Thomas Mulcair

[Justice, December 5th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the minister just forgot to say that following those rules is important too.

Quite a few Canadians were under the impression that the advent of a Liberal government meant an end to criminal records for simple possession of marijuana. The Liberals have been in power for over a year now, and they are still handing out criminal records by the thousand, especially to young people. The Prime Minister just urged the police to continue enforcing these archaic laws.

This is causing young Canadians a lot of problems, so why does the government not put an end to that by decriminalizing marijuana right away?

[Ethics, December 5th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I guess he does not wish to correct those false statements. That is reassuring.

We have a government that makes the rules and then cheerfully breaks them, that claims to set new standards and then justifies its actions on the grounds that it did not technically do anything wrong, and that tells Parliament that attendees at these exclusive dinners do not discuss government business.

By accusing the event host of lying, is the minister signalling plans to investigate? Or did someone else lie?

[Ethics, December 5th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, let me read a statement dated November 24, just two weeks ago, from the minister for fishy fundraisers:

...at events like this, government business is not discussed

He was talking about a cash for access event involving the Prime Minister. We are now told that the Prime Minister did indeed discuss government business. How do we know this? It is because the host of the fundraiser himself said it was discussed.

Does the minister wish to correct the record with regard to his November 24 statement, which we now know to be false?

[Democratic Reform, November 30th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, my question for the Prime Minister is this. Will 2015 be “the last federal election conducted under the first-past-the-post voting system”? Yes or no?

[Indigenous Affairs, November 30th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, true reconciliation requires true consultations.

True reconciliation also means not taking first nations to court needlessly.

A Manitoba judge has struck down a pernicious requirement that residential school survivors must somehow prove the perpetrator's intent in cases of sexual assault of children.

Will the Prime Minister withdraw this despicable appeal that is making it even harder for residential school survivors to receive long overdue compensation?

[Natural Resources, November 30th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister led many people to believe that he would do things differently than Stephen Harper did. He led many people to believe that he would never approve an energy project using the same flawed review process as Stephen Harper did. Today, many Canadians feel betrayed and misled.

Can the Prime Minister honestly tell them that things would have been different if Stephen Harper were still in power?

[Natural Resources, November 30th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has spoken passionately about reconciliation with first nations and a true nation-to-nation relationship. The words we use matter but the actions we take matter more.

With 59 first nations saying they were not meaningfully consulted on Kinder Morgan, how can the Prime Minister believe he has the social licence to proceed?

[Natural Resources, November 29th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure it is because that Goldilocks approach is just right that he has MPs taking down their websites on Kinder Morgan as we speak.

During the election campaign, the Prime Minister promised to put an end to Stephen Harper's approach to energy project development, but now that he is in office, he is using the exact same process for approving the exact same pipeline projects.

Does the Prime Minister not feel ashamed of himself for betraying the trust of British Columbians and Canadians by applying the same rules as Stephen Harper?

[Natural Resources, November 29th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister was crystal clear during the campaign that if the Liberals formed government, the review of Kinder Morgan would have to be “redone”. This was seen as a departure from the Harper approach, and I am sure the message won the Liberals quite a bit of support in B.C. and across the country.

Let us say that someone convinces us they will stand firm in order to get our support, but once they have our support, they reverse their position. Would the Prime Minister not call that a betrayal?

[Ethics, November 29th, 2016]

Mr. Liu is not a western canola farmer, Mr. Speaker.

The Prime Minister himself regularly participates in fundraising activities that give people privileged access to him and his ministers.

The parliamentary secretary responsible for legalizing marijuana also participated in an event that gave privileged access to marijuana industry representatives and lobbyists. The Liberals have strict rules but weak ethics.

Does the Prime Minister really not understand that they are breaking his own rules?