Hansard--Justice Gomery's Hands Tied: "Gomery is not allowed to say who the guilty parties are"

Hansard: Question Period May 2, 05

Sponsorship Program

Mr. Vic Toews (Provencher, CPC): Mr. Speaker, former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien is going to court to shut down Justice Gomery's commission in the same way the Liberals shut down the APEC and Somalia inquiries.

The current Prime Minister claims that his government will defend Gomery, but it turns out Gomery wants his own lawyers because, as Gomery's lawyer said, he cannot trust government lawyers to defend the commission.

Why can Justice Gomery not trust the government's lawyers to defend his commission?

Hon. Scott Brison (Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has consistently supported the work of Justice Gomery. Our government has consistently supported the work of Justice Gomery. The only people I know who want Justice Gomery to fail and who want Canadians to make a rash decision based on unproven allegations and not on the truth of the Gomery report are the Conservative Party and the separatists who want this Parliament to fail because the Bloc wants Canada to fail.

I do not know why the Conservatives are supporting the separatists in their desire to make this Parliament fail when Canadians want to--

Some hon. members: Oh, oh!

The Speaker: Order. The hon. member for Provencher.

Mr. Vic Toews (Provencher, CPC): Mr. Speaker, only in public does the Prime Minister say he wants Justice Gomery to continue the work that Mr. Chrétien is trying to shut down. Behind closed doors, the Prime Minister led a standing ovation in applauding Mr. Chrétien for his arrogant behaviour in front of the Gomery commission.

How can Canadians trust the government if Justice Gomery cannot trust it to defend his commission?

Hon. Scott Brison (Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, our Prime Minister appointed Justice Gomery. Our Prime Minister ensured that Justice Gomery had access to the resources he needed to succeed, in fact to provide over 12 million pages of documents to Justice Gomery, including cabinet documents dating back to 1994. We want the truth. We want Canadians to have the truth. That is why we support Justice Gomery.

It is the Conservative Party that is afraid of the truth. It is the Conservative Party that would rather fight the election based on unproven allegations than respecting Canadians and ensuring they have the truth to make a good rational decision.

Mrs. Diane Ablonczy (Calgary—Nose Hill, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the government repeatedly promises to be open and transparent but behind closed doors it is a different ugly reality.

The Prime Minister recently admitted that fellow Liberals pushed to hide the sponsorship scandal. He confessed that he had received “tons” of advice to “put it under the rug”. Who are the tons of people in the PMO and in the cabinet counselling deceit and cover-up?

Hon. Scott Brison (Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand by a Prime Minister who is willing to do the right thing and put country before party, to put principle before partisan strategy and to put Canadians first in his support for Justice Gomery so Canadians have the truth.

We are not as interested in partisan strategy over here. We are interested in getting to the truth for Canadians because Canadians deserve the truth.

Mrs. Diane Ablonczy (Calgary—Nose Hill, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the inquiry came about because it was far too late for the Liberals to bury their misdeeds. The Auditor General had already sounded the alarm. The Prime Minister did the next best thing. He tied Gomery's hands.

The terms of reference prohibit Gomery from “expressing any conclusion or recommendation regarding the civil or criminal liability of any person or organization”.

Why is the government hiding from Canadians the fact that Gomery is not allowed to say who the guilty parties are, as the Prime Minister promises?

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Hon. Scott Brison (Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the fact is there are criminal charges against some individuals, including Mr. Brault, their much flaunted friend over there. The fact is we have launched civil actions against 19 firms and agencies to recover $41 million from those individuals.

Beyond that, there is a parallel process to the Gomery commission that is aimed at accomplishing two things: first, providing Canadians with an analysis of what happened in the fact finding part of his work; and, second, prescriptives to ensure it does not happen again.

His mandate is clear and the mandate of all parliamentarians in the House is clear: to make this Parliament work [. . . . ]

Justice Gomery's mandate is extremely limited, clearly.

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