44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 14, 2024 02:00PM
- Feb/14/24 2:20:19 p.m.
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The hon. member for Mirabel has the floor.
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- Feb/14/24 2:20:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on January 27, more than 200 people gathered at the Église de Sainte‑Scholastique to pay their respects to Louise Léonard, who died at the age of 79. She was the wife of my friend Denis Lauzon, who founded the Centre de formation agricole de Mirabel.
Denis had a very special way of introducing himself to people. For nearly 60 years, he called himself “the most happily married man in Sainte‑Scholastique”, and with good reason. He and Louise shared a wonderfully close bond. The love was palpable in their home, where I was welcomed as a son.
As a teacher, Louise Léonard touched the lives of hundreds of young people. She was a proud, accomplished and caring woman who was involved in her community and in the world around her. Like many seniors in the village, Louise was looking forward to growing old peacefully with her husband and loved ones at her side at the new seniors' residence in Sainte‑Scholastique.
As we walk around the Hill today, we may run into Denis, and if we look up to the heavens, we might see Louise tenderly watching over him and all of us, as she always did.
I wish Louise a safe journey.
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- Feb/14/24 2:21:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of a Liberal-NDP government, the RCMP is once again investigating a Liberal deal.
Two of the contractors involved in the creation of the ArriveCan app are already being investigated for their potentially criminal acts to obtain contracts, but that investigation will not even scratch the surface of everything that was hidden from Canadians. GC Strategies, an IT firm of two people that did no actual IT work, was paid over $19 million just to find people to build this $60-million app. This is not to mention it's also rigging the bidding process for a $25-million contract that only it could win, and it does not stop there.
Reports are out this morning revealing that this two-person headhunting firm has gotten as much as 250 million taxpayer dollars since 2015. This RCMP investigation needs to be expanded to understand what really happened in the building of this app and who is responsible for this huge waste of taxpayer money.
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- Feb/14/24 2:22:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, February 24 will mark two years since the beginning of Russia's further brutal invasion of Ukraine. Our government has said that Canada will stand with the Ukrainian people until they win, and victory is the only option.
Victory is the only option because Ukraine's victory is vital to Canada's security. If Russia wins, it will not stop at Ukraine. If Russia wins, Europe, the U.S. and Canada will be next in defending ourselves against Russian aggression. Therefore, every Ukrainian soldier fighting today is one less Canadian who will have to fight in the future. Every dollar we spend today is millions of dollars less that we will have to spend in the future.
Our government understands this, and that is one of the reasons Canada has been a global leader in supporting Ukraine. Unfortunately, Conservatives continue to vote against support for Ukraine and against Canada's national security.
On this two-year anniversary, I urge MPs throughout the House vote in favour of the support needed to ensure Ukraine's victory because victory is the only option for our security, our economy and our freedom.
Slava Ukraini.
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- Feb/14/24 2:24:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's arrive scam scandal continues to deepen. Today we learned from Joël-Denis Bellavance that a single arrive scam company received $250 million. That company has four employees and is headquartered at a cottage. This so-called IT company admits it does not do IT work.
Come on. What a mess.
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- Feb/14/24 2:24:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, during the pandemic, we did everything we could to try to protect Canadians and save lives, but even in an unprecedented situation, the rules must be followed. Anyone who did not follow the rules must face the consequences.
That is why we absolutely welcome the Auditor General's recommendations, and that is why the appropriate authorities are doing their job.
Yes, Canadians should know the truth, and we expect the investigators to do their job.
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- Feb/14/24 2:25:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on its web site, GC Strategies boasts about being Ottawa's fastest-growing company. After eight years of this Prime Minister, this company is growing very fast indeed. It has four employees and does no IT work, yet it received a quarter of a billion dollars for IT.
The first contract for this company was signed three weeks after this Prime Minister came to power. Why?
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- Feb/14/24 2:25:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, like the Auditor General, Canadians have questions about whether the rules were followed and how such a company could get all these contracts. We expect the authorities to conduct the appropriate investigations to find out who exactly was involved, how these processes were uncovered and which rules were broken.
It is very important to ensure that taxpayer money is invested the right way. In this situation, we all have important questions that we want answered.
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- Feb/14/24 2:26:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's arrive scam is now flailing out of control. Today there are revelations from Joel-Denis Bellavance that one arrive scam company received a quarter of a billion dollars in contracts.
Let us get this straight. This company with four employees, headquartered in the basement of a tiny cottage, got IT contracts even though they admit they do no IT work. It was a quarter of a billion dollars. WTF?
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Feb/14/24 2:27:13 p.m.
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We are dangerously close to crossing the line of what is considered parliamentary language. That is an abbreviation of language that is commonly understood to be not parliamentary.
I am going to ask the hon. opposition leader to please withdraw that comment and to use parliamentary language.
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- Feb/14/24 2:28:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, “where's the funds”?
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- Feb/14/24 2:28:40 p.m.
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I appreciate that the Leader of the Opposition clarified his comment.
I will ask all members to not use that acronym because it, in the minds of Canadians, would clearly be considered unparliamentary language. I ask all members to use the full words.
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- Feb/14/24 2:29:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, during the time of the pandemic, the government rightly did everything it could to keep Canadians safe and keep them protected, but of course, even in the most trying times, perhaps especially in the most trying times, all the rules need to be followed.
In this case, the Auditor General has highlighted some very concerning questions that need to be answered. That is why we are expecting and supporting all relevant authorities to follow up on this irregular contracting and perhaps breaking of the rules. This is an important issue, and that is why we are taking it seriously.
[Disturbance in gallery]
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- Feb/14/24 2:31:57 p.m.
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In light of the disruption we had, we are going to suspend for a couple of minutes to allow things to calm down.
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- Feb/14/24 2:34:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us recap. A company that had never before received contracts from the federal government started getting an avalanche of contracts just three weeks after the Prime Minister took office. The company, in fact, got a quarter of a billion dollars for IT, even though it admits it does not do IT. It has four employees and a headquarters in the basement of a cottage.
Can the Prime Minister explain why this suspicious company started getting these contracts exactly 21 days after he took office?
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- Feb/14/24 2:35:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is obviously an unacceptable situation, which is why the relevant authorities are fully investigating exactly what went on here, particularly highlighted by the Auditor General's recent report. This is an issue we need to continue to understand, and we need to make sure the rules are being followed and our procurement practices across government are respectful of taxpayer money.
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- Feb/14/24 2:36:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is more proof the Prime Minister is not worth the cost or the corruption. After eight years of doubling housing costs, quadrupling the carbon tax and sending two million people to food banks, he somehow found a quarter of a billion dollars for this one company, which boasts on its website that it is now Ottawa's fastest-growing company. There is no doubt about that when its employees are having their faces stuffed with tax dollars by the Prime Minister.
Why is it that when Canadians are starving in food bank lines, the Prime Minister finds a quarter of a billion dollars for his friends?
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- Feb/14/24 2:36:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, obviously the relevant authorities need to follow up on this and get to the bottom of exactly how this unacceptable situation happened.
In the meantime, on this side of the House, we are going to continue to focus on making life more affordable for Canadians, for example by attracting thousands of health care workers by increasing by 50% student loan forgiveness for rural doctors and nurses, by fast-tracking the construction of more than 51,000 homes, and by finalizing the housing accelerator agreements with over 60 small and rural communities.
While the Conservative Party continues to block these initiatives, we are going to continue to step up for Canadians.
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- Feb/14/24 2:37:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there is one important piece of information that every citizen in Quebec and Canada needs to know. The government has a nasty habit of finding scapegoats to blame for all the mistakes it has racked up over the past eight years.
This time, my first question will be quite simple. Who is to blame for ArriveCAN? Whose fault is it?
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- Feb/14/24 2:37:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, while the pandemic raged, our government tried to find as many ways as we could to help Canadians protect people's health and safety.
That said, there are clear and precise rules that must be followed when it comes to awarding contracts, even during a pandemic. We expect the investigators and appropriate authorities to do their work to find out exactly how this unacceptable situation came about.
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