Debates of Feb. 1st, 2023

Public Services and Procurement

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, over our time in office, I have been touched by seeing how many Canadians of extraordinary backgrounds have put their hands up and offered to serve their country, to contribute to Canadian success and contribute to government. Dominic Barton has certainly served his country in many ways, including by being an outstanding ambassador to China.

In regard to contracts assigned to McKinsey by the public service, as I said, we are following up on how those contracts were chosen, allocated and fulfilled.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, he always blames everybody else for his actions. After eight years in government, he never takes responsibility, so now he is blaming the public servants for paying over $120 million to his friends at McKinsey.

Here is what the public servants told the media, “We had a few presentations on very generic, completely vapid stuff. They arrived with nice colours, nice presentations and said they would revolutionize everything. In the end, we don't have any idea what they did.” What they did is get over $120 million. We still do not know exactly how much.

What was the total?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, the ministers are appropriately looking into it to make sure all rules were followed.

As we move forward, we are focused on Canadians right now and the need to support Canadians who are going through a really difficult time, whether it is grocery prices, whether it is gas or whether it is paying their rents. That is why we have stepped up with direct supports for Canadians. We will continue to, and we certainly hope the Conservatives, putting aside their opposition to more support for Canadians who are renting or more support so people can send their kids to the dentist, will step up and support on child care, disability and other investments that support Canadians.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, well, after eight years in power, rents have doubled from $1,000 to $2,000. Monthly mortgage payments have doubled from $1,500 to well over $3,000. One in five Canadians is skipping meals, and half of Canadians are cutting groceries because of the food price inflation that his carbon tax has caused.

Where is the money going? There was $15 billion for high-priced consultants like McKinsey. When he hired McKinsey, he announced that it was for $1 a year, up to at least $120 million a year.

How do you explain that? It is just inflation?

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I just want to remind the hon. members to place their questions through the Speaker not to the Speaker, and you cannot do indirectly what you cannot do directly.

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, while the Conservative Party focuses on schoolyard taunts, we are going to stay focused on being there for Canadians.

We have stepped up with investments that have helped Canadians significantly through this difficult time. We know people are facing tough times, and that is why we continue to step up with a doubling of the GST credit over six months, with moving forward on support for low-income renters and so that all families can send their kids to the dentists.

Unfortunately and inexplicably, despite all of his rhetoric, the Leader of the Opposition stood against those last two measures.

We are hoping that they are going to see that investing in and supporting Canadians, not abandoning the middle class, is what we need from them.

Diversity and Inclusion

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in light of recent events and the tensions surrounding the arrival of the representative chosen by the Prime Minister, whom I met today at noon, in light of past and perhaps regrettable comments—it is not for me to judge—and in light of the polarizing effect this is having on Quebec and Canada, if the Prime Minister's objective is mutual understanding between communities, will he recognize that he went about it the wrong way?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is very clear that we have to have some difficult conversations as a society. It is always important to have those difficult conversations, whether it is to address systemic racism across the country or to stand up for fundamental rights and freedoms. There are always difficult and important conversations that need to happen, and I think people understand that rhetoric and exaggeration on either side do not help. That is why we appointed a special representative on combatting Islamophobia, who I know will lead these conversations so that we can build bridges the right way.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I agree that that is important, but it does not have to be this difficult. To reduce polarization, to really work on getting to know each other and mitigate the serious impact of these recent decisions, will the Prime Minister smooth things over and stand in the House and admit that Bill 21 is not Islamophobic?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, for years, I have been expressing my concerns about the fact that some laws, including Bill 21, may violate fundamental civil liberties. I know not everyone shares that perspective, but I hope, based on the emotion shown by my hon. colleague and the wishes he has expressed, that we will be able to have the difficult but responsible conversations on these issues so that we can bring people together rater than stirring up trouble and sowing division.

Health

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, when one or one's loved one falls sick, or one's mom needs a surgery, one needs nurses in the hospital to provide that care. When the Prime Minister was elected, the shortage of nurses was 5,800, and the shortage of nurses is now 29,000 positions.

The situation has gotten a lot worse, not better. The Prime Minister promised to hire more nurses but has not done that. When Conservative premiers want to privatize, for profit, our services, he encourages it and celebrates it.

Why has the nursing shortage gotten worse and not better with the Prime Minister?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, through the depths of the pandemic, this federal government stepped up with over $72 billion in extra investments in health care across the country, on top of the $40 billion or so a year we send to the provinces for delivery of health care, to hire nurses and to ensure proper health care delivery across the country.

One of the things we saw during the pandemic was that there was a need to continue and even to increase working together to ensure that Canadians get the best possible medical services across the country.

That is why we will be sitting down with the provinces next week to talk about the future of health care services across this country.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, when the Prime Minister took office, there was a shortage of 5,800 nurses. Things are now five times worse. He promised to hire more nurses, but he broke his promise. He thinks the provincial premiers' move to privatize our health care system is innovative.

Why is the Prime Minister making the crisis worse instead of improving our health care system?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, when we saw the challenges Canadians were dealing with during the pandemic, the federal government stepped up with $72 billion in extra investments in health care, on top of the $40 billion we send the provinces every year for health care delivery. We know it is going to take more.

We are going to sit down with the provinces next week to talk about how to boost investment and co-operation to provide better health care to Canadians across the country, within our public system, of course.

Government Priorities

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we know that the insiders at McKinsey got rich, and we know that Canadians got 40-year highs of inflation. However, after eight years of the Prime Minister and $15 billion for consultants, what did Canadians get? They got record food bank visits, he doubled their rent and he doubled their mortgage payments. The Prime Minister says that things have never been better, and for him and his friends, that is true. However, over here in the real world, Canadians are struggling.

Will the Prime Minister show some humility, admit there is a problem and start working for ordinary Canadians?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, that might be a little more credible coming from the Conservatives if they had not voted against benefits for low-income renters just a few months ago, and if they had not voted against extra supports so families who could not afford to send their kids to the dentist could finally send them to the dentist.

What we hear from the Conservative Party is promotion of cuts and promotion of austerity, instead of stepping up and actually investing in the support that Canadians need. We manage to deliver targeted supports in a way that maintains our strong fiscal position so that we are coming through these difficult times by leaning on each other as we always do.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I know that the Prime Minister does not want to talk about his friends at McKinsey. The only person in Canada who thinks things are good is the Prime Minister. After eight long years and the billions that he is bragging about, he has given Canadians long lineups at airports, long immigration backlogs with numbers into the millions and long wait times for passports. SNC-Lavalin, WE Charity, McKinsey and the list goes on and on. At every point, he is working for well-connected insiders and leaving the middle class behind.

Will he finally take responsibility for that?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as Conservatives continue to blame the government for everything from COVID-19 to the war on Ukraine, we are going to continue to be there to invest in Canadians and to support people through the difficult times they are going through.

That is why we have consistently stepped up to invest in Canadians, despite Conservatives screaming every day that we were doing too much for Canadians and that we were helping too much through this pandemic. The reality is that we stepped up and our economy bounced back strongly. We are going to continue to step up as Canadians face difficult times with inflation and rising interest rates. We will be there for Canadians, despite the Conservatives calling for cuts.

Public Services and Procurement

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, what do we know about the McKinsey case?

We know that the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister and Dominic Barton are very close friends. We know that their friendship is also one of the reasons Mr. Barton has been able to secure over $117 million in federal government contracts for McKinsey over the past eight years. We know that all of the contracts given to McKinsey were for work that our public servants could have done in-house, and now we know that the Prime Minister does not trust our public servants.

Why?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, the two ministers involved are following up to make sure that Canadians got value for their money, that these contracts followed all the rules, and that they followed the parameters that are set up to ensure that contracts awarded by the public service are the right ones.

We are going to continue being transparent with the public and investing in the middle class.

Given that they oppose help for dental care and low-income renters, the question is why the Conservatives have abandoned the middle class.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is trying to change the subject, but the question is clear. The government has lost confidence in its public servants. Moreover, the Prime Minister appointed Isabelle Hudon as the president of the Business Development Bank of Canada. The first thing Ms. Hudon did was award a $4.9‑million contract to McKinsey to do work that BDC's team could have done. Her employees were so frustrated that they went to the media with their concerns.

Why does the Prime Minister let people like Ms. Hudon or anyone else award contracts to McKinsey when the work could be done by public servants?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have already answered these questions.

The reality is that Canadians are going through tough times. As the government, we are there to help Canadians. We are there to help them by doubling the GST credit for six months, by providing assistance for dental care to families that cannot afford it and by providing support to low-income renters. Unfortunately, the Conservative Party voted against these initiatives. It would rather support austerity than investments that help Canadians get through these tough times.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, today the Prime Minister's friend Dominic Barton will appear before the government operations committee. Over the last eight years, Canadians have been struggling, but Dominic Barton's former company has cashed at least $100 million worth of government cheques for consulting services.

I will be asking Dominic Barton about his involvement in the opioid crisis. While Mr. Barton was advising the Prime Minister and while his company was collecting Canadian government contracts, they were advising Purdue Pharma on how to turbocharge opioid sales.

During their time working together, did the Prime Minister ever ask Dominic Barton about his work turbocharging opioid sales?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I know Mr. Barton is looking forward to appearing at committee and answering any and all of those questions.

What I will highlight is that, as a government, we will continue to stay grounded in science, facts and data as we address the terrible opioid epidemic across this country. Where Conservatives dig into random conspiracy theories and ignore science and evidence on how to keep people safe through the opioid epidemic, we are going to continue to step up with a harm reduction approach, with an approach that puts science first and keeps Canadians safe through this terrible ordeal.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, McKinsey's involvement in the opioid crisis is not a conspiracy theory. It is in The New York Times. The Prime Minister should read the stories about how, under Dominic Barton, McKinsey incredibly advised Purdue Pharma on a scheme to pay pharmacists for overdoses.

I asked a specification question of the Prime Minister about his conversations with Dominic Barton, and I think families deserve an answer. Did the Prime Minister ever ask Dominic Barton about his work with Purdue Pharma, yes or no?