SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 286 - Feb/27/24

Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

Feb/27/24 6:26:11 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, Canada's common-sense Conservatives will axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. This is in contrast to the Liberal record. The Liberals have axed the homes, built the crime, hiked the tax and stopped the budgeting. We are here to discuss the arrive scam scandal and, in particular, the procurement ombudsman's excellent report. Today, the procurement ombudsman was before the public accounts committee, and he confirmed that he is not at all surprised that the RCMP is now investigating the corruption at the heart of the government. In the arrive scam scandal, we see multiple layers of costly criminal corruption in the government's procurement system. The procurement ombudsman found that the government built a system for procurement designed to encourage companies to charge the government more. This is really incredible. If they charged too little, their bids or points might be removed, so the incentive was built right into the system for companies to charge more. The procurement ombudsman found a chronic problem of so-called bait and switch. This is where the bidding company says it is going to have one person do the work, then it switches and has someone else do the work, someone who is potentially substantially less qualified. This builds on what we already know: GC Strategies, the company that got the ArriveCAN contract, was changing and falsifying resumés they submitted to the government, and the government rigged the process. Members of the government sat down with the GC Strategies team to set the terms of the contract, such that GC Strategies would get the deal. This is a two-person company that subcontracts all the actual work, and yet the government sat down with this company and rigged the process so it would get the contracts. It built a system that would favour insiders to ensure GC Strategies got the deal. On top of that, it designed a process that would encourage GC Strategies and others to charge the government more, not less. It is no wonder that spending is out of control and that Canadians are struggling under the pressure of higher taxes and the impact of higher deficits. When the government designs contracting-out processes, it designs systems to try to charge more. The levels of cost, crime and corruption we see in this arrive scam scandal are really incredible. The RCMP is investigating. I asked the Prime Minister today whether the government will co-operate with the RCMP investigation. There was no answer. We had the procurement ombudsman's investigation report and the Auditor General's report, which reveal what happened. However, we now need to identify who the responsible individuals are and why they did it. Why was the process rigged in order to give this deal to this two-person company working out of a basement? Why was it rigged to GC Strategies' advantage? Why did the government create a system designed to charge taxpayers more, not less? These are the key questions that need to be answered by the government, but I will distill it into one simple point. The RCMP is now investigating criminal behaviour as part of the arrive scam scandal. The parliamentary secretary was formerly with the Ontario government and has a great deal of experience dealing with issues of corruption. Could he tell the House, yes or no, whether the government will co-operate with the RCMP's investigation?

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Mr. Charles Sousa (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, Lib.)

Feb/27/24 6:30:59 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member opposite raises an important issue about procurement activity, which was actually prevalent during the Conservative time and similar to what we are unravelling today with the same characters at play. Our government takes the responsibility as stewards of public funds very seriously, and we are committed to ensuring that the government's spends stand to the highest level of scrutiny. Contracting for goods and services is a routine part of the business of government, it is instrumental in enabling us to deliver the services and programs that Canadians need and expect, and we have an important need to put guardrails in place to maintain the integrity of that process. When it comes to deciding whether to contract out certain projects, many factors are taken into consideration. It starts with the proposition that contractors are there to support the good work of our public servants where it is determined that there is a need for professional services. Public Services and Procurement Canada, as the federal government's central purchasing agent, will work with departments to procure those services in an open, fair and transparent fashion. The department procures on behalf of other departments and agencies when requirements are beyond their own spending authority and advises on the steps needed to then ensure that the money is well spent. However, what we have unravelled, and what our government has been reviewing, is what occurred or what did not occur with respect to those guardrails. These procurements are carried out by public servants in accordance with a number of regulations, trade agreements, policies, procedures and guidelines. The Government of Canada has a governing framework in place when it comes to procurement that public servants are expected to follow. The ArriveCAN app was put in place urgently to track and trace travellers as they crossed the border to limit the spread of COVID-19 within Canada. Our government acted with extreme urgency on a number of fronts during those early days of the pandemic to keep Canadians safe, and the ArriveCAN app was a crucial tool at the time. We are proud that we could be there for Canadians during the pandemic, notwithstanding the fact that the opposition was opposed to many of the services and supports that were given to Canadians and businesses, including the opportunity to keep border crossings open. However, as has been noted repeatedly during today's debate, we know that there are serious and valid questions surrounding the management and integrity of the procurement processes for professional services associated with ArriveCAN, and we owe it to Canadians to take immediate action to improve our processes. The reports by the Auditor General and the procurement ombudsman underscore the need for these improvements. Public servants and PSPC officials have already taken steps to implement the ombudsman's recommendations to strengthen the integrity of the procurement process. This includes work to improve evaluation requirements, increase transparency for suppliers around their pricing and use of subcontractors, improve contract documentation, improve clarification of work requirements and activities. It also includes work to evaluate resources just before the start of work to make sure that their services are actually delivered by the proposed resources to avoid some of that switching of services by those who are appointed. We will ensure that the lessons learned from the ombudsman and the Auditor General reports are turned into concrete action and make certain that the deficiencies uncovered do not occur again. We are committed to a fair and transparent procurement process for the best value for all Canadians.

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Mr. Garnett Genuis

Feb/27/24 6:35:02 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is truly incredible listening to that member talk. This government has been in power for eight years. It has broken the procurement system in this country, and the Liberals speak about problems that happened as if they have no responsibility for what happens under their watch. This government is supposed to be in charge and it refuses to take responsibility for the costs, the corruption and the criminality that we now see as part of the ArriveCAN system. The Liberals want us to believe that, well, it was an emergency and the ArriveCAN app was necessary. This app went through 177 different versions, it sent over 10,000 people into quarantine by accident and the versions were not properly tested. They hired two people with no IT experience. There are no excuses, and this government should take responsibility. Again, will the government co-operate with the RCMP investigation into criminality, yes or no?

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Mr. Charles Sousa

Feb/27/24 6:36:08 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am thankful again for the opportunity to refute some of the member's claims. I get it. Certainly, the response that was provided for him the first go-around, and the reason we are here, is that it does not appreciate the fact he is looking for further videos and a further opportunity to provide whatever exaggerations he sees fit to support his position. We, on this side of the House, are very serious about the opportunities to manage the responsibility of government funds. We are committed to the best value for Canadians by procuring those goods and services. To ensure that it is competitive, fair and accessible, the Government of Canada has a governing framework in place, and we have accepted many of the recommendations from the ombudsman and the Auditor General. Members should recall that it was this government that actually approved that the RCMP do an investigation. It was this government that took the responsibility initially to ensure that those who are being affected are being protected. We are taking every step to strengthen our procurement process. We are committed to incorporating those lessons learned. Notwithstanding the member opposite, the lessons learned require serious responsibility, which Conservatives do not have.

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Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

Feb/27/24 6:37:29 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, as a humanitarian catastrophe continues to unfold in Gaza, I rise tonight to follow up on the many times I have called for the government to advocate for a ceasefire, beginning on October 8 and repeating numerous times in the House in the weeks after. After months of pressure from Arab, Muslim and Palestinian Canadians across the country, the government's position on a ceasefire changed at the UN just before the holidays. Then, various ministers and the Prime Minister began to finally say the word “ceasefire” in recent months. This pressure included protests, sit-ins, meetings with MPs, Muslim donors revoking their financial support and the National Council of Canadian Muslims turning down a scheduled in-person meeting with the Prime Minister last month. While it never should have taken months to simply call for a ceasefire, the government's changed position made it clear that people power has an impact. In the meantime, it is worsening. Since October 7, almost 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including at least 10,000 children. What makes no sense at all is how the government claims to support a ceasefire, but is not taking positions that would align with that call. The government must, at the very least, align its actions with its call for a ceasefire. With the limited time I have tonight, I would like to give three examples. First, it must refund the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA for short. Last week, the Minister of International Development was at the Rafah gates calling for a ceasefire with a supposed concern about aid not getting into Gaza, yet he is the minister responsible for defunding UNRWA. Two million people in Gaza rely on UNRWA for life-saving humanitarian aid, including food, water and medicine. This was cut after 12 employees out of 13,000 were alleged to be associated with Hamas. All 12 of them have been fired, and the CBC has reported that these claims were made by Israel without any supporting evidence. If the government is serious about a ceasefire, UNRWA must be re-funded. Second, if it is serious about a ceasefire, it must also call for Israel to follow the International Court of Justice ruling calling for six steps to be taken to prevent genocide. Now that it has been over a month since the ruling, Amnesty International has made it clear that Israel has failed to take even the bare minimum steps to comply with the ruling. Canada is a signatory to the genocide convention, so we are bound by this ICJ decision. In other jurisdictions around the world, Ukraine for example, Canada is vocal in calling for a rules-based order to be followed. Why is it not doing so when it comes to what may be a genocide in Gaza? Finally, if it is serious about a ceasefire, the government must end the permitting of military equipment destined for Israel. Global Affairs has revealed that the government has authorized at least $28.5 million of new permits for military exports to Israel since October 7. A coalition of legal advocates has warned that it is ready to bring a legal challenge against the federal government if it has failed to halt military sales to Israel. A coalition of civil society organizations, including Human Rights Watch, KAIROS and the Mennonite Central Committee Canada, have called for the same. My question for the parliamentary secretary is this: If the government claims to finally be in support of a ceasefire, why is it not taking actions that would align with that, such as re-funding UNRWA, calling for Israel to follow the ICJ decision and ending all military exports destined for Israel?

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Mr. Francis Drouin (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lib.)

Feb/27/24 6:41:37 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we share an immense grief, and our hearts break for the tragic loss of civilian life. All of those impacted are at the forefront of our mind, including all families and communities affected by the violence. Children, in particular, have been disproportionately affected by the ongoing hostilities. The horrific attacks by Hamas against Israeli civilians still shock us all. I surely do remember, because October 7 was my 40th birthday. We are unequivocal in our condemnation of Hamas's terrorist attack against Israel, the appalling loss of life and the heinous acts of violence perpetrated in those attacks. I want to thank the member for Waterloo, the member for Kitchener—Conestoga, the member for Kitchener South—Hespeler and the member for Cambridge for advocating for solutions that respect both the Jewish community and the Palestinian community. Canada condemns Hamas's unacceptable treatment of hostages and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all remaining hostages. What has been happening in Gaza is catastrophic. With the humanitarian situation already dire, the impacts of an expanded military operation in Rafah would be devastating for Palestinian civilians as well as for foreign nationals who are seeking refuge. They have nowhere else to go, and as the minister has said, asking them to move again is simply unacceptable. The price of defeating Hamas cannot be the continued suffering of all Palestinian civilians. The violence must stop. That is why we have been calling for an immediate and sustainable ceasefire. This cannot be one-sided; Hamas must release all hostages and lay down its arms, and humanitarian aid must urgently be increased and sustained. The need for humanitarian assistance in Gaza has never been greater. Rapid, safe and unimpeded humanitarian relief must be provided to civilians. Canada will continue to work with its partners toward ensuring the sustained access of humanitarian assistance for civilians, including food, water, medical care, fuel, shelter and access to humanitarian workers. To date, Canada has announced $100 million in humanitarian assistance to address the urgent needs of vulnerable civilians in this crisis. We are clear that a sustainable ceasefire is necessary to finding a path toward securing lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians. We have been calling for a ceasefire for two months, and we expect every party to join us if they have not done so already. Canada remains steadfast in our commitment to a two-state solution. This means the creation of a Palestinian state alongside an Israeli state, where Palestinians and Israelis live side by side in peace, security and dignity, just like they do in Canada.

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Mr. Mike Morrice

Feb/27/24 6:45:00 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, all parliamentarians of the House have been calling for hostages to be released since October 7. It took the government months to even say the word “ceasefire”. Now, when it is finally able to, it is not understanding that it is not time to play politics and that it needs to align its actions with its calls for a ceasefire. I will ask it again: If the government is serious about a ceasefire, when will it get serious about re-funding UNRWA, about calling for Israel to follow the decision of the ICJ, and about not being complicit but ending all military exports destined for Israel?

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Mr. Francis Drouin

Feb/27/24 6:45:43 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I do not recall any member of Parliament, on October 8, calling for a ceasefire, so let us get the politics out of this particular issue. Let us call for what is reasonable. Obviously Israel has a right to defend itself, but it has to respect international law. That is what Canada has been calling for since October 7. Obviously we have been calling for a ceasefire since before the holiday season, I will remind the member. Obviously Canada, with its allies, has to play a role and will continue to play a role. The Minister of Foreign Affairs has continued to play a role in calling for more humanitarian aid to ensure that it gets to the people who are asking for it, obviously the Palestinian community in Gaza that has been needing this humanitarian aid. At the same time, she has been calling for a ceasefire. In a peace for Israel, everybody has to lay down their arms. We have been asking for this for months.

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Mr. Richard Cannings (South Okanagan—West Kootenay, NDP)

Feb/27/24 6:46:52 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I asked in question period a couple of weeks ago about the catastrophic damage that was suffered by the wine and soft fruit sectors in the southern interior of British Columbia in the middle of January. As I have said before in this place, that region and in particular the south Okanagan makes the best wines in Canada and grows the best cherries, peaches and apricots. These sectors support the B.C. economy to the tune of $2 billion or more, providing thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in taxes. However, after a very mild winter, grapevines and fruit trees were very much in spring mode. The sap was rising. Then, on January 11, a river of Arctic air poured in from northern valleys. A friend of mine has a weather station in his orchard near Penticton and his temperature records showed a drop from 2°C to -23.5°C in just 12 hours. That temperature plunge killed essentially 100% of the buds on grapevines in the Okanagan Valley. It killed the apricot and peach buds and many of the cherry buds as well. That means there will be no harvest of grapes this year and has huge impacts on soft fruits. Whether this one-season impact of dead buds will recover next year or there will be a longer-term impact of completely dead vines and trees remains to be seen. If the plants have not survived, it would mean an expensive replant program followed by four or five years with no crops at all. For the wine industry, this crisis means, at a minimum, no white wines the next year and no red wines the year after. This is after a similar freeze in December 2022 that cut the grape harvest in half and then wildfires literally shut down the tourism to the southern interior last summer that is an essential part of the wine and soft fruit economy. Therefore, wineries and orchardists were already reeling, and fighting for survival when this even more drastic impact hit their sector. I just want to pause here to mention the cause of this sudden freeze because in normal situations, extreme Arctic temperatures are kept in the far north by the polar vortex and a strong linear jet stream that holds the southern boundary of that vortex in place. However, the polar vortex and the jet stream are driven by strong temperature differences between the frigid polar air and the milder temperate air masses. When we have increasingly frequent and increasingly strong global warming, and last year was a record breaker in all regards, that jet stream weakens and meanders in big loops and brings polar air southward and milder air northward. It was this situation that caused the abrupt temperature changes that killed the vine and fruit tree buds. What can we do to help the wineries, the vineyard owners and the orchardists survive this serious setback? There are a number of policy changes that the B.C. provincial government can make to temporarily make it possible for these sectors to get through for a year or two. The federal government can provide emergency funding through the AgriRecovery framework and the AgriStability program, but whatever that support looks like, we need to see it quickly before the sector is devastated. As well, all the winery, brewery and distillery operators in my riding and across the country are demanding that the excise tax regime be changed so the tax does not automatically increase based on inflation every year. That causes extra pain in years when the business owners are already dealing with rising costs of everything that goes into their fine products.

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Mr. Francis Drouin (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lib.)

Feb/27/24 6:50:47 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for South Okanagan—West Kootenay for his question on grape producers in British Columbia impacted by a killing frost for the second year in a row. I was here in the House when he advocated on behalf of them. Obviously, our hearts go out to producers during this extremely challenging time. I want to reassure the hon. member that the Minister of Agriculture has already been in touch with the B.C. minister of agriculture to find potential solutions and to offer a solution that is acceptable to our B.C. wine growers. Right across the Okanagan, our hard-working farm families continue to produce top-quality sustainable grapes for award-winning B.C. wines. It pains me to say this, as I am an MP from Ontario, but I would love to taste more B.C. wines right here in Ontario. I think trade is important. I would love for him to taste more Ontario wines when he is out in his region. Obviously, we all care about Canada's grape growers and the wine sector across the country. Their work has also played an important role in driving our economy and creating jobs that lead to billions of dollars in sales and tourism. B.C. has suffered devastating losses and hardships from flooding, wildfires, heat waves, droughts and, now, frosts. The resiliency of our farmers and our processors across B.C. in the face of these challenges has been remarkable. They continue to keep the grocery store shelves stocked and the economy strong, but the current catastrophic frost situation is only adding more stress and unpredictability to their farm businesses, for producers of both grapes and fruit crops. Our government is here for B.C. farmers. Producers have access to a full suite of business risk management programs. Business risk management programs are the first line of defence for producers facing disasters such as this one. Our government has contributed about 60% of subsidized premiums for the crop insurance program used by participating producers to mitigate production losses. In addition, we have already supported British Columbia's late participation in AgriStability and the province's request in 2023 for an increase to the interim payment rate from 50% to 75%. We have also increased the compensation rate for AgriStability from 70% to 80%, starting with the 2023 program year, meaning more support in times of need. We have proven our commitment to the industry over the past few years through our support for farmers impacted by extreme weather, and we are here again, as a steady and reliable partner to our provincial counterpart, ready to support and to help. My message, through the minister, is that we are here to help. We will continue conversations. Obviously, we do not want to see a sector like the grape producers in Okanagan fail because of a variable it cannot control. Climate change is real. I am happy to hear that the member is supporting climate change policies that will make a direct impact on farmers. I am looking forward to more questions from the member on this particular issue.

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Mr. Richard Cannings

Feb/27/24 6:54:30 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, preliminary estimates of the direct economic impact on the wine industry in the Okanagan Valley from last month's freeze are on the order of $450 million in one valley. That does not take into account the indirect impact on the tourism sector: motels, hotels, restaurants and tour companies. Small wineries are already being impacted by the imposition of an excise tax for the first time. The federal government did bring in an 18-month support program for the sector to soften the blow of that cost, but that program is due to end at the end of March. A renewed program would be essential to rebuild a sector recovering from this year's crisis. Last week, I met with the wine sector and the fruit growers to discuss this urgent situation. I will close by simply urging the parliamentary secretary and his minister to listen to the deep concerns and to the suggested solutions from the vineyard owners and orchardists who are such an iconic part of my riding and its economy.

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Mr. Francis Drouin

Feb/27/24 6:55:36 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is extremely hard to disagree with the member for South Okanagan—West Kootenay. Obviously, he represents a riding that is important to agriculture and to our wine industry. We have been supporting our wine industry through the wine sector support program by providing $166 million. I know that he is supportive of, potentially, a next program, and I know that he is supportive of limiting the excise tax to the current inflation rate. I want to thank him for his support because he not only joined the Craft beer caucus at the beginning, which I was chairing, but also supported the wine industry. I look forward to more positive news and to the continuation of the B.C. minister's positive relationship with the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food to ensure that our wine sector succeeds, not only in B.C. but also everywhere in Canada.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)

Feb/27/24 6:56:32 p.m.
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The motion that the House do now adjourn is deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1). (The House adjourned at 6:57 p.m.)

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