44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 12, 2024 11:00AM
- Feb/12/24 2:46:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, again, we thank the Auditor General for her important report, which we are grateful to have seen this morning. However, we have followed many of the recommendations that we find in that report, including improving evaluation requirements and work experience data, increasing record keeping on subcontracting work, and suspending authorities temporarily for task authorization until we are confident that better procedures are not only put into place but also better monitored.
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- Feb/12/24 2:46:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, unbelievably the Liberal government has authorized $28.5 million of new military exports to Israel since October 2023. Today, a Dutch court ruled that the Netherlands must stop sending F-35s to Israel. Spain and Belgium have suspended arms sales, but Canada continues to send arms, doing nothing to ensure that they are not being used against civilians. So many children are being killed as Netanyahu bombs Rafah, the place where Palestinians were told they would be safe.
How can the minister continue to sell arms to Israel?
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- Feb/12/24 2:47:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is important to make sure we understand what we are talking about here. There is a wide range of items that require an export permit. When we look at the permits to Israel in particular, let me be clear: I have not received and therefore have not approved any export permits for weapons to Israel since October 7, 2023, and any permits issued since October 7 were essentially non-lethal equipment permits.
Canada has a very robust export control system. We abide by the UN Arms Trade Treaty and we take this responsibility very seriously.
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- Feb/12/24 2:48:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, online bullying and harmful content are costing children their lives. In December, a 12-year-old boy in B.C. died by suicide after experiencing online sextortion. Sadly, this is becoming more and more common, and the current government has done nothing. Liberals promised to protect our kids from online harm within 100 days of the last election. While the Liberals do nothing, kids' lives are at risk.
When will the Liberals start protecting children by acting on online harms?
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- Feb/12/24 2:48:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the targeting of children in this country is extremely troubling. It is depraved, and, frankly, as a parent I find it disgusting.
What the member opposite is highlighting is a problem that absolutely requires a remedy. What we are proposing is comprehensive legislation that will do everything necessary to keep Canadian children safe from those people who would prey upon them in online spaces and from those who would keep them away from their parents and the protection they need. That is the type of protection we will legislate, and we will do it forthwith.
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- Feb/12/24 2:49:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the war in Gaza has been devastating for so many innocent Palestinians. Gaza is one of the worst places in the world to be. While we were the first western government to actively provide life-saving aid, the silence from the party opposite has been deafening.
Can the Minister of International Development please tell us how important it is that we all come together and support efforts to get aid to the desperate civilians who have been devastated by the war?
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- Feb/12/24 2:49:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the war in Gaza has been devastating to so many innocent civilians. That is why the Canadian government has provided more than $100 million in humanitarian aid, making us one of the top donors in the world.
I was recently disappointed to hear comments made by the Conservative candidate for York Centre saying that any and all aid to Palestinian civilians will somehow fund terrorism, even through the Red Cross. While the Conservatives are indifferent to Palestinian civilian suffering, we will remain steadfast in supporting humanitarian support to Palestinian civilians.
An hon. member: Oh, oh!
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- Feb/12/24 2:50:37 p.m.
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The hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan is an experienced member and understands that only the person who has the floor should be talking.
The hon. member for Brantford—Brant.
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- Feb/12/24 2:50:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have one word for the government: jaw-dropping.
Today the Auditor General revealed that the Prime Minister paid almost $20 million to GC Strategies for his arrive scam. The two-person consulting company working out of a basement performed no actual IT work on the app. The amount is double what the government previously reported.
Will the Prime Minister admit that he rigged the system to pay well-connected Liberal insiders while fleecing taxpayers?
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- Feb/12/24 2:51:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in a time of crisis, a responsible government has two responsibilities; the first is to protect the health and safety of its citizens, and the second is to ensure the efficiency of its internal systems.
What we know from COVID-19 is that $1 billion in economic costs to Canadians was incurred every day. What we also know is that hundreds of people were dying every week. However, at the same time, this is no excuse for the type of recommendation and finding that the Auditor General deposited today, and that is why we are going to continue to—
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- Feb/12/24 2:52:03 p.m.
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The hon. member for Brantford—Brant.
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- Feb/12/24 2:52:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is outlined by the Auditor General that pandemic urgency can never justify the corruption and oversight failures outlined in the report. The awarding of contracts favoured GC Strategies' securing almost $20 million without competition. The CBSA's disregard for basic management practices compromised accountability, competition and value for money. The Prime Minister is not worth the cost, crime or corruption.
Will fleeced Canadian taxpayers get their money back?
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- Feb/12/24 2:52:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague that a global pandemic and the rush to put in place a series of measures to protect the health and safety of Canadians does not exclude public servants from following the appropriate contracting rules that are in place.
We agree with the Auditor General when she says that the rules were not followed in a way that was acceptable. As we have said, we are putting in place and already have put in place a series of measures to ensure that the circumstance is never repeated.
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- Feb/12/24 2:53:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today we have seen the Auditor General's disastrous report on the ArriveCAN app, which confirmed an outrageous lack of oversight and transparency.
According to his mandate letter, the former president of the Treasury Board was supposed to “raise the bar on openness, effectiveness and transparency in government.” The member for Québec's primary responsibility was to review expenditures related to contracts worth more than $60 million.
Will the minister apologize to Canadians for having failed in his duties?
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- Feb/12/24 2:53:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for this reminder of what the obligations of a responsible government are. A responsible government makes sure to protect the health and safety of its citizens, including in times of crisis like COVID-19, the worst health crisis since the last century and the worst economic crisis since the 1930s.
We had to act quickly to save hundreds and even thousands of lives and billions of dollars in economic costs. That being said, in spite of all of that, the Auditor General of Canada, in her report and recommendations, describes an unacceptable situation. We need to do better next time.
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- Feb/12/24 2:54:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the minister that he was the president of the Treasury Board of Canada. It was his responsibility to ensure that taxpayers' money was properly managed.
I would also like to remind him that, during the pandemic, 23 businesses with no name received hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts. On the Government of Canada website, they were designated by the letters A, B, C, D and so on. I raised that problem in committee in 2021.
Today, we have received confirmation of the “glaring disregard for basic management practices” with the ArriveCAN app.
Will the former president of the Treasury Board admit that he failed in his duty to protect Canadian taxpayers' money?
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- Feb/12/24 2:55:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, one of the Canadian government's duties at the time was to ensure that our border with the United States remained open to the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who were travelling every week and to the billions of dollars in essential medicines, food and critical equipment needed to protect people's health.
That is why we implemented the ArriveCAN app, to prevent the border with the United States, under President Trump, from being completely closed to the transportation of all medicine, food and equipment that Canadians, in my riding and in that of my Conservative colleague, desperately needed to protect themselves.
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- Feb/12/24 2:55:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, everyone can see that the Liberals have been irresponsible on the immigration file, but they can change. They can start cleaning up the mess today. They can support the Bloc Québécois's motion to consult Quebec in order to review immigration targets based on integration capacity.
They can also send out a clear message right now. They need only write a cheque for $470 million to Quebeckers to reimburse them for taking in asylum seekers since 2021. Will the government finally pay Quebeckers back?
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- Feb/12/24 2:56:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am sure the member opposite would agree that immigration is a vital resource for Canada, Quebec and our economy. What the member is proposing is a motion on which Quebec has not even been consulted. Now, out of the blue, he has made himself the spokesperson for the other provinces so that we can consult them again, when this is something we have already done and do every year.
We made responsible decisions. That is what we are going to do with the responsible provincial governments.
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- Feb/12/24 2:57:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada's immigration minister is not open to hearing from Quebec's immigration minister. The Liberals do not want to face reality when it comes to immigration. Quebec has exceeded its integration capacity, and that is entirely because of the federal government's inaction on asylum seekers.
Since 2021, our public services and community organizations have been shouldering a completely disproportionate share of the burden when it comes to welcoming asylum seekers. They are doing too much, while the provinces, with the exception of Ontario, are doing too little.
Is the federal government finally going to force provinces to contribute their fair share?
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