Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The matter before us today is extremely serious. There is a glaring problem here that should alarm every Canadian. In fact, after hearing the environment commissioner's testimony and reading his report, I think that this may be the most expensive cover-up since Justin Trudeau was elected.
In December 2020, the Liberals announced the net-zero accelerator. They charged taxpayers $3 billion to fund it. Less than one year later, they doubled the spending and announced another $5 billion for this government program, increasing the total cost to $8 billion.
It is very important to note that the Liberals claim that the purpose of this net-zero accelerator was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Their plan was to give away billions in tax dollars to large companies in exchange for a specific reduction of emissions.
Usually when a government announces $8 billion in spending, they brag about it for years and talk about the results. However, ever since the net-zero accelerator was established, we have barely heard a word from the Liberals on this $8-billion program. Now we know why they've been so quiet.
Last week, Canada's independent environment commissioner revealed that the government's net-zero accelerator is nothing more than another slush fund. He concluded that the Liberal government “did not effectively manage the...Net Zero Accelerator to decarbonize the manufacturing industries in accordance with Canada's climate goals or with due regard to value for money for Canadians.”
Not only did we learn that the government was giving—