Stockwell Day

[Government Accountability, October 28th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, this is a very important improvement in credibility. Canadians, quite rightly, felt embarrassed and somewhat ashamed when they saw Canada as a nation being rated so poorly on an index of corruption. With the Federal Accountability Act and the areas of transparency that we have brought forward have improved our rating incredibly, and we can now stand proud about that.

I should also add that today, as the public accounts show, it is clear that there is still money missing from the sponsorship fraud. We have been able to get back about one-quarter of a million dollars. I wonder if our Liberal friends would help us to get that money.

[Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act, October 28th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I also have the honour to table, in both official languages, the 2009-10 annual report on the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act.

As recorded here, people will find that 248 disclosures came forward from public servants with areas of concern that they wanted looked at. There were 218 acted on, 36 led to corrective measures and 7 led to findings of wrong-doing. All of that is documented in the report.

[Public Accounts of Canada, October 28th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the Public Accounts of Canada, 2010.

[Government Accountability, October 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, it is quite true that in 2005, Transparency International, in its annual corruption perceptions index of 178 countries, pointed out that under the Liberals, Canada had slid down to 14th place. Canadians felt ashamed about this.

Through our Federal Accountability Act and other measures that we have put in place, two years after that very damning report, we had improved and moved to eighth place. This year Canada has now moved to sixth place, and we will not be happy until we get to first place.

[Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner, October 25th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, in response to the absolute travesty of justice or lack of justice that was occurring under the previous Liberal government, we brought in a number of provisions to protect public servants.

That protection continues under this office. It has the mandate, the legislation and the people. The Auditor General is looking into this. The leadership of the office has now been assumed by the deputy commissioner, Mr. Joe Friday, as we announced on Friday.

[Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner, October 25th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, it was this government that brought in significant protection for public service employees who previously, under the Liberal government, lived in fear of reprisals for the issues they were raising, especially with the sponsorship scandal.

Right now the Auditor General is looking into the concerns and the complaints that have been brought forward. The office of the commissioner, its staff and the mandate that it has is fully engaged, is there to protect those who are concerned and want to bring forward concerns. They will continue to do that. We have confidence in that. We also will be waiting for the report from the Auditor General.

[Status of Women, October 20th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, we firmly agree with and support the principle of equal pay for equal work.

The past Liberal government used to force women into court and, in fact, for years forced them to wait for fair compensation. We do not think that is the right way to treat women in these situations, so our Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act allows for these issues to be dealt with right up front, right in the bargaining process.

We do not think women should be forced to wait. We do not know why the Leader of the Opposition and the Liberals want to force them for years to wait for fair compensation.

[Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada, October 20th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, it is true that the Auditor General has received complaints about the organization mentioned. She has started an investigation, and we will wait for the results.

[Scientific and Technology, October 19th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, not at all. In fact, we have no new measures to prevent scientists and other public officials from expressing their opinions. We will maintain our policy that the minister who is responsible for a file will respond, but scientists can also discuss things according to the government's policy, and there are no restrictions on that. We will not be changing the existing policy.

[Child and Spousal Support, October 19th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, we can talk at length about a variety of programs that show the importance we place on families, single parents and care for children, even as far as having daycare available on site in many of our locations. There is a long list of clear demonstrations of how we care about these situations.

As I have indicated for the member, there have been some cases brought to our attention where it has been difficult to do the follow-up. However, our instruction to officials has been clear: be aggressive on this, close the gap in terms of the time and get these situations dealt with.