SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 300 - Apr/16/24

Hon. Dominic LeBlanc (Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs, Lib.)

Apr/16/24 3:01:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, just because my hon. friend continues to repeat something that he knows is not accurate does not make it so. He knows very well that a series of investigations are being undertaken. The RCMP is seized with this matter. If the House in its wisdom decides to call people before the bar, that is entirely within the purview of the House. We have also said from the beginning that anybody who abused taxpayer money should face the consequences, and that is exactly what will happen.

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Context: House Hansard - 300 - Apr/16/24

Mr. Larry Brock (Brantford—Brant, CPC)

Apr/16/24 3:06:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. Just when one thinks that the NDP-Liberal government could not be even more out of touch, it goes ahead and nominates the CBSA as “unsung heroes” for the arrive scam. Recklessly spending 60 million taxpayer dollars and demonstrating some of the worse financial record-keeping we have ever seen is the opposite of “innovative and effective” procurement practices. The CBSA should be an example of how not to do government procurement. Why on earth would the government reward incompetence?

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Context: House Hansard - 300 - Apr/16/24

Hon. Dominic LeBlanc (Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs, Lib.)

Apr/16/24 3:06:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. friend knows very well that we have instituted a series of changes in terms of the procurement process both at CBSA and horizontally across the Government of Canada. My colleague, the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, has spoken about the changes we have made in light of the recommendations of the Auditor General. We welcome other reviews, whether it is parliamentary committees. In the case of ArriveCAN, as we know, the RCMP are looking into this matter. As I said, anybody who abused taxpayer money will properly face the consequences.

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Context: House Hansard - 300 - Apr/16/24

Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Leader of the Opposition, CPC)

Apr/16/24 4:50:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for the ninth time, the Prime Minister promised that if he spent more and taxed more, Canadians would be better off. For the ninth time, we see that quality of life declined, especially for the middle class he is always talking about. The cost of rent doubled, and then there were big government programs for affordable housing. According to the government itself, one in four children do not have enough to eat, even after programs were created to make food affordable. Furthermore, the government talks about a state-funded pipeline like it is the biggest accomplishment there could be in a society. If the government had not gotten involved, it never would have happened. This is a project that is 500% more expensive than planned. The money to buy the project went to Texas. This is another example of massive waste. That is why common-sense Conservatives are going to vote against the budget and in favour of an election that will allow Canadians to choose a party that will axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. That is common sense. Here we have, today, a ninth consecutive deficit, with the budget still not balancing itself. Everything on which the Prime Minister spends gets worse and gets more costly. He is spent and Canadians are broke. The country is broken. We have a doubling of housing costs. We have 8,000 people joining a Facebook group to study how they can get a meal out of a garbage can after food prices have gone up faster than at any time in a generation because of the carbon tax he is imposing on our food, a carbon tax that, with the help of the NDP, he plans to quadruple to 61¢ a litre. Today, did he learn anything from these catastrophic failures? No. He doubles down on the same failure, with $40 billion of new deficits and $40 billion of new spending, and that is to say, it is $2,400 for every family in new debt and in new inflationary spending. Now, for the first time in a generation, we are spending more on debt interest than on health care. That is money for bankers and bondholders rather than doctors and nurses. The great example of how wonderful government can be, given after a tremendous theatrical pause, was the government's purchase of the Trans Mountain pipeline. What would have happened if the government had just gotten out of the way, asked the finance minister. The answer is that the thing would have been built with private money rather than $30 billion of taxpayer bailouts. In fact, a project the Prime Minister said would cost $5 billion is up to $30 billion. That is 500% over budget. It is $2,000 in costs for every single Canadian family for a project that the private sector was going to be building on its own. The company that was going to build it was bought out, and it took the money to Texas, where it is building Texan pipelines with Canadian dollars. All of our exes are in Texas. Then, to close it off, we have got some of the most hair-raising, ideological fervour from the minister, who says that what Canadians really need is a stronger government. They have created a stronger government in order to make for weaker and more suffering people. This is not a government that gives people everything they want; it is a government that takes everything they have. The good news is that we want big Canadian citizens with a smaller and more efficient government, where the state is servant and not master, where our priorities are clear, to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. As soon as the NDP takes away its support from the Prime Minister, we will have a carbon tax election, where the people will be able to make that decision for themselves, in a country where they can earn powerful paycheques that buy affordable food, gas and homes in safe neighbourhoods, the country that we all knew and that we still love, a country based on the common sense of the common people, united for our common home: their home, my home, our home. Let us bring it home. I now move: That the debate be now adjourned.

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