Madam Speaker, last night I was talking about the reason we are here today, which is the government's refusal to hand over documents ordered by Parliament, by all three parties on this side of the House, regarding the green funding scandal. Of course, people are asking which green funding scandal, because only the Liberal government can be so corrupt that it actually has subsets of its scandals. We have three ongoing right now.
There is the Environment Canada grants and contributions audit scandal, where they list off a lack of governance issues, ineligible grants given, including to such companies as Rio Tinto. It is a fine Canadian company, but it has been noted for a lot of environmental concerns. It is also worth $220 billion U.S., yet this government is giving it millions. There are other companies. LaFarge cement received billions. Another one, Holcim Group, which is worth $30 billion, has received millions from the government.
Of course, there is also the other scandal around the green accelerator fund that the Auditor General pointed out. One of the issues is that companies received funding without showing what they were going to do to reduce greenhouse gases. Also, the Auditor General noted ineligible companies; no due diligence was done before $8 billion was given out.
These are some of the companies that the AG noted did not have proper paperwork, and possibly would not even be eligible for the funding, but still received some of that $8 billion from the Liberal government: Algoma Steel, which is worth $2 billion, received $200 million; ArcelorMittal, a foreign company worth $329 billion, got $400 million; FCA Canada (Stellantis), on top of the billions it receives for batteries, is worth $55 billion and got half a billion more under the net-zero accelerator. It goes on and on. Pratt & Whitney, which is worth a quarter of a trillion dollars, received $61 million. Eight companies worth over a trillion dollars received funding from the government they were probably ineligible for.
I want to point out a line from the net-zero accelerator report by the Auditor General. Keep in mind, again, the Auditor General pointed out this money was given out without proper due diligence. This money, billions from Canadian taxpayers, was given out without companies, or even the government, figuring out if they were going to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The line is from page 8, for those wanting to follow along at home: “A project of more than $50 million also requires Treasury Board approval, concurrence letters from ministers of other concerned departments, and Cabinet approval, [but it] can be fast-tracked with a letter to the Prime Minister.”
Eight companies are noted that received funding up to $8 billion that were probably not eligible. The Auditor General herself stated due diligence was not done. Companies that were not eligible received money. Companies applied and received money despite showing no plan to reduce GHG emissions, but a project could be fast-tracked by the Prime Minister if it was above $50 million. Algoma Steel was above $50 million. Stellantis was above $50 million. NextStar Energy, also Stellantis, was above $50 million. General Motors, which is worth $70 billion, was also above $50 million.
I have to ask, what was cabinet's role? What was the Prime Minister's role? Was the Prime Minister involved in fast-tracking? I have to ask that, and I would probably answer “yes” because it is clear from the government's own rules that these companies were not eligible, yet somehow they got fast-tracked to receive the money through the Treasury Board, through cabinet and through the Prime Minister. Two million Canadians are lining up at food banks, including veterans having to rely on the Veterans Association's food bank in Edmonton, yet $8 billion was fast-tracked by the Treasury Board, cabinet and probably the Prime Minister himself. Taxpayers' money went to large, profitable corporations worth a trillion dollars that probably were not even eligible.
Of course, we also have the green slush fund. The Auditor General has pointed out that the Liberals turned Sustainable Development Technology Canada into a slush fund for Liberal insiders, with $53 million given to 10 ineligible projects, which seems like small peanuts compared to the accelerator scandal. A quarter of a billion dollars was given out in 186 cases to projects where board members held a conflict of interest. Some $58 million was given to projects without ensuring that contribution agreements were met. This is a recurring issue with the government, and it is the same issue with the contribution agreements at Environment Canada.
We have the House, the Conservatives, the Bloc and the NDP all demanding that documents related to the green slush fund be turned over to the RCMP. For those trying to keep track at home on their scorecards, it is the third one related to sustainable development funding. Parliament has supreme privilege in this case. The government and bureaucrats do not get to decide what can be released when Parliament demands it.
The government is covering this up and refusing to hand over the documents despite the will of the majority of the House. The government must learn that Parliament is supreme, not the Prime Minister's Office, not the Prime Minister and not Liberal members of Parliament. It is time for the Liberals to stop the cover-up and hand over the documents.