John Baird

[The Economy, April 12th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, those of us on this side of the House are focused on jobs and the economy and we are seeing that our economic action plan is working.

Just last month, Statistics Canada announced that the Canadian economy created 18,000 new jobs. Since July 2009, we have seen job increases in six of the last eight months and we have seen some 180,000 new jobs created in this country.

We are going to stick to the plan. We are going to stay focused on the real priorities of Canadians, on jobs and the economy.

[Lobbying, April 12th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, it is clear that the Liberals do not want to allow any independent authority to look at anything because they can make the allegations and then determine guilt or innocence.

If the member opposite has any concerns that anyone has broken the law, I would encourage her to raise them with the relevant authorities.

[Lobbying, April 12th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, in Canada, we are all equal under the law. If the member opposite has any evidence that someone has broken the law, she should raise it with the relevant authorities.

[Ethics, April 12th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I do not share the opinion of the member opposite with respect to his conclusions on this issue.

Here is what we know. Some allegations were brought forward to the Prime Minister's attention. He showed some confidence in the RCMP and the Office of the Ethics Commission by immediately forwarding these allegations so that they could be independently reviewed.

[Ethics, April 12th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, when the allegations were brought to the Prime Minister's attention, he moved expeditiously and quickly. He immediately referred them to the two relevant independent authorities, the RCMP and the Office of the Ethics Commissioner. Those authorities will be the ones who will come to conclusions with respect to these matters.

[Ethics, April 12th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Jaffer is in private life now. If the member opposite has any serious allegations to bring forward with respect to this case, I would expect that he should put any evidence on the floor of the House of Commons right now.

[Ethics, April 12th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, if that was the second round, the best that the Liberal Party has to offer, or in the case of the member, the second best that the Liberal Party has, I really shake my head.

[Ethics, April 12th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, it was for the very reasons that the member described that the Prime Minister, when he received these allegations, allegations that are unproven to him or anyone else, referred these allegations to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and to the Ethics Commissioner. Those are the independent agencies that are charged with making this type of determination. The Prime Minister acted quickly and expeditiously on this important issue.

[Ethics, April 12th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, it was this government, upon taking office, that brought in the Federal Accountability Act, the toughest anti-corruption legislation ever passed by this Parliament. For the first time in a generation, we ended the influence of big money and politics, no more big corporate donations and no more big union donations. We put a huge amount of power back in the hands of the Canadian people where that power is deserved.

[Nuclear Proliferation, April 12th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I want to tell the leader of the New Democratic Party that the Prime Minister shares the concern on nuclear proliferation and we share the concern of a rogue state or a terrorist organization getting access to nuclear materials or nuclear weapons, which is why the Prime Minister is joining dozens of world leaders in Washington right now to discuss what we may do best to help counter this significant threat to Canadian security and indeed the security of people all over the world.