[asia-apec 758] Cdn.Hansard, Oct.5/98, re: APEC'97

[Sharon R.A. Scharfe]

Hansard
House of Commons
Ottawa, Canada
Official Transcript (English edition)

October 5, 1998

...

ORAL QUESTIONS

...

APEC SUMMIT 

Miss Deborah Grey (Edmonton North, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, this morning the
chairman of the public complaints commission said they will follow the APEC
fingerprints wherever they lead. 

So far those fingerprints seem to lead directly to the doorstep of the Prime
Minister's office. 

Why wait for the subpoena? Why does the Prime Minister not just volunteer to
appear before that commission immediately? 

Hon. Herb Gray (Deputy Prime Minister, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the commission
has not asked the Prime Minister to appear. The member's question, as usual,
is totally hypothetical and besides, the
commission is just beginning its hearings today. 

Let the commission do its work. This is what the protesters want. Let the
hearings take place in an active and thorough atmosphere. Why does the hon.
member not want to support that sensible approach? 

Miss Deborah Grey (Edmonton North, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, the sensible approach
is that this commission seems to be going a little further than just
checking into RCMP activities. I think the Canadian public is looking
forward to that. If our Prime Minister refuses to appear before this
commission if he is subpoenaed, Canadians will never know what the truth of
this story is. 

I would like the Deputy Prime Minister to answer my question for a change.
Why will the Prime Minister evade this? Will he voluntarily appear before
the commission or will he let Jean Carle be the fall guy for him? 

Hon. Herb Gray (Deputy Prime Minister, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the weakness of
the assertion in the hon. member's question is shown by her admission that a
former senior staff member and a current senior staff member in the Prime
Minister's office are going to appear before the commission. 

Let us allow the commission do its work. Why does the hon. member want to
hamper the commission before it even begins its work? Let the work continue.
Let us see what happens as a result. 

                                    *  *  *
...

APEC SUMMIT 

Mr. Dick Proctor (Palliser, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my question is for the
solicitor general. For weeks now the government has been giving assurances
that the RCMP commission will get to the bottom of the Spray-PEC inquiry. 

Why then did the solicitor general say that the Prime Minister will not be
attending the inquiry because he would only become the focus of it but
instead the solicitor general will act as cover for the Prime Minister? Why
did the solicitor general say “I'm the cover” for the Prime Minister on this
issue? 

Hon. Andy Scott (Solicitor General of Canada, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I do not
know where the hon. member is getting his information but I never said such
a thing. 

Mr. Dick Proctor (Palliser, NDP): Mr. Speaker, the solicitor general has
been saying do not prejudge the outcome but wait for the inquiry. Why did he
then ignore his own advice? 

Is the solicitor general denying that he said last Thursday: “This inquiry
will reveal that four or five Mounties used excessive force and
overreacted”? Does the minister deny saying I wanted to go to the World
Series, to New York, but I can't because “I'm the cover” for the Prime
Minister? 

Hon. Andy Scott (Solicitor General of Canada, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I have no
idea where the hon. member is getting his information but none of it is true. 

                                    *  *  *
...

[Translation] 

                              APEC SUMMIT 

Mr. Michel Bellehumeur (Berthier—Montcalm, BQ): Mr. Speaker, my question is
for the acting Prime Minister. 

The documents on the Peppergate affair handed over to the commission by the
offices of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs are
apparently incomplete and censured. In the opinion of the Deputy Prime
Minister, does not providing the documents requested do anything to improve
the image of the Prime Minister's transparency? 

Is the government pulling another Somalia on us here? 

[English] 

Hon. Andy Scott (Solicitor General of Canada, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, it is
quite the contrary. There has been a lot of compliance with these requests
for information. Large volumes of information have been made available. More
information continues to come forward. There has been no allegation from
anybody at the public complaints commission that they are not getting
exactly what they are asking for. 

                                    *  *  *
...

APEC SUMMIT 

Ms. Alexa McDonough (Halifax, NDP): Mr. Speaker, when the solicitor general
prejudices the outcome of the Spray-PEC inquiry, as my colleague clearly
heard him do on an Ottawa to Fredericton flight on Thursday evening,
confidence in the inquiry is severely undermined. 

To remove any doubt about whether the solicitor general or anyone else is
covering for the Prime Minister, will the Prime Minister commit today to
appear before the public complaints inquiry? 

Hon. Andy Scott (Solicitor General of Canada, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, many times
in the last two or three weeks I have stood in the House and very much
protected the process to get to the truth of this matter for everyone to
hear, and here it is: we will not interfere with that process. We will get
to the truth in exactly the manner the House set up the public complaints
commission to do. 

Ms. Alexa McDonough (Halifax, NDP): Mr. Speaker, too bad the solicitor
general has totally compromised this process now. Our justice system depends
upon the scrupulous impartiality of the
solicitor general. He is one of the senior law officers of the land. 

Is it a proper role for the solicitor general to cover for the Prime
Minister? Is it a proper role for the solicitor general to be a party to
four to five RCMP officers taking the rap? 

Hon. Andy Scott (Solicitor General of Canada, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I can only
say that I have stood in the House many times and said exactly what I have
said just now. 

We will get to the truth. The public complaints commission is doing its
investigation. I wish hon. members would let it do its job. 

Mr. Peter MacKay (Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, PC): Mr. Speaker, week
after week Canadians have witnessed the dodging and weaving of the Prime
Minister in an effort to avoid accountability for his actions at APEC. Yet
Prime Minister staffers like Jennifer Lang are allowed to
comment at random on the APEC allegations, dismissing Chief Gail Sparrows as
not credible. 

My question is for the Deputy Prime Minister. Why is it that Liberal spin
doctors are allowed to comment on APEC outside the public complaints
commission while the Prime Minister continues to
hide? Why the double standard? 

Hon. Herb Gray (Deputy Prime Minister, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the first thing I
want to do is check the accuracy of the hon. member's assertion. Certainly,
as the solicitor general has said, we want the hearings to begin. We want
them to be carried out thoroughly and effectively. 

I do not see why the hon. member raises this kind of question if he really
wants these commission hearings to succeed. Let them continue and let us see
what the result will be. 

Mr. Peter MacKay (Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough, PC): Mr. Speaker, William
Kaplan's recent book Presumed Guilty outlines many disturbing details about
the Liberal government's politicized relationship with the RCMP. One such
detail is a briefing note in August 1995 on the Airbus investigation for the
then solicitor general. 

In light of documented intervention of the Prime Minister's Office into RCMP
security at APEC, I ask a question of our current solicitor general. Did he
receive a similar briefing note from the Prime Minister's Office instructing
him on the role of the RCMP during the APEC summit? 

Hon. Andy Scott (Solicitor General of Canada, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the
security arrangements around APEC were completely and entirely the
responsibility of the RCMP. I have been assured by the RCMP since the
conference on many occasions that it is entirely security decisions. The
RCMP will be speaking to these questions during the hearings that have
started today. 

                                    *  *  *
...

APEC SUMMIT 

Mr. Svend J. Robinson (Burnaby—Douglas, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my question is
for the solicitor general. 

This minister who said on Thursday that he would cover for the Prime
Minister at the APEC inquiry is the same minister who denied legal funds to
students at the inquiry trying to get at the truth about the role of his
friend, the Prime Minister. 

In view of the fact that the minister's cover has now been blown and his
critical independence as solicitor general is gone, will he do the
honourable thing and resign as solicitor general? 

Hon. Andy Scott (Solicitor General of Canada, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I am sure
the hon. member understands there is a process in place to get to the truth.
It is a process that I have defended in the House quite consistently for the
last couple of weeks. 

That process has to be allowed to get to the truth. I am sure they will
speak to whomever they need to, to get to the truth. 

                                    *  *  *
...

[end]



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