44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 16, 2024 10:00AM
- Feb/16/24 11:18:55 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to answer this question, which we have heard before and to which we have provided appropriate answers already. I am pleased to remind everyone that the Auditor General not only had the job, but the very important job of tabling a report on Monday, which we have looked at and are obviously very troubled by the findings in that report. We have taken into account all the recommendations in the report, and many have already been put into place for some time.
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- Feb/16/24 11:19:29 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the minister said the Auditor General had an important job, but he and all the Liberals voted against her conducting the audit. It was because the Leader of the Opposition moved a motion in November 2022 that we had that Auditor General investigation. Just like that was the right thing to do then, calling in the RCMP is the right thing to do now. This is an $80,000 app that ballooned to $60 million. We have a two-person firm, working out of their basement, being paid $20 million, and wining and dining senior Liberal officials.
Will the Liberals end their cover-up and join Conservatives in calling for an expanded RCMP investigation?
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- Feb/16/24 11:20:08 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member is completely right in pointing to the important work of the Auditor General. She did work very hard over the last few months, which is what we expect of her and her office. She tabled an important report on Monday. As she has said repeatedly, she is also completely willing and able to work with all other partners and institutions across the government, including with the RCMP, with which she is already in touch.
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- Feb/16/24 11:20:36 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, of course the Auditor General is willing and able to do her work, but the problem is that the government refuses to give her the documents she needs to fully account for the $60 million that was spent on this boondoggle. The Liberals, in the past, have used the executive to shield themselves from an investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, like they did in the SNC-Lavalin scandal. This time, Canadians want to know who got rich, other than of course those two guys who worked out of their basement and who took Liberal bosses out for fine dinners and whisky tastings.
Will the Liberals join our calls to call in the RCMP to investigate this scam?
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- Feb/16/24 11:21:15 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, we are very pleased, obviously, to hear the member clearly state that he has full confidence in the abilities of the Auditor General to keep doing her job, including supporting the RCMP when that is demanded by the RCMP.
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- Feb/16/24 11:21:46 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Prime Minister is ultimately the one responsible for the arrive scam scandal, his useless app that was supposed to cost $80,000 and ended up costing 750 times more. No one believes the Prime Minister's excuses anymore.
A former NDP leader said, “The scam of the century: [the Prime Minister] gave millions to a company with four employees”. One headline reads, “Arrive Scam: A $59-million-plus scandal thanks to the [Liberal] government's laissez-faire attitude”. La Presse called it “The tip of the iceberg of wasteful spending”.
After eight years, who in this government will finally dare to stand up and tell the Prime Minister that he is not worth the cost or the corruption?
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- Feb/16/24 11:22:27 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, not only should we be thanking the Auditor General for her work, but we also need to read her report very carefully.
The misinformation we are hearing from the other side of the House is unfortunately not helpful and can even be counterproductive. The Auditor General must continue with the serious work she does. We thank her for everything she has done so far, and we are counting on her to keep up the good work.
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- Feb/16/24 11:22:54 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the minister is denying the truth. I quoted newspaper articles that have been published since the Auditor General brought to light this scandal that saw Canadians pay $60 million for an app that should have cost only $80,000.
Radio-Canada found that GC Strategies, this infamous company that does not do IT work and that was paid close to $20 million to develop a useless app, actually got a lot more money than that. We are talking about $258 million.
Will the Prime Minister, who is not worth the cost, give the RCMP and the parliamentary committee access to all of the documents so that we can finally get to the bottom of this matter?
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- Feb/16/24 11:23:33 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member is quite right to talk about cost of protecting the health and safety of Canadians, including during a pandemic that cost tens of thousands of people their lives, including hundreds in his own riding. Millions of people lost their jobs, and we had to protect the integrity of our borders.
Despite how urgent and important this situation was, the Auditor General of Canada clearly indicated that it was unacceptable that public servants from the CBSA did not do their job properly.
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- Feb/16/24 11:24:07 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, last February, the federal government promised to increase health transfers. After a lot of political jousting, it forced Quebec and the provinces to accept six times less money than they needed.
A year later, Quebec has not received a cent. There is already a $1-billion gap in health care funding this year because Ottawa is withholding the money. Why is Ottawa withholding it? Because the federal government wants to impose conditions.
Will the government finally pay Quebec the money it promised instead of holding patients hostage?
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- Feb/16/24 11:24:44 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, our government is working very closely with all provinces and territories, including Quebec, to make sure that health care that is much needed for all Canadians is provided. That is why we are so proud to invest $200 billion over 10 years, to all provinces and territories, to support Canadians in getting the best and excellent health care. We will continue to work with Quebec to ensure that it gets the same care.
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- Feb/16/24 11:25:16 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, that is not the point. Let me remind members once again that the federal government does not run one single hospital. It has no expertise in health care, but it is withholding the money needed to care for people, because it thinks it can tell health care workers how to do their jobs.
Let me also remind members once again that the federal government is withholding nearly $5 billion in Quebec taxpayers' money. That is nothing more than our share, plain and simple. Quebeckers want their money to be used for health care, not for Liberal political games.
When will the federal government give us our money?
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- Feb/16/24 11:25:56 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, our government and the Government of Quebec share the same objective and that is to provide quality health care, guided by the Canada Health Act, to all Quebeckers, whether it is family health, whether it is mental health, whether it is health care for our seniors. We will continue to work with the Government of Quebec closely so that those shared priorities are met, and Quebeckers, like all Canadians, will get the best health care through the federal government.
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- Feb/16/24 11:26:30 a.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, Canada's federal housing advocate confirmed this week that indigenous peoples are more likely to be forced to live on the streets. This government's lack of action means that indigenous peoples are being intentionally forgotten. In Edmonton, 60% of those living on the streets are indigenous. In Winnipeg, it is two-thirds and in Saskatoon, it is over 90%. In Nunavut, many tell me about overcrowding because of the lack of housing.
Will the minister listen to the federal housing advocate and stop underfunding indigenous housing?
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- Feb/16/24 11:27:09 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, we are taking action to address the tremendous lack of safe, affordable housing and housing supports for indigenous peoples in urban, rural and northern communities. The for indigenous, by indigenous approach that guides our housing strategy will ensure successful approaches for communities in need. Since 2016, we have supported the construction, renovation and retrofit of over 30,000 homes in first nation communities and have continued to work with partners to co-develop a 10-year housing and infrastructure strategy. All levels of government must work together to solve this crisis and continue to push for indigenous-led solutions to address these gaps.
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- Feb/16/24 11:27:40 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, it has been two weeks since I asked the health minister for his plan to address the closure of Clinic 554, Fredericton's only health care provider offering safe abortions. This government has done nothing. While Conservatives push backdoor legislation, violating the right to a safe abortion, the so-called feminist Liberals failed to address access.
Why is the government denying access to safe trauma-informed abortion care?
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- Feb/16/24 11:28:15 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am tremendously grateful for the allyship of the member across the way and for that very important question. That clinic is located in my riding. It is an issue that I have been on for many years. The federal government actually has stepped up and has supported research projects to support better data collection to inform our provincial partners, who really hold the pen on this issue. We have also held back provincial transfers, to ensure that the Canada Health Act is upheld. More absolutely needs to be done. Reproductive rights must be ensured in this country, no matter where one lives.
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- Feb/16/24 11:28:46 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the arrive scam app is just like the Prime Minister: not worth the cost and not worth the corruption.
The Auditor General revealed that an app that did not work cost taxpayers a staggering $60 million, including $20 million that went to a two-person company that did no work. Now the RCMP have launched a criminal investigation, but are being obstructed by the Liberals, who are hiding documents.
Will the Prime Minister stop the obstruction and turn over the documents today?
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- Feb/16/24 11:29:21 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, this question has already been answered a number of times over the past few days, and again today. The answer is the same. The Auditor General deserves our appreciation. She has done solid and important work over the past few months, leading to the tabling of a troubling report on Monday.
The good news is that many of her recommendations were implemented some time ago now. However, the work continues to move forward. It is important to ensure that the public service is doing its job properly, even in times of crisis.
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- Feb/16/24 11:30:00 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, 60 million taxpayer dollars wasted, fraud, forgery and corruption; that is arrive scam and the Liberals have tried to cover up the scandal every step of the way. They obstructed parliamentary committees, they attempted to obstruct an investigation by the Auditor General and now they are obstructing an RCMP criminal investigation.
When will the Liberals stop the obstruction and turn over the documents to the RCMP?
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