Chris Warkentin

[Committees of the House, May 31st, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics. It concerns the main estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022.

The committee has studied the estimates and has agreed to report them back to the House without amendment.

[Questions on the Order Paper, March 22nd, 2021]

With regard to the government’s response to Order Paper question Q-313, regarding SNC-Lavalin and COVID-19 programs and spending measures, and the $150,000,000 contract awarded on April 8, 2020, to SNC-Lavalin to design and deliver mobile health units: (a) was this contract solesourced, or was there an open competition; (b) if the contract was awarded through an open competition, how many other competing bids were received; (c) was the tender for this contract advertised and, if so, between what dates was the contract advertisement online, prior to the bid deadline; (d) on what date did the Minister of Public Works and Government Services approve the contract; (e) did this contract receive sign off or approval at any cabinet committee and, if so, on what date, and at which committee; (f) what are the terms of the contract, including any delivery dates; (g) what are the start and end dates of the contract; (h) has the value of the contract been amended since it was originally signed and, if so, what is the (i) original contract value, (ii) revised contract value, (iii) date of amendment; and (i) what specific products, and how many, have been delivered to date as a result of the contract, and where are each of the products currently located?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, January 25th, 2021]

With regard to the government's level of co-operation with investigations or analysis conducted by the police or any officer or agent of Parliament, such as the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner: (a) since January 1, 2016, how many waivers has the government signed to allow for complete and unrestricted co-operation and sharing of information between the government and those conducting the investigation or analysis; and (b) what are the details of each waiver, including the (i) date, (ii) types of records covered by the waiver (protected, cabinet confidence, etc.), (iii) entity with which the waiver allows information to be shared (RCMP, Commissioner of Lobbying, etc.), (iv) subject matter of the investigation?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, December 9th, 2020]

With regard to car and driver services provided to employees of departments, agencies, or Crown corporations, as of October 22, 2020, and excluding ministers and other elected officials: (a) how many employees are entitled to a car and driver; and (b) what are the titles of all employees who are entitled to a car and driver?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, December 9th, 2020]

With regard to undertakings to allow government employees to work from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic since March 1, 2020: (a) what is the total amount of money the government has spent on providing technology resources, including monitors and computer mouses, to employees who are working from home, itemized by date and broken down by department, agency, or Crown corporation; (b) what is the total amount of money the government has spent on providing office furniture, including chairs and desks, to employees who are working from home, itemized by date and broken down by department, agency or Crown corporation; (c) what is the total amount of money the government has spent on administrative expenses, such as internet or telecommunications bills, for employees who are working from home, itemized by date and broken down by department, agency or Crown corporation; (d) what is the total number of office chairs provided to federal employees from government warehouses for the purpose of working from home, itemized by date and broken down by department, agency or Crown corporation; and (e) what is the total amount of money the government has spent on the transport, including delivery, of items mentioned in (a) through (d) to employees who are working from home?

[Peace Country, December 1st, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, for many, it has been a tough year. Too many families across the Peace Country have suffered the pain of financial loss and loneliness over the past months.

I have heard stories of families facing this Christmas season without a loved one, lost to suicide or overdose. I have spent hours with moms and dads who have lost their jobs, or businesses or had crop failure. They do not know how they will pay the bills, never mind buy Christmas gifts for the kids.

For many, it feels hopeless. I believe that there is reason for hope. In these dark and challenging times, I have also witnessed the selfless giving of people who are struggling themselves. I have seen the ingenuity and the creativity of small business owners who have struggled back with the help of their neighbours and even competitors to build opportunities for others. I have seen churches and service clubs that have found ways to make connections with the lonely, the hungry and the heartbroken.

This Christmas season I have hope for the Peace Country because of the people who call our region home.

[Business of Supply, October 20th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, absolutely, it seems it is only the Liberals who believe that we cannot walk and chew gum at the same time.

I believe that to ensure Canadians get the help they need, the government needs to be held accountable. We have seen unprecedented spending over the last number of months. Never in Canadian history have we seen this kind of rollout of billions of dollars. Then we started to see the trickle of allegations of supporting or giving contracts or money to Liberal friends.

I believe that if Canadians are going to have trust in this government, they need to see there is accountability and transparency. They need to see that government members are held accountable when they break the rules and when they give money to their friends that they should not be giving.

Now, if the Liberals believe that they can continue to go down the road without transparency and accountability, I think Canadians will render a judgment at some point to say that it is unacceptable.

[Business of Supply, October 20th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, starting with the last question first, I believe the committee should be chaired by an opposition member because of what we saw at the finance committee. We had a Liberal chair shut down the committee simply so the committee could not do its work. We want to ensure that does not happen.

I am also very interested to hear from the NDP member. I know she wants to find out what the truth is. I am willing to work with all opposition parties, and to work collaboratively. Of course, today, we have made amendments we felt would be necessary to gain the NDP's support. I know there is strong support within all the parties, within the NDP, the Bloc and the Conservative Party, for finding out the truth. Unfortunately, it is only the Liberal Party that keeps filibustering to keep us away from the truth.

[Business of Supply, October 20th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I do not want it to be a secret to anybody that I do not have confidence in this government. There is a constitutional responsibility of the opposition to hold the government to account. That is a time-honoured tradition, but it is also a fundamental of any democracy.

If the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister would suggest that holding the government to account would shut down Parliament, well, they have done it before. I guess this is the way they operate. It is good to have it on the record that the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister is suggesting they will continue to do that.

[Business of Supply, October 20th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals intend to continue to debate these facts but some things are not debatable, including when this scandal first broke and the WE organization said that it never pays speakers. Then the Prime Minister said to trust him, that all was good here and that we should listen to WE. I recall him saying that we should listen to WE.

Then when the documents started flooding in, we found there were massive contradictions between what the Prime Minister said and contradictions with regard to what WE said. What we found out was that the Liberal finance minister had received a luxury vacation from this charity in the amount of over $40,000. I do not even know what kind of holiday he was having for $40,000. Good for him, I suppose, but what kind of charity offers a multi-millionaire a $40,000 vacation?

My community has been involved in school fundraisers for the WE Charity. If the moms and dads who were collecting bottles in my community to support the WE Charity found out they were financing a $40,000-vacation for a multi-millionaire Liberal finance minister, they would be shocked.

Then we found out that the Prime Minister's family had received around half a million dollars in fees for speaking engagements, whatever it was, as the story continues to change as to why they were paid. All we know is they were paid. Of course, at the same time, WE was producing ads that were glowing of the Prime Minister and ads to promote the Prime Minister.

Now the Liberals say we cannot have a special committee to review all of this. We cannot do that. Why can we not do that? They say it is because it will paralyze Parliament. Let us just remember that no minister, not the Prime Minister, no bureaucrats, sit on committees. It is all just regular members of Parliament, none of whom have ministerial responsibilities, so we can probably have 12 members sit on a committee without paralyzing Parliament.

What is the Liberals' solution, their counter to this proposal? Instead of setting up a special committee that gets documents, they would like to set up a special committee that does not get the documents. That is their solution, and that would ensure we did not paralyze Parliament if we had a different special committee that did not get the documents.

We are going to continue to demand those documents. The Prime Minister has been found guilty of ethics violations time after time. I suspect very shortly it is going to be another time; the first prime minister in Canadian history. The Prime Minister was found guilty of interfering with a litigation with a court case, later firing his Attorney General because she would not go along.

It is interesting that none of those scandals resulted in the Prime Minister threatening an election to make sure that they never came to see the light of day. What is in these documents that he would go to the extraordinary length of proroguing Parliament, embarrassing all of his members who are being sent to committees to filibuster day after day and hour after after hour, or now threatening an election to ensure those documents never get released? I am going to make sure I do everything in my power to make sure those documents are released.