Paul Calandra

[Ethics, October 31st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, let me just begin by saying “Happy Halloween”. Tonight is a night when kids will be all over the place. Hopefully everyone will help out. If people have somewhere to go, they should drive a little slower and take a little extra time so we do not have anything happen that will make this a bad day. I hope everyone will consider that.

With respect to the question, we have been clear. Our party is no different from other parties when it comes to helping our members who require legal assistance. We do that unlike the NDP, of course, which not only provides legal assistance but actually pays judgments against those members. We do not have that double standard on this side of the House.

[Ethics, October 30th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, let me just say this. Serving in the House of Commons or the Senate is an extraordinary responsibility, but it is also an incredible honour. What do Canadians expect for that? They expect that we will do our best and that we will be honest in our dealings. That is all they ask.

In this case, we have senators who have clearly broken the rules. They accepted payments for expenses that they did not incur. Canadians are clear as well; they want accountability for that. That is what this motion in the Senate would do.

We ask the opposition to help us. We ask the Liberals in the Senate to get out of the way and let the senators pass this motion that would suspend these senators without pay.

[Ethics, October 30th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, no, the Government of Canada has not paid his legal fees.

[Ethics, October 30th, 2013]

Really, Mr. Speaker, the only person changing the story is the Leader of the Opposition who actually said at one point that he did not get a bribe, or he did get a bribe. He had to think about it. Maybe he did; maybe he did not.

Yesterday he said it was inappropriate to get legal expenses paid for, but now we know that he did get them paid for.

The NDP leader is all over the map on this and completely inconsistent. The only thing we want to make sure all Canadians understand is that when it comes to protecting their taxpayer dollars, the moral of the story that I wanted to complete the other day about angry Tom and his three chairs is that we can only depend on the—

[Ethics, October 30th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, as I did on Monday, I would refer the hon. member to affidavits that were filed in court.

[Ethics, October 30th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, Nigel Wright has of course accepted sole and full responsibility for his actions. He knows that what he did was wrong, and he is prepared to accept accountability for that.

At the same time, the Prime Minister has also mentioned that, had he known, he would have in no way approved such a scheme.

However, we also have an opportunity now to expect accountability from our senators, those senators who accepted funds that they were not entitled to. We need the opposition Liberals in the Senate to get out of the way so we can suspend these senators without pay.

[Ethics, October 30th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, to hide and cover things up, how awkward that must be for the member. How awkward it must be for her to ask that question when it was her leader who 17 years ago was offered a bribe, decided to hide that and cover it up for 17 years. Think of what we could have accomplished, what the people of Quebec could have accomplished, if only he would have come clean 17 years ago with the fact that he was offered a bribe from the mayor of Laval. That is called hiding and that is called a cover-up.

[Ethics, October 30th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, there go the NDP members again defending poor Senator Mike Duffy. My gosh, Mike Duffy is the guy who called himself the Duffinator. He interviewed the highest people, the most powerful people, but somehow he wants us to believe what the NDP believes, that the only thing he was afraid of were kids in short pants. Give me a break. Somehow he was forced on the ground to accept $90,000 in expenses that he did not earn. He is the only one who still has not paid a dime for his expenses. He should not be rewarded, as the opposition want, by a seat in the Senate and a paycheque every two weeks.

[Ethics, October 30th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the issue here is that these three senators and disgraced Liberal Senator Mac Harb accepted thousands of dollars in expenses that they did not earn. That is the issue.

As I said yesterday, if Eugene can figure it out, and if my daughters Natalie and Olivia can figure it out, surely the NDP members can hear what all Canadians are saying, that they want accountability and they want us to pass this motion in the Senate that would suspend these senators without pay. They cannot get that from electing these senators because they have not allowed us to pass that bill, but they can expect that from us here if they would get out of the way and let us pass that motion.

[Ethics, October 30th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, now we hear it from the NDP. The New Democrats are also trying to defend these senators.

We are very clear: These senators accepted payments that they did not earn. They did not earn those payments. Not only should they repay those payments, but Canadians expect some level of accountability, and that level of accountability is to pass this motion in the Senate that would suspend them without pay. That is what Canadians want. That is what the overwhelming majority of the members in this caucus want. Only the Liberals and the New Democrats are defending these four disgraced senators.