Paul Calandra

[Ethics, November 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, there are Treasury Board guidelines that are in place which outline how emails are managed by employees when they leave offices.

With respect to the amount of emails that were turned over, the RCMP, in its filing, quite clearly identified that thousands of emails were turned over. There were about 2,600 that were of interest to the RCMP and being reviewed as part of this investigation. The Prime Minister has said that he will continue to ensure that his office assists going forward.

[Ethics, November 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, allow me to correct the hon. member. The Conservative Party did not pay Mr. Duffy's expenses that he did not incur. As we know, it was Nigel Wright who repaid those expenses. I think that should have been clear by the number of questions that the opposition has asked on this. I just wanted to make sure that she was correct on that.

Of course, the Prime Minister's Office will continue to assist the RCMP in this investigation going forward.

[Ethics, November 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, he is quite correct that the Prime Minister did say on May 15 that he found out about this. The RCMP documents confirm that the Prime Minister did not know about this. The Prime Minister has said on a number of occasions that had he known, he would have put a stop to it.

Nigel Wright himself stated quite clearly the people he brought into his confidence with respect to the fact that he was repaying Senator Duffy's expenses. I think that is all very clear in the documents that were deposited by the RCMP with respect to affidavits filed by Nigel Wright and, of course, the documents recently filed by the RCMP.

[Ethics, November 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, Senators Duffy, Wallin, and Brazeau were removed from the Senate or suspended from the Senate without pay because they accepted expenses that they did not incur. As the Prime Minister has said on a number of occasions in this place, that is not a standard that we accept on this side of the House. That is why Senator Duffy was removed from the Conservative caucus and that is why the Senate then voted to have Senators Duffy, Wallin, and Brazeau suspended without pay from the Senate.

[Ethics, November 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, what is very important, first and foremost, is that the audit that was done was not compromised in any way. We heard yesterday from Deloitte that was in fact the case.

On Senator Gerstein, I know Senator Gerstein, as a number of us do. I know him to be a very hard-working senator, someone who takes his job very seriously. I am very proud to serve in caucus with Senator Gerstein, and I hope I do so for many years to come.

[Ethics, November 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, he is referring to the Senate committee yesterday. The Senate brought Deloitte in front of it to ensure that there was no interference, that the work that it did was kept in the utmost confidentiality, and that Canadians and the Senate in particular could also have trust in the work that Deloitte did.

Those three auditors went before the Senate yesterday. My understanding is that they confirmed that no information was given to anybody, that the work they did was done in full confidentiality, and, again, that the Senate could have confidence in the work that they did. I suspect that is why they decided that no further action was taken.

[Ethics, November 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, of course, that is not what the senators heard yesterday in front of the committee. The senators heard from the three Deloitte auditors who confirmed that the audit was done with the utmost confidentiality, that no rules were broken, and that Canadians could have confidence in the work that they did.

I can only assume that the Senate decided, after hearing that from the people who actually did the audit, that nothing further was required to confirm the veracity of what was done by Deloitte.

[Ethics, November 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, that is an odd question. The RCMP have been investigating this for a number of months. The RCMP have put in a number of documents, which have been referred to by the opposition on a number of occasions. Those same documents show that the RCMP is investigating Nigel Wright and Senator Duffy, Nigel Wright for repaying expenses that Senator Duffy accepted but did not incur.

Those are the people who are under investigation at this time. The documents quite clearly indicate that, and they also indicate the RCMP has been at this for a bit.

[Ethics, November 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, let me just say this. On a daily basis, I am asked to get up in the House and I am asked a lot of questions. When I answer, on occasion the opposition gets all upset and some in the press get all upset with the way I answer questions. However, when there is a question like that, how can one answer a question like that, a question that is so completely disrespectful of this place?

There are two options: I could answer it back just as disrespectfully, or I could do what I am about to do and ignore it.

[Ethics, November 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, Senator Gerstein is not the subject of any investigation right now. The RCMP documents clearly outline that it is Nigel Wright and Senator Duffy who are being investigated by the RCMP for a number of infractions. As we have said constantly, we will continue to assist the RCMP as they move forward with this investigation.

The Prime Minister, as I have said also on a number of occasions, went back to his office and to ensure that the Prime Minister's Office co-operates and assists with the RCMP in this investigation and will continue to do so. I think that is the standard that Canadians expect, and that is the standard that they will continue to see from our government. l