House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 64% of the vote.
41st General Election November 19th, 2013
Of course, Mr. Speaker, nothing could be further from the truth. The robocalls that took place in Guelph are completely unacceptable. I gather Liberal robocalls have already been sanctioned. Any other unacceptable robocalls are just that. The party is assisting in making sure those responsible are held accountable, and I can assure the House that if the Liberal Party were just as co-operative on trying to find that $40 million, it might have found it by now.
International Co-operation November 19th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the support of the Liberal Party for this matter. I think it is a matter in which all Canadians are united. This is a humanitarian tragedy of immense dimensions that deeply touches Canadians across the country, and I can, of course, assure the hon. member that as we move forward we will apply the appropriate flexibility on all of these matters.
Ethics November 19th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, again, in terms of my office, the responsibility for this was with Mr. Wright, the chief of staff. He has taken that responsibility and been very clear. On that matter, he has been held accountable. Mr. Wright and Mr. Duffy have been sanctioned appropriately and, on my part, I did that some six months ago.
Ethics November 19th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, this matter is the responsibility of Mr. Wright and Mr. Duffy. Mr. Duffy knew what the truth was. Mr. Duffy chose to say something else to the public. For that reason, Mr. Wright and Mr. Duffy have been held accountable. In fact, I took action on this matter some six months ago.
Ethics November 19th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, once again, Mr. Wright and Mr. Duffy are under investigation. Our office will co-operate fully with the authorities.
Ethics November 19th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I do not understand and I reject the premise of that question.
When I was made aware of the situation, I took immediate action. Clearly, Mr. Wright and Mr. Duffy were held accountable for their actions.
International Co-operation November 19th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question.
Obviously, this is a massive humanitarian crisis. I am proud to say that the Government of Canada has been there. Obviously, we are supporting this crisis financially. We provided a matching fund that we encourage our citizens to donate to. I know, particularly, our Filipino Canadian friends across the country are raising money and sending their support. We are providing some flexibility in immigration.
As members know, there are now hundreds of members of the Canadian Armed Forces and other Canadian officials who are present on the ground. Obviously, we are very proud of the work they are doing to assist.
Ethics November 7th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, it is obviously a great honour for anyone to be elected to this chamber, to be appointed to the other chamber. Regardless of their backgrounds, all of these people have given many years of public service.
The fact of the matter is we expect people to respect the rules. We expect people to not make expense claims that are false or that are contrary to the rules or that entirely disregard whether rules even exist. Those senators who have done that, two out of the three senators the NDP leader has named, have been sanctioned. That was appropriate, and I hope it sends a good message.
Ethics November 7th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, once again the leader of the NDP casts aspersions on individuals who are accused of doing absolutely nothing wrong. The fact of the matter is that what was done wrong is that Mr. Duffy made a false claim about his expense repayments, or payments that had come from Mr. Wright that Mr. Wright had not been forthcoming about. That is the responsibility of those two individuals. Mr. Wright has taken responsibility. Those two individuals are under inquiry and investigation.
It is very different than the leader of the NDP, who for 17 years knew of bribe attempts by the Mayor of Laval and refused to take any action himself.
Ethics November 7th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, once again, my view on this matter was absolutely clear from the beginning, to all concerned. That was that I believe that Senator Duffy should repay the expenses he had inappropriately collected from taxpayers. That still has not been done, which is one reason the Senate has taken the strong action it has, in fact, action without precedent. I hope this is a good example that will be followed going forward, to ensure that these kinds of things do not happen again in the future.