Criminal Records Act  Mr. Speaker, continuing with this line of questioning, the minister knows that we in the official opposition are concerned that the Liberals are forcing Canadian taxpayers to pick up all the costs of these pardons. We recognize that certain disadvantaged groups perhaps should be given some relief in requesting and receiving pardons.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to table a petition on behalf of Thornhill constituents and those across York Region and the greater Toronto region who are expressing their concern about the international trafficking of human organs and are urging the Parliament of Canada to move quickly on the proposed legislation now in the Senate, Bill S-240.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, we learned from an access to information request that the government has been sitting on for years that senior officials and the RCMP were planning the Prime Minister's billionaire island vacation at least nine months before his flagrant violation of the Conflict of Interest Act.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has shut down every parliamentary opportunity to examine fully his attempted interference in the SNC-Lavalin corruption trial. By threatening a lawsuit, he suddenly seems to favour litigating details of his scandal under oath in a public court—well, not really.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has shown little regard for anyone but himself in this ever-deepening scandal. The banal excuses and empty platitudes about his respect for the rule of law and the independence of committees stand in stark contrast to the trail of resignations, removals and character smearing left in his self-serving wake.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's threatened lawsuit is a classic SLAPP suit, a strategic lawsuit against public participation. The Prime Minister is clearly attempting to censor, silence and intimate, without intending to proceed. However, if he actually does, the Prime Minister should proceed quickly.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, after months of hiding the truth from Canadians about his corrupt conduct and fraudulent excuses, the Prime Minister himself has created an opportunity to come clean. The PM is obviously trying to intimidate the Leader of the Opposition with the threat of a lawsuit, with no intention of proceeding.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, last December, the foreign affairs minister stated: We’re seeing a lot of countries around the world that are starting to play fast and loose with...rule of law. The minister promised: Canada is not going to be one of those countries. That promise came three months into the Prime Minister's incessant campaign to corrupt the rule of law to help a corrupt corporation avoid criminal justice.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition from constituents regarding their concern about the reprehensible international trade in organ harvesting. Very often individuals who are taken into custody extrajudicially have organs removed for those travelling from western nations to in effect buy those organs.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, six weeks ago, the Prime Minister denied that he attempted to interfere in a criminal trial. His excuses have evolved as evidence of political interference has accumulated, despite sycophantic stonewalling by Liberal members of the justice committee. Now the Prime Minister and senior staffers have lawyered up, on the public dime, in apparent anticipation of criminal investigation and possible prosecution.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, we know that the Prime Minister met with the former attorney general on September 17. We also now know that the Clerk of the Privy Council was present at that meeting and that there was discussion of a matter before the court. Here is a simple question that may one day be asked in court: Does the Prime Minister still challenge the former attorney general's belief that this was an attempt to improperly influence her?

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, for all members of the opposition and many members on the backbenches of the Liberal Party, my hon. colleague's speech contained some fairly profound truths. With regard to the first question from the government side today about the investigation by the Ethics Commissioner, I wonder if my friend could recall the Ethics Commissioner's eventual report on the Prime Minister's illegal Caribbean vacation, when the Prime Minister delayed for months a request to meet with the commissioner to discuss the allegations against him.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that from the day the Liberals took office, from the Prime Minister down, the proclaimed ethical standards and the “go-beyond-the-letter-of-the law” ministerial mandate letters were simply window dressing, empty words. Every violation exposed by the Ethics Commissioner was sloughed off with, “The PM is working with the commissioner.”

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech, although he was using all sorts of diversions throughout much of it. There were many red herrings in that speech. When it comes to the question of the government's inability to understand what to do with the public service workers now filling out this redundant second filing of income taxes in Quebec, I wonder why one would not simply reassign those jobs.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, the Liberals claim they have cleaned up all of their fundraising practices. Yesterday the Prime Minister claimed that the Liberals now follow all of the rules of openness, transparency and accountability. However, the PM still stonewalls on questions linked to the former Liberal member for Brampton East, questions of gambling addiction, money laundering, outside employment, the India trip, RCMP investigation and the member's $600,000 fundraiser when he was still a Liberal.