Access to Information  Mr. Speaker, an investigation by the Information Commissioner revealed an employee of Shared Services Canada deleted 398 pages of email documents after receiving an ATIP request for documents containing the words “Liberal Party”. It is a serious offence to destroy documents subject to an ATIP request.

Access to Information  This, Mr. Speaker, is from the former executive director of the Liberal Party. We now know that the Shared Services Canada employee who deleted 398 pages of email documents following an ATIP is a Liberal EDA president. The Elections Act requires the Attorney General to recuse herself from all of these types of conflicts of interest.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I am sure we all agree that perhaps one of the most frightening threats that we have in the world is the proliferation of weapons technology, of delivery systems, and of fissile material, particularly to rogue states. Would the member care to comment on what the government is doing, or what it ought to be doing, to assist in preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons?

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, while the member did spend a fair bit of her speech responding to the member for Thornhill, I will ask a question that I would like her to think about, or give us her thoughts and comments on, with respect to government policy. We on the Conservative side, and I hope all of us, are deeply concerned with the issue of nuclear proliferation: the proliferation of delivery systems, the proliferation of fissile material, and the proliferation of the capacity to build a bomb.

Cannabis Act  Mr. Speaker, the gender of a minister or a minister of state should not matter. If they are a minister with the responsibilities of a minister, they should be paid as such, and if they do not have departments to run and all of the things that attend with those same responsibilities, they should not be paid as such.

Cannabis Act  Mr. Speaker, of course, by that logic they could simply lower everyone else. I reject the premise that everything always has to be about raising salaries. This is again the distraction. The point is not what the department is or what the gender of the holder of the office is. It is about having a minister paid to do a minister's work, or a minister of state doing the work of a minister of state and being paid as such.

Cannabis Act  Mr. Speaker, that is the bait and switch. This is not really about who is equal at the cabinet table but about centralizing power, and in this government, the only place one goes to get a funding decision is to Gerald Butts.

Cannabis Act  Mr. Speaker, Canada has historically drawn a distinction between ministers of the crown and ministers of state based on the scope and scale of the work in their portfolio. For example, small businesses and tourism are important components of the Canadian economy. Indeed, they are important enough to warrant a voice in cabinet dedicated to representing their interests.

Cannabis Act  Mr. Speaker, what the government House leader said is so absurd that it could not go unchallenged. She talked about so-called unprecedented consultations and waxed, I would say aimlessly, about the importance of hearing the diversity of opinions while we are debating a time allocation motion that prevents the diverse opinions here in this House from being heard.

Government Appointments  Mr. Speaker, it is just embarrassing to listen to this parliamentary secretary repeat the same sophomoric drivel over and over again. The Ethics Commissioner is investigating the Prime Minister. The Lobbying Commissioner is investigating cash for access fundraising. The Liberals made a shambles of watchdog appointments when they botched the official languages commissioner appointment through obvious patronage.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, in an earlier intervention there was talk about processes. We know that the Liberals are trying to take credit for improvement of the process. Would the member like to comment on the government's apparent decision to move the National Energy Board out of Calgary and what signal that might be sending to industry and to development at large?

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, the implications of this bill include significant changes to policing at the local level. Municipalities have concerns about resources and about adapting to new requirements, particularly with the prospect of having to screen drivers for impairment due to cannabis.

Government Appointments  Madam Speaker, it should be pointed out to the member opposite that there was no smear, and in no way did I impugn the reputation of Madame Meilleur. I did criticize the process by which she was appointed, and I was concerned that it will be the process they use to appoint other officers of Parliament, because that process was anything but transparent.

Government Appointments  Madam Speaker, last week, for the second time in two weeks, I asked the Prime Minister if he would recuse himself from the process of appointing a new ethics commissioner. In fact, I had asked whether he was signalling things to come when the Liberals appointed a former Liberal provincial cabinet minister to be the official languages commissioner.

Public Service Labour Relations Act  Mr. Speaker, I am sorry the member for Vancouver Quadra was disappointed with my speech. She may have noted from the outset that I did broadly agree and support the aims of the bill, but the important issue at stake, the issue of the secret ballot, is such that it renders the rest of the bill, unfortunately, unworthy of support.