Shady gumshoes, mortgage scams, guns and accusations of double-standards framed a raucous Question Period today as the government tried to turn the tables on the Liberals.
There was great excitement, hooting and hollering from the Tory side as Transport Minister John Baird accused Scarborough MP Derek Lee, a Liberal backbencher, of lobbying after uncovering a website showing he is legal counsel to a Toronto-area law firm.
"Now, we learn that the Liberal Leader is condoning his own Liberal members of Parliament from acting as paid lobbyists for foreign organizations," Mr. Baird said. "The Leader of the Liberal Party should ensure that the information of all Liberal MPs who are acting as paid lobbyists to special interests is put on the table. Be honest with Canadians."
Mr. Lee released a statement later in the day saying he acts as counsel to the law firm and has disclosed all of this to the Ethics Commissioner. He has also sent a letter to the commissioner asking her to review his file to ensure he is doing nothing wrong. "Contrary to accusations made by the members of the Conservative government, I am not a lobbyist, nor have I ever been paid to lobby the federal government," he said.
And then there was the matter of the double standard. Helena Guergis is kicked out of caucus for unknown deeds while her colleague, Devinder Shory, remains in caucus after being named in a huge mortgage scam lawsuit.
Why the different treatment, NDP leader Jack Layton demanded. Women's groups have their funding cut and the government won't meet with them to discuss it, he said, but Harper cabinet ministers will meet with Rahim Jaffer - and he's not even registered as a lobbyist?
There is no double standard, the Tories replied.
"Let me get this straight," Mr. Layton continued. "There are some very serious allegations from a very credible third party … that the Conservative Member of Parliament from Calgary Northeast is linked to what is believed to be, at $100-million, the largest bank fraud in Canadian history.
"What is the difference between him and the member for Simcoe-Grey? Why did the government not call in the RCMP? Why is the member still sitting in the Conservative caucus?"
Government House Leader Jay Hill echoed what Stephen Harper had said earlier in the day when asked about the situation by reporters traveling with him in Europe. "Clearly this is a personal, civil matter concerning the member for Calgary Northeast and has absolutely nothing to do with the business of the Government of Canada," Mr. Hill said.
In the wake of her expulsion from caucus a month ago and this week's decision to bar her from running as a Tory in her riding, Ms. Guergis sent a letter to the Conservative Party saying she has absolutely no knowledge as to what she's done wrong. Mr. Shory, meanwhile, is one of more than 100 people, including other lawyers, mortgage brokers and even staff at the bank itself, who are targeted in the suit, filed in Calgary by the bank.
He says he has done nothing wrong just as Ms. Guergis says she has done nothing wrong. And now it seems that opposition MPs, who just a few weeks ago were her most aggressive opponents, are feeling sorry for her:
"Canadians are having trouble figuring out where Conservatives draw the ethical lines," PEI Liberal MP Wayne Easter said. "Apparently, if someone leaves behind security documents at a girlfriend's place, he stays in caucus [a reference to former Foreign Affairs minister Maxime Bernier]
"But if a shady gumshoe makes second-hand allegations, which we still do not know, about a minister of the Crown, she gets kicked out of cabinet, kicked out of the party and the Mounties are called in. How are Canadians supposed to understand where ethics end and political expediency begins?"
No answer was forthcoming. Instead, Mr. Baird turned the question around to accuse Mr. Lee of unregistered lobbying.
For his part, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff was focused on the long-gun registry as police groups and victims'-rights representatives were on Parliament Hill calling for the continuation of the controversial program.
"We stand with the survivors of the École Polytechnique massacre. We stand with the chiefs of police. We stand with the officers. We stand with legitimate gun owners who stand behind the gun registry in order to keep our communities safe," Mr. Ignatieff said. "Why is the government ignoring all of these voices of reason?"
Replied Mr. Baird: "We stand with victims. We stand with Canadians. We stand with all of those who want to make our communities safer. That is why we are pursuing an aggressive regime through amendments to the Criminal Code. … If the Leader of the Opposition wants to support victims he should get behind our crime agenda."