Mr. Speaker, as always, it is an honour to stand in this place and talk about the important issues facing Canadians.
However, I will take a brief moment to say that, a number of weeks ago, a friend of the Conservative Party, and the father of former member Monte Solberg, Stan Solberg, passed away. His funeral was this past Monday. I know many gathered to celebrate the life of Stan Solberg, who was a true patriot and proud Canadian. I had the chance to work with him in politics for many years in a volunteer capacity. Even just a number of months ago, I had a great visit with him. He was always a visionary, thinking forward about the future of Alberta and the future of this country. He was a real patriot, a proud Conservative, and certainly a great Albertan and great Canadian. We remember Stan Solberg here today.
As well, like some of the members who spoke before me, this will likely be my last opportunity to rise in this place before Remembrance Day. I want to say God bless our troops, past and present, for the work they have done and the sacrifice they have made, and continue to make, to keep us free. We can never let down our guard and not support those who fight so hard for what is right. God bless our troops. Lest we forget.
I am once again rising to join in the discussion about a scandal that has paralyzed Parliament. We are seeing a scandal that was initially referred to as one that would be mammoth in comparison to the sponsorship scandal, which brought down the Chrétien-Martin government. As details have been revealed, we certainly see how that is truly the case.
I am glad to rise in my place today and have the ability to share some comments. This is also being streamed. The live feed from the House of Commons is being streamed on Facebook. For those who are watching on my Facebook page, I would welcome them to share their comments and feedback, and I look forward to hopefully integrating some of that into the discussion here today. We are discussing misappropriation, the conflicts of interest and what we have learned was ultimately nearly $400 million of hard-earned taxpayer dollars that was given to insiders of the government. It was rife with conflicts of interest.
Here we are, more than a month into this debate, when the Speaker of the House of Commons has ruled that the government has to release the documents, because the Liberals simply refuse. I would like to unpack things because the Liberals are very good at trying to divide and distract from what the real issue is. Let me unpack it very simply: The Liberals have the ability and the authority to release the documents today, but they refuse to do so. This debate was not started by the Conservatives. It was started by, and has been sustained by, the Liberals, who refuse to release the documents.
The Liberals will talk about privacy. They will talk about the independence of the judiciary. They will talk about all these things, but what they fail to talk about, at every step of the process, is that they have the right, and I would suggest the responsibility, to uphold the standard that Canadians would expect of a government of any colour and to be transparent.
There is nothing stopping the Liberals from walking into this place and placing those documents on the table. There is nothing stopping them from releasing them, but they refuse. As a result, Parliament is exercising its constitutional authority, which is the ability that Parliament has by nature of what Parliament is. We are exercising our ability to demand these documents and taking great care to not interfere in the process of justice. We are ensuring that great care is taken in that regard.
However, it comes down to the simple truth. The fact of the matter is that the Liberals could release the documents today, but they refuse to do so. One has to ask what they are hiding. What is so embarrassing? What types of scandal and corruption would be revealed if those things came to light?
It is becoming increasingly clear that the cover-up is more important to the Liberals than anything else the government has been tasked to do. The Prime Minister and the Liberals have now, for more than a month, paralyzed Parliament. This is on them. They could release the documents.
I have heard from Amber, who is asking, “How are there no repercussions for the corruption that has been proven...?” I thank Amber for that question. The Auditor General, the non-partisan officer of Parliament who looks at the books, found that there were incredible discrepancies, and there have been conflicts of interest found at every stage of the process. It has caused an erosion of trust.
I am asked this question often: If a regular Canadian was to do what the Prime Minister, the cabinet and those members keep doing, would there not be consequences? Would there not be prison time? Would there not be criminal prosecutions? Those Liberals have been paralyzing the actions of Parliament for more than a month to keep these documents from being released.
Lise is asking about “the corruption that happened in the Winnipeg lab”. There are 20 minutes allotted to each of these speeches, and in some cases, a number of colleagues have started listing off the number of scandals that have happened under the Prime Minister and these Liberals. After nine years of these Liberals, we can hardly get through just reading the list.
On the question surrounding the Winnipeg lab documents, it was the Liberals who took the unprecedented step of taking the Speaker to court. It was unprecedented that the government would take the Speaker to court to cover up its corruption.
With this $400-million green slush fund scandal, we are seeing that the Liberals will stop at nothing, including paralyzing Parliament for months on end, to keep the truth from coming out, which leads us to ask what I think is a very fair question about accountability. From what I am hearing from folks who are watching this debate right now, there has to be accountability.
Patricia says that there need to be stiffer penalties and laws to protect Canadians and Canadian tax dollars against this corruption and to stop the conflicts of interest. That sounds like common sense. Canadians want an election. It needs to end so we can get a government in to clean this up. That is from Patricia, who is frustrated, obviously, with the corruption we are seeing.
Esther is asking, “Are there no rules that can be enforced...?” It is a good thing Parliament exists because this is the final mechanism. While the Liberals try each and every day to force Parliament to bend to their will, the Conservatives will not do so. We will stand up for the rights of Canadians, including democracy, which is represented in this place.
To Esther, Conservatives are fighting for accountability, which is absolutely essential in the way we go about everything we do here. That includes making sure we continue to demand that the Liberals release the documents so we get answers in the $400-million green slush fund. Where there is smoke, there is fire, as the old adage goes.
What has become incredibly clear is that these Liberals are covering up something. Nobody would go to the great lengths they have to cover up corruption unless they had something truly to hide. The question was asked about there being no rules. It is a good thing Parliament exists because Parliament and the premise of parliamentary supremacy persists beyond a corrupt Prime Minister and a government that is certainly not worth the cost.
Jordan asks a great question: Why are there so many silent Liberals? Jordan asks why the member for Malpeque and other Liberals refuse to stand up and ask for accountability. Do they work for the Prime Minister or do they work for their constituents? I think it is a very fair question, so on behalf of Jordan, I ask every Liberal member of Parliament whether they will stand up for the people who sent them here, beyond the guy who sits in the front row who has proven he does not care about their best interests, certainly, because time and time again he shows how he will put personal political gain ahead of the best interests of the country. That is absolutely unacceptable.
Debbie says, “Somebody should be able to stop Trudeau and the corruption.” I agree. That is a good thing.
