Yasmin Ratansi

[Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, June 3rd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, Canadians were disappointed to see a new low in parliamentary behaviour by the transport minister at the government operations and estimates committee.

As chair of that committee, I have witnessed many of the tactics from the Conservatives' book of dirty tricks, but this was unprecedented. Sparked by his government's decision to muzzle its political aides, the transport minister tried to hijack the committee with points of order that, as a witness, he was not permitted to bring forward. His attempt to hijack a committee of the House yesterday was one of the most brazen examples of intimidation and bullying that I have ever witnessed at committee or elsewhere.

Fortunately the minister learned a lesson. We will not be intimidated by his antics. Nor will we allow him to derail the important work of this committee, no matter how hard he tries.

[Interparliamentary Delegations, June 1st, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1) I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian delegation of the Canadian Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union concerning its participation in the 121st IPU Assembly and related meetings in Geneva, Switzerland, from October 19 to 21, 2009.

[May 31st, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, it is obvious that my colleague is totally ashamed of the government's record on accountability and transparency. It appears there is one rule for the Conservatives and another rule for the rest of Canadians.

This past fall Liberals filed a complain with the Ethics Commissioner regarding the presentation of government cheques from 12 Conservative MPs in excess of $594 million in either their own name or that of the Prime Minister. She ruled this type of branding as inappropriate. However, the ethically-challenged government keeps on indulging in more unethical behaviour.

The Prime Minister has broken his promise to Canadians that he would never appoint senators. In one year the Prime Minister has made 32 such appointments, unequalled in Canadian history.

Also large numbers of more partisan appointments were made to the courts, government boards and agencies.

The Prime Minister is fixed on rewarding Conservative insiders rather than focusing on issues like job creation and health care.

Therefore, when will the government put its money where its mouth is and be accountable? Do not give us legislation which it cannot follow itself.

[May 31st, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to raise an issue regarding the unethical behaviour of the government.

On April 9, the Prime Minister asked his former minister for the status of women to resign. The Prime Minister stated that it was related to matters of a criminal nature.

Then we heard about the former Conservative MP for Edmonton--Strathcona, who had been charged with driving under the influence and with possession of cocaine. He was using the Conservative logo on his website as well as the MP cards for his Green Power Generation, despite the fact that he was no longer a member of Parliament.

The former Conservative caucus chair also misused a special government passport to promote a green energy company in Cuba, leaving the impression that his overtures had government approval.

To add insult to this unethical or ethical injury, the Minister of Industry appeared in a promotional video for a chemical company owned by a prominent Conservative in his own riding. Where are the ethics? Where is transparency? Where is accountability?

We then have the Conservative member of Parliament for Calgary Northeast, who is linked to a mortgage fraud investigation and is currently being sued for ignoring repeated requests to turn over records related to five real estate transactions.

We have constant examples of unethical behaviour. The ministers of Labour and Natural Resources have declined to appear before the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates to discuss lobbying access to the green infrastructure fund, followed by a timely announcement from thePrime Minister that he would not allow staffers to attend and be questioned, especially when those staffers were interfering with the inquiry.

There is unaccountability, non-transparency, and the Prime Minister is the person who should be accountable and he should ensure that this accountability takes place.

The Prime Minister and his cabinet's effort to ban political staff from appearing before committees, after blaming them for recent cover-ups, is an attempt to avoid accountability to Parliament.

Then we have committees treated as circuses by the Minister of Transport, who shows up at committee meetings to stand in for the Prime Minister's spokesman.

One of the major problems we face when looking at ethics is that we are either ethical or not ethical, and the government just does not get it. It has so many examples of trying to circumvent ethics, it just does not know where to stop, and when questions are posed and ministers are asked to be accountable, the Prime Minister has shown no leadership. In fact, he obfuscates every time.

The Conservatives control how information is released. They control who releases information. They control the information that is being released, and that is not transparent, especially when the government brought forward the Federal Accountability Act. Governments have to walk the talk. The public deserves better.

Can the government please tell me how it will deal with the growing problem of the ethically-challenged decisions on behalf of the Conservative Party.

[Committees of the House, May 31st, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the second report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates in relation to its study on the main estimates 2010-11.

[Committees of the House, May 25th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, is there anyone on the Conservative side who can give a straight answer. Just because they say so does not mean it is the truth.

Canadians are tired of the government's stonewalling.

Today at the ethics committee, the Minister of Transport tried to replace Dimitri Soudas, even though he is not his actual boss.

Will the Prime Minister, who actually is Mr. Soudas' boss and is supposedly accountable for Mr. Soudas' behaviour, appear before the ethics committee?

[Committees of the House, May 25th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, today the government announced that it will violate the power of parliamentary committees to call for witnesses. We are now told that ministers will appear instead of their staff.

However, the Minister of Natural Resources, his predecessor and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities have all refused to appear before the government operations committee.

Will the Prime Minister now instruct those ministers and PSs to appear before committee instead of their staffers on June 2 at 3:30 p.m. in room 237-C?

[Committees of the House, May 6th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates in relation to the study on its implementation of the economic action plan.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109 the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report within 120 days.

[Ethics, April 16th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister acted expeditiously to hide the truth.

The Prime Minister clearly ignored warnings that his minister's husband was involved with unsavoury characters when police found cocaine in a vehicle that she owned. Drug crimes are a serious criminal offence, punishable by years in prison and are linked to murky organized crime operations.

When it became apparent seven months ago that one of his ministers could be compromised by organized crime, did he or did he not order an enhanced security investigation?

[Ethics, April 16th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, accountability is the Prime Minister's job. The Prime Minister claims he learned of serious allegations involving his troubled former status of women minister only recently, but much was obvious months, even years ago: Mr. Jaffer's inappropriate use of government resources going back to 2008, his use of the Conservative logo featured in a Macleans magazine article last October. And his company improperly lobbied the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities last summer.

Why did the Prime Minister take so long to act and be accountable?