House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2011, with 61% of the vote.
Government Accountability March 10th, 2011
Mr. Speaker, I thank all my hon. colleagues for the welcome back. It makes it hard for me to ask some of these questions.
What we need to see is some leadership. The courts have ruled, Parliament has spoken and the Speaker has spoken. When will the Prime Minister respect the ruling of the Speaker and ensure that the real cost of his legislation is tabled before the House? It is a reasonable request being made by all Canadians. He has to take some responsibility for these—
Government Accountability March 10th, 2011
Mr. Speaker, your ruling yesterday was very important, and I quote:
...there is no doubt that an order to produce documents is not being fully complied with, and this is a serious matter that goes to the heart of the House's undoubted role in holding the government to account.
The Prime Minister must put an end to this charade. Will he order the immediate tabling of all the documents on the costs of his bills?
Political Financing March 3rd, 2011
Mr. Speaker, the government is already on the ropes. We have asked the government to keep its cheating senators out of its caucus and then today we find out that the minister of immigration is using government resources to solicit money for Conservative ads on parliamentary letterhead.
When are the Conservatives going to learn their lesson? When are they going to clean up their act? Why is the immigration minister using parliamentary resources to raise money for the Conservative Party?
Political Financing March 3rd, 2011
Mr. Speaker, they transferred Conservative funds to break the rules on election spending limits. That is what happened.
The irony, of course, is that the Conservatives let this scandal happen in an election in which they were running against a Liberal scandal, the infamous sponsorship scandal. Imagine that, moving money in and out to go after the Liberal government that was playing fast and loose with money. No wonder Canadians think something is broken up here.
Yet this Prime Minister is still standing behind his actions. He says they have done nothing wrong. Why are these senators still in their caucus?
Political Financing March 3rd, 2011
Mr. Speaker, no one is above the law. No one can defend their actions by claiming ignorance of the law. The in and out scheme is illegal, and that is clear to everyone. The Conservative party cheated. The Prime Minister is keeping the people who organized that cheating on his team. The Prime Minister is ultimately accountable for that cheating.
When will the government admit that it cheated?
Political Financing March 2nd, 2011
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister appointed Conservative bagmen to cushy jobs in the Senate. If that was not bad enough, we then find them charged with cheating on the spending limits in elections, which is fundamental to fairness in a democratic system. That is what is going on here.
According to the ad agency, Retail Media, invoices used for the in and out scheme must have been altered by someone. Now we have the doctoring of documents to evade the rules.
Doctoring documents to evade spending limits is no administrative decision. Why does he not at least kick them out of his caucus?
Political Financing March 2nd, 2011
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister uses his bagmen, paid for by the taxpayers, because they are sitting in the Senate, to raise money for his party and invent ways to cheat on election financing laws.
Senator Lavigne was suspended for having a staff member cut some trees on his property. The Prime Minister's senators are facing jail time for multi-million dollar actions against our democracy.
Why are they still sitting in the Senate?
Political Financing March 2nd, 2011
Mr. Speaker, while the Conservative Party is sinking into a financial scandal, which brings back memories of the Liberal Party's sponsorship scandal, the Prime Minister continues to deny any responsibility for the in and out scandal. Four Conservatives are now facing prison time.
Can the Prime Minister tell us what role these four Conservatives will play in the next election? Will they be coming up with a new way to cheat?
Democratic Reform March 1st, 2011
Mr. Speaker, with Conservative senators and officials up on election charges and with a cabinet minister facing the scandal of doctoring documents before the House of Commons and misleading Parliament, no wonder so many Canadians feel that something is broken in Ottawa.
The Prime Minister could do something about this by supporting New Democrats' practical plan for making Parliament work better for Canadians. Let us finally ask Canadians about abolishing the Senate and about reforming our electoral system. Will he support our doable proposals on this front?
Political Financing March 1st, 2011
Mr. Speaker, taking liberties with the electoral laws that govern our democracy is very serious. The Prime Minister could force an election in the coming weeks. He just promised not to reuse the in and out scheme to exceed spending limits during the next election.
In doing so, did he not admit that he made a mistake in 2006?