John Nater

Mr. Speaker, maybe the Minister of Canadian Heritage should review the values and ethics code for the public service, especially the chapter on conflict of interest.Once again, we see her staff being lobbied by their former employers. In fact, her chief of staff has been lobbied six times by Google Canada. The problem, Google Canada was her former employer. Anyone with a basic understanding of ethics would know this is a blatant conflict of interest.Is the Prime Minister wilfully ignorant of the conflicts of interest within his own ministry, or does he just not care?

Again, Mr. Speaker, that was not the question.The former attorney general said very clearly, “It is a pillar of our democracy that our system of justice be free from even the perception of political interference”, yet we know from the lobbyists commissioner that over a dozen times, SNC-Lavalin met with members of the Prime Minister's Office, including principal secretary Gerry Butts. The Prime Minister says that sunshine is the best disinfectant, so let us shine some sunlight on this issue. Did the Prime Minister's Office discuss a special deal for SNC-Lavalin with the former attorney general, yes or no?

Madam Speaker, under our government, CO2 emissions actually went down.Under the failed Liberal policies of the Kathleen Wynne Liberals, life in rural Ontario is becoming more expensive. In fact, high energy costs are especially hard on seniors living on fixed incomes, on farmers, on farm families, and on small businesses. Now the federal Liberals are taking lessons from the failed playbook of the Kathleen Wynne Liberals. Why is the Prime Minister forcing a carbon tax on rural Canadians who can least afford it?

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order related to Standing Order 151. Last evening, an unlawful and illegitimate meeting of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association was held in this very building to orchestrate a coup against its chair, the hon. member for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill.After the meeting had been called to order, the chair entertained a point of order about the validity of the meeting. After taking advice from a procedural clerk in attendance, she ruled that the meeting was not properly constituted and therefore adjourned. Then the majority of the association members present left the room and left Centre Block, in fact respecting the chair's ruling that the meeting had been duly adjourned.Those members were later shocked to hear that the hon. member for Etobicoke Centre then claimed to reconvene the group and presided over an illegal and entirely out of order meeting, where a purported sham motion was passed to remove the chair and install the member for Etobicoke Centre as the new chair of the association. This was done in utter and defiant breach of the association's constitution and by-laws, in disregard of all understanding of parliamentary procedure and in total defiance of fair play and the Liberals' claim to practise positive politics. What it was, Mr. Speaker, was a hatchet job orchestrated by the Prime Minister's office and the chief government whip, whose staffers were at the meeting taking attendance and barring Liberals from leaving. The Liberal Party, which claims to bring us sunny ways, arranged for the political show execution of the hon. member for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill because she had the courage to stand up to the Prime Minister and call out his arrogant and dangerous approach to governing.Voltaire, an author whose works the Prime Minister probably had read to him as a child, described the court martial and execution of British Admiral John Byng with this line:“[...] dans ce pays-ci il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager les autres.”In English, the line is, “In this country, it is wise to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others.” Apparently, the same can be said about the Liberal caucus. So much for our so-called feminist Prime Minister.As I mention, my point of order goes to Standing Order 151. That rule, which we do not often reference here, provides that: The Clerk of the House is responsible for the safekeeping of all the papers and records of the House, and has the direction and control over all the officers and clerks employed in the offices, subject to such orders as the Clerk may, from time to time, receive from the Speaker or the House. Within less than an hour after the illegal and illegitimate election, an election attended and manipulated by most of the cabinet, the sham election of the member of Parliament for Etobicoke Centre, the parliamentary website was updated to show that he is now the chair of the association. Conservatives dispute the validity of this election and will be exploring all available avenues, including judicial recourse, to uphold the hon. member for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill's continued service as chair of the association. I ask that you, Mr. Speaker, issue an order under Standing Order 151 to the clerks of this House to undo last night's changes in respect of the parliamentary records maintained concerning the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association. Additionally, Mr. Speaker, I ask that you also instruct the clerks under that standing order to advise the NATO Parliamentary Assembly immediately and well in advance of the 2018 session due to be held in Halifax from September 16 to 19 that Canada's delegation will be headed by the hon. member for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill and that any claim by the hon. member for Etobicoke Centre to head Canada's delegation is entirely false, without foundation and illegitimate.

Mr. Speaker, we know that Madeleine Meilleur met with Gerry Butts and Katie Telford. Why? She told us in committee. Madeleine Meilleur confirmed that she met with both of them. Yesterday in the House the minister said that never happened. Was the Minister of Canadian Heritage misleading the House when she said so? It is time for the truth. How many times did Madeleine Meilleur meet with members of the PMO before being appointed as the nominee to the official languages portfolio?

Mr. Speaker, Kathleen Wynne's example is clear: failed Liberal policies and skyrocketing energy costs go hand in hand. Every day we hear new concerns from seniors who cannot afford to heat their homes, and small businesses whose energy costs are doubling. Now the Liberals are refusing to release the numbers that would show the actual cost of the carbon tax on Canadian families. Why the carbon tax cover-up? Will the Liberals do the right thing and release the numbers or are they going to keep Canadians in the dark?

Mr. Speaker, farmers across southern Ontario are facing high levels of vomitoxin in this year's corn crop, making it unusable as livestock feed or for ethanol. This means contracts risk being unfilled, increased costs and delays for testing, and significant cost flow issues caused by lack of storage for crops and lack of alternative markets for this corn.Why has the Minister of Agriculture failed to address the concerns of Canadian farmers?

Mr. Speaker, Terri-Lynne McClintic pleaded guilty to the first degree murder of eight-year-old Victoria Stafford of Woodstock. She was eight years old. Now McClintic is being transferred from a prison with bars and razor wire to a healing lodge, a healing lodge where the commissioner of corrections has confirmed there are children present. Every Liberal on that side knows this is wrong.Will the Prime Minister reverse this decision?

Mr. Speaker, the unnecessary Standing Orders standoff has continued for nearly three weeks, and the Liberal House leader says that she wants to have a conversation. However, a conversation only works if she is willing to listen. All Canadians expect a voice in the House, not just the Liberal front bench.Why are the Liberals so afraid of accountability and transparency?

Mr. Speaker, did the Prime Minister really just imply that the appointment of Graham Fraser was a partisan appointment as official languages commissioner? Now that we have seen the withdrawal of the partisan and botched appointment of Madeleine Meilleur, we are left with an interim language commissioner and an Ethics Commissioner whose term is close to an end. Of course, we have not forgotten that the Ethics Commissioner is currently investigating the Prime Minister. Given the Liberal Party track record on appointments, which McGuinty-Wynne Liberal can we expect Gerry Butts to appoint as Ethics Commissioner?

Mr. Speaker, again, all through question period today, we have asked a very simple question of the attorney general and of his parliamentary secretary. We still have not had an answer. We know that Gerald Butts met with the former attorney general to discuss the SNC-Lavalin issue. The very simple question for the attorney general is this. Did that discussion include a special deal for the SNC-Lavalin company, yes or no?

Madam Speaker, the parliamentary secretary is encouraging Canadians to file on time, yet when they do so, the government is clawing back needed benefits from seniors. These are benefits that they rely on.The Minister of National Revenue seems to relish the opportunity to make life harder for Canadians who are already struggling to get by.Will the minister finally call off her tax collectors and give Canadian seniors the respect they deserve?

Mr. Speaker, I thought my question was on the Ethics Commissioner, not the Supreme Court, but with this Prime Minister it is all socks, no action. What we are left with is an Ethics Commissioner whose term is close to an end. She is currently investigating the Prime Minister himself. We have no faith the current government will nominate someone who is truly impartial and non-partisan, who is supposed to be an officer of this Parliament. Will the Prime Minister take the advice of his own botched official languages commissioner and ensure that any appointment has the support and the consent of all recognized parties in the House?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has failed on trade. I recently spoke with a senior in Milverton who is concerned about increases to the cost of her medication under the renegotiated NAFTA. I speak with farmers who are frustrated about losing market share with nothing in return. I speak with manufacturers that are concerned that the Liberals have left them vulnerable to further arbitrary tariffs. Why did the Prime Minister give in to Donald Trump's demands?

Mr. Speaker, Vice-Admiral Mark Norman served this country with dignity and honour and hopes to continue to do so. However, the Liberals sabotaged his career and have attempted to cover it up.Yesterday, all Liberal MPs voted to continue the cover-up and refused to release the secret memo sent by disgraced former clerk of the Privy Council, Michael Wernick, regarding the Vice-Admiral Mark Norman affair.What are the Liberals trying to hide?

Mr. Speaker, we are not talking about the awards that she received, but about the rewards that she is being given for being nominated for being a Liberal donor.Let us talk about Madeleine Meilleur's time as an MPP and a Liberal cabinet minister. Her director of communications is now the minister's director of communications. The director of policy was a former executive director to the Kathleen Wynne Liberals.The minister claims she set up a firewall, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the firewall is as flimsy as the minister's answers in this House. Will the minister provide evidence that this firewall actually exists, or does it exist at all?

Madam Speaker, in its efforts to rush its flawed elections bill through the House, the government failed to consult with those to whom the law would apply. Yesterday, at committee, Google and YouTube confirmed that they cannot implement the changes in time for the election. They were not consulted on the changes, and the changes themselves were unclear. How can Canadians have any faith in the Liberals when even Google is saying that their changes are unclear? What are the Liberals trying to do?

Mr. Speaker, while they dither, criminals go free. However, those are not the only vacancies going unfilled: the Chief Electoral Officer, the lobbying commissioner, the Ethics Commissioner. Now the Information Commissioner is retiring. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister is under investigation by the Privacy Commissioner, the acting commissioner of lobbying, the interim Commissioner of Official Languages, and the acting Ethics Commissioner. Why is the Prime Minister so reluctant to make these appointments? Could it be that he is afraid of permanent oversight officers investigating him?

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Prime Minister's stories do not add up. The former attorney general testified before the justice committee that she was pressured by the Prime Minister and his staff to save 9,000 jobs at SNC-Lavalin, but the CEO of SNC said that he never made any such claims. The Prime Minister must end his cover-up.Will the Prime Minister allow the ethics committee to take a full investigation into the corruption scandal involving SNC-Lavalin, or will he once again make his Liberal MPs stand in the way of justice?

Mr. Speaker, we just learned that Société de l'Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick has filed an injunction in Federal Court to block the appointment of a partisan nominee, Madeleine Meilleur, in the position for official languages commissioner. We know that her appointment has lost the trust of key official languages communities, the people she will be entrusted to represent, yet they are filing court injunctions to block this partisan nomination. Will the Prime Minister do the right thing, withdraw the nomination, go back to the drawing board, and appoint someone without key donations to the Liberal Party?

Mr. Speaker, last night, in the another place, Madeleine Meilleur claimed that while she was serving as Ontario's attorney general, she acted in an impartial fashion. However, at the same time she was attorney general, she was also headlining cash for access events for the Ontario Liberals. Given her track record, are we really expected to believe she will be an impartial officer of this place? Why does the Prime Minister not simply admit that this appointment is what it is? It is a Liberal reward for a Liberal partisan.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has shown no leadership on interprovincial trade. His government's failure to reach an interprovincial trade deal that actually eliminates trade barriers and its unwillingness to stand up for the constitutional right to free internal trade between provinces puts Canadian businesses are risk. Now provinces have begun blocking the trade of wine, and the problem is escalating. While the war of the rosés rages on, the Prime Minister and the government does nothing. When will the minister of intergovernmental affairs do his job and end the trade war between the provinces?

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General has confirmed that the Liberals have failed to take action to improve Internet services in rural and remote communities.Rural businesses across Canada are disadvantaged and families are continually frustrated by slow, unreliable Internet service. There was nothing in the Liberal fall economic statement to address this problem.Why is the Prime Minister failing rural communities?

Mr. Speaker, not even the Liberals are believing these answers. Last night, a Liberal senator questioned Madeleine Meilleur's ability to act independently from the Liberal government. He suggested that not enough time had passed to develop the neutrality and distance needed. If Madeleine Meilleur cannot even convince long-time Liberals that she is independent, how can Canadians believe she will be independent of the Liberal government?

Mr. Speaker, I rise on the same point raised by the member for Sherbrooke. The inability of the Liberal government to manage its legislative agenda meant that S.O. 31s, for the most part, did not happen today, which meant that the House did not have the opportunity to hear from the member for Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis and me. We were going to congratulate the teams that are participating in the Vanier Cup this weekend—

Madam Speaker, reading the same talking points time and time again does not make any more of an answer either. Cash for access is the name of the game for the Liberal Party, and the finance minister is all in. While middle-class Canadians in my riding and across Canada are struggling to make ends meet, drug companies and venture capitalists are wining and dining the Liberal privileged in a downtown Toronto condominium. It has only been a year, but already the Prime Minister and his party are dealing middle-class Canadians out. Would the Prime Minister agree that the speed with which his party has stacked the deck is unprecedented, even for Chrétien Gomery standards?

Mr. Speaker, the fact is the Comeau case shows that the Liberals are not really committed to internal free trade. The working group that the parliamentary secretary cites has met a number of times, but it will not reveal any details because the government says it would be injurious to federal-provincial relations. How bad are these meetings going that even releasing the names of the attendees would be injurious to federal-provincial relations? The Attorney General herself argued against Mr. Comeau at the Supreme Court.Will the Liberals finally stand up for local businesses and consumers, show an ounce of leadership, and free the beer?

Mr. Speaker, on this question of privilege, I would draw the Chair's attention to past Speakers' rulings on this matter, particularly that of Speaker Fraser, that information distributed to the media prior to being tabled in the House constituted a clear prima facie breach of the privileges of the House. I would request that the official opposition be provided the opportunity to come back with additional information and citations on this matter, confirming this egregious breach of the privileges of parliamentarians in this place.

Mr. Speaker, the former attorney general gave extraordinary testimony about the political interference by the Prime Minister in an ongoing criminal trial. Her testimony was backed up by credible evidence: names, texts and documentation. She said, “I experienced a consistent and sustained effort by many people within the government to seek to politically interfere in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion”.The Prime Minister has lost the moral authority to govern and must resign. When will he?

Mr. Speaker, today's Comeau decision shows, once again, that the status quo is not an option.Canadians believe that they should be able to share high-quality Canadian beer, wine, and spirits across provincial boundaries, but pages upon pages of exemptions on alcohol and secretive working groups show that the Canadian free trade agreement has failed consumers and local businesses.Will the Liberals commit today to allow direct-to-consumer sales of alcohol across the country?

The Liberal budget showed a complete neglect for Canadian agriculture, and it is a slap in the face to the 2.2 million Canadians who rely on the industry. However, there is one thing the government can do to help Canadian farmers and farm families: ratify the trans-Pacific partnership. Farmers support it. Small businesses support it. The energy sector supports it. The only one we do not know about is the Liberal government. Can the minister stand in her place today and commit to bringing the TPP to this House for ratification?

Mr. Speaker, I am rising on the same point. I would draw your attention to note 93 on page 513 of Bosc and Gagnon, in which it is stated, referring to Speaker Milliken: ....it is not the role of the Speaker to judge the quality or content of the reply. That applies specifically to questions asked of committee chairs or, in this case, vice-chairs of committees.I would also draw your attention to a precedent in the House. On September 26, 2017, the member for South Shore—St. Margarets asked a question of the vice-chair of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, and you, sir, allowed her to make an ad hominem attack on the member for Lethbridge.

Mr. Speaker, we have learned that the Prime Minister plans to appoint a recently retired provincial Liberal minister as the new official languages watchdog. The Prime Minister promised a new appointments process and, while this is certainly new, appointing a clear partisan to be an officer of Parliament, an officer of this place, is unprecedented.Will the Prime Minister withdraw this nomination before he completely undermines the impartiality and the independence of the Commissioner of Official Languages?

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately the political games are being played by that party that is going to its donation lists to make partisan appointments as officers of this place. Last week, the Minister of Canadian Heritage said that there was a firewall between her and the staff members in her office who worked directly with and for Madeleine Meilleur, but not a single ounce of evidence has been laid before the House of any proof that this firewall was in place before she was appointed as official languages commissioner. Therefore, I would ask the minister, what evidence can she share with the House that a firewall existed before the nomination took place?

Mr. Speaker, it being Thursday, I would like to ask the leader of the government in the House of Commons what business she intends to call for the remainder of this week and what business she plans to call for next week.

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is taking cash for access to a whole new level. Now, for a $5,000 donation to the Liberal Party, including $500 to the Prime Minister's own leadership campaign, he is appointing Liberal friends to be commissioners of the Official Languages Act and officers of this House.Therefore, my question for the Prime Minister is very simple. How big a donation to the Liberal Party does it take to get appointed as the Ethics Commissioner?

Mr. Speaker, what is good for Canadians is investing in Canadian infrastructure. In Perth—Wellington, there are millions of dollars' worth of critical infrastructure projects left unfunded due to delays by the Liberals, yet while the Liberal government is giving $250 million to fund infrastructure in China through the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, critical local infrastructure is left to crumble. Why are the Liberals paying to build roads, bridges and pipelines in China while allowing key local infrastructure here in Canada to crumble?

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. If you review the Thursday questions in the past 20 years, which I have done, and I have done so academically, you will find that the hon. opposition House leader is perfectly within her right to have this preamble.

Mr. Speaker, it being Thursday, it is my privilege to ask the Thursday question. I might say as someone who has done a statistical analysis of 30 years' worth of Thursday questions, it is an honour to actually ask the question today. Could the government House leader inform the House what business the government plans to bring before the House for the remainder of this week and the week we return after our constituency week? The Leader of the Opposition having designated the finance and citizenship and immigration departments for consideration in committee of the whole, could she inform the House when those two debates in committee of the whole will be scheduled?

Mr. Speaker, I do not rise on the same matter. In similar testimony, Madam Meilleur informed the committee that she was informed by the justice department that she would be nominated as the official languages commissioner. However, in further testimony, she stated that—

Mr. Speaker, if one were to review House of Commons Procedure and Practice, second edition, O'Brien and Bosc, there is an interesting discussion throughout chapter 24 on the importance of parliamentary records. Specifically, pages 1209 to 1210 speak to the importance of the corrections to the official record.In an effort to ensure the record reflects that the Conservative government left a $4.3 billion surplus, I would like to ask for unanimous consent to table January's Fiscal Monitor.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has failed on trade. I recently spoke with a senior in Milverton who is concerned about increases to the cost of her medication under the renegotiated NAFTA. I speak with farmers who are frustrated about losing market share with nothing in return. I speak with manufacturers that are concerned that the Liberals have left them vulnerable to further arbitrary tariffs. Why did the Prime Minister give in to Donald Trump's demands?

Madam Speaker, in its efforts to rush its flawed elections bill through the House, the government failed to consult with those to whom the law would apply. Yesterday, at committee, Google and YouTube confirmed that they cannot implement the changes in time for the election. They were not consulted on the changes, and the changes themselves were unclear. How can Canadians have any faith in the Liberals when even Google is saying that their changes are unclear? What are the Liberals trying to do?

Mr. Speaker, Vice-Admiral Mark Norman served this country with dignity and honour and hopes to continue to do so. However, the Liberals sabotaged his career and have attempted to cover it up.Yesterday, all Liberal MPs voted to continue the cover-up and refused to release the secret memo sent by disgraced former clerk of the Privy Council, Michael Wernick, regarding the Vice-Admiral Mark Norman affair.What are the Liberals trying to hide?

Madam Speaker, under our government, CO2 emissions actually went down.Under the failed Liberal policies of the Kathleen Wynne Liberals, life in rural Ontario is becoming more expensive. In fact, high energy costs are especially hard on seniors living on fixed incomes, on farmers, on farm families, and on small businesses. Now the federal Liberals are taking lessons from the failed playbook of the Kathleen Wynne Liberals. Why is the Prime Minister forcing a carbon tax on rural Canadians who can least afford it?

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General has confirmed that the Liberals have failed to take action to improve Internet services in rural and remote communities.Rural businesses across Canada are disadvantaged and families are continually frustrated by slow, unreliable Internet service. There was nothing in the Liberal fall economic statement to address this problem.Why is the Prime Minister failing rural communities?

Mr. Speaker, the unnecessary Standing Orders standoff has continued for nearly three weeks, and the Liberal House leader says that she wants to have a conversation. However, a conversation only works if she is willing to listen. All Canadians expect a voice in the House, not just the Liberal front bench.Why are the Liberals so afraid of accountability and transparency?

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately the political games are being played by that party that is going to its donation lists to make partisan appointments as officers of this place. Last week, the Minister of Canadian Heritage said that there was a firewall between her and the staff members in her office who worked directly with and for Madeleine Meilleur, but not a single ounce of evidence has been laid before the House of any proof that this firewall was in place before she was appointed as official languages commissioner. Therefore, I would ask the minister, what evidence can she share with the House that a firewall existed before the nomination took place?

Mr. Speaker, Kathleen Wynne's example is clear: failed Liberal policies and skyrocketing energy costs go hand in hand. Every day we hear new concerns from seniors who cannot afford to heat their homes, and small businesses whose energy costs are doubling. Now the Liberals are refusing to release the numbers that would show the actual cost of the carbon tax on Canadian families. Why the carbon tax cover-up? Will the Liberals do the right thing and release the numbers or are they going to keep Canadians in the dark?

The Liberal budget showed a complete neglect for Canadian agriculture, and it is a slap in the face to the 2.2 million Canadians who rely on the industry. However, there is one thing the government can do to help Canadian farmers and farm families: ratify the trans-Pacific partnership. Farmers support it. Small businesses support it. The energy sector supports it. The only one we do not know about is the Liberal government. Can the minister stand in her place today and commit to bringing the TPP to this House for ratification?

Mr. Speaker, while they dither, criminals go free. However, those are not the only vacancies going unfilled: the Chief Electoral Officer, the lobbying commissioner, the Ethics Commissioner. Now the Information Commissioner is retiring. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister is under investigation by the Privacy Commissioner, the acting commissioner of lobbying, the interim Commissioner of Official Languages, and the acting Ethics Commissioner. Why is the Prime Minister so reluctant to make these appointments? Could it be that he is afraid of permanent oversight officers investigating him?

Madam Speaker, the parliamentary secretary is encouraging Canadians to file on time, yet when they do so, the government is clawing back needed benefits from seniors. These are benefits that they rely on.The Minister of National Revenue seems to relish the opportunity to make life harder for Canadians who are already struggling to get by.Will the minister finally call off her tax collectors and give Canadian seniors the respect they deserve?

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order related to Standing Order 151. Last evening, an unlawful and illegitimate meeting of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association was held in this very building to orchestrate a coup against its chair, the hon. member for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill.After the meeting had been called to order, the chair entertained a point of order about the validity of the meeting. After taking advice from a procedural clerk in attendance, she ruled that the meeting was not properly constituted and therefore adjourned. Then the majority of the association members present left the room and left Centre Block, in fact respecting the chair's ruling that the meeting had been duly adjourned.Those members were later shocked to hear that the hon. member for Etobicoke Centre then claimed to reconvene the group and presided over an illegal and entirely out of order meeting, where a purported sham motion was passed to remove the chair and install the member for Etobicoke Centre as the new chair of the association. This was done in utter and defiant breach of the association's constitution and by-laws, in disregard of all understanding of parliamentary procedure and in total defiance of fair play and the Liberals' claim to practise positive politics. What it was, Mr. Speaker, was a hatchet job orchestrated by the Prime Minister's office and the chief government whip, whose staffers were at the meeting taking attendance and barring Liberals from leaving. The Liberal Party, which claims to bring us sunny ways, arranged for the political show execution of the hon. member for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill because she had the courage to stand up to the Prime Minister and call out his arrogant and dangerous approach to governing.Voltaire, an author whose works the Prime Minister probably had read to him as a child, described the court martial and execution of British Admiral John Byng with this line:“[...] dans ce pays-ci il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager les autres.”In English, the line is, “In this country, it is wise to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others.” Apparently, the same can be said about the Liberal caucus. So much for our so-called feminist Prime Minister.As I mention, my point of order goes to Standing Order 151. That rule, which we do not often reference here, provides that: The Clerk of the House is responsible for the safekeeping of all the papers and records of the House, and has the direction and control over all the officers and clerks employed in the offices, subject to such orders as the Clerk may, from time to time, receive from the Speaker or the House. Within less than an hour after the illegal and illegitimate election, an election attended and manipulated by most of the cabinet, the sham election of the member of Parliament for Etobicoke Centre, the parliamentary website was updated to show that he is now the chair of the association. Conservatives dispute the validity of this election and will be exploring all available avenues, including judicial recourse, to uphold the hon. member for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill's continued service as chair of the association. I ask that you, Mr. Speaker, issue an order under Standing Order 151 to the clerks of this House to undo last night's changes in respect of the parliamentary records maintained concerning the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association. Additionally, Mr. Speaker, I ask that you also instruct the clerks under that standing order to advise the NATO Parliamentary Assembly immediately and well in advance of the 2018 session due to be held in Halifax from September 16 to 19 that Canada's delegation will be headed by the hon. member for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill and that any claim by the hon. member for Etobicoke Centre to head Canada's delegation is entirely false, without foundation and illegitimate.

Mr. Speaker, we know that Madeleine Meilleur met with Gerry Butts and Katie Telford. Why? She told us in committee. Madeleine Meilleur confirmed that she met with both of them. Yesterday in the House the minister said that never happened. Was the Minister of Canadian Heritage misleading the House when she said so? It is time for the truth. How many times did Madeleine Meilleur meet with members of the PMO before being appointed as the nominee to the official languages portfolio?

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. If you review the Thursday questions in the past 20 years, which I have done, and I have done so academically, you will find that the hon. opposition House leader is perfectly within her right to have this preamble.

Mr. Speaker, I rise on the same point raised by the member for Sherbrooke. The inability of the Liberal government to manage its legislative agenda meant that S.O. 31s, for the most part, did not happen today, which meant that the House did not have the opportunity to hear from the member for Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis and me. We were going to congratulate the teams that are participating in the Vanier Cup this weekend—

Again, Mr. Speaker, that was not the question.The former attorney general said very clearly, “It is a pillar of our democracy that our system of justice be free from even the perception of political interference”, yet we know from the lobbyists commissioner that over a dozen times, SNC-Lavalin met with members of the Prime Minister's Office, including principal secretary Gerry Butts. The Prime Minister says that sunshine is the best disinfectant, so let us shine some sunlight on this issue. Did the Prime Minister's Office discuss a special deal for SNC-Lavalin with the former attorney general, yes or no?

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is taking cash for access to a whole new level. Now, for a $5,000 donation to the Liberal Party, including $500 to the Prime Minister's own leadership campaign, he is appointing Liberal friends to be commissioners of the Official Languages Act and officers of this House.Therefore, my question for the Prime Minister is very simple. How big a donation to the Liberal Party does it take to get appointed as the Ethics Commissioner?

Mr. Speaker, the former attorney general gave extraordinary testimony about the political interference by the Prime Minister in an ongoing criminal trial. Her testimony was backed up by credible evidence: names, texts and documentation. She said, “I experienced a consistent and sustained effort by many people within the government to seek to politically interfere in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion”.The Prime Minister has lost the moral authority to govern and must resign. When will he?

Mr. Speaker, it being Thursday, it is my privilege to ask the Thursday question. I might say as someone who has done a statistical analysis of 30 years' worth of Thursday questions, it is an honour to actually ask the question today. Could the government House leader inform the House what business the government plans to bring before the House for the remainder of this week and the week we return after our constituency week? The Leader of the Opposition having designated the finance and citizenship and immigration departments for consideration in committee of the whole, could she inform the House when those two debates in committee of the whole will be scheduled?

Mr. Speaker, if one were to review House of Commons Procedure and Practice, second edition, O'Brien and Bosc, there is an interesting discussion throughout chapter 24 on the importance of parliamentary records. Specifically, pages 1209 to 1210 speak to the importance of the corrections to the official record.In an effort to ensure the record reflects that the Conservative government left a $4.3 billion surplus, I would like to ask for unanimous consent to table January's Fiscal Monitor.

Madam Speaker, reading the same talking points time and time again does not make any more of an answer either. Cash for access is the name of the game for the Liberal Party, and the finance minister is all in. While middle-class Canadians in my riding and across Canada are struggling to make ends meet, drug companies and venture capitalists are wining and dining the Liberal privileged in a downtown Toronto condominium. It has only been a year, but already the Prime Minister and his party are dealing middle-class Canadians out. Would the Prime Minister agree that the speed with which his party has stacked the deck is unprecedented, even for Chrétien Gomery standards?

Mr. Speaker, I thought my question was on the Ethics Commissioner, not the Supreme Court, but with this Prime Minister it is all socks, no action. What we are left with is an Ethics Commissioner whose term is close to an end. She is currently investigating the Prime Minister himself. We have no faith the current government will nominate someone who is truly impartial and non-partisan, who is supposed to be an officer of this Parliament. Will the Prime Minister take the advice of his own botched official languages commissioner and ensure that any appointment has the support and the consent of all recognized parties in the House?

Mr. Speaker, we have learned that the Prime Minister plans to appoint a recently retired provincial Liberal minister as the new official languages watchdog. The Prime Minister promised a new appointments process and, while this is certainly new, appointing a clear partisan to be an officer of Parliament, an officer of this place, is unprecedented.Will the Prime Minister withdraw this nomination before he completely undermines the impartiality and the independence of the Commissioner of Official Languages?

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Prime Minister's stories do not add up. The former attorney general testified before the justice committee that she was pressured by the Prime Minister and his staff to save 9,000 jobs at SNC-Lavalin, but the CEO of SNC said that he never made any such claims. The Prime Minister must end his cover-up.Will the Prime Minister allow the ethics committee to take a full investigation into the corruption scandal involving SNC-Lavalin, or will he once again make his Liberal MPs stand in the way of justice?

Mr. Speaker, today's Comeau decision shows, once again, that the status quo is not an option.Canadians believe that they should be able to share high-quality Canadian beer, wine, and spirits across provincial boundaries, but pages upon pages of exemptions on alcohol and secretive working groups show that the Canadian free trade agreement has failed consumers and local businesses.Will the Liberals commit today to allow direct-to-consumer sales of alcohol across the country?

Mr. Speaker, what is good for Canadians is investing in Canadian infrastructure. In Perth—Wellington, there are millions of dollars' worth of critical infrastructure projects left unfunded due to delays by the Liberals, yet while the Liberal government is giving $250 million to fund infrastructure in China through the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, critical local infrastructure is left to crumble. Why are the Liberals paying to build roads, bridges and pipelines in China while allowing key local infrastructure here in Canada to crumble?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has shown no leadership on interprovincial trade. His government's failure to reach an interprovincial trade deal that actually eliminates trade barriers and its unwillingness to stand up for the constitutional right to free internal trade between provinces puts Canadian businesses are risk. Now provinces have begun blocking the trade of wine, and the problem is escalating. While the war of the rosés rages on, the Prime Minister and the government does nothing. When will the minister of intergovernmental affairs do his job and end the trade war between the provinces?

Mr. Speaker, again, all through question period today, we have asked a very simple question of the attorney general and of his parliamentary secretary. We still have not had an answer. We know that Gerald Butts met with the former attorney general to discuss the SNC-Lavalin issue. The very simple question for the attorney general is this. Did that discussion include a special deal for the SNC-Lavalin company, yes or no?

Mr. Speaker, we just learned that Société de l'Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick has filed an injunction in Federal Court to block the appointment of a partisan nominee, Madeleine Meilleur, in the position for official languages commissioner. We know that her appointment has lost the trust of key official languages communities, the people she will be entrusted to represent, yet they are filing court injunctions to block this partisan nomination. Will the Prime Minister do the right thing, withdraw the nomination, go back to the drawing board, and appoint someone without key donations to the Liberal Party?

Mr. Speaker, did the Prime Minister really just imply that the appointment of Graham Fraser was a partisan appointment as official languages commissioner? Now that we have seen the withdrawal of the partisan and botched appointment of Madeleine Meilleur, we are left with an interim language commissioner and an Ethics Commissioner whose term is close to an end. Of course, we have not forgotten that the Ethics Commissioner is currently investigating the Prime Minister. Given the Liberal Party track record on appointments, which McGuinty-Wynne Liberal can we expect Gerry Butts to appoint as Ethics Commissioner?

Mr. Speaker, Terri-Lynne McClintic pleaded guilty to the first degree murder of eight-year-old Victoria Stafford of Woodstock. She was eight years old. Now McClintic is being transferred from a prison with bars and razor wire to a healing lodge, a healing lodge where the commissioner of corrections has confirmed there are children present. Every Liberal on that side knows this is wrong.Will the Prime Minister reverse this decision?

Mr. Speaker, maybe the Minister of Canadian Heritage should review the values and ethics code for the public service, especially the chapter on conflict of interest.Once again, we see her staff being lobbied by their former employers. In fact, her chief of staff has been lobbied six times by Google Canada. The problem, Google Canada was her former employer. Anyone with a basic understanding of ethics would know this is a blatant conflict of interest.Is the Prime Minister wilfully ignorant of the conflicts of interest within his own ministry, or does he just not care?

Mr. Speaker, farmers across southern Ontario are facing high levels of vomitoxin in this year's corn crop, making it unusable as livestock feed or for ethanol. This means contracts risk being unfilled, increased costs and delays for testing, and significant cost flow issues caused by lack of storage for crops and lack of alternative markets for this corn.Why has the Minister of Agriculture failed to address the concerns of Canadian farmers?

Mr. Speaker, the fact is the Comeau case shows that the Liberals are not really committed to internal free trade. The working group that the parliamentary secretary cites has met a number of times, but it will not reveal any details because the government says it would be injurious to federal-provincial relations. How bad are these meetings going that even releasing the names of the attendees would be injurious to federal-provincial relations? The Attorney General herself argued against Mr. Comeau at the Supreme Court.Will the Liberals finally stand up for local businesses and consumers, show an ounce of leadership, and free the beer?

Mr. Speaker, on this question of privilege, I would draw the Chair's attention to past Speakers' rulings on this matter, particularly that of Speaker Fraser, that information distributed to the media prior to being tabled in the House constituted a clear prima facie breach of the privileges of the House. I would request that the official opposition be provided the opportunity to come back with additional information and citations on this matter, confirming this egregious breach of the privileges of parliamentarians in this place.

Mr. Speaker, last night, in the another place, Madeleine Meilleur claimed that while she was serving as Ontario's attorney general, she acted in an impartial fashion. However, at the same time she was attorney general, she was also headlining cash for access events for the Ontario Liberals. Given her track record, are we really expected to believe she will be an impartial officer of this place? Why does the Prime Minister not simply admit that this appointment is what it is? It is a Liberal reward for a Liberal partisan.