Thank you very much.
Mr. Chair, 200 million tax dollars are going to Maritime Launch Services for what is at present a concrete slab and a gravel parking lot—a so-called spaceport. Maritime Launch Services doesn't own the land. It leases the land from the Province of Nova Scotia for only $15,000 a year. Pursuant to the lease, the federal government will be paying Maritime Launch Services $20 million a year for land that, again, they don't even own. Consequently, Maritime Launch Services will be making in excess of a 1,300% profit for land that consists of a gravel parking lot and a concrete slab.
There are serious questions about this lease beyond the fact that we have a lease for $20 million that Maritime Launch Services is essentially flipping to the federal government for that cost, making a 1,300% profit. The lease was entered into in March 2026, but it was backdated to April 1, 2025. In other words, Maritime Launch Services immediately received 20 million tax dollars for this backdated lease for no work and no value to taxpayers. There have been no answers from the Liberals about why the lease was backdated.
I asked the Minister of Finance questions about why the lease was backdated when he appeared at committee of the whole. He had no answers. I've asked questions of ministers in question period. They have no answers. It appears that Maritime Launch Services received $20 million for nothing. It's highly unusual to backdate a lease, and Canadian taxpayers deserve answers as to why that was done—why $20 million was funnelled to Maritime Launch Services for nothing.
Then there's this question: Why Maritime Launch Services? This is a six-person company. Despite their name—Maritime Launch Services—they haven't launched much of anything. They've never launched anything into space. After 10 years of being in business, they've had two suborbital test launches.
Maritime Launch Services is a company that has not had a very good track record in terms of being a going concern. In fact, the March 2025 independent auditor's report from MNP observed the following:
We draw attention to Note 2 in the consolidated financial statements, which indicates that the Company incurred a net comprehensive loss during the year ended December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023. As stated in Note 2, these events or conditions, along with other matters as set forth in Note 2, indicate that a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.
In other words, according to the independent auditor's report, Maritime Launch Services was on the verge of bankruptcy.
It's no wonder, because according to their 2025 financial statements, they reported a massive loss of $47 million and revenue of just under $15,000. It begs this question: Is that the reason the lease was backdated? Is that the reason the Liberals handed Maritime Launch Services $20 million for nothing, to bail out this nearly bankrupt company?
On the question of why Maritime Launch Services, I would add that here you have a company with a CEO who has a history of securities infractions. This CEO, Mr. Jacob, was previously fined $100,000 by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada.
How is it that Maritime Launch Services, a nearly bankrupt company that has no history of launching anything into space, that has a CEO who has a history of securities infractions, that doesn't own land and that leases land from the Province of Nova Scotia—which consists of a gravel pit and a concrete slab—managed to secure 158 meetings with government officials, including ministers of the government? How is it possible that a company like this could receive a $200-million lease, given their track record—or lack of a track record—of not doing much of anything? Could it be because this is really about rewarding Liberal insiders, like Stephen McNeil, the former Liberal premier of Nova Scotia who sits on the advisory committee of Maritime Launch Services? Could it be the reason is that the chief lobbyist is none other than a former senior staffer to the Minister of Justice, whose riding is next door to the site?
It certainly raises serious questions. When I asked the Minister of Finance and the Minister of National Defence, “Why Maritime Launch Services, a nearly bankrupt company that doesn't own the land, has no history of launching anything into space and has a CEO with, frankly, a shady past?”, there was no answer.
Then there is the selling of shares. Immediately after the lease was entered into, the CEO—the very same CEO who has a history of securities infractions—sold three million previously worthless shares, pocketing $1.8 million. How was that allowed to happen? Why was there no lock-up agreement in place? Not only did he sell three million shares, pocketing $1.8 million, but he then exercised 2,250,000 stock options, at an exercise price of a little over 16¢, to acquire 2,250,000 common shares of the company, for the aggregate consideration of $370,750.
Here you have a CEO who sold three million shares at 60¢—suddenly inflated shares after the announcement—and then bought back 2.25 million shares at 16.7¢, pocketing $1.5 million without significantly decreasing his ownership. It looks to me like this is one big pump-and-dump scheme in which Liberal insiders are getting rich while taxpayers are getting screwed.
Given the serious questions about the lease, about Maritime Launch Services, about the costs and about the pump-and-dump activities of the CEO, I believe this is imperative. Given the total lack of transparency around the lease and the total lack of answers from ministers in this government, we need to hold hearings, to bring the appropriate ministers to committee and get to the bottom of where 200 million Canadian tax dollars are going and why.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.