I have copies of the motion to distribute.
I move:
That the Standing Committee on Science and Research undertake a study of the Government of Canada’s space procurement practices, including how federal departments and agencies acquire space-related infrastructure, technologies and services;—
I have some copies for all members, including the clerk and analysts. It was put on notice on May 5.
—That the study examine the effectiveness, transparency and value for money of these federal procurement practices, including the use of public funds, contracting models and risk-management frameworks;
That the study also assess the extent to which federal space investments support the retention of intellectual property, commercialization of Canadian innovation and long-term growth of Canada’s space economy;
That the committee consider whether current procurement approaches adequately prioritize domestic capability, industrial development and the safeguarding of Canadian-developed technologies;
That the committee invite the president of the Canadian Space Agency, the chief science adviser, the Minister of Industry, the Minister of National Defence, relevant departmental officials, representatives from the Canadian space sector and any other witnesses the committee deems relevant;
That the committee hold no fewer than four meetings; and
That the committee report its findings to the House.
It sounds like a pretty reasonable study, well within the mandate of the science and research committee.
I think copies have now been distributed to everyone, just for their reference. I know that a number of motions were moved by a number of members on May 5, so now you know which one I'm referring to. I believe it's been translated into French as well.
In light of the government's space bill—I believe it's Bill C-28—procurement is very important, and in light of the $200-million gravel pit procurement that ended up being a money pit, on which, of course, the Liberal members of this committee had shut down any debate in previous meetings....
I would now like to move on to debating points on how important procurement is.
Before I even get into procurement, it's the job of the legislative branch of government. We live in a country where there's a separation of powers in our democracy. There's the judiciary, the legislative and the executive. The legislative is there to put in safeguards and restrict the powers of the executive, but what we see with the Liberals, time and time again, including in Bill C-28, is the opposite. They give more powers to the executive branch. They remove safeguards and remove the checks and balances to give themselves more power.
The executive branch has 400,000 and some bureaucrats. We've lost track of how many there are. It has grown so much. It's grown by a magnitude of 50% in the 10 years since this Liberal government has been in power, which, by the way, has grown faster than the rate of population growth in Canada. It really has ballooned on a per capita basis.
Instead of keeping these 400,000 unelected bureaucrats.... Many of them are doing good work. Many of them are good people. We're not trying to alienate this group of people, who are hard-working and facing the affordability challenges that the Liberal government has put them through and facing the immigration crisis and the public safety crime crisis that the Liberal government has unleashed on them in the last 11 years.
That's why we're talking about procurement. The executive branch needs to buy things and contract. There's nothing wrong with procurement, but we need to investigate when procurement is not working.
A case in point is the gravel pit in Nova Scotia for $200 million. The firm involved in the contract had a registered lobbyist who is a former Liberal staffer. It was not even buying the gravel pit. It was just a 10-year lease for $200 million. It wasn't like it was a fully developed space pad. It was a gravel pit, so you still have to spend money to develop it.
All we want is the production of documents to see what the contracts are. There's nothing partisan about that. We understand that the Liberal ministers.... There are something like 40 of them. I've lost track of how many there are, because the size of the government has grown so much. We're talking about Liberal members of this committee who are not ministers of the Crown. It's incumbent on you to investigate, to produce those documents.
I understand that sometimes, a bureaucrat might make a bad procurement decision, and it might not immediately be the fault of elected Liberal members. You folks have to deal with constituents' concerns and advancing your constituents' interests. There are a lot of noble, admirable things, and you don't have the oversight to watch over 400,000 bureaucrats every minute, but guess what. Instead of investigating these procurement failures, you decide to hide them under the rug. You sweep them under the rug. Instead of finding the truth, you block the truth from being investigated.
Maybe we can find out the truth. So that we don't have to point any fingers, we can say, “Look, maybe there was a bad apple in the army of 400,000 bureaucrats”, but what we saw was the shutting down of debate on the space pad procurement fiasco not once, but twice. First, it was to turn off the cameras. There was a vote. Every Liberal member voted to turn off the cameras and turn off the ability to have transcribed—