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Decentralized Democracy

Member of Parliament

Mel Arnold

  • Member of Parliament
  • Member of Parliament
  • Conservative
  • North Okanagan—Shuswap
  • British Columbia
  • Voting Attendance: 69%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $117,514.07

  • Government Page
Context: House Hansard - 190 - May/4/23
Mr. Mel Arnold
  • May/4/23 12:14:59 a.m.
  • Watch
Madam Speaker, the member tried to say that the question had been answered, but it had not. The question really was this: Can the government only find family and insiders willing to work with it or is this another attempt to censor disclosure of its ongoing ethics breaches? Which is it? That question still has not been answered, not by the parliamentary secretary when he answered, nor tonight by this member. After six ethics breaches that these government members have been found guilty of, they still do not realize how important ethics are to Canadians. They should have faith that members who have been elected to represent this country do have an ethics compass, which the government and these members seem to have lost somewhere along the way. Again, will they actually answer the question? Is it family and friends only or he does not—
146 words
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Context: House Hansard - 190 - May/4/23
Mr. Mel Arnold (North Okanagan—Shuswap, CPC)
  • May/4/23 12:10:04 a.m.
  • Watch
Madam Speaker, on March 28 of this year, the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner announced in a Twitter post the appointment of an interim Ethics Commissioner. What Canadians might not have known from that post was that the person appointed was the sister-in-law of a Liberal cabinet minister, but not just any cabinet minister. When red flags went up about that appointment, I raised my concern and that of many Canadians when I posed a question on March 31. At that time, I stated in this House: ...we should all remember clam scam, when the then fisheries minister was found guilty of an ethics breach for awarding a $24-million licence to a company to be ran by his wife's cousin. Now the Liberals have appointed the same cabinet minister's sister-in-law as the Ethics Commissioner. Really? Can they only find family and insiders willing to work for them, or is this another attempt to censor disclosure of their ongoing ethics issues? Which is it? The parliamentary secretary responded but did not answer the question. Instead, he danced around it like there was nothing wrong. After six ethics violations, the Liberals attempted to appoint a family member to the Ethics Commissioner’s office to cover for them. Now, as days go by, we are seeing more evidence of why they may have attempted to ensure their friends and family were controlling the Office of the Ethics Commissioner, as more questions of the government’s ethics, or lack thereof, continue to emerge. On Monday, the world learned that the government failed to inform a sitting member of Parliament that it knew of yet more evidence that the Communist regime in Beijing is actively attempting to meddle in our democracy. The government knew about it and chose to do nothing. This is something that should make all Canadians question the Liberal-NDP government’s version of ethics. It is unacceptable that the government has known that an MP and his family had been targeted by the Communist regime in Beijing for two years and did not inform the member about the threats posed to his family. Chinese Canadians across the country deserve to know that the government takes their safety and security seriously, yet Canada still has not shut down Beijing’s police stations operating within Canada and has failed to protect members of the community from harassment and intimidation. Is this because the government has no ethical compass? I will ask this again: Can the Liberals and their NDP partners only find family and insiders willing to work with them, or was this another attempt to censor disclosure of their ongoing ethics breaches? Which is it?
458 words
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  • Rabble!
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