John Baird

[Ethics, May 6th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, let me tell the leader of the NDP what the government is doing.

In New Brunswick we have assisted entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and develop leadership skills that will help them become future business leaders.

In Manitoba we funded a program to increase the awareness and prevention on the important issue of human trafficking and the exploitation of women.

We have also funded a national women's shelter program to improve the access to quality services for women who are in abusive situations, with a focus on aboriginal, immigrant and rural women.

Our Minister for Status of Women is doing great work, and the House should be proud of it.

[Ethics, May 6th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear. This government is giving a record amount of funding to women's groups in every region of the country. We want to ensure that we get value for money.

We should also be very clear that funding is not automatic and it is not forever. We want to ensure that women's groups from all over Canada, from time to time, can get support. That is exactly what the government has done.

[Firearms Registry, May 6th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, this government supports reasonable gun control. This government supports reasonable efforts to keep our communities safe.

What we do not support is the billions of dollars that have been wasted on an ineffective gun registry that gave Canadians a false sense of hope that the previous Liberal government was doing something to tackle violent crime. That long gun registry has wasted in excess of $1 billion. We are committed to ending it.

[Firearms Registry, May 6th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I will take the word of the Auditor General who certainly did not call it value for money when more than $1 billion were wasted on the creation of the long gun registry.

We stand with victims and with Canadians. We stand with all of those who want to make our communities safer, which is why we are pursuing an aggressive regime through amendments to the Criminal Code, reforms brought in by the present Minister of Justice.

If the Leader of the Opposition wants to support victims, he should get behind our crime agenda.

[Firearms Registry, May 6th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I think all Canadians were tremendously moved by what happened many years ago in Montreal. We are all deeply committed to ensuring that the country is safer for Canadian women and, in fact, for all Canadians.

Where there is a reasonable difference of opinion is that we believe the billions of dollars spent on the long gun registry have been a waste and that we can make better criminal justice reform, such as has been implemented by the Minister of Justice in this Parliament, that this House can be proud of.

[Ethics, May 5th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, if the member opposite has any allegations or any evidence that she wants to forward on to the independent Ethics Commissioner, I would encourage her to do so.

We are trying to get the Liberals to bring more openness and transparency. Maybe we are going to have to go to the NDP. Will the member for Winnipeg Centre join us and make the leader of the Liberal Party's office registerable under the Lobbying Act and bring some light where there is darkness? Will the NDP help us bring more transparency over there?

[Ethics, May 5th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, in Parliament we have two independent watchdogs who report to the House collectively to make these types of determinations. I would encourage the member opposite to follow the example of the Prime Minister, to follow suit. If she has any allegation or any evidence, she should forward it to those independent authorities for examination.

The government has said today that we are prepared to open the Lobbying Act to make it more accountable, to make it more transparent. The Liberal Party supports that as long as it does not affect it. One rule for everyone else and another rule for itself. This sounds like a culture of secrecy. It sounds like the old culture of Liberal entitlement.

[Ethics, May 5th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is simply not being honest with Canadians. Let me be very clear. Lobbyists had no access to the green fund. In all the issues before the House, not a single dollar was given to any of the organizations in question. That is because we operate honestly and we operate ethically.

The Liberal leader made another big gaff this morning. CTV News reported, moments after the Liberal leader pledged to open up his appointment book, that one of his senior advisers told CTV privately that there was a bit of a collective gasp in the Liberal leader's office while watching it on TV. It turns out he is not prepared to do it. Another day and another major gaff by the leader—

[Ethics, May 5th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, an independent officer of Parliament is looking into this issue, and we await her good judgment.

The reality is we have made an offer to open up the Lobbying Act to make it more open, to make it more transparent. The Liberal leader promised this morning to open up his appointment book, to put some light where there is darkness. He made that solemn promise before the television cameras this morning. Now his office has come out and has said, “No way, not going to happen, not going to do it”.

Is the Liberal leader afraid of opening up his records because it would show that every 10 minutes he is meeting with another Liberal lobbyist, lobbyists like former ministers Don Boudria, John Nunziata, Joe Jordan, or even David Dingwall?

[Government Policies, May 5th, 2010]

That is a bunch of rubbish, Mr. Speaker. We live in a great democracy. We live in a great place where we can debate the issues of the day.

I say to the member from the Liberal Party, let us bring the type of democracy that she preached just now in question period. Let us bring that to the debate with respect to the future of the long gun registry. Let us let members of Parliament honour the sacred trust, the promises that they made to their electorate. Let us let them stand in this place, let us let them vote their conscience, let us let freedom reign.

I say to the leader of the Liberal Party to allow his caucus members to vote their conscience on the long gun registry.