Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Transport is determined to squander a billion dollars of the Canadian taxpayers' money.
Settlement of the unconstitutional cancellation of the Pearson contract will cost taxpayers between $400 million and $500 million. Even if the government manages to get Bill C-22 through the Senate somehow, constitutional experts have said it will be thrown out of court. On top of this, the minister is determined to pay additional money to Hughes for a contract that will provide less than contracted for and that is behind schedule.
Why does the minister not cancel the Hughes contract instead of the Pearson contract and save the Canadian taxpayers $1 billion in the process?