Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Cariboo—Prince George.
I rise today to speak to a serious violation of the privileges of parliamentarians stemming from the government's refusal to comply with a Conservative motion passed on June 10 of this year. As the Speaker unequivocally stated, the House of Commons holds the undeniable right to compel production of documents necessary for fulfilling its duties. Exercising this right, we ordered the government, Sustainable Development Technology Canada and the Auditor General to submit specific documents within 30 days.
The documents, created or dated since January 1, 2017, include all correspondence among government officials regarding SDTC, contribution and funding agreements involving SDTC, financial records of companies where current or former directors had ownership or financial interests, all conflict of interest declarations, minutes from the board of directors and project review committee meetings, all correspondence between directors and management, and additional documents used by the Auditor General in preparing her report presented to the House on June 4.
Interestingly, the Liberals were the only party to vote against the motion. Now, over 30 days have passed since the adoption of the motion, and members of the House, along with Canadians, are still left questioning how the government's green slush fund improperly dispersed around $830 million in taxpayer dollars. The lack of compliance in providing requested documents completely undermines Parliament's ability to conduct a thorough oversight, especially regarding taxpayer money management and government programs.
Such shortcomings erode public trust and hinder effective governance, something the Liberals are far too comfortable with. In a democratic system, it is paramount that the government remain accountable to the people it serves. The people are not here to serve the government. The ruling should serve as a wake-up call for the Liberal government to respect, once and for all, parliamentary protocols and to ensure transparency when using taxpayer money.
I want to remind the House of the mandate letter written by the Prime Minister himself to Canadians in 2015, which expressed his deep commitment to our nation and gratitude to those who placed their trust in him. He stated, “I am committed to leading an open, honest government that is accountable to Canadians, lives up to the highest ethical standards, brings our country together, and applies the utmost care and prudence in the handling of public funds.” What an abject failure and what a joke on Canadians that was.
Fast-forward to today, and we see a stark contrast between those aspirational words and the actions of the government. If the Prime Minister were truly committed to the promises he made, he would stop evading accountability, listen to the concerns of the House and release all unredacted documents. Instead, the government is taking unprecedented steps to withhold information related to the green slush fund. All that the letter does is serve as a testament to his litany of broken promises.
The motion follows the AG's damning and explosive report on the SDTC, also known as the Liberals' green slush fund. The Auditor General took only a sampling of the funding and found that 82% of that sample was marred by conflict of interest totalling $330 million. Clearly there are secrets that the Liberals do not want Canadians to uncover. I wonder why.
The Auditor General also found that SDTC did not follow conflict of interest policies in 90 cases, spent nearly $76 million on projects connected to the Liberals' friends appointed to run SDTC, spent $59 million on projects that were not allowed to have been awarded any money, and spent $12 million on projects that were both a conflict of interest and ineligible for funding. In one instance, the Prime Minister's hand-picked SDTC chair siphoned off a whopping $217,000 to her own company.
The Prime Minister knew, and he refused to stop the Liberals' friends at SDTC from engaging in this blatant level of corruption. The AG made it clear that the blame for the scandal falls squarely on the Prime Minister's industry minister, who did not sufficiently monitor the contracts that were given to Liberal insiders. There is no such thing anymore, under nine years of the current government, as ministerial accountability.
The scandal is not merely about mismanagement; it also raises serious concerns about how taxpayer money is being funnelled to Liberal insiders. The findings indicate a systemic failure in oversight and governance within SDTC. The AG pointed out that significant funds were allocated without proper scrutiny, allowing conflicts of interest to flourish. The implications extend beyond just financial mismanagement; they highlight a culture within the Liberal government that seems to prioritize loyalty and connection with insiders over transparency and accountability to Canadians.
SDTC was intended to support innovative projects that would benefit Canadians, but instead appears to have been transformed into simply a tool for political patronage. The fact that 123 million dollars' worth of contracts were awarded inappropriately only compounds the concerns. How did the Liberals respond? They responded the only way they know how: mislead and deflect.
Just last week, the government House leader posted a video in response to our motion demanding the release of the documents and exposing the massive corruption we have called upon the RCMP to investigate. Instead of addressing the elephant in the room, which is the misuse of taxpayers' money, the member resorted to denial and deflection, absurdly claiming that by insisting on transparency and accountability, the handing over of the documents, we as Conservatives are somehow attacking Canadian charter rights. This is a blatant attempt to shift focus away from the Liberals' reckless spending and corruption.
To clarify for those at home who might be puzzled by the member's comments, let me make it clear: The motion is solely about demanding the release of documents; it is not related to Canadian charter rights. Since when has anyone on the Liberal benches shown any real concern for defending the charter rights of Canadians? Where was the supposed commitment when the Liberals invoked the Emergencies Act in 2022, only to be severely embarrassed by Justice Mosley in his federal court ruling that claimed there were serious violations of the charter—