Look, I don't put it past the NDP to always not just prop up the Liberals, but make sure these important topics are not talked about. It speaks to the disastrous record after nine years of this government.
To that point, Ms. Dzerowicz talked about money laundering, because supposedly it was in the budget, so I'm not sure why Mr. Angus thinks Ms. Dzerowicz can talk about it, but because I'm a Conservative I can't talk about it. It's absolutely relevant, so I will go back to the point that Chrystia Freeland, who is very much a part of the subamendment, has talked about money laundering, and the Liberals and the NDP continue to block us from studying money laundering. It is a concern.
As I said, common-sense Conservatives have put forward private members' bills that are related to money laundering. In fact, our colleague, our deputy leader Tim Uppal, put forward a bill on extortions, which are also tied into money laundering. We know that's happening. We know that with the illicit drugs that are being sold, there is some tie-in with money laundering. The auto thefts that are happening are tied to money laundering. That's why it's important. We don't have any faith in the Liberal-NDP government that their so-called budget is going to address this; it's just a costly photo-op budget that they're bragging about. It will do nothing to help everyday Canadians. That is what we're talking about here.
Please excuse us if we don't trust or believe that after nine years of this government, there will be any changes, because they're still on the same reckless path with this budget that they've always been on. It's the same path that led to Canadians having doubled rents and doubled mortgages because of out-of-control spending, with $400 billion of non-secured, rolled-over money—debt that they've accumulated. It's also the reason that Canadians are on the hook for the Liberal-NDP government's debt, with $54 billion in just interest charges. Can you believe that? There's going to be more money this year going to bankers, bondholders and finance minister Chrystia Freeland's Bay Street buddies than what's going to doctors, nurses and health transfers. That's after nine years of this government.
The NDP have no problem supporting this failed, costly budget, because they want to protect their leader Jagmeet Singh's pension. That's what all of this is about. It's a shame. It's a shame that they would support such a failed budget, one that's going to add another $40 billion of net new spending—inflationary spending at that. This is what we've seen year after year, and it's only going to get worse for Canadians the longer this Liberal-NDP government stays in power.
Now, it's not just Chrystia Freeland who wants us to talk about money laundering. In fact, tied to what happened recently with TD and the allegations—the same money laundering that Conservatives tried to bring forward and the Liberals, with the support of the NDP, blocked recently—is that Mark Carney, carbon tax Carney, when he was the governor of the Bank of Canada, talked about banks as well. This is why it's so important that we follow up with what Chrystia Freeland said on money laundering, which is also supposedly in her costly budget.
There's an article by the CBC, believe it or not, from July 18, 2012, that says, “Mark Carney's new rule for banks: Don't be evil”. It says, “Even Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney weighed in Wednesday, calling banking culture ‘deeply troubling,’ saying that bankers have to ‘substantially raise their game to levels of conduct that in any other aspect of life, are expected.’” So carbon tax Carney himself has talked about this money laundering and why we need to make sure we have better rules in Canada, especially when it comes to our banks.
There's the Cullen report, which was completed in 2022. This report said that if B.C. is to stop money laundering, they need to make their own financial crimes intelligence agency, because the Trudeau government isn't doing anything. I would add in there that it's the Trudeau-NDP government that isn't doing anything, because we recently saw them block any attempt by this committee to study cracking down on money laundering and the proceeds of crime for things like extortions and auto thefts, which we're seeing rise. Just recently, experts say that the Liberals' efforts are a “slap on the wrist” with regard to the alleged TD money laundering. That is the record of this Liberal-NDP government. That's why it's important we study this.
Mark Carney's rule for banks is to not be evil. That's why we want him here. However, Mr. Turnbull table-dropped this motion and started this incredible filibuster. It is a first that a parliamentary secretary would table-drop a motion and start a filibuster on their own bill. Can you imagine, in all that time, how many times we could have heard from carbon tax Carney? Maybe he could have confirmed whether he thinks, just like Chrystia Freeland, that cancelling Disney+ means that all inflation and cost of living problems will be solved, or whether he believes, like Chrystia Freeland, that everyone should ride a bike to solve their cost of living issues, or whether he thinks that two million people going to a food bank in a single month, after nine years of this government, means Canadians have never had it better. However, we can't, because Mr. Turnbull started this incredible filibuster. As I said, this is the first time I've ever seen that from a parliamentary secretary. Maybe it's because he wants to endorse carbon tax Carney, and maybe he doesn't want to support Chrystia Freeland in her bid to become Liberal leader. Maybe he started this whole thing to protect carbon tax Carney.
What we could have done with all this time, if this filibuster had not been started by Mr. Turnbull—which was supported by Mr. Davies of the NDP—is heard from carbon tax Carney. Just as carbon tax Carney said that banks should not be evil.... Money laundering has surged like we've never seen before. Maybe that's why Chrystia Freeland wanted to have us study it here. I have some facts on money laundering, and I could have asked Mark Carney, if he were sitting here, about whether he agrees with the experts, who estimate that over $100 billion could be laundered through Canada every year.
In 2019, the U.S. State Department described Canada as a “major money laundering country”, alongside Afghanistan, the British Virgin Islands, China, Macau and Colombia. Can you believe, after nine years of this government, that “major money laundering country” is what we're known as, alongside Afghanistan, the British Virgin Islands and China? That's the reputation Canada has under this Liberal-NDP government. It's incredible, yet I see why the Liberals and the NDP want to block any type of motion studying this. It's because it would unravel the amount of corruption that would come out. It would unravel why Canadians have to live through the worst cost of living crisis seen in Canadian history. That's the record of this Liberal-NDP government.
I'll go on with more important facts that I could have asked Mark Carney about if it were not for the blocking that's happening. Global Financial Integrity concluded that $626.3 million U.S. was laundered between 2015 and 2020, and a 2019 RCMP report estimated that $46.7 billion was laundered in Canada in 2018 alone. It's no wonder the Cullen report said that B.C. should create its own agency because the Trudeau government isn't doing anything. That's absolutely right. It's because they're getting propped up by the NDP and letting all of this happen.
I can talk about extortion. I recently visited a very successful transport company that's seen extortion. I watched video clips and an audio clip. In the audio clip, someone calls and says they want x amount of money or they're going to shoot up the house. Then I saw a video of a white SUV pulling up to the house and someone shooting at the house. This family, like many others in this country, now has to live separately from each other in different hotels across the GTA because of the soft-on-crime policies of this government. They have led to a lot of money laundering, which Chrystia Freeland has asked us to study.
That's what nine years of this government has given Canadians. This immigrant family came here looking for a better future and risked everything for a safer future for their kids. They worked day and night and went from working as janitors to running this successful transport company, and now they are fearful because success is punished in this country after nine years of this government, which has been propped up by the NDP.
These soft-on-crime policies have real consequences for families like the one I just talked about. They live in fear every day. It was the first time I had seen bulletproof windows on a car, and it was the first time they had to find a supplier who would do that for them too. This Trudeau government, just as the Cullen report from B.C said, isn't doing anything, and with the support of the NDP, they continue to block any type of study into it. That's the reason we continuously call for us to fulfill the ask by the Deputy Prime Minister and get right down to this report. We know that extortion is up and we know auto theft is up. They're tied into money laundering as well.
I'll move on with some more facts. In October 2020, Ottawa was criticized—Ottawa being this Liberal-NDP government, for those listening—for doing little to control the flow of illicit funds. Shortly after the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, or OSFI, announced that it would be dismantling its anti-money laundering section, a retired OSFI official, Nicolas Choules-Burbidge, said, “This dismantling is despite that banks are the riskiest part of the financial sector.” He went on to say, “This is yet another backward step by Canada as the government”—this Liberal-NDP government—“ignores the dismantling of our anti-money laundering regime. Canadian lawyers are not covered at all and are known to be the highest risk.”
Despite knowing all of this, it puzzles me why this Liberal-NDP government would want to continue to block this study. Chrystia Freeland, and even Mark Carney to some degree, knows how important it is to study this, but members continue to team up to block a common-sense Conservative motion brought by—