Tony Clement

[Labour, May 1st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, that is completely false because crown corporations' finances are the government's business. We have to ensure that the costs are appropriate. Economic action plan 2013 indicates that the government will look at options to improve the financial viability of crown corporations, including compensation levels.

It is important that we respect the taxpayer and work with the taxpayer. That includes both our responsibilities within government and also the crown corporations that report to government.

[Government Expenditures, May 1st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, that is completely false. The matter in question has to do with the categorization of expenses by the Treasury Board between 2001 and 2009. All of the funds in question are accounted for in the public documents, including the public accounts, that are tabled in Parliament. There is no indication that the funds are missing or were misappropriated or misspent.

[Government Expenditures, May 1st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is absolutely incorrect. I will quote, again, from the Auditor General. Just yesterday, he said:

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.

That is from the Auditor General.

The matter relates to the categorization of expenses by the Treasury Board between 2001 and 2009. All of the funds in question are accounted for in the public accounts that are tabled before this chamber each and every year. There is no indication that any dollars are missing. We accept the Auditor General's recommendations, and we will move forward on that basis.

[Privacy, April 30th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, indeed I have met with the Privacy Commissioner in the past, and I am looking forward to our upcoming meeting as well. We always get valuable insights when we have such gatherings. There is no question about it.

There is no question, as well, that privacy breaches are concerning to this side of the House, and we are acting forthrightly in having these consultations and then getting a view to a plan of action that will help prevent it, just as we had a plan of action for veterans and we had a plan of action to make sure that these breaches were mandatorily reported to the Privacy Commissioner. We know which side we are on, and we are acting accordingly.

[Privacy, April 30th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the other side, which is interested in an ideological argument, we actually care what the Privacy Commissioner actually says and what her recommendations are. We want to meet with her and in that space have a discussion on how we can improve privacy legislation, because we care about citizens and their right to privacy. That is evidenced by the veterans' privacy action plan, mandatory reporting of breaches to the Privacy Commissioner and new guidelines to help stop breaches.

Our record is quite clear and quite positive, but we know we can improve it as well.

[Labour, April 30th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the budget and the Budget Implementation Act are quite clear in that part of our role is to improve the financial viability of crown corporations, including their compensation levels. We said that because we are on the side of the taxpayer. We want to make sure that crown corporations, like other government agencies, actually respect the taxpayer, and that includes within collective bargaining.

We know that we are on the side of the taxpayer, but which side are they on?

[Government Services, April 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, in fact, we did not take a page from the Liberal government of the 1990s, where it slashed health care transfers and other social transfers. We examined our back office operations. We found ways to do better with less with the taxpayer dollars. We ensured that we protected essential services for Canadians, especially when it comes to health care and other transfers.

It was all embodied in a wonderful couple of documents, budget 2012 and economic action plan 2013, delivered by our fine Minister of Finance.

[Privacy, April 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, we have new procedures in place. Since this government was elected in 2006, we have taken these privacy breaches seriously, and I am looking forward to engaging with the Privacy Commissioner to see what else can be done. That is how leadership works.

They can stand in the House and try to impart motives to us. We are actually taking it seriously. We have done things in the past to improve privacy. We will do things in the future as well.

[Privacy, April 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I have done better than that. I am already in the process of arranging a meeting with the Privacy Commissioner to discuss the situation, and certainly I will take seriously her recommendations, more so than their recommendations, because theirs are tainted by ideology, of course.

What we have done so far, of course, is that we have the veterans privacy action plan, mandatory reporting of breaches to the Privacy Commissioner and new guidelines to prevent and stop privacy breaches. We are taking this seriously. We have taken it seriously, and we will take it seriously in the future.

[Privacy, April 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the majority of these breaches happened years ago, and they resulted in measures to ensure that Canadians' privacy is protected.

Of course, we take any loss of Canadians' personal information seriously. It is unacceptable, which is why we are and have been taking action to strengthen privacy protection.