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Citizenship and Immigration November 24th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I think opposition members are getting pretty desperate. They never let the facts get in the way of anything. As long as it is a good story, they are going to throw it out. There are clear media reports, since they believe everything they read in the media, that the critic herself acknowledged that she did not actually receive any information. There were no violations of the Privacy Act.
Citizenship and Immigration November 24th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, since when are we supposed to be discussing personnel issues of our staff on the floor of the House of Commons?
When I came to Ottawa it was my understanding that the House of Commons was a place that was respected and where we had proper debate on issues and matters of overall importance to Canada.
Citizenship and Immigration November 23rd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member that any time we talk about exploitation of women or trafficking in women, these are things we take very seriously. We make sure that all of us at this end of the House are doing our jobs and moving forward in making sure that we are protecting the women in this country.
Citizenship and Immigration November 23rd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, let us use some common sense here. The member knows darn well these get posted on the Internet.
Given the fact that these issues do get posted on the Internet, does the member think that we will post something that is not consistent with the Treasury Board guidelines, all the guidelines that all of us as ministers and as members of Parliament have to operate under?
Citizenship and Immigration November 23rd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, those allegations are outrageous. The member should get his facts very clear.
The government took the unprecedented step of posting expenses of ministerial and political staff on the Internet. We are posting every one of those items as clear and proficient, and has been approved by the comptroller. All expenses are in accordance with all guidelines. That is how we work on this side of the House.
Citizenship and Immigration November 23rd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, as the Deputy Prime Minister indicated, if the member has any information on that the member can go to see the Privacy Commissioner. But let me tell you, Mr. Speaker, to have to continue to listen to these allegations all of the time, bandied around, all based on whatever the newspaper stories of the day are, I think is totally unacceptable and it is nothing more than trying to play cheap political tricks.
Citizenship and Immigration November 23rd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I can assure the House that I do not play fast and loose with anything, never mind the law, especially when we get into the Privacy Act.
I have told the hon. member to let the Ethics Commissioner do his job. He has a job to do. I very much look forward to his getting back with a response as soon as possible.
Citizenship and Immigration November 23rd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, let me assure the House that respect of the Privacy Act is very important. I do not believe that we should be throwing people's names, like the opposition has clearly done in the last week, throwing innocent people's names, former staff, and bandying them around as if they were nothing. Uninformed allegations should not be allowed to be thrown around unless one has some respect here and I intend to respect the issues of the Privacy Act and do my job.
Citizenship and Immigration November 23rd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated yesterday, I have asked the Ethics Commissioner to look into this case. The opposition has asked the Ethics Commissioner to look into that case. I will clearly wait. Let us let him do his job. He is very competent. He is independent. Let him do his job. That is what he gets paid to do. I look forward to his results, and the sooner the better.
Citizenship and Immigration November 22nd, 2004
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, Canada's immigration policies are clearly there. There was advice given and I suggest that is the advice that should be followed.