Ethics  Mr. Speaker, the Ethics Commissioner is once again taking a close look at the minister of conflicts of interest. Keeping a minister in cabinet despite his involvement in so many scandals perpetuates the culture of impunity that is poisoning this government. Maybe the Conservatives' economic recovery plan is to create jobs in the Ethics Commissioner's office.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, by doing nothing, the Prime Minister is sending a clear message: “Help yourselves, do whatever you want, make your way to the trough.” The Minister of International Cooperation seems to have received the message loud and clear. This morning, we also learned that people at the Old Port of Montreal go on luxurious retreats with five-star working lunches.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, apologies are touching, but being paid $237,000 a year to learn about ethics is a bit rich. The Minister of International Cooperation was caught red-handed, and that is the only reason she paid back part of the money. Since yesterday, the Conservatives have been telling us that there is nothing going on and that there is not a problem, but the minister never proactively disclosed her lavish stay at the Savoy, despite the regulations.

41st General Election  Mr. Speaker, in connection with another of the many Conservative scandals, a recent poll conducted in the ridings most affected by allegations of election fraud reveals that it was voters who supported anyone but the Conservatives who were sent to bogus polling stations. Perhaps the Conservatives are nostalgic for the good old days when hockey players did not wear helmets.

Armenia  Mr. Speaker, almost a century ago, the world remained silent when more than 1.5 million Armenians were killed. Eight years ago, this House passed a motion to “acknowledge the Armenian genocide of 1915 and condemn this act as a crime against humanity”. This grim and tragic historical event must not be forgotten.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, there is no end to the scandals involving the office of the minister of conflict of interest. This time, his spokesperson had a good time in Las Vegas on a government credit card. While families are tightening their belts and making sacrifices, the minister's staff is making the rounds of casinos with taxpayers' money.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, we would like to hear from the minister on this. When the boss takes a trip that could give rise to a conflict of interest and he justifies it by saying that he brought his own sleeping bag and lunch, it sends a message to his staff. The member for Mégantic—L'Érable seems to have put violating every code of ethics on his to-do list.

Public Appointments Commission  Mr. Speaker, it is no wonder people are becoming increasingly cynical when they hear such answers. Millions of dollars were wasted and, today, the government is abolishing a phoney commission that has not been used for many years. Today, we are saying goodbye to a transparent appointment process and welcoming new partisan appointments.

41st General Election  Mr. Speaker, the members opposite continue to ignore the biggest electoral fraud in our history. Thousands of voters were cheated and their fundamental right was trampled. How does this government react? By throwing as much mud around as it can in order to create a diversion. “I do not know.”

41st General Election  Mr. Speaker, details on the fraudulent calls made by the infamous Pierre Poutine have been leaked by Conservatives to some journalists. The Conservatives have a list of voters who were denied their right to vote. They know who received the calls, and I suspect they know who made the calls.

41st General Election  Mr. Speaker, when the resignation by the famous scapegoat Michael Sona was initially refused by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs, the Conservative Party's director of political operations, Jenni Byrne, hurried to make a telephone call to get rid of him, thinking she could sweep the entire business under the rug.

41st General Election  Mr. Speaker, with regard to the contemptible attacks on the Broadbent Institute, could we perhaps stop tarnishing the memory and the last will of a man who died from cancer. I want this to stop. Canadians know how things work in the Conservative government; everything is centralized.

Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the minister for his comment even though my interpretation of his bill is fundamentally different than his. He spoke about Australia. The NDP is convinced that it is extremely likely that the courts will rule against the provisions that are likely to infringe upon the right to equality, the right to liberty and the right to a fair and equitable trial and interfere with the best interests of children, because they are clearly inconsistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak about this important bill, which was introduced by the Conservatives. I would like to indicate right away that I intend to share my time with the hon. member for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine. This is an important bill introduced by the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism but, as we have just heard from the Conservatives, it has a confrontational tone similar to what we saw with the bills designed to intrude and spy on our private lives through our computers, bills that were introduced by the Minister of Public Safety.

41st General Election  Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' confusing and clumsy explanations for the fraud that occurred in the riding of Guelph are so far-fetched that we get the impression we are listening to Réjean on La Petite Vie. From the beginning, they have been trying to lead us to believe that a single activist orchestrated an election fraud of this magnitude without any help, as though Michael Sona had the money, computer resources or access to the lists he would require to organize thousands of fraudulent calls.