Senator Plett: The only reason Canadians know about this waste is because a group of whistle-blowers came forward. I hope the Prime Minister isn’t going to go after them the way he did with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, or CSIS, whistle-blowers earlier this year.

The investigators also found issues with conflict of interest and other mismanagement of funding. Yet, this past summer, the foundation said the allegations were all unfounded.

Leader, how many taxpayers’ dollars have been spent on salaries, expenses and bonuses at this foundation under the Trudeau government?

Senator Plett: One of the reasons why the Trudeau government refuses to admit it was wrong is the massive cost attached to changing the passport design. Leader, a project budget of $161 million was set in 2016. However, three years later, leader, a contract was awarded worth $284 million — over a quarter of a billion dollars. That’s a high price for Canadians to pay for having images of our history removed from passports.

Leader, the new passports are poor quality. They have covers that damage and curl easily. Does that mean your government is going to pour even more money into this? If so, how much?

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Senator Gold, last night the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry admitted the Trudeau government has frozen the work of Sustainable Development Technology Canada. This is a federal foundation, Senator Gold, that the Trudeau government has given $1 billion — over five years — to distribute to green technology firms.

According to external investigators, in 2020 and 2021, this foundation gave $38 million in emergency relief COVID payments to companies it had dealt with previously without proper eligibility monitoring or reporting.

Leader, this is yet another example of waste and incompetence on the part of the Trudeau government. No one was giving this foundation proper oversight. Senator Gold, is anything being done to recoup these taxpayers’ dollars?

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Government leader, I hoped that the Trudeau government would have come to its senses by now and abandoned their changes to our passports, but they never, ever admit a mistake.

The Trudeau government has claimed that removing images of Canadian history from our passports occurred after 10 years of consultations. In June, you said it reflects the feedback the government heard from an extensive process of consultation. A written answer tabled in the other place indicates that this consultation, leader, was with four federal entities and through annual telephone surveys of passport holders. That’s it; that’s all.

Why did the Trudeau government mostly just consult with itself and decide it was okay to erase our history from Canada’s passports?

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Your Honour, if I might, I would like to reset the clock on behalf of Senator Carignan for the balance of his time.