Peter Van Loan

[Ethics, April 25th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the question from the hon. member is indeed surprising. That is an hon. member who made considerable violations of the rules of ethics in terms of her own expenses that she filed personally through the House of Commons, and that is a matter of public record, and she had her own problems when she was a minister.

The fact is we see a difference on this side in that we have attempted to have respect for taxpayer dollars throughout. That is why our travel expenses are lower. When it comes to hospitality, something she knows about, under our government the hospitality costs for ministers are one-third less than they were under the Liberal government.

[Ethics, April 25th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said several times, the minister has repaid the inappropriate expenses and apologized. Our government requires that travel on government business be undertaken at a reasonable cost to taxpayers. Our government's travel expenses are 15% lower than the former Liberal government's.

[Ethics, April 25th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the opposition member makes a number of accusations and allegations that are simply not correct. In terms of accountability, the minister has been fully accountable, was accountable in the House and has repaid all inappropriate expenses.

The important consideration for all taxpayers is that the government is interested in seeing that taxpayer dollars are respected and managed carefully. That is what our government has been doing and that is why, notwithstanding inflation, our expenses continue to be 15% lower for ministerial travel than those of the previous Liberal government.

We will continue to stay focused on ensuring taxpayer dollars are treated with the greatest of respect.

[Ethics, April 25th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, as we have said before, the minister has repaid the inappropriate expenses in this matter and has apologized to the House.

As I have said many times, our government expects that ministers and all public officials conduct business with the greatest respect for taxpayer dollars. That is the reason why, compared with the previous government, our costs of ministerial travel are 15% lower. The taxpayers want to see a government that respects taxpayer dollars, and that is what we will continue to do.

[Ethics, April 25th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, in all matters, we have been clear that our government is managing taxpayer dollars carefully. That is why Canada is in a better position fiscally than any of the other major developed economies. That is why we have been focusing on getting our budget balanced. That is why we have been clear in the conduct of all public officials and all ministers, that we expect them to conduct business at a reasonable cost. That is what we see from this government. That is why our expenses are so much lower than the Liberals before us.

[Ethics, April 25th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I would point out that the title the hon. member used originally is actually not a title of any minister in this government. Therefore, I would ask him to be a bit more respectful in posing his questions in the House.

In terms of the question he asked, there is absolutely nothing new in this story. The minister will assist the ethics commissioner in responding to the letter the Liberals have written.

[Ethics, April 24th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the minister has repaid the costs associated with the change in hotels and apologized to the House earlier today.

It is interesting that I am getting a question like this from the Liberals. If there is anyone who defines travelling in style, it was the Liberal Party. Since we became government, we have insisted that ministers show respect for taxpayer dollars in all of their travel. That is why under our government travel costs have gone down by 15% compared with the Liberal government. Even though the cost of travel has gone up, we are actually spending 15% less than the Liberals did.

[Ethics, April 24th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the minister, as I said, has answered all these questions. We will fully assist the ethics commissioner in responding to the letter that she has received from the Liberals.

The reason we are so proud of the Minister of Industry is because of his strong performance. In fact, in Canada, with his leadership and that of the Prime Minister, we have seen close to 700,000 net new jobs since the economic downturn. It is a demonstration of the fact that with his policies and the leadership of this government, what we have done to set the right environment for the economy is paying off, and Canadians are getting jobs and economic growth as a result.

[Ethics, April 24th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, the minister has answered these questions several times. There is absolutely nothing new in this story.

I understand that the Liberal Party has filed a complaint or raised issues in a letter to the ethics commissioner. The minister will provide the commissioner with everything she needs in order to be able to respond to that letter from the Liberals and that will include the fact that he did pay for all of his own expenses in this case.

[Ethics, April 24th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the minister has already answered those questions, and there is nothing new in this story. I understand that the Liberals have filed a complaint with the commissioner. The minister will present all the facts to the commissioner, including the fact that he paid his own expenses.