Mr. Speaker, my friend for Winnipeg North, even though he does not have the floor, finds the need to continue to speak, but I will get on to it.
One of the issues with the green slush fund, the SDTC, is that the government will not turn over the documents Parliament has demanded. In the contribution agreement between the current government and Industry Canada, with respect to funding SDTC, it states that any conflicts of interest, real or perceived, over the funding have to be reported to the minister.
There are well over 150 conflicts that we know of, as pointed out by the Auditor General. We have asked repeatedly, even of the head of SDTC, “Were any of these conflicts reported to the minister?” All we have received back have been shrugs. We actually brought the old minister, Navdeep Bains, to committee and we are looking at a privilege issue because he is refusing to answer the questions. If these documents that Parliament has demanded are turned over, will we actually get the answer as to whether Liberal ministers were informed of these conflicts of interest as they were required to be under the agreement?