Stephen Harper

[Ethics, June 5th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, once again, we need to be absolutely clear here. Mr. Wright paid these monies from his own personal funds. That was his decision, for which he takes full responsibility.

We appoint a range of Canadians from different backgrounds to the Senate, and we expect all of these senators to, obviously, uphold higher standards of ethics in the use of taxpayers' money. If they do not, we expect there to be accountability.

On this side of the House, unlike the Liberal Party, we think the Senate needs to be reformed or abolished. We do not defend the status quo.

[Ethics, June 5th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Wright said he wrote cheques to ensure that the taxpayers would be reimbursed, and he actually repaid taxpayers out of his own pocket.

He admitted that this was an error in judgment and he is prepared to be accountable to the authorities, including the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.

[Ethics, June 5th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, once again, Mr. Wright has been clear about why he did what he did and the effect of what he did. He has also accepted responsibility for that. He has been very clear that he is prepared to be accountable and answer all questions from the Ethics Commissioner and all authorities, and he is doing that.

[Ethics, June 5th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, as I have indicated, Mr. Wright informed me of his personal cheque on May 15. This was an error in judgment. He indicated he did this because he believed that taxpayers should be reimbursed and he was prepared to ensure that happened, as in fact it did happen. However, obviously this was an error in judgment for many reasons that have already been outlined and for that reason, I accepted his resignation.

This is a couple of days we are talking about. The leader of the NDP withheld information from the public about envelopes from the mayor of Laval for 17 years. He can explain that.

[Ethics, June 5th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, once again, I have indicated that Mr. Wright will obviously be paid only those amounts required by law. That is our obligation under the law. Any suggestion that he is being compensated for any other reason, anything directly or indirectly, to do with his paying Mr. Duffy's expenses is categorically false.

[Ethics, June 5th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I already said that I made my view known to the entire caucus and all my employees.

I have been clear about this. I have made it very clear what my views were to all my staff and to our caucus. We expect inappropriate expenses to be reimbursed and I would expect they would be reimbursed by the person who incurred them. I would certainly not expect them to be reimbursed by somebody else.

[Ethics, June 5th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, my view from the outset has been clear. Expenses must be appropriate and if there are inappropriate expenses claimed by a senator or a member, then they must be reimbursed to the taxpayers.

I made this view known to my caucus and obviously to my staff. We have very high expectations of our staff.

[Ethics, June 5th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, our view from the outset is that all expenses must be appropriate when they are claimed. If they are not appropriate, they should be reimbursed to the taxpayers. I have made this view known to a range of our caucus and also my staff.

Mr. Duffy was seeking clarification on remarks I had made to this effect in caucus and I was adamant that any inappropriate expenses had to be reimbursed by him.

[Ethics, June 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I just answered that question.

We have just seen why the leader of a party should have some idea of what an answer is before he asks the question.

While various Canadians have been appointed to the Senate, whatever their background, we expect them to follow the rules on expenses, and if those rules are not followed, we expect appropriate action to be taken to ensure accountability. That is what is happening here.

The majority in the Senate have indicated they want to have the Auditor General come and look at those expenses. Why is the Liberal Party in the Senate resisting having the Auditor General look at Senate expenses?

[Ethics, June 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I suppose for the same reason the previous government made Ms. Wallin Canada's consul general for New York.

None of these things answers why the Liberal Party has tried to resist making Senate expenses transparent and why it is now resisting the Auditor General looking—