Tony Clement

[Labour, May 2nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, both parts of that question are completely untrue. I have already cited the Auditor General for the first part of the question.

On the second part of the question, of course, we have as a government the ultimate financial responsibility for crown corporations on behalf of the taxpayers, and we must ensure that their costs are sustainable. This is not a revolutionary idea. Indeed, the NDP leader was part of a provincial government that required political approval for negotiating mandates for crown corporations, including Hydro-Québec, Loto-Québec and Télé-Québec.

This is not revolutionary. The NDP leader was part of a government that did it all the time.

[Privacy, May 2nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, as I already said, the Auditor General gave an answer about the Treasury Board funds.

As for the question about colour, of course various colours were tested by web experts who determined that blue provided the best contrast in relation to other parts of the site.

[Government Expenditures, May 2nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, we have already answered that. In fact, the Auditor General has already answered the question about the funds in question.

However, let me answer about website colours. I would be happy to do so in the chamber. Apparently, different colours were tested with web specialists, and it was found that blue worked best as a contrast to other aspects of the site, and therefore blue was chosen.

[Privacy, May 2nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I am going to make a bold prediction. If I was not meeting with the Privacy Commissioner, he would be the first person standing up and demanding my resignation for not doing so, so the hypocrisy is beyond bounds.

We take this matter very seriously. We know that Canadians expect us to take it seriously, and we are, in fact, doing so. That is why the meeting with the Privacy Commissioner is important. That is why all of the efforts we have made in the past already to protect veterans' privacy and to make sure that there is mandatory reporting and other measures go to our commitment on behalf of Canadian citizens.

[Privacy, May 2nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, we take any violation of citizens' personal privacy as a very serious matter. We take it very seriously. That is why I have requested this meeting in the near future with the Privacy Commissioner so that we can go over the improvements that have already been made, but perhaps there may be other things that can be done to better protect people's personal privacy as well. As I mentioned already, we have done so for veterans. We have done so for mandatory reporting of breaches. We have new guidelines, but we always hope for better ways to deal with these issues, and we will do so in the near future.

[Privacy, May 2nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, as I have already said, our government takes the protection of Canadians' privacy very seriously, particularly when it comes to the proper handling of confidential personal information.

As I already said, I am going to meet with the Privacy Commissioner in the near future. Perhaps we can also take other measures in the future.

[Privacy, May 2nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I have already said that we are going to work with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada to better protect Canadians' privacy. Of course, most of the breaches occurred a number of years ago, but perhaps we can do more in the future.

[Privacy, May 2nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, we find any loss of privacy, any loss of Canadians' personal information, any violation that way, to be unacceptable. We have, indeed, taken action as a government to strengthen privacy protections.

I, indeed, have requested a meeting with the Privacy Commissioner. I think there are always ways we can collaborate to find out if there are more things we can do that can further protect the privacy of citizens. We have done so for veterans. We have done so for mandatory reporting of breaches, and we will continue to do so in the future.

[Government Expenditures, May 2nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I will again cite, as we have cited, the Auditor General's own words. This is what he said on Tuesday: “We didn't find anything that gave us cause for concern that the money was used in any way that it should not have been”.

This chapter has to do with the categorization of expenses by the Treasury Board between 2001 and 2009. All of the money in question is accounted for in the public documents tabled in Parliament, including the public accounts.

[Labour, May 1st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, we on this side of the House stand for the taxpayer and stand for accountability of these crown corporations to the taxpayer.

I cannot let it slide that the hon. member stood up just a moment ago and joked about anti-terrorism activity. Those members had a chance last week to vote on a bill that would improve our ability to attack terrorism to make sure we can protect the people of Canada. They voted no. That is their record.