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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 262

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 5, 2023 10:00AM
  • Dec/5/23 10:35:49 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I apologize for not being in the House in time to hear the whole speech of my colleague; however, I sit next to him in committee and am very aware of the circumstances here. I would ask the member what he sees as the ripple effect of this decision by the government with respect to impacting future procurement opportunities.
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  • Dec/5/23 11:39:28 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I do indeed believe that we are at a crucial point in the process. It is not too late. There is still time to change things. All the government has to do is swallow its pride and say it thought it was doing the right thing, but, as it turns out, the poll results were not really what it thought they were. There are so many ways the government could backtrack. I am pretty sure that has happened in politics before. This monument will be there for decades, for centuries. This is an extremely important decision. A mistake was made, but the government can reverse course and say it has changed its mind. If the government does that, we will support it.
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  • Dec/5/23 4:07:50 p.m.
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I will take the amendment under advisement for a few minutes and make a decision as quickly as possible. Questions and comments, the hon. member for Barrie—Innisfil.
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  • Dec/5/23 5:28:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am rising to respond to a question of privilege raised by my hon. colleague from the Bloc Québécois respecting the procurement decision relating to the replacement of the Aurora aircraft. First, I want to be clear that the government has not misled the House with respect to this matter. I will run through the chronology of events as articulated by the member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot to substantiate my assertion that the statements made in the House on this matter were accurate and truthful. The decision of the government to award the contract for the replacement of the Aurora aircraft to Boeing was taken in the evening of November 28, well after the time allotted for Oral Questions. The member referred to statements made by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence on November 24 and the response to the question on this matter by the Minister of Public Services and Procurement on November 28. Both of these responses were accurate at the time they were given because the government had not yet made its decision on this matter. As I stated earlier, the government's decision to award the contract to Boeing occurred well after question period on November 28. The facts speak for themselves. Questions were asked about the matter before the government's decision had been made, and the answers reflect that. There are no grounds to find a prima facie question of privilege relating to this matter.
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