, May 30th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons was trying to compete with the 7 jours tabloid in trying to define the former minister of foreign affairs' marital status. As I understand it, she was known as his spouse and official companion. He did not say whether she received a diplomatic passport or a special passport.

Did she receive a special passport, yes or no? Has it been recovered? Has the government taken care of this? Does she or does she not have a passport?

[Foreign Affairs, May 29th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I hope the Minister of Public Safety is not tired and that he will answer the question.

We have now learned that it was not just five weeks that Ms. Couillard had the documents, but seven weeks, that is, after her favourite minister returned from the meeting in Bucharest.

The Prime Minister always maintained that there was never a problem during that time. Either he is incompetent or he is covering up the facts or—perhaps—he had classified information from his office informing him of the situation concerning these documents. What is the answer?