44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 15, 2024 10:00AM
- Feb/15/24 2:19:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party is focusing on its common-sense plan to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. The Prime Minister is not worth the cost or the arrive scam corruption. The RCMP is conducting an investigation. The Auditor General met with the police and said that they will need a court order to obtain all the documents.
Will the Prime Minister hand over the documents related to the arrive scam app and GC Strategies so that we can get to the truth?
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- Feb/15/24 2:19:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague is right to highlight the important work of the Auditor General, who tabled a scathing report on Monday. We are grateful for that. Many of her recommendations are already in place. Others will be carried out over the next few weeks.
As she has said, all this information is transparent and has been shared, including with the RCMP.
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- Feb/15/24 2:20:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is not what the Auditor General said. After she exposed the arrive scam with the $60 million in spending that she was able to find, she said that the RCMP, with which she just met about the scandal, will now have to go to court to get a production order to get all of the documents that the Prime Minister is covering up.
If the Prime Minister really has nothing to hide in the arrive scam affair, then why will he not release the documents to both the police and the parliamentary committees investigating so we can get to the bottom of this scandal?
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- Feb/15/24 2:20:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after having thanked and lauded the work of the Auditor General, our colleague would certainly not want to pretend that she is not able to do her job. Her integrity and independence are essential to the work of the government. We are grateful for what she does and for what she will be able to continue doing.
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- Feb/15/24 2:21:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, actually, she pointed out that she could not even total up the full cost of the arrive scam app because many of the documents were still hidden from her, either because they had been destroyed by corrupt Liberal government officials or because the Prime Minister is having them hidden. Now the RCMP will have to get a production order to get all of the documents, which the parliamentary committees investigating are being deprived of.
Once again, I have a simple yes or no question: Will the Prime Minister hand over every single document that refers to the arrive scam or GC Strategies?
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- Feb/15/24 2:21:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition knows very well that the government is collaborating with parliamentary committees and the Office of the Auditor General. The Border Services Agency is doing an internal review, an investigation with respect to many of these matters, and officials have from the very beginning referred, to the RCMP, any and all information they think might be appropriate for the RCMP to investigate.
The government will always cooperate with these lawful authorities to ensure that they can do the work that Canadians properly expect them to do.
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- Feb/15/24 2:22:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the arrive scam scandal is so bad that even former NDP leader Tom Mulcair has taken note. He said that with the revelations of the past few days, he has to face the facts: This is the first major Canadian political scandal since the sponsorship scandal, and it is likely to be even bigger.
Given that the NDP's own former leader is saying this, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost or corruption. Why is the NDP keeping him in power?
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- Feb/15/24 2:23:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we thought that this level of exaggeration would be exclusive to the Leader of the Opposition. I cannot speak for Mr. Mulcair.
What I can tell Canadians is that the government takes these circumstances extraordinarily seriously. We accept the recommendations of the Auditor General. We have at all times worked with parliamentary committees and senior officials to ensure that they have the tools necessary to investigate these matters and, of course, to hold to account those who may have done something inappropriate.
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- Feb/15/24 2:23:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, speaking of partisanship, yesterday the Minister of Housing unleashed a vicious attack on himself. He said the Liberal government is presiding over what he called a “generational, moral failure”, because so many people cannot find a place to live. There are a record number of 30 different homeless encampments in Halifax alone, his home province, after his Prime Minister doubled housing costs.
Given that they admit they have caused this moral failure, will they reverse the policies that caused it and start building homes instead of bureaucracy?
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- Feb/15/24 2:24:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my hon. colleague that on this side of the House we do not insult the mayors of cities in Quebec. We work with the municipalities.
On this side of the House we actually get real deals done, unlike him, when he was housing minister. We build real housing. We are going to keep working with all Canadians to put a roof over their heads.
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- Feb/15/24 2:25:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the $60 million that was wasted on the ArriveCAN is just the tip of the iceberg.
We now know that GC Strategies, a company of two guys in a cottage, snagged 140 contracts worth $258 million under the Liberals. Under the Conservatives, these same two crooks snagged nine contracts worth $3.6 million using the company name Coredal. Imagine. Twenty departments were involved and $260 million in IT contracts were awarded to guys who do not even do any IT work.
Seriously, when will there be a thorough investigation into the awarding of all of these contracts since 2010?
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- Feb/15/24 2:25:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank our colleague for reminding us, albeit rather discreetly, of the very difficult circumstances we experienced just a few years ago during the biggest pandemic since 1919, at a time when millions of jobs and billions of dollars in economic costs were at stake. We had to act quickly and decisively. Those were the operative words for the public service.
That being said, that is not an excuse. It is unacceptable that public service employees did not do their jobs properly.
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- Feb/15/24 2:26:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are still trying to find excuses when they should be trying to find who is responsible.
All these contracts need to be investigated, but the CBSA also needs a major cleanup. It boggles the mind that an $80,000 app could turn into a $60-million scandal without anyone raising any flags.
It boggles the mind that public servants went to dinners and whisky tastings with contractors without their supervisors blinking an eye. This looks like a systemic issue.
Will the government put the CBSA under administrative supervision? It is long overdue.
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- Feb/15/24 2:27:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our colleague is completely right. An investigation was and is necessary. That is exactly what the Auditor General has worked on over the last few months. She had access—and rightfully so—to all the necessary information to do her work.
We are grateful to her for her report. Obviously, we are appalled by what the report says. That is all the more reason to continue to implement her important recommendations.
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- Feb/15/24 2:27:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for four months, innocent Palestinians have pleaded for help. Close to 30,000 people, including children, have been killed. In Rafah it is even worse.
All we hear from the Prime Minister are empty words. He is concerned, but he will not stop arms sales to Israel. He will not help Canadians fleeing Gaza, and he will not reinstate funding to UNRWA. Maybe the minister's parliamentary secretary should say publicly what he has clearly been saying privately, that UNRWA is the only organization that can help people in Gaza.
When will the Liberals finally act to save Palestinian lives?
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- Feb/15/24 2:28:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, only the NDP would consider that being the first western government to move on humanitarian aid is not enough. Only the NDP would think that adding an additional $40 million to get even more aid to the Palestinians is not enough. Only the NDP would think that our bringing like-minded countries to call for an immediate ceasefire is not enough. We have called for no military action in Rafah, in order to protect 1.8 million civilians. We will take no lessons from the NDP on this.
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- Feb/15/24 2:28:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, being a parent is hard work. It can be exhausting, and people should not be punished for having a family. However, new parents who are laid off through no fault of their own before, during or after parental leave are denied access to the regular employment insurance benefits they paid for.
Women still do most of the unpaid caregiving work for Canadian families, so this disproportionately affects them. It is a clear case of gender discrimination. New moms should not have to cannibalize their EI benefits to get maternity leave, and the government should not have to wait for a court order to do the right thing.
When are the Liberals going to get the job done and end this discrimination against women?
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- Feb/15/24 2:29:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's advocacy on this important issue. We have spoken about the ongoing work of modernizing our EI system, and the government continues to make progress on this. As my colleague is aware, this particular issue is before the courts, but make no mistake: We are supporting families, parents and women. Let us look at the child benefit, at $10-a-day child care and at all of the improvements we have made to the EI system, making sure that parents have more access to the system.
We are going to deliver for families and for women. That is what we are here to do and it is exactly what we are going to do.
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- Feb/15/24 2:30:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Housing, who was warned that his policies would cause a massive housing shortage, finds himself in hot water once again.
At the Standing Committee on Finance, he admitted that his $4-billion program, the so-called housing accelerator, is not working. No houses have been built and no apartments have been completed. He says the program will not even lead to future construction.
Will he follow my common-sense plan that will encourage municipalities to allow more housing?
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- Feb/15/24 2:30:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think the housing crisis calls for a co-operative approach. What is the Leader of the Opposition's approach? He insults the mayors of Quebec City, Montreal and throughout Canada.
That is not how to engage in a serious housing policy. The accelerator fund that he points to is incenting change at the zoning level municipally. That is critical if we are going to see more supply. It is absolutely vital that we see more supply because that is what underpins the housing crisis in front of us. He is not serious.
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