Madam Speaker, the SDTC program was set up to help Canadian companies and individuals with technology and programs related to the environment. It was set up to help meet the needs of the challenges we have with the environment.
One of the signature pieces of the Liberal platform was the environment. However, what happened when the Liberals got control, when they got keys to the bank and to SDTC? It did not take long. There were $400 million and 186 conflicts of interest. This is why we owe a debt of gratitude to whistle-blowers. This is the evidence that needs to be turned over to the RCMP. That is why we are here today.
When people back in our constituencies, or anyone who is watching from Saskatoon—University right now, ask us what is going on, it is Liberal insiders getting rich. This is the prime example. The Prime Minister's hand-picked board of the green slush fund has doled out over $400 million improperly.
I think of Jill who runs a cafeteria. She is an entrepreneur. I know how hard she works. I remember the conversation about some of the struggles she has had in the last few years and how hard she has to work to pay her employees, pay her rent and pay her taxes. I think about how much the average person earns in a year and how that person is forced to provide money to the government to go into programs like the green slush fund, that $400 million account. The government turned around and gave it to Liberal insiders, people on the board who had conflicts of interest. It is a crime that should be investigated by the RCMP. That is why we are seized with this debate today.
There is an order of the House of Commons. The majority of members agreed that the evidence should go to the RCMP. The Liberals said that they would send the documents, but then blocked it all out. They redacted the details that were sent to the RCMP. It is a sad day in Canada when the federal government does not trust the RCMP. That is why we are here today. We want that evidence turned over to the RCMP.
Canadians should have a great deal of gratitude for some of the people who worked on this file, people who could not take the corruption, and they became whistle-blowers. They alarmed the public. They alarmed the opposition. They alarmed anybody who would listen to them. There is something that stinks with this green slush fund. Let us hear from them.
I want to read some quotes from a SDTC whistle-blower:
I think the Auditor General's investigation was more of a cursory review. I don't think the goal and mandate of the Auditor General's office is to actually look into criminality... I'm not surprised by the fact that they haven't found anything criminal. They're not looking at intent. If their investigation was focused on intent, of course they would find the criminality
The criminality is for a judge and a court to decide down the road, but the first step is for the RCMP to get all of the evidence to understand who got rich and why.
The whistle-blower continued:
I know that the federal government, like the minister, has continued saying that there was no criminal intent and nothing was found, but I think the committee would agree that they're not to be trusted on this situation. I would happily agree to whatever the findings are by the RCMP, but I would say that I wouldn't trust that there isn't any criminality unless the RCMP is given full authority to investigate.
What is in full authority to investigate? It is cabinet documents and it is evidence that shows how Liberal insiders got rich.
The whistle-blower said:
...if you bring in the RCMP and they do their investigation and they find something or they don't, I think the public would be happy with that. I don't think we should leave it to the current federal government or the ruling party to make those decisions. Let the public see what's there.
This is key. It is the old adage that sunlight is the best disinfectant. We should open up the books and jail the crooks if there are insiders getting rich on just this fund. This is $400 million, which is an eye-watering amount, but we should not forget all the pandemic spending. That is tens of billions of dollars and more.
This is where Canada finds itself right now. The current government has added more federal debt than all other prime ministers combined. This thing stinks. We are talking $400 million here and tens of billions of dollars of questionable contracts during COVID. This is like the 1990s again, but in the 1990s, it was cheap. The Liberals only stole $30-some million in the sponsorship scandal. This scandal alone is $400 million.
Think of the good that we could do in our society with that money. Think of the two million people every month relying on the food bank to feed themselves. Think of the 1,400 encampments in the city of Toronto that could be helped. We could give people the dignity of a space until they get off the ground and onto their feet. That is what a government should be doing instead of making sure that Liberal insiders are getting paid. That is what has happening here. There is so much need.
I would like to talk briefly about why the SDTC was set up, which was for environmental initiatives in Canada. It is quite clear that the government pretends to care about the environment and that it wants fewer emissions. Meanwhile, we have a Prime Minister who jet-sets anywhere in the world at a drop of a dime anytime he wants, and he does jet-set around the world. The carbon footprint and hypocrisy in that is outstanding. It is not like there is a need.
In a fund like this, I think of nuclear workers, especially in Ontario. If they are watching this, I know the Liberal government has insulted them, included them in sin stocks and ignored the importance of nuclear power. We are in Ontario and these lights are probably kept on right now by nuclear power. It's how our country, specifically Ontario, got off coal. Nuclear power is why we do not have smog days anymore in Toronto. I thank the men and women who work in the nuclear industry, which relates to this $400 million that went to Liberal insiders, the men and women who work on the refurbishment of the CANDU reactors.
Anyone who works in the supply chain for our reactors in Canada and around the world knows that AtkinsRéalis has a need for some federal support, especially with the MONARK reactor that it is trying to get off the ground. We would think this would be a perfect fit for the SDTC fund. It is a sustainable development technology. It is nuclear. It is what got Ontario off coal. It is what is delivering clean, affordable electricity to the people of Canada. It is technology, not taxes, that is going to solve the problem. It may have been mentioned before that it is technology, not taxes, but it is the men and women who work in the nuclear industry today and their technology. It has always been technology that has solved the challenges that we face as a country and as a society.
When I was young, acid rain was a terrifying idea. The media said that the rain would wash away our bridges, roads and buildings. As a young boy, I was very concerned about acid rain. It was not a tax that fixed that problem, it was technology. A similar problem was the ozone layer and the hole that was being created in our atmosphere. It was technology, not taxes that fixed that problem.
Once again, if we had a government, maybe a newly elected government with some common sense, it would take a program that is meant for environmental technology and take that fund and invest it in nuclear, which actually reduces emissions and helps our environment.
The most frustrating thing about this is that the waste taking place could have actually solved some problems, especially in the environment. If AtkinsRéalis had had some support from the federal government, maybe the MONARK would be able to fly by now. However, it did not happen. Liberal insiders got rich.
It is not just me who is saying this; it is the whistle-blowers who came forward with all the conflicts of interest that took place. I am going to read a couple more quotes from some whistle-blowers.
One quote reads:
The true failure of the situation stands at the feet of our current government, whose decision to protect wrongdoers and cover up their findings over the last 12 months is a serious indictment of how our democratic systems and institutions are being corrupted by political interference.
Another quote reads that if a person works in nuclear, and that person wants us to continue to be the leader that we are on clean, affordable nuclear energy, it must boil the blood to read these government whistle-blowers talk about how a fund that should help industry helped Liberal insiders instead. This is wrong, and we know that. It is wrong that the companies of insiders, either board members or the chair of the fund itself, were funded. They voted and attended meetings and had discussions about this.
How much worse will we find in the evidence that this place voted for? This place has voted that the evidence should be turned over unredacted to the RCMP for a full investigation.
Anyone who knows what has been going on in Ottawa knows there is a lot more money than $400 million that has been misspent, misappropriated and blown on insiders. The day is coming and the dawn is breaking. Canadians are coming out of the dark period that has categorized the last nine years of failure and this failing regime is coming to an end.
There is a breath of fresh air coming, and the disinfectant we need is the sunlight that will uncover who got rich and who ordered which companies to receive funds. We know the environment minister has investments in Cycle Capital that received millions of dollars from this fund as well.