Madam Speaker, many Canadians are struggling to make ends meet at this time, and when we see this Liberal government giving cushy, multi-million dollar contracts to their friends, Canadians feel cheated. Imagine being a taxpayer who is struggling to pay the rent or to buy food, and then to hear that billions of their tax dollars were being wasted by government.
Food will cost families $700 more this year than it did last year. Food insecurity has become such a problem in this country that, since 2021, food banks have seen a 50% increase in visits. According to the latest data from Statistics Canada, 8.7 million Canadians were food insecure in 2023, including 2.1 million children. Even poverty diseases like scurvy are resurfacing in Canada, and doctors are being warned to look out for them.
We are in a crisis. We have never seen this kind of government waste and suffering of Canadians before in this nation. Yet, here we are debating a matter of privilege, because this government's negligence, incompetence and corruption have resurfaced in the most recent scandal. The negligence continues because, after nine long years, this Liberal administration is being propped up by the NDP.
We would not be here today spending days debating this matter of parliamentary privilege if this government was prioritizing the best interests of Canadians. Instead of debating, we would be working on issues that are impacting Canadians, including record high inflation, cost of living, a housing crisis, a crime crisis and chaos in the streets. These are crises that have erupted because of the failed policies and leadership of this Prime Minister and his NDP coalition partners.
While this is happening, the government has once again chosen to serve its best interests and not the best interests of Canadians. It has failed to take the ethical path and to demonstrate leadership, transparency and accountability by handing over the documents that are at the very centre of this motion and at the very centre of the $400-million scandal. Let us now review some of the history that has got us to this point.
Sustainable Development Technology Canada was a $1-billion fund that was supported by multiple governments. In fact, it ran smoothly without incident up—