Marlene Jennings

[Elections Canada, October 18th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, Elections Canada investigated this $1.2 million Conservative Party laundering scam.

There is no evidence these expenses were incurred by their candidates. Some of their candidates said they did not even know about them. Others said they were pressured to contribute to the national advertising.

Elections Canada says that the Conservative Party used local campaigns to hide the fact that they spent more than they were allowed to and then they had the gall to claim bogus rebates.

When will the government admit that it knowingly broke the law?

[Government Accountability, October 17th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, at least eight candidates or official agents of the Conservative Party who were involved in this scheme are now on the payroll at taxpayers' expense. For instance, there is the chief of staff to the Minister of Public Safety, the special assistant to the Minister of the Environment, as well as his former press secretary.

What is the Prime Minister waiting for to drop his ridiculous case against Elections Canada?

[Government Accountability, October 17th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the architects of this in and out money scam are people like Michael Donison, former executive director of the Conservative Party. Where is Mr. Donison now? He is a senior policy adviser for the Minister for Democratic Reform.

He is not the only one. Andrea Paine is also implicated in this scandal and she is the senior policy adviser for who? The same minister.

How can Canadians have any faith in the legislation the government brings forth when it is getting advice from people Elections Canada says broke the law?

[Public Safety, June 19th, 2007]

If they really intend to keep their promise, if they really want to fight street gangs, when will these organizations receive the money?

[Public Safety, June 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, community crime prevention organizations in Quebec do not have enough money.

Seven months after the Minister of Public Safety and the unelected Senator Michael Fortier promised $10 million to fight crime and street gangs, the money is still in the Conservative government's coffers.

[Firearms Registry, June 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, not only has the DeSouza family called on the government to keep the gun registry, but the Premiers of Quebec and Ontario have also demanded the federal government abandon its plans to scrap gun control in Canada. The Canadian Professional Police Association and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police have also told the government to back off on the gun registry.

Why does the government ignore every stakeholder, including the police, when it comes to the gun registry?

[Gun Registry, June 18th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, it was the Liberals who established minimum sentences for gun crimes.

The De Sousa family, whose daughter tragically lost her life at Dawson College, understands the true intentions of the Prime Minister. Last week the family stated, “He is doing absolutely nothing...we have been forgotten. The door is closed”.

Instead of ignoring the victims, instead of ignoring the De Sousas, why are the Conservatives not accepting the clear will of Canadians who want tougher gun control?

[Gun Registry, June 18th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, it is about time this government told the truth about what it intends to do with the gun registry.

The government denies that it wants to abolish the registry, but the Conservative member for Yorkton—Melville has stated that he will stand for election again so that his government “finishes the job” and abolishes the gun registry.

When will this government admit that it wants to loosen gun control? When will it tell the truth?

[Afghanistan, June 15th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, this government's responsibility is to be honest with Canadians about its mission in Afghanistan. We now know that the Prime Minister had been advised that the mission was not progressing in the way he would have liked. However, he saw to it that a report was tabled in this House indicating that everything was going well.

How could the Minister of Foreign Affairs dare to table a misleading report? Was he simply trying to dupe the Canadian people?

[Afghanistan, June 15th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the Red Cross has a mandate to monitor detainees but is not at all involved with the Afghan authorities investigating specific allegations of torture, but that is what the government is suggesting to cover its own flawed agreement. We have seen this story before.

Was the foreign affairs minister not paying attention when the Minister of National Defence had to apologize for misleading this House about the Red Cross? How can the minister not know what the Red Cross is doing?