Madam Speaker, it is very cavalier. The hon. member for Abbotsford is a great member.
I think it is time for accountability. If the Liberals do not want to get the $400 million back, then maybe they should have some ministerial accountability for this situation. What would that look like?
It is true that a former minister was the minister in place when these individuals were appointed to the board, but the current minister was made well aware of the improprieties and conflicts of interest while he was in the chair.
I quite enjoy the Minister of Industry's enthusiasm and the flair that he brings to this place, but he was made aware of these improprieties and left those people on the board. Not only that, he recommended that one of the biggest offenders get a promotion. Ms. Andrée-Lise Méthot was promoted from the SDTC board to the board of the Infrastructure Bank. When her appointment was made, there were rumblings that there were problems at SDTC, and yet the government still believed it was appropriate to give that person a promotion. For the life of me, I cannot understand why there is no ministerial accountability pretty much for anything that happens on that side of the House.
Here is the way it works. When there is a problem, someone will stand in the House of Commons and say that it is unacceptable. The minister responsible will then say that, as minister, they will find out what has happened and then sit down. Ministers are not thinking that, as ministers, they are responsible for what happens in their departments. Worse, when they do know that something has happened, they should take action.
As the Auditor General found, it turned out that $400 million went to the wrong people. Gee whiz, as the parliamentary secretary likes to say, does the government not think there should be some accountability for that? We would think so when we are talking about that kind of money. Has the government even identified any individual who has been reprimanded or lost their job? Has it even attempted to recover the funds? Has it actually had any of the funds repaid? Is the government willing to compromise on this motion and present some other options in order for us to get back to the business of the day that it so desperately wants to get back to? No, it has not done any of that, because it has such a disrespect for Parliament.
There has been absolutely no contrition. A member of the government has not stood to say that not only did it make a mistake, but that it did not act fast enough and that it would do everything in its power to get the $400 million back. This is a government that is now thumbing its nose at the Auditor General for the second time.
I need to remind the House that for basically the first time in a very long time, the CRA was given very poor marks for the auditing of CERB and wage subsidy benefits. The CRA specifically said that it did not accept the Auditor General's findings. That has rarely happened in the history of Parliament. The CRA did not pay any seemingly big price for that, so what does it do now?
The Auditor General says there were $400 million, which have not gone missing since we know where they are, that went to the wrong people. The government says that it is no big deal, that it will not try to get it back. The Auditor General could not have been more clear about the conflicts of interest that exist, actual conflicts of interest, not just perceived ones. The legal test is that they are one and the same, but at least in this case, they were bona fide actual conflicts of interest.
The government could get the money back. It could propose some alternatives for us to get past this impasse. However, I view this as the job of the nation, the work of the nation to find out where this money is, to get it back and to have some accountability.
The Liberal government likes to talk about the expense scandals of senators and Mike Duffy. Let me remind the House one more time that this was the only scandal in Canadian history where the taxpayer was paid back. The big scandal was that Mr. Duffy's expenses, which were incorrect and wrong, were paid back. The scandal was that the cheque was paid back to the taxpayer.
I can feel the palpable desire for my colleagues on the other side, my very great friends, to ask me questions. They might have checked the price of Bitcoin this morning and be a little upset about that. They cannot really stand up here and use their same old tropes.
I might not have an opportunity to do so later, so I want to wish you, Madam Speaker, a merry Christmas. I want to wish everyone in Simcoe North a very merry Christmas. To each and all of our families, joyeux Noël. Let us bring it home.