Mr. Speaker, we have to do it by taking more tax dollars from Canadians.
One of my Liberal friends said, “Tell us.” In an earlier part of my speech, which I will repeat, I said the government does not actually have any money; it only has the money it takes from Canadians. The government has never made a dollar ever, so if it is going to pay back debt, it has to take more money away from Canadians, which will not allow them to fill their cars with gas, take their kids to hockey or put groceries on the table to feed their families. That is what we are talking about. The Prime Minister can go on national TV and say the government will take on debt so Canadians will not have to, but that is an absolute fallacy.
There are a few more scandals I can get through before my time is done. I remember the next one very well, because we were here on the floor of the House, which was illegally invoking the Emergencies Act in February 2022. This is another scandal that will continue to grow as we get further down the road. There was a commission, and it was ruled that the government of the day, and I think it was a former public safety minister who did it, invoked the Emergencies Act illegally in order to take the rights and everyday freedoms away from Canadians.
I know my Liberal colleagues do enjoy a speech, and they are going to hear more and more about some of the scandals they have been involved with throughout the years. I know the backbenchers are feeling their oats, because they had another caucus meeting. I hope a few of them threw their names on another list. Perhaps they will be on the speaking list tomorrow morning and can share some of the wisdom that they have gained over the years with the Prime Minister. I do not know if Katie allows them to speak or how that works, but hopefully members sent their emails so they can get on the speaking list in their caucus meeting tomorrow. To be a fly on that wall; that would be an interesting meeting to be part of.
I hope no one's hand is too sore from writing their name so many times on a piece of paper asking for the Prime Minister to resign. To be fair, we do understand how that works. We are hoping those members do get a few more signatures on that paper over the next few weeks. I think members would really appreciate that. Canadians would appreciate these members standing up for them and making sure the government knows how Canadians feel about the current leader.
I just saw some approval ratings for the Prime Minister, actually. In Saskatchewan, he is running at an approval rating of -51%. That is tough. Winter is actually ahead of him right now. It is pretty hard to be that unpopular in Saskatchewan.
I would like to get back to the issues at hand, especially when it comes to SDTC and the privilege motion. I for sure can bring it back to another Liberal scandal, such as the scandal of 380 million taxpayers' dollars that were given to Liberal insiders and the fact that the Auditor General found 186 conflicts of interest in the grants that were delivered.
I believe the board members were all appointed by the Prime Minister and by the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. The fact that board members were voting in a board meeting to give their own companies taxpayers' dollars is really the central issue. The fact is these people, who were put on the board by the Prime Minister, voted in a board meeting to give themselves money.
The Auditor General found that SDTC gave $58 million to 10 ineligible projects that on occasion could not demonstrate an environmental benefit or the development of green technology. There was $334 million over 186 cases given to projects in which board members held a conflict of interest. We have said that a few times. As well, $58 million was given to projects without ensuring contribution terms were met.
How, when there is a board, do its members not realize that $58 million was given out and there were no performance metrics? Board members had no idea if these projects were actually going to do what they were supposed to do. I know this is uncomfortable for some of our colleagues across the way. This is going to be like the Paul Martin-Chrétien ad scam. We all know there have been comparisons, but the whistle-blower said that ad scam would pale in comparison to how corrupt this is.
As the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle said, Liberals got a Liberal. It is just in their DNA.
As a young lad, when I was at the University of Regina, I took Canadian politics. I graduated with a political science degree. I wrote a paper called “Have the Liberals Lost Legitimacy to Govern?” It was about the Afghan issue, but there are so many similarities to this. I know some members across the way will remember the name Jack Wiebe. He was my neighbour back where I grew up, in Rush Lake. Jack was a Liberal MLA. He was then a lieutenant-governor in Saskatchewan for 10 years and then he was appointed as a Liberal senator. He had a lot of connections.
When I interviewed Jack for my paper, he said yes, the Liberals had lost legitimacy to govern, because they had lost the trust of the Canadian public. It is amazing how history repeats itself if we do not learn from it. That is exactly what is happening to the current iteration of the Liberal Party. It is a far cry from Jack's party, I will admit, and from the Chrétien and Martin days, but the Liberals have repeated the same mistakes over and over again. They have become out of touch.
The current group of NDP-Liberals think the Canadian people are there for them to govern and should be working for them, instead of the other way around. That is when they start to think it is okay to give $8 million to Frank Baylis, who did not even create ventilators; it is okay for the Prime Minister to have $80,000 vacations given to him; it is okay for the Governor General to waste $100,000 by throwing private jet parties; and it is okay to decriminalize hard drugs.
We have not gotten to some of the scandals. I am very thankful the people who work in my office could make a complete list of Liberal scandals. I might hand it over to some of my colleagues. My staff got up to 68 scandals the Liberals have been a part of over the last nine years. Not only have the Liberals have been a part of 68 scandals, but the New Democrats continue to prop up the most corrupt government in the history of Canada.
I am from Saskatchewan and the NDP has a long history there. Can members imagine propping up the most corrupt government in the history of Canada just because the leader wants his pension? It is unbelievable. We all know we are going to be here past February 2025 because that is when the member for Burnaby South's pension is vested. We know the NDP will not find the constitutional fortitude to vote the Liberals down at least until that is vested.
How do the New Democrats go back to the people they represent and say, day after day, they support a government that wasted $380 million of taxpayers' money? They support a government that took away the rights and freedoms of Canadians because they wanted to have a conversation with the Prime Minister. They support a government that froze the bank accounts of Canadians who bought a T-shirt from people who were coming to have their voice heard.
The senior Trudeau, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, did the same thing and invoked the emergencies act, but the NDP was different then. Tommy Douglas said invoking the act was like “using a sledgehammer to crack a peanut.” He actually stood up for the rights and freedoms of Canadians, which were hard-fought. The current iteration of the NDP will bend over backward to make sure the leader gets his pension. The New Democrats have completely forgotten they are here to represent the people of Canada and not to prop up a corrupt government.
I wish I had a bit more time; maybe I will on another day. I know my colleagues immensely enjoyed hearing about some of the scandals, and I did not even get halfway through that list of 68. Well, maybe there are a few more I can get through.
This is interesting: sunlight is the best disinfectant, a transparent government. The Liberals have pushed through more than 72 secret orders in council. Here is another good one. The foreign affairs minister should listen to this one. Diplomats were sent to party with Russians while Russia invaded Ukraine. That was something I remember coming up, and she just said, “I do not know where my diplomats are.”
I will end by saying that the Saskatchewan people got it right last night in electing Premier Scott Moe's Saskatchewan Party government, and when we get a carbon tax election, Canadians will get it right in sending common-sense Conservatives to clean up the Liberals' mess once again.