Mr. Speaker, I stand before the House to address an issue that undermines public trust and accountability, namely the member for Edmonton Centre's involvement with Global Health Imports, a company he co-owned and falsely presented as indigenous-owned to exploit government procurement programs designed to benefit indigenous communities.
More troubling is that the Minister of Indigenous Services ignored clear warnings from her own auditors of rampant fraud and abuse. In the typical Ottawa-knows-best fashion, the minister prevented auditors from contacting businesses directly during verification investigations. Instead, they were forced to submit their inquiries to the department, which would then respond to the companies.
Despite the weakened audit process, the minister has been forced to remove 1,100 businesses from the indigenous business directory, highlighting the extent to which the Liberals have allowed things to spiral out of control. Canadians have had enough. It is time to allow voters to put an end to the incompetent government.