John Baird

[Federal Accountability Act, April 24th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, as the Prime Minister has said, not a single dollar from this event would go to support this political party.

What I do want to do is challenge the member opposite. Will he support the federal accountability act? Will he support this government's sweeping changes to clean up the corrupt mess left by the previous government?

[Lobbyists, April 11th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, one of the holes in the current Lobbyists Registration Act that we are seeking to plug is what we call the Dingwall hole, which does not allow prosecution or investigations of people who break the act and who cannot be held accountable. We will be extending the time in which investigations can occur. We will be extending the fines and penalties to ensure that there are real teeth in the federal accountability act, so we can ensure that the public business is done in the public interest and not for private gain.

[Access to Information Act, April 11th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my dear colleague from Lévis—Bellechasse for his question.

The good news is that, today, the new Government of Canada has introduced a new bill to include many government institutions and agencies and many foundations in the bill on the Access to Information Act.

This is excellent news. Only five months ago, on November 15 of last year, all the hon. members of the Liberal Party, on the other side of the House, including the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Opposition, voted against this bill. Now—

[Federal Accountability Act, April 11th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, restoring integrity to government is certainly a big job after the experience of the last 13 years of the party opposite.

The federal accountability act is indeed a big document and a comprehensive document. It is the first honest, meaningful step to begin to re-earn the public trust, the public trust that was so shattered from what we learned at the Gomery inquiry. We heard stories of kickbacks, of corruption and of envelopes with thousands of dollars in cash trading hands.

The reason the act is so big is that it requires--

[Lobbyists, April 11th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, it seems we have a new policy from our friends in the Liberal Party. It seems that they now want to have a five year cooling off period for people who now do not work in government.

The reality is that there was a revolving door between lobbyists in the previous government and ministers. That is why the public trust was so egregiously violated. That is why such extreme measures are necessary to rebuild the public trust that was so fundamentally violated by the corruption, scandals and mismanagement of the previous government.

[Lobbyists, April 11th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, this morning the government tabled the most comprehensive measures in Canadian history to restore public confidence. For the first time, if one works in the executive branch of government or if one works in government, there will be a five year cooling off period.

If the member opposite would like to propose an amendment in committee to require all assistants to MPs, both in government and in opposition, and their staffs, I would be most interested to see it.

[Lobbyists, April 11th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, this morning the government tabled the most comprehensive reforms to regain the public trust that was so egregiously violated by the Liberal Party in its 13 years in office. We are bringing in substantial reforms for the first time to have a five year cooling off period for anyone who works in the executive branch, whether they be ministers, ministerial staffers or senior governmental officials. We will ensure that the only motivation governing the people in those positions is the public interest and not wanting to further their own private interests.

[National Defence, April 11th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, that question is rather ridiculous. We have raised the bar when it comes to ethical conduct. We have raised the bar for the first time in Canadian history by enshrining into legislation a real conflict of interest law in the country.

We are also expanding the capacity of the individual who will be able to oversee this law for both the House and the Senate. That individual will be someone with judicial or quasi-judicial experience.

I have every confidence that the defence minister will continue to follow all of the code and then once again will follow the law when it is enshrined by the House.

[Federal Accountability Act, April 11th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, it is a great honour, on behalf of this Prime Minister and this team, to table unprecedented legislation, the toughest of its kind in history, to help clean up government and restore the public trust.

[Federal Accountability Act, April 11th, 2006]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-2, An Act providing for conflict of interest rules, restrictions on election financing and measures respecting administrative transparency, oversight and accountability.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)