44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 17, 2024 02:00PM
- Apr/17/24 3:35:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, certainly, by all means.
Was the information about Mr. Firth's medical condition shared with the House of Commons administration?
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- Apr/17/24 3:35:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we shared it with the Clerk.
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- Apr/17/24 3:35:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this information is consistent with what was shared with all recognized parties yesterday individually by the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel: Mr. Firth's health is fragile, and a doctor has provided a note recommending that Mr. Firth does not participate in activities such as the questioning today for mental and physical health reasons.
We were also told that Mr. Firth understands he will have to answer questions and that he is prepared to do so once his health allows it.
I want to be crystal clear: We believe that what happened with the ArriveCAN app is unacceptable. We want to ensure that all unanswered questions receive answers. That is an important principle of the House.
It is why we supported the motion that brings Mr. Firth here today. We want to get to the bottom of this issue, and we want to ensure that committees are respected.
We understand all recognized parties were individually informed of options to delay the questioning component of today's proceedings until Mr. Firth has been medically cleared to participate. Only the Conservatives refused.
On this side of the House, we do not believe it is appropriate to question Mr. Firth if he is not medically able to participate. We want this to be done in a way that respects the dignity of Parliament, and forcing someone against medical advice to do something a doctor believes could harm their treatment and recovery is indeed beneath the dignity of this place.
The Leader of the Opposition is giving us a demonstration of his character, and Canadians should pay careful attention—
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- Apr/17/24 3:38:17 p.m.
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The hon. government House leader has the floor.
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- Apr/17/24 3:38:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will repeat the last sentence. The Leader of the Opposition is—
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- Apr/17/24 3:39:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The government House leader is purposely causing disorder in this House. Mr. Speaker, you just asked every person here to keep their conduct calm and within the dignity of the House for these extraordinary proceedings. The member is saying that things were in a medical certificate that were not there. We had a House leaders' discussion on this. Now he is using the opportunity to attack the official opposition. This is inappropriate, and it causes discord in the House; it will cause disruption on a continuing basis.
I ask you, Mr. Speaker, to please ask the government House leader to conduct himself within the dignity and within the four squares of this extraordinary situation and not continue down this path.
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- Apr/17/24 3:40:01 p.m.
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I thank the hon. member for South Surrey—White Rock for raising this issue.
I see that the hon. member for Regina—Qu'Appelle is also rising on his feet for a point of order.
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- Apr/17/24 3:40:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is very important for you, Mr. Speaker, to understand how we got here. It is important to know that the witness was offered accommodations that have been granted; should there be further accommodations requested, in terms of breaks or any type of need to consult with any professional, we have signalled our absolute co-operation with that. These are very similar to the accommodations the witness requested when it took months for him to respond to a committee invitation and further summons. These were the same accommodations that were provided when he finally testified just recently, and that is how we arrived at where we are today.
The dignity of the House and the ability for parliamentarians to do their jobs on behalf of taxpayers, many of whom lost every single cent they had during the lockdown, and on behalf of the thousands of Canadians who were ordered into quarantine because of this app, essentially—
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- Apr/17/24 3:41:39 p.m.
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I thank the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle and I thank the member for South Surrey—White Rock for raising these points.
I would like to emphasize to all members the importance of how we conduct ourselves. Canadians are clearly watching this historic event, and they would expect us to conduct ourselves in a way that befits the occasion.
With that in mind, I invite the hon. government House leader to finish his remarks.
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- Apr/17/24 3:42:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, indeed you pointed out in your remarks earlier just how unprecedented this is. We supported this initiative, but we regret that it has come to this. When we received the information that all parties were privy to, we made the responsible decision. What you, Mr. Speaker, have just seen across the aisle is the very confirmation of what I have been saying.
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- Apr/17/24 3:42:37 p.m.
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I will take it then that we can move on to the next series of questions.
The hon. member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes.
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- Apr/17/24 3:42:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, ArriveCAN was supposed to cost taxpayers $80,000, but the NDP-Liberal government rewarded consultants and insiders, who got rich on taxpayer dollars for an app that nobody wanted. The app erroneously forced more than 10,000 people into house arrest. It did not work, and the Auditor General said it cost at least $60 million. ArriveCAN is now under 13 federal investigations. Two middlemen who do no IT work got rich in a corrupt system under the NDP-Liberal government. Some, including the witness today, became multi-millionaires.
GC Strategies is a two-person company, and it claims to find people who actually do the work by using LinkedIn. Nearly $20 million for ArriveCan is what the company was paid, roughly $2,500 per hour. The people have been paid $100 million since forming GC Strategies just after the Liberal Prime Minister was elected. This is eight years under the Liberal Prime Minister.
The Liberal government has been ordered to collect and recoup all funds paid to ArriveCAN contractors and subcontractors who did no work on the ArriveCAN app. Has the government asked Mr. Firth to repay the money paid to GC Strategies on ArriveCAN?
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- Apr/17/24 3:44:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, no, they have not.
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- Apr/17/24 3:44:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the procurement watchdog found “numerous examples where [GC Strategies] had simply copied and pasted” information to prove the people GC Strategies found to do work on ArriveCAN actually did it.
Has the government asked GC Strategies to repay the money paid to GC Strategies for ArriveCAN?
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- Apr/17/24 3:44:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when we did our assessments, we found that the numbers provided by the ombudsman from public works were inaccurate. We have not been asked to pay any money back.
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- Apr/17/24 3:45:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for how many contracts did GC Strategies copy and paste the exact same information?
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- Apr/17/24 3:45:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have never copied and pasted to win any contract.
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- Apr/17/24 3:45:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know from committee testimony that Mr. Firth has admitted to doing exactly that. Today, media reports that Mr. Firth's property was raided by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
What crime are they investigating?
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- Apr/17/24 3:45:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is correct. There was a search warrant, not an arrest warrant, for my property to obtain electronic goods surrounding the Botler allegations.
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- Apr/17/24 3:45:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have also confirmed that GC Strategies and ArriveCAN are under police investigation.
Has the RCMP contacted Mr. Firth about allegations related specifically to the Prime Minister's $60-million arrive scam?
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