Conservative MP Goes OFF On Liberal DICTATORSHIP In The House!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voByjIOjCZM
Conservative MP and Chair of the Ethics Committee John Brassard delivers a compelling speech where he outlines why committee formation should be determined by the results of an election as per the Standing Orders.
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TRANSCRIPT
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And if Canadians wanted any evidence, any evidence at all
7 seconds
that what the Liberal government wants is an audience and not an effective opposition,13 seconds
motion 9 reflects accurately and precisely that.20 seconds
It
was about a year ago, just under just over a year under a year ago,
that the prime minister of this country was elected by Canadians. It was
a fair election,32 seconds
but the prime minister was elected in a minority situation,38 seconds
Mr. Speaker. He received less votes than what he needed and as a majority. And Canadians sent that message as they did45 seconds
in
previous elections because they weren't happy with the Liberal
government and what they were doing uh to this country and electing them
in a53 seconds
minority situation because we had a untested unproven prime minister who had never engaged in1 minute, 1 second
politics again before. So Canadians actually voted for a minority government. what that meant as is the1 minute, 9 seconds
convention around this place and as in is relation to standing orders. We had committees that were negotiated at that1 minute, 16 seconds
time and that were structured in a way that reflected the results of the1 minute, 22 seconds
election. It meant that for conservatives and members of the block, we had the majority of members on those committees.1 minute, 35 seconds
for
the committees that weren't oversight committees. That meant that if
the opposition members wanted to determine what a study was going to be,1 minute, 43 seconds
if
they wanted to compel witnesses, if they wanted to summons, if they
wanted to compel documents, they could do it without it having to get to
the chair.1 minute, 54 seconds
That's the way committees were formed.1 minute, 56 seconds
And
the same can be said about the oversight committees, Mr. Speaker, of
which I'm the chair of the ethics committee. The oversight committees2 minutes, 3 seconds
exist because they deal with issues of importance related to government operations,2 minutes, 10 seconds
government contracts,2 minutes, 12 seconds
ethics, accountability, transparency. If it wasn't for the oversight committees in previous parliaments, as the member2 minutes, 20 seconds
from Regina Capel had said, none of the scandals that became big scandals, scandals that in fact caused this parliament to be2 minutes, 29 seconds
probed in the case of the Winnipeg Lab scandal, none of those things would have come out if it wasn't for the oversight2 minutes, 37 seconds
committees. And that's the purpose that they serve, Mr. speaker is to hold the government to account to ensure that2 minutes, 44 seconds
there's transparency to ensure that the information that is available to us2 minutes, 51 seconds
in
a majority situation of members on that on that committee especially
when a minority government is elected that we are able to do that and we
run a real2 minutes, 59 seconds
risk. I have a grave grave concern that the level of accountability,3 minutes, 5 seconds
transparency
is not going to be there with Liberal members uh at least at a minimum
on these oversight committees controlling those committees.3 minutes, 15 seconds
And
Mr. Speaker, when those committees were constituted, there was good
faith negotiations to make sure that they were going going to happen.
the proportionality of what's happened now3 minutes, 23 seconds
in this transactional nature of of a majority government uh where we've seen floor crossers in fact give the3 minutes, 31 seconds
government a majority uh that means that there's just over 50% of the seats right now which again should be reflective on3 minutes, 40 seconds
those committees but what the Liberals are proposing with motion number nine is to in fact give themselves 58%3 minutes, 48 seconds
of representation on those committees ensuring that nothing that the opposition wants3 minutes, 56 seconds
to do at those committees will actually happen. There will be no summoning of documents.4 minutes, 4 seconds
There will be no uh appearance by witnesses. There will be no studies on things that happen as a result of um4 minutes, 14 seconds
scandals within this government that will ever see the light of day. Mr.4 minutes, 18 seconds
speaker. And that is what is most troubling to me. The other thing that's been troubling,4 minutes, 26 seconds
and
I've I've seen a pattern of this over the 10 plus years that I've been
here, and I think it speaks to the importance of what's needed in this4 minutes, 36 seconds
country.
If we don't have any accountability and we don't have the type of
transparently transparency that parliament is going to be able to
provide at this point, Mr. Speaker,4 minutes, 46 seconds
especially given the work the committees are charged with,4 minutes, 50 seconds
it seems like we've turned into a country that we are the only country in the4 minutes, 57 seconds
world in the liberalized in liberalized democracies around the world where the opposition party is held to a greater5 minutes, 5 seconds
account than the government by the media.5 minutes, 11 seconds
And that needs to that needs to stop right now, Mr. Mr. Speaker, because the power that is given to this parliament,5 minutes, 17 seconds
the
power that is given to MPs, the supreme power that it's given is being
taken away by this government through motion number nine. And it's a sad5 minutes, 25 seconds
indictment on where we are with respect to oversight and accountability and transparency when there are YouTubers5 minutes, 34 seconds
who are finding out more about what's happening within the Liberal government and the scandals and5 minutes, 42 seconds
the connections of well-connected insiders, lobbyists, family members.5 minutes, 47 seconds
When YouTubers are are researching this stuff and finding this stuff out, that's a sad indictment5 minutes, 54 seconds
on
where we are with respect to media accountability in this country and
holding the opposition to greater account than they do to the government6 minutes, 2 seconds
party. And so with all that's happening with motion 9,6 minutes, 7 seconds
I
want to send a message because it's going to become increasingly
important for the media if this passes without amendment on the
oversight committees.6 minutes, 18 seconds
Do your godamn jobs.6 minutes, 23 seconds
Order. Order. The member knows that's not parliamentary. I'll just ask him to withdraw and we'll carry on.6 minutes, 27 seconds
I'll withdraw that, Mr. Speaker. Do your jobs. hold the government to account for everything that's going on with respect6 minutes, 35 seconds
to spending, contracts, all that stuff because Canadians are going to need to rely on media to do this because they6 minutes, 44 seconds
are handcuffing the the Liberal government is handcuffing the opposition party right now, particularly on oversight committees.6 minutes, 54 seconds
Mr. Speaker,6 minutes, 57 seconds
with this motion and with everything else that we've seen, the sad reality is that Liberals expect Canadians to give7 minutes, 3 seconds
up, to get complacent, and to go away so that the prime prime minister can have total power without any accountability.7 minutes, 12 seconds
That won't happen. Our country and its people are worth fighting for. Mr.7 minutes, 16 seconds
Speaker, we'll continue to fight for people to afford homes, fuel, and food.7 minutes, 23 seconds
We'll continue to fight for safety on our streets. We'll continue to fight for our resource workers, our soldiers, and7 minutes, 31 seconds
Conservatives will continue to lead that fight every day and in every way in parliament across the country and into7 minutes, 37 seconds
the
next election when Canadians will reclaim this country we know and love
and put the power back to the people and not the government. And Mr.
Speaker,7 minutes, 49 seconds
with
that I would like to close with an amendment to government motion
number nine. And it reads that the motion be amended in paragraph B by
adding after7 minutes, 58 seconds
the words and estimates the word and and B by adding after the words public accounts the following which shall8 minutes, 7 seconds
consist of nine members and be composed of four members from the Liberal party,8 minutes, 12 seconds
four
members from the Conservative Party and one member from the Block
Kequa. and I present that to you now, Mr. Speaker, as an amendment.
Thank you.8 minutes, 20 seconds
Comments comment. The honorable member for Burlington.8 minutes, 25 seconds
Mr. Speaker, I've been here for over 10 years and I've seen a lot of theatrics in this place, but the drama coming from8 minutes, 32 seconds
that last speech was even a bit much for I think that honorable member and the conservatives speaking as if you know we8 minutes, 39 seconds
are taking away members rights and their opportunities to be representatives I think is over the top. In fact, every8 minutes, 47 seconds
member in this house has an important role to play. What the government is doing is acting on the fact that we now8 minutes, 54 seconds
have a majority. And so, I'll put it to him because I didn't actually get an answer from his house leader when I said9 minutes, 1 second
if the Conservatives should ever, you know, we'll see if that ever happens,9 minutes, 5 seconds
find
themselves in a situation where they have a majority government, will
he commit right now to ensuring that the Conservatives do not hold a
majority on9 minutes, 14 seconds
committee? Thank you, Mr. Speaker member for Barry South Indisville. Well,9 minutes, 18 seconds
I'm sorry that the honorable member thinks that uh the passion that I'm showing uh for accountability,9 minutes, 24 seconds
transparency, and ensuring that the government acts in an ethical manner is just theatrics because nothing could be9 minutes, 31 seconds
further
from the truth. Mr. Speaker, I am very passionate about this. As chair
of the ethics committee, uh I'm keenly aware of we just dropped a report
today9 minutes, 40 seconds
on the conflict of interest act. Uh we uh throughout the testimony of the conflict of interest act heard uh some9 minutes, 48 seconds
uh pretty disturbing things when it comes to blind trusts ethics screens not being applied in proper manners. Um you9 minutes, 58 seconds
know the uh companies uh having $5.6 billion in unpaid taxes through offshore10 minutes, 5 seconds
accounts. Uh, you know, I we've seen in the last little while, we've seen contracts, uh, the spaceport in New10 minutes, 12 seconds
Brunswick, uh, other contracts handed out to Liberal family members. Uh, Mr.10 minutes, 17 seconds
Speaker,
I will make no apologies for being passionate about defending the
rights of Canadians and making sure that ethical standards are met in
this country.10 minutes, 27 seconds
The honorable member for,10 minutes, 31 seconds
Mr. Speaker, after promising to collaborate to ask for the points of view of the opposition, well, the first10 minutes, 39 seconds
thing
that we're seeing from this now majority liberal government is to
change the rules of the game unilaterally without any consultation of
the blocka.10 minutes, 50 seconds
And they're even going against parliamentary tradition where committee uh makeup is established by consensus.11 minutes, 1 second
Right now they're doing exactly the con uh the opposite. And worse, when we look at the proposal from the Liberals, the11 minutes, 8 seconds
Liberals would have 58% of seats on parliamentary committees even though they have just one 51% of seats in11 minutes, 15 seconds
parliament.
I'd like to know what my honorable colleague thinks. The honorable
member for Berry South Inisville. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've already
uh spoken to this in my speech.11 minutes, 26 seconds
Uh as I said when the election uh took place uh last April or a year11 minutes, 34 seconds
ago, each party negotiated together the makeup of committees and the number of members on11 minutes, 42 seconds
uh committees and there were there were discussions at that time. And11 minutes, 52 seconds
now with members having crossed the floor, we're in this situation to ensure uh that we have accountability,11 minutes, 57 seconds
oversight, transparency at our committees. Um and this will do nothing to uh ensure that. In fact, I will12 minutes, 6 seconds
suggest
that it will make it much much worse and the Liberals will run ramshot
through everything. They will pass whatever they want to pass and uh12 minutes, 16 seconds
committees will not have a say in any of it. Thank you.
