House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2008, with 46% of the vote.
Minister of Foreign Affairs May 14th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, as we have often found, question period is not necessarily answer period for this government.
If the answer were no, would the Minister of Public Safety launch an investigation to determine why the RCMP did not do its job? However, the likely answer is yes. At the time, the Reform Party called on the government to table the security reports about Alfonso Gagliano's friends and professional associates.
Now that the Conservatives are in power, can they ask themselves that question?
Minister of Foreign Affairs May 14th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, when Jean Chrétien formed his first cabinet in November 1993, Alfonso Gagliano was excluded because the RCMP had discovered that he was the accountant for a man who was linked to organized crime. The RCMP had alerted the Prime Minister's Office, which delayed Alfonso Gagliano's appointment until a more thorough investigation enabled him to join the cabinet.
Today, the government would have us believe that the RCMP and the Prime Minister's Office knew nothing about the questionable relationships of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Can the Prime Minister confirm, here in the House, that the RCMP did provide him with information about the shady past of the former partner of the Minister of Foreign Affairs?
Minister of Foreign Affairs May 13th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, not only must the Minister of Foreign Affairs have been aware of his partner's past but the Minister of Public Safety must also have been informed by the RCMP. Moreover, in these circumstances, it is clear that the office of the Prime Minister was also made aware by the RCMP. Indeed, everyone lacked judgment in this matter; from the first person involved to the Prime Minister.
Instead of denying the obvious, why do they not tell the truth?
Minister of Foreign Affairs May 13th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I performed the same duties as the Minister of Public Safety in the Quebec government. I know from experience that in a case such as this the police would have been aware of Ms. Couillard's past. The RCMP would have been obliged to inform the Minister of Public Safety about such a relationship and a situation that could have compromised security and state secrets.
How could the minister allow such a risk?
Minister of Foreign Affairs May 12th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party is developing quite a reputation for not investigating things. During one of their fundraising activities, the Minister of Foreign Affairs posed for a photo with Michael Chamas, who was arrested in Switzerland in 2007 with 2 million euros, and was then arrested at the end of March in connection with operation Cancun drug and arms raids. This individual was also the subject of a Canada Revenue Agency investigation for unpaid taxes. Yet this man was not just a guest at the fundraiser; he was one of the speakers the Conservatives had invited.
Is that not proof of their carelessness, which has placed ministers in dangerous situations and put them at the mercy of organized crime, which, I would note, has had far more victims in Canada and Quebec than terrorism?
Minister of Foreign Affairs May 12th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Safety claims that there is no need to run security clearances on federal ministers' spouses. Yet in-depth security checks are done on spouses of senior public servants, of journalists who accompany ministers abroad, and even on people who work as kitchen help in tax centres.
Don't ministers—at least those who take their jobs seriously—regularly bring files home with them, some of which contain state secrets? How can it be that this kind of thing is not taken seriously for ministers, particularly for one like the Minister of Foreign Affairs?
Criminal Code April 17th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the member if she could tell us what are the consequences, in her opinion, for individuals who may be condemned—if we can say that—to having to sign a recognizance with conditions? What are the consequences, in today's world, that an individual will have to live with afterwards and, if the suspicions about them were completely unwarranted, what means are available to remove this mark from their file?
Public Safety April 17th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, my question for the government is this: will you pay or not?
Since the failed operation, security provided by the Quebec provincial police has cost Quebec taxpayers $30 million, and now, four years later, Quebec is still absorbing the costs, which go up every month.
The Government of Quebec wants Ottawa to pay a portion of the Quebec provincial police's bill, but the federal government is ignoring the request. Will the federal government pay its share or not?
Public Safety April 17th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, Quebec opposed the federal-government-supported police intervention in January 2004 on the Mohawk territory of Kanesatake. The Quebec government even distanced itself from the operation, which ended with several peacekeepers being held in the police station, and the home of the grand chief at the time, James Gabriel, being burned by arsonists.
Will the Minister of Public Safety admit that the federal government's stubbornness in proceeding despite Quebec's opposition triggered a crisis, and that the Government of Quebec is still dealing with the consequences of that crisis?
Criminal Code April 16th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to speak to this issue. I do not think I used the words “natural law”. Indeed, what I had in mind was the natural tendencies of humans, who need limits.
There is a minority in Canada that clearly understood. We are very similar to the NDP, except for our views on the sovereignty of Quebec and, generally speaking, the usefulness of the current Constitution. Otherwise, we are very similar. One must have lived through that time, however, to have felt the strength of the popular movements that called for punishment and were ready to dispense with all the principles of law to which we were accustomed.
It is to the credit of the member who asked the question, and to those around him, to be aware of that and have the courage to stand firm before an opinion, which I feel sometimes verges on hysteria.