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 11:22:27 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 11:29:21 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 11:30:33 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, as I have said before, there is no obstruction here. On the contrary, the Auditor General must have all the documents she needs to do her job, because the Auditor General's work is critical to the integrity of our democratic and parliamentary system. That is why she was given access to all necessary documents over the past few months, and why she is able, as she clearly stated, to provide these documents to any other partner, including the RCMP, upon request.
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- Feb/16/24 11:31:39 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is a little disturbing to hear the Conservative MPs question the integrity of the Auditor General.
The Auditor General has said very clearly over the past few days that she was not only willing and able to work with the RCMP, but she was already doing so and providing the RCMP with all the information it wants.
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- Feb/16/24 11:32:05 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, to be clear, I am not questioning the integrity of the Auditor General. I am questioning the integrity of the government that is hiding these documents from the RCMP. Canadians deserve accountability. Somebody needs to be held to account for the waste of $60 million that went to a shady IT company that had two people working in a basement.
Why have the Liberals not released these documents? Release them now.
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- Feb/16/24 11:32:56 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, we are sure that the opposition member is not also suggesting that the RCMP is incapable of doing its work.
The RCMP and the Auditor General operate at arm's length from the government; they can work very well together without any political or partisan influence.
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- Feb/16/24 11:33:20 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, Canadians are in shock. They paid 750 times more for the ArriveCAN app than planned. The Auditor General is also shocked. She said it is probably some of the worst record-keeping she has ever seen.
After eight years of this incompetent government, ArriveCAN is another example in a long list of abuses. The ArriveCAN app is just like the Prime Minister: It is not worth the cost.
Will he join us in calling on the RCMP to expand its investigation based on the revelations in the Auditor General's report?
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- Feb/16/24 11:33:53 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, there are two points that I believe have already been explained well, yet are important to reiterate.
Just a few months ago, Canada experienced the worst pandemic in a century, the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. The public service had to respond quickly and effectively to save the lives of thousands of Canadians; costs were in the billions of dollars per week.
Unfortunately, this work was not done by the book. As the Auditor General stated on Monday, it is unacceptable that people in the public service and at the Canada Border Services Agency in particular failed to do—
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- Feb/16/24 11:34:35 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the government has to answer for this. Were it not for the Conservatives, Canadians would not have found out anything about the ArriveCAN app scandal. It has been chaos since this government took office eight years ago. This Prime Minister is not worth the cost.
The ArriveCAN scandal involves two men in the basement of a bungalow who received millions of dollars to develop an app that should have cost $80,000. This company received a large share of contracts, many without a bidding process.
It is a free-for-all with the Liberal Party. The Conservative Party wants the RCMP to broaden its investigation in light of the Auditor General's troubling revelations.
Do you have the courage to ask for that?
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- Feb/16/24 11:35:21 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, our colleague is quite right in pointing out the essential work of the Auditor General.
We need the Auditor General to do the kind of investigation that she was able to do over the past few months in co-operation with CBSA officials. She did her work. She tabled her report on Monday. Her findings are shocking and alarming. Her recommendations must be taken into account. Most of her recommendations have already been in place for a few weeks.
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- Feb/16/24 11:35:53 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Auditor General's report is an endless chain of scandals.
That an app estimated to cost $80,000 should end up costing at least $60 million is already unacceptable. That the real cost will never be known because of missing documents makes it even more unacceptable. That GC Strategies was in a position to draft the call for proposals itself, to make sure it would win, makes it more unacceptable still.
However, that this two-person company, which delivers no services, has received at least 140 other contracts since 2010 is utterly outrageous.
When will an independent investigation into each of these contracts be launched?
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- Feb/16/24 11:36:31 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the key word in the Auditor General's report is “documentation”. That documentation was flawed, incomplete, improperly stored and unsharable.
Indeed, it forms the central focus of the Auditor General's findings, and that is why we are continuing to move forward with the work that now needs to be done.
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- Feb/16/24 11:38:37 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member is correct when he points to the ability and expertise of the RCMP, the Auditor General and other institutions to work together. They know how to do their jobs.
They do not need political processes that politicians use to do their jobs. The RCMP, the Auditor General and all of the other independent organizations on which Canadians have the fortune to depend know what to do.
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