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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 218

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 21, 2023 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 218 - Jun/21/23
Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)
  • Jun/21/23 3:10:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I was pleased to be in New York to meet with Ursula von der Leyen and Mia Mottley to engage in important conversations about the future of our economy and the fight against climate change. These are things that matter. It was a mid-week trip, and I happen to know that former prime minister Harper was also attending meetings, at the same time we were down there, with the same organization. These are things that matter in terms of Canada's leadership in the world. They matter in terms of outcomes for Canadians. We will continue to do the work that Canadians expect of this government to lead on the global stage.
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Context: House Hansard - 218 - Jun/22/23
Mr. Mark Gerretsen (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (Senate), Lib.)
  • Jun/22/23 12:15:18 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will attempt to respond to the member's original question that he is raising about the meeting that occurred some seven years ago that was organized by the Privy Council office in a building occupied by the Privy Council office. The member knows this, yet persists in repeating his false narrative about some purported conspiracy theory that involves the Prime Minister. There were no political officials at the meeting in question, and the member knows this well. Why do I say that the member knows this? It is because the issue was the subject of a meeting of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on June 12. Perhaps that is why he is now taking a more light-hearted approach to the question. At the meeting, where several retired deputy ministers and some current deputy ministers appeared, individuals had no concrete recollection of the subject matter of the meeting. In fact, let me reference what a current deputy minister said at the meeting. Mr. Graham Flack said that he now serves in a completely different role than in the year of the meeting in question, and indicated that he recalled something discussed about pluralism. I know it must be difficult for the member to realize that this wild goose chase yielded no geese. The fact is simple, there were no geese to chase in the first place. The matter the member is raising amounts to nothing more than a flawed assumption about a meeting that occurred seven years ago, which nobody who attended seemed to recall anything of substance about. Sometimes when one scrapes the bottom of the barrel, they have to realize that there is nothing to be found. I do credit the member for his obstinance to keep scraping away. There have been numerous meetings on this issue. Numerous witnesses have appeared, and the member has nothing of substance to show for it. The only conclusion to draw is that there is nothing untoward to be found. There was a meeting seven years ago. There was an access to information request that stated something about the foundation in question. Only a genius could contrive a controversy where there is none, but perhaps not a genius. I will leave that to members to make their own determination on. To the extent of the logic that the member is making, any meeting that happens in the Justice Building, for example, on the parliamentary precinct, must have been attended by the Minister of Justice. The member keeps scraping and scraping, and is left in the dark of the night with nothing to grasp at. I salute the member for his persistence on the matter.
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