Debates of Jan. 28th, 2021

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[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, if he wants to talk about the province of Alberta, I am up to talking about it any day. In fact, when he talks about the whole issue of separation, the Conservative Party of Canada has to take its responsibility more seriously in its role with respect to a federation as opposed to the divisiveness it causes by giving so much misinformation to Albertans.

This government has committed all sorts of resources to support Alberta at this time of need. It continues to work with different levels of government to ensure that not only Alberta can be in a better position, but to ensure individuals who need the help receive the help. We have invested more in infrastructure and financial support. We have had more commitment to build a pipeline to the Pacific than Stephen Harper did in his full 10 years.

The Conservatives continue to spread misinformation about what the government has done in working with others for the province of Alberta. I am proud of that work.

Ethics

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I will be talking about scandals.

In March 2020, Baylis Medical entered into an agreement to produce 10,000 ventilators under a subcontract. The company was owned by Frank Baylis, a former Liberal MP. The government awarded this multi-million dollar contract without a call for bids. The ventilators cost twice as much as any other model made elsewhere.

In June 2020, Ottawa announced that WE Charity would be developing a new $900-million program to support students. Grants of up to $5,000 would be offered in exchange for volunteer work with a non-profit organization. The value of the contract was $19.5 million. However, departmental officials had warned the government in a memo that WE Charity could not provide services in Quebec, although Quebec already has a large, solid network of community organizations. It would be reasonable to conclude that WE Charity served little purpose, other than perhaps serving the interests of the Liberals.

The Prime Minister's wife received over $25,000 in fees from WE Charity, and the Prime Minister's mother and brother received $250,000 and $32,000 respectively for speaking at WE Charity events in 2016 and 2020. On July 22, 2020, the Minister of Finance told the committee that he had recently reimbursed WE Charity $41,366 for trips it had paid for his family to take to Kenya and Ecuador in 2017. On August 17, 2020, the Minister of Finance announced his resignation. That was when red flags began to fly for the opposition parties, journalists and ordinary citizens. It was an absolute scandal.

We want a special committee. The Bloc Québécois and the Conservative Party agreed that a special committee should be struck to shed light on these Liberal scandals. The committee would have been tasked with examining and reviewing WE Charity's actions, as well as the approval and purchase of ventilators from Baylis Medical. It is now January 28, and there is still no committee and definitely no accountability.

When there were calls for the creation of a special committee, the Liberals panicked. The government was so desperate not to shed light on the WE controversy that it was ready to fall over it. It took a vote on a special committee that would investigate the issue. All the grumbling made the Liberals wake up to the trouble they were in. When the scandal exploded in the Liberals' faces, they proposed creating a special committee to study COVID-19 spending. It is January 28, and there is still nothing. No committee was created, and there is no accountability. The grumbling did not stop. The Liberals' solution was to prorogue Parliament to avoid facing the storm.

It is January 28, and there is still no committee and certainly no accountability. We saw the end of WE Charity in September. The organization announced it was winding down operations in Canada, blaming financial troubles related to COVID-19 and the student service grant controversy. Amazingly, the entire scandal needed to be wiped off the face of the Earth.

Documents were censored. To justify the absence of the committee and the prorogation of Parliament, the Liberals claimed they had been transparent and released the documents to the opposition in committee. These documents were obviously redacted and censored, and the Liberals filibustered the committee.

I want to talk about a question that the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons was asked on October 19 at 2:42 p.m. He responded:

Mr. Speaker, last night I sent a motion to my colleagues in the other parties. This morning I sent a letter talking about the creation of a committee to look at all of the expenses made by the government, because we have made a lot of effort to be there and support Canadians.

He thought that was a responsible approach.

We are here today because on November 20, 2020, at 11:52 a.m., I asked a question and pointed out that the government was blocking its own committee from studying COVID-19 spending. I said it was another blatant example of the government's lack of transparency.

Could the leader explain why he is not creating his own committee?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, right from the get-go, let me make it very clear that the Government of Canada, and particularly the Prime Minister, have been transparent since the very beginning. We have been accountable, and we have been delivering for Canadians in a very real and tangible way. We have had their backs, and we will continue to do just that.

In the spring of 2020, ministers and officials appeared numerous times at committees to give details and updates to members on the programs that were launched and the status of the effectiveness of those programs. As well, for the first time in I believe over 30 years, the House of Commons and chamber got together this past July and August for accountability. The House of Commons met. Now, the opposition will say that it was a committee, but for all intents and purposes, it was on the floor of the House of Commons in the chamber, and opposition members were provided with the opportunity to ask not only hundreds but thousands of questions with regard to the coronavirus: questions we were happy to provide answers for. That is accountability. That is not trying to hide.

Yes, committees also met, and the member talked about a filibuster. When opposition members do not like something that is happening in a committee, they talk endlessly. However, when the opposition in a minority situation brings something forward and we are not necessarily happy with it, then it is not an appropriate filibuster. They want to have it both ways.

At the end of the day, it is about accountability and transparency, and that is what we have seen from the Prime Minister of Canada. We have to put into perspective what has taken place in the past 12 months.

The member made reference to a former Liberal MP getting a contract. Need I remind the House how much PPE was actually being produced in Canada at the time of the pandemic? It was a very small percentage, if any. Through supports from the government and private industry, we had a phenomenal transition, and today all sorts of things are being produced in Canada. Thousands of companies have come to the table. Some have been Liberal, some Conservative and I suspect there might even be some Bloc and New Democrat companies there. That is the reality of the situation.

Canadians have come together from coast to coast to coast and recognized that we needed a team Canada approach to deal with this pandemic, and that has not stopped the Government of Canada ensuring that there is a high sense of transparency and accountability. That is why, for the first time in 30 years, we actually had sitting days in July and August.

We continue to see the Prime Minister take Wednesdays as a full day in questions. There are all forms of other opposition days and so forth that have been brought forward to deal with the pandemic and other issues. As opposition parties collectively and individually have focused on smear tactics, we, as a government, have focused on being there for Canadians in fighting the pandemic, and working with others to make sure that we have Canadians' backs seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, a lot is getting blamed on the COVID-19 pandemic and the way it was managed.

However, I think the Liberals admitted their guilt through the resignation of the finance minister, as well as the filibuster in committee and the prorogation of Parliament, which are violent, dangerous and undemocratic actions.

The government House leader himself proposed a special anti-corruption committee on October 19 at 2:44 p.m. He said:

...if [the Conservatives] want to have a committee and ask all the questions they want, we have a solution for them. I sent a note to their House leader last night and a letter in more detail this morning. There is an option for all of us to work together.

Now, in January, nothing is happening but the threat of an election. Once again, the government wants to muzzle the opposition. Personally, I call that a dictatorship.

When will the committee finally be created to do a full investigation?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the only ones who talk about an election on the floor of the House of Commons are members from the opposition. The Conservatives and the members of the Bloc constantly want to talk about an election. They can continue to do that all they want. At the end of the day, this government, headed by this Prime Minister, will continue to focus on the pandemic and on taking the measures that are necessary in order to ensure that we have the vaccines. We have talked for weeks about that first quarter of six million vaccines, and we are on target. We will get those six million doses of vaccines.

If the opposition members want to continue talking about elections, that is their choice. We, on the other hand, will continue to focus our attention on what is important to Canadians, and I can tell the members opposite that it is the coronavirus and it is concerns about the vaccinations. We want to be there in a very real and tangible way and we are committed to building back better. That is what we have continued to say for many months now as a government, and we are committed to doing just that.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The motion that the House do now adjourn is deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 7:06 p.m.)