Peter Julian

[Points of Order, May 8th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I would ask you to review the question period tapes from today and what you will find very clearly on the tapes is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons saying entirely inappropriate and unparliamentary things. It is not the first time he has been caught on audio or video saying inappropriate things. He needs to understand that when his microphone is on, everything he says, whether parliamentary or not, is actually broadcast into the audiotape.

I would ask that you review the tapes, Mr. Speaker, because the kind of insulting and degrading terms that he used today are simply unacceptable whether one is standing in the House or sitting behind a microphone. I would ask you to review the tapes and I am sure he will stand later and apologize for those comments.

[Ethics, May 8th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's Office is implicated in a cover-up of serious criminal behaviour, and we get buffoonery instead of answers. That did not work for President Nixon; it will not work well for the Prime Minister, either.

The RCMP also said:

Throughout our investigation...we've learned that PMO has had a lot of communication with the diverse senators who were involved in these committees....

Will the spokesperson for the Prime Minister now tell Canadians which Conservative senators the Prime Minister's Office was in touch with about altering the confidential Deloitte report?

[Ethics, May 8th, 2015]

More evasions and more refusals to answer, Mr. Speaker. The RCMP have found some answers, though.

The RCMP is saying that the Prime Minister's Office engaged in a deliberate strategy to suppress and alter information. RCMP Corporal Jolette said this about the confidential audit change cover-up:

The report, we’ve learned through the investigation, had made its ways to the PMO, to their office, and...revisions, what they wanted to have written in the report, was done.

When will the government finally come clean about attempts from within the PMO to alter this confidential audit report to protect Mike Duffy?

[Ethics, May 8th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, The Globe and Mail reported that the Prime Minister's Office was directly involved in tampering with the audit report on the expenses of Conservative Senator Mike Duffy.

According to the RCMP, some members of the Prime Minister's inner circle did everything they could to prevent problems for Mike Duffy and his colleagues in the Senate.

Can the Prime Minister tell us who in his office intervened to alter the report on Mike Duffy's fraudulent expenses?

[Business of the House, May 7th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, the government House leader knows full well, from the rulings the Speaker has made in the past in terms of the Thursday question, that the answer should be approximately the same length as the question. The question was quite short, and I think it is time for the government House leader to conclude. His answer is going far beyond the length of time that was taken for the question.

[Business of the House, May 7th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, this has been a good week for Canadians in Alberta, as Albertans chose a strong, stable, majority NDP government under the leadership of premier-elect Rachel Notley. It is wonderful news for all Canadians.

NDP MLAs throughout Alberta will be getting right to work to serve Albertans, as NDP MPs serve Canadians right across the country. I actually knocked on doors in Alberta. In southern Alberta, as I spoke with Albertans, I heard they were as concerned with the federal Conservative agenda as they were with the provincial Conservative agenda.

My question for Thursday for my hon. colleague is simple. Are Conservatives hearing those voices, those concerns raised in Alberta and right across Canada about the government's meanspirited agenda, its emphasis on always helping the wealthiest of Canadians while cutting services to the middle class?

I will also ask my colleague, for the Thursday question, if the government is going to support the NDP legislation tomorrow to remove the GST on feminine hygiene products. It is long overdue, and many millions of Canadian families are asking the government to do just that. Will the government adjust, and will it take into consideration the message it has heard from Albertans and so many Canadians this week?

[Petitions, May 7th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition signed by hundreds of southern Ontario residents who add their voices to the campaign involving millions of Canadian women and their families.

The petitioners' message to the Government of Canada is very simple: take the GST off menstrual hygiene products. That is the message. Let us have the government do it.

[Alberta Election, May 6th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, history was made in Alberta last night.

The Prime Minister and most of his Alberta cabinet colleagues and MPS woke up today to an NDP MLA and an NDP premier.

Indeed, the good folks of Alberta voted for change, and a fresh start. They voted to end 44 years of Conservative rule and reject the ways of the old-style parties.

They voted to elect Rachel Notley and the Alberta NDP to be their strong, stable majority government. Albertans proved that you can vote for the change they want and actually get it. Albertans voted to build a more diversified and resilient economy. They voted for better health care and a good education for their children. They voted for good jobs and a new sustainable approach.

We want to extend our hearty congratulations to premier-elect Rachel Notley. Her campaign was optimistic, forward thinking, and respectful.

As we approach October 19, 2015 we are again reminded of what the late Jack Layton said so often, “Don't let them tell you it can't be done”.

Congratulations Alberta NDP.

[Points of Order, May 5th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, last week you allowed a question from a Conservative to a Conservative minister that touched on the Avon Maitland District School Board and whether or not they would be providing unpaid leave to an employee.

I can give you many other examples of Conservative questions to Conservative ministers that have absolutely nothing to do with the federal government at all, not government operations or government administration, but those questions are allowed.

Today we had two very relevant and pertinent questions from the member for La Pointe-de-l'Île and the member for Timmins—James Bay. Those questions touched on the ministry of justice, on the work of the Auditor General currently in examining the Senate spending scandal. Even more important, the Senate spending scandal and the Prime Minister's appointment of those senators are actually issues that have been debated in this House of Commons around appropriations bills.

Mr. Speaker, as you know, Bill C-54 was adopted and given royal assent on March 24, 2015. That was a bill that was debated in this House of Commons.

There are traditions in this House that go back for decades. Those traditions allow for questioning the government on its administrative responsibilities. Your decision today was inexplicable, and I would like to say that—

[Privilege, May 4th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I want to add that I would like to potentially come back on this issue. That was almost a filibuster done with the government House leader's almost half-hour presentation. I am sure it is because he does not want the House to talk about Bill C-51, which started out with a lot of support from Canadians and has ended up with the contrary. Most Canadians oppose Bill C-51, so the government House leader now is basically trying to take away the few hours of debate that remain. It is pretty transparent.

However, what he has done in his reply on the question of privilege is simply underscore the NDP position, which is that this should go to committee. What he has tried to do is investigate, do the committee's work, and come up with his own conclusions. That is not appropriate. That is not his job. It is the job of the House to seize what is a clear breach of privilege and to refer it to the procedure and house affairs committee. It is up to that committee to do that appropriate follow-up. The government House leader has reinforced the argument that this needs to be a motion submitted to the House.

My final point is that we said, when the government ran roughshod over parliamentary privileges and rights with its motion a few weeks ago, that this would lead to the executive making decisions that more properly belong to you, Mr. Speaker, and to the legislative branch. The government House leader has just confirmed that this is exactly what the government is doing. The Conservatives have undertaken their own investigation. The Minister of Public Safety did what is your job, Mr. Speaker, which is to do the follow-up and determine, based on your knowledge and on consulting with the security officers, whether it constitutes a prima facie case of breach of privilege.

Now we have the cabinet, the executive branch, doing that investigation itself, by which authority I have no idea. We will certainly be doing the follow-up on that, because these are the kinds of cases exactly that we were apprehensive about when the government bulldozed the motion through the House of Commons. The government House leader has just very clearly reiterated what the NDP and other opposition members raised as a concern as well.

I reserve the right to come back, but this is quite worrisome that we have the executive branch now doing what is not appropriate for it to do. We may come back later on.