Madam Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to speak to this privilege motion regarding the failure of the government to produce documents pertaining to Sustainable Development Technology Canada. I look forward to offering my insights and to speak up for and on behalf of the hard-working people of York—Simcoe. This is their House, just as it is the House of all Canadians. It is not the Liberal government’s House, no matter how much it wishes that were true.
Peace, order and good government are the defining principles of our nation and have been since Confederation. For 157 years, these principles have underpinned the very promise of Canada, a promise that if people work hard, they can have a great life in a safe community. However, after nine years of the Prime Minister, that promise is broken because the Liberal government has disregarded these fundamental principles and its obligations to Canadians.
There is no peace as Canadians suffer from skyrocketing crime and chaos in every community across the country because of the Liberals’ insane catch-and-release policies, policies that are putting dangerous repeat violent offenders, as well as hard drugs, back onto our streets.
There is no order as Canadians suffer from the economic vandalism the government has wrought on this country, as our people face rising costs, fewer jobs and smaller paycheques. At the same time, more taxpayer dollars are now being spent on servicing Liberal debt than on meaningful health care and infrastructure investments.
There is no good government, as the Liberals have shown time and time again that they are not concerned about what is best for our citizens. They are only preoccupied with improving their own political fortunes and lining the pockets of their friends.
A case in point is the matter before us now, a matter that has seized Parliament for weeks. The Liberal government has failed to turn over documents to the RCMP regarding a $400-million scandal that saw Liberal-appointed executives funnel money to their own companies, implicating them in 186 conflicts of interest. The Auditor General issued a damning report on this matter. She called out the former Sustainable Development Technology Canada agency for “significant lapses” in its oversight and management of taxpayer dollars. Once again, we are seeing the Liberals disrespect taxpayers to benefit other Liberals. The Liberals are blocking the legally ordered production of documents and dismissing the supremacy, will and authority of Parliament.
The government was given a choice, but instead of being accountable, respecting the work of Parliament and respecting the interests of Canadians, the Liberals have chosen to cover up the evidence involved in this scandal. The greed, corruption and conflicts of interest by Liberal appointees in this scandal are absolutely staggering, as are the lengths the Liberal government will go to cover it up.
This is truly shameful, but it is not a surprise. After all, we have seen this many times before. There was the Aga Khan scandal, the cash for access affair, the SNC-Lavalin affair, the WE Charity controversy, clam scam, ArriveCAN and now the green slush fund.
Time and time again, the Liberals have been found guilty for unacceptable ethical failings that have led to the inappropriate waste of significant amounts of public funds. Where does the blame lie for these failings? Certainly, every single Liberal across the way needs to take a good long look at themselves and what their “sunny ways” government has become.
As I think all members in the House know, I like to spend my time on Lake Simcoe in an ice hut, and I can tell them, from plenty of experience in being out there, that a fish rots from the head down. In this case, the head is the head of the government, the Liberal Prime Minister. It is the Prime Minister who is ultimately responsible for his office, his staff, his ministers, his departments and the direction and policies of his government. It is the Prime Minister who has had to apologize on multiple occasions for breaking the law and for ethical violations. Members will remember when he said “it sucks” when he got caught, but his government does it time and time again. In doing so, the Prime Minister and his Liberal government have made a mockery of our conflict of interest laws by repeatedly flaunting them, with no consequences. By refusing to respect the will of the House and turn over documents related to the green slush fund, the Liberals are only further compromising the trust that Canadians have in our institutions and the entrenched processes we have here.
It is no wonder the Prime Minister's record-low popularity has coincided with a historic distrust in our institutions among Canadians. According to a Leger poll released yesterday, the record-low trust in our institutions tracks with similar reports from the Edelman Trust Barometer, which has tracked low and declining trust in government for some time.
It is no wonder Canadians have such little faith in government and other institutions. Canadians are hurting, and they are disillusioned with the state of our country, a country where a healthy meal, a decent home, a safe community and a good quality of life are now out of reach for so many. When we see the lengths this government will go to entrench its Liberal insiders and friends and cover up wasteful spending, all while families can barely afford to make ends meet, they are absolutely incensed.
This reminds me of my by-election in February 2019. The Prime Minister and his Liberal strategists thought they could flip York—Simcoe, and he made two well-publicized appearances at a chicken restaurant in Keswick. However, at that time, folks in York—Simcoe were very upset with the Prime Minister for his direct involvement in pressuring Jody Wilson-Raybould in the ongoing SNC-Lavalin affair. I had heard that at just about every door.
I remember a little story from after my win. When I was being sworn in, it was the first time I had ever met the Prime Minister. I was outside these very doors here and was very excited to represent the people of York—Simcoe. My colleague from Abbotsford was excited. My colleague from Huron—Bruce was excited and high-fiving me. When I was standing outside the doors, our leader at the time, the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle, was there. He said I would probably meet the Prime Minister and could shake his hand or not. I remember the leader of the NDP pacing back and forth; he wanted to go first, and I said I was just happy to be there.
Lo and behold, there came the Prime Minister, who walked up to me and said, “Scot, you have a lot of good people in York—Simcoe.” I said, “Mr. Prime Minister, we have some beauties.” He then said, “I was at a chicken restaurant twice in your riding”, and I said, “Mr. Prime Minister, I was trying to get you back a third time.” He asked why that was, and I said, “Because every time you came, I got 500 lawn sign requests.” Then he looked at me and I said, “Just kidding, Mr. Prime Minister.” Anyway, we had a laugh. However, all joking aside, five years on, the sentiment we felt in York—Simcoe then has now spilled out and is shared by folks on every street and town from coast to coast to coast.
Canadians want accountability. They want transparency. They want their government to act in the interest of Canadians. I truly believe that, right now, they are disappointed in the Liberals' conduct, their involvement in the green slush fund and other scandals, and their blatant efforts to cover it up.
The unpopularity of the Prime Minister and the Liberal Party as a whole can be traced right back to their contempt for Parliament and disinterest in the needs of Canadians, as well as the lengths they will go to look after their own and cover it all up. The green slush fund epitomizes all these things. The claim by the Liberals that the order to provide relevant documents to the RCMP would somehow compromise the investigation is absolutely bogus. If someone came to a police officer with information related to a crime, the police would not turn away and say, “No thanks, we are going to have to come about that on our own.”
RCMP officials, once in possession of the full, unredacted, unabridged documentation with regard to this matter, can assess for themselves its admissibility and relevance to their investigation. They can do this just as they have done with documents already received as part of this order.
Surprise, this is Parliament doing its job. This is our national police force doing its job. Unfortunately, wedged in the middle, we have the corrupt Liberal government intent on covering the whole thing up. The degree to which members opposite have sought to gaslight and mislead Canadians on the green slush fund is disheartening, to say the least.
The Liberal government has attempted to invoke the charter when defending its indefensible position not to produce these documents. That is a joke. The Liberals were actually found in violation of the charter when they invoked the Emergencies Act in the winter of 2022. They were positively gleeful when trampling over the rights of Canadians back then, and now they want to suggest that enabling the RCMP to do its job through the production of documents somehow encroaches on the rights of individual citizens.
I spoke earlier about a fish rotting from the head down. This is one of the biggest fish stories I have ever heard, if I ever heard one. Speaking of fish stories, by the way, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, whose department was responsible for the scandal-ridden Sustainable Development Technology Canada, claimed to Conservatives that they just need to move on from the scandal. He called it a political drama that was putting the clean tech sector at a disadvantage.
We know who wants to move on. The green slush fund happened right under his nose, and they have been found out for their role in this very concerning matter. The fact that legitimate businesses involved in reducing environmental impacts are being affected by this shows the real consequences of Liberal corruption and mismanagement in this country, never mind the amount of taxpayer money that has just been misspent and wasted by the Liberals. This has had a catastrophic impact on the environment far beyond just this one industry.
I will remind members here tonight that the Lake Simcoe cleanup fund was cancelled by the Liberals in 2017, and they promised to bring it back. The Deputy Prime Minister stood on the shores of Lake Simcoe for this big announcement in 2019 and committed and promised $40 million. We all know it never happened. We all know the same old line: promises, promises, promises.
Instead, I have had to spend the last five years telling people involved in the grassroots efforts to clean up and restore the lake the sad truth. The Liberal government will not support their efforts like the previous Conservative government did, because the government would rather ensure the money only flows to its Liberal friends. That has not stopped the grassroots community members from continuing the work as best they can for the lake.
I am also proud of the residents of York—Simcoe who have planted over 1,000 trees, which I have given out over the past five years at my Canada Day barbecue celebrations. The ordinary people of York—Simcoe are truly extraordinary. What a contrast to Liberal insiders who have been making good money through the grifting and self-dealing enabling by the government.
All of this shows just how much contempt the Liberals have for Parliament and the role of the House of Commons in our democracy. The Liberals think the House, the people's House, is an inconvenience to be bypassed and ignored. They do this all the time. Ministers frequently refuse to appear before committees. When they do, questions are deflected to bureaucrats instead of the minister responsible.
The Liberals tried to give themselves unlimited spending and taxation powers during the pandemic. They took the Speaker to court over the release of the Winnipeg lab documents. They routinely use their appointed flunkies in the Senate as a workaround to defeat and gut bills duly passed in this place, such as my current bill, Bill C-280, a financial protection for fresh fruit and vegetable growers from coast to coast to coast.
There is an overall disregard for our institutions. The reluctance on the part of the government to produce documents related to the green slush fund is very concerning to say the least, especially since Parliament and its officers are examining multiple other scandals and ethics violations in addition to this one. There is an ongoing affair with the employment minister's continued involvement with a company dealing with government grants and contracts, which is a violation. We all know about the arrive scam app, an absolutely insane boondoggle.
What excuse will the Liberals conjure up to try and get out of being accountable on these matters? They voted against allowing the Auditor General to investigate GC Strategies. They refused to provide the documents on this occasion. What lengths will they go to, to cover up these scandals when Parliament tries to shine a light on them? Canadians see this and the determination by the Liberals to block investigations into corruption within the government.
As the official opposition, Conservatives have been focused on improving the lives of Canadians. However, by paralyzing Parliament, the government has made it impossible for anyone here to address issues like the doubling of housing costs, Liberal food inflation, and crime and chaos. I have been prevented from speaking on local issues as well, such as the illegitimate Georgina aerodrome, the unfair rural carbon tax rebate, the no-show Lake Simcoe clean-up fund and many more.
People in York—Simcoe are truly on the outside looking in. I am calling on the Liberals to finally submit the documents as ordered. If they have nothing to hide, they should give the files to the RCMP. If there was no criminality or wrongdoing, they should just allow justice to take its course and hold those individuals responsible. Enough is enough.