Stephen Harper

[Democratic Reform, February 26th, 2014]

Maybe, Mr. Speaker, they even spoke to Osama bin Laden.

The leader of the NDP keeps descending into these conspiracy theories. There is a bill before the House of Commons. The government's proposals are clear. Whether the opposition members agree with them or not, they should at least read them, understand them, and we can have a debate.

[Democratic Reform, February 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, under our system of government, cabinet, of course, is collectively responsible for the legislation it presents before the House of Commons. All of us strongly support that legislation, and that legislation is being led very articulately by the Minister of State for Democratic Reform.

[Infrastructure, February 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, last year, the government presented an infrastructure plan for the coming decades that totalled $70 billion over ten years. That is a record and it received strong support from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

It is unfortunate that the Liberal Party opposes that program, but it is strongly supported by the Conservative members.

[Infrastructure, February 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, what is out of touch is the Liberal leader, who thinks that a budget will balance itself.

His statement betrays his lack of understanding of the economy and his disconnection from the realities of the Canadian middle class. The reality is that this government, coming out of the recession, has the best growth, the best employment record, the best record on taxes and on debt of any major G7 country, and we are determined to continue to do that.

[Infrastructure, February 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, speaking about reading things, last year the government presented to Parliament a new building Canada fund, which actually has a record investment over the past decade, strongly supported by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

We are very proud to be doing that. That is an important part of our economic plans going forward, and I would encourage the Liberal Party, if it has absolutely nothing to suggest, to at least vote for the positive things that people support.

[Democratic Reform, February 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, as I just said, the bill before the House of Commons is a comprehensive one.

I encourage the NDP leader to look at the facts and read this bill, which his party has so far refused to read. There is a debate, and the government and opposition will continue this debate as we work towards comprehensive electoral reform.

[Democratic Reform, February 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, once again, as I said, the leader of the NDP keeps making inaccurate statements about the Elections Act.

Yesterday, he made inaccurate statements about trying to claim 73% of senators use voter identification cards, and that is not the case. He made the allegation there are no problems with those cards, when in fact problems are identified in one of six cards.

The government has presented before the House of Commons a comprehensive reform of the Elections Act. We encourage all members to examine it. We encourage the NDP members to actually read the bill and find out what is in it before asking their questions.

[Ethics, February 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the NDP is referring to a letter between the senator, who was chair of the committee at the time, and the auditors. This is a question for the Senate.

[Ethics, February 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the auditors themselves have addressed this question. The auditors themselves have confirmed that the audit was handled with the utmost confidentiality and no rules were broken.

[Ethics, February 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I think the minister of democratic reform is doing an excellent job, including on the fair elections act.

I note that yesterday the Leader of the Opposition, asking about that act, asserted that 73% of seniors use the voter ID card. That statistic is not true. That is true in residences, but in residences there are multiple other IDs available. Elections Canada will actually, in many cases, move ballot boxes room to room.