Paul Calandra

[Ethics, December 9th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, let me say this. I do understand the frustrations of the people of Quebec with respect to the NDP members. Of course, for the people of Quebec, their priorities are like all other Canadians. They want a strong economy. They want job creation. They want open markets for their products. They want public safety and security. They want the investments in arts and culture we have been making. When it comes to those priorities, the people of Quebec know that the only people they can trust to deliver are the Conservative Party and this government.

[Ethics, December 9th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, of course, these emails were not destroyed. They were being held in a different file for different litigation. When the assistant clerk of the Privy Council discovered this, she made those emails immediately available to the RCMP.

[Ethics, December 9th, 2013]

Again, Mr. Speaker, the party did not pay the expenses of Senator Duffy on this matter. As we have said, there was some legal assistance that was provided to the senator, but that, of course, is not unusual in any manner. We do assist members who require legal assistance.

As I have noted on a number of occasions, the Leader of the Opposition accepted the same legal assistance from his party, to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The difference is, of course, that we do not pay the judgments when we are found guilty. When the Leader of the Opposition was found guilty, his party actually paid the judgment as well as the legal fees. We do not do that.

[Ethics, December 9th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, as we know, Senator Duffy approached the Prime Minister on February 13 to try to justify his inappropriately claimed expenses. The Prime Minister told him that, of course, he had to repay those expenses. Senator Duffy then went on TV and told all Canadians that he had actually used his own resources to repay those expenses. We know that was not, in fact, the case and that Nigel Wright actually repaid those expenses.

The Prime Minister found out about this on May 15 and made sure that his office provided complete co-operation and assistance to the RCMP and provided any emails and documentation they required.

[Ethics, December 9th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, what the Prime Minister did do, as soon as he found out about these allegations in the media, was go back to his office and order that his office completely assist the RCMP in providing all the information the RCMP required. He also ensured that members of his staff provided waivers of solicitor-client privilege and waivers, through their legal counsel, with respect to the emails that were delivered to the RCMP.

[Ethics, December 6th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I will restate for the hon. member what I said earlier for another question.

Rob Staley, legal representative for the PMO, advised my office, [that's the RCMP] that he had clear orders from the Prime Minister to provide complete cooperation with the investigation, and to provide any assistance or documentation that the RCMP requested. The PMO employees (current and former) whose e-mails I deemed relevant, have all provided privacy waivers though their legal counsel relating to the content of the e-mails.

The PMO has also waived solicitor-client privilege for those e-mails.

That is real leadership.

[Ethics, December 6th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the committee will deal with its own affairs when that motion is brought forward.

By way of an update for the hon. member, after a number of months Mr. Runia was not one of the three auditors on the file. The three auditors who actually were on the file did appear before the Senate committee. They did confirm that the audit was done with the utmost in confidentiality. They did confirm that the Senate could have confidence in the report that was issued.

Of course, that was the report that we used as the basis to remove these three senators from the Senate. The Liberals fought every step of the way. They fought for the status quo. We fought for taxpayers.

[Ethics, December 6th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I will tell you who does believe that the Privy Council made an honest mistake in not being able to find those emails. It was actually the member for Wascana, who on Sunday night said, “Beyond apologies to the PMO+RCMP, the Privy Council owes its biggest apology to all Canadians”. That was the member for Wascana on Sunday, before he came to the office on Monday and was beaten up by his advisers who then told him to change his mind and say something different on Monday in the House.

I accept the Privy Council—

[Ethics, December 6th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister answered that two days ago in the House. I think I have, as well. Mr. Perrin left the Prime Minister's Office to accept employment at a Canadian university. If I am not mistaken, it is the University of British Columbia.

[Ethics, December 6th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, again, the exact same documents that the member refers to clearly indicate it is Nigel Wright and Senator Duffy who are the subjects of this investigation. Page 72, of course, goes on further to say that the RCMP have absolutely no evidence that the Prime Minister knew of this plan.

At the same time, as the Prime Minister has said, had he known that this plan was being undertaken, he would have put an immediate stop to it.