Debates of Dec. 11th, 2024

Reference to Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's question, but I have to correct him.

The European Union does not have a carbon border adjustment on agricultural products. The member is misleading Canadians by assuming that we would be blocked from access to European markets if we did not have a carbon tax. That is just simply not true. The European Union does not have carbon border adjustments on agricultural products.

However, I think it is even worse than that. We are uncompetitive on the global market because of that carbon tax. We are putting a burden on Canadian farmers that American farmers do not have to deal with, and 60% of our products go south, not to the European Union. Our focus should be in line and competitive on a tax and regulatory regime with our biggest trading partner and our biggest competitor, which is the United States.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

Madam Speaker, I am going to get back to the green slush fund.

It is interesting, because SDTC was started in 2001. It was actually a pretty good government agency for a long time until the Liberals filled the board with appointments in 2018, and then we had this $400-million slush fund. Canadians want to know where the money is coming from.

I would ask for the member's thoughts on this. With green technology and innovation, it was good in 2001, but the Liberals destroyed it now with their partisan appointments in 2018.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Madam Speaker, the green slush fund is just an example of when good things can go bad in the wrong hands.

In 2015, as an example, when the Liberals formed government, we left them with a very sound financial situation and a balanced budget. It took them about 30 seconds to demolish what the previous Conservative government, under Prime Minister Harper, had worked very hard to build. It left Canada with a very strong financial foundation. We will find out on Monday the scale and scope of how poorly a Liberal-led government, in every aspect, has left Canada's financial foundation in ruin.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Madam Speaker, my hon. friend is a fantastic advocate for farmers across the country. He talked a lot about the issues and the policies that this government has foisted upon farmers, which are hamstringing them and making them uncompetitive.

One thing I would like the member to talk about is the absolute disaster that is the capital gains tax increases on farmers and how it is going to hamper succession planning. We heard heartbreaking stories about young farmers who are not going to be able to continue on the family farm because of this capital gains increase. The fact is that the minister has not talked to anyone and did not even know that it was in the budget.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Madam Speaker, the member for Regina—Lewvan has been an outstanding advocate for Canadian agriculture and farm families.

The member is exactly right. This is another example of the Liberals ploughing through a policy without giving it the least bit of due diligence. When my colleague, the member for Regina—Lewvan, asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he knew that the capital gains inclusion rate change was going to be in the budget, he said no. He asked how many farm groups and farmers they had consulted with after the fact, and whether they had brought those comments to the cabinet table. There was no answer.

At the committee, we have had farmers literally crying about the impact that this is going to have on their ability, that young generation, to take on the family farm, burdened by additional debt, and more so for the years of succession planning that has gone into it that is going to devastate the retirement of many farm families, which is going to be detrimental for our farmers.

[Jeremy Patzer, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Madam Speaker, it is always an honour and a privilege to be able to rise to speak on behalf of the great people of southwest Saskatchewan.

I just want to take a moment to wish everybody a merry Christmas and a happy new year. I want to point out that we are in the Advent season. The first two candles of the Advent wreath have been lit, with the first candle, of course, representing hope and the second candle representing faith. The third candle, coming up this Sunday, will be the candle that represents joy.

I want to take some time to speak a bit about some of the good work that is happening around southwest Saskatchewan. I think of all the families and businesses that have been put into hard times based on the cost of living crisis, a lot of which has been caused by the government. Many of the scandals the government is being caught in are leading to a lot of the issues being caused. When we hear on Monday what the deficit is going to be, when the finance minister finally lets the House know what that number is, it is going to be shocking to a lot of Canadians.

It is no surprise to a lot of people what is happening, when they look at what is going on with our food banks and what all the different organizations are up to. I want to highlight a couple of great organization I read about in the news, as well as a couple of individuals. Last week, when I was flipping through the local news, I saw the story of a family in Swift Current. They were shopping at Canadian Tire, and they said that one of their family traditions is to fill an entire shopping cart full of toys.

The Salvation Army runs a program called Toy Mountain, and over 500 children are signed up for the program, to be able to get a couple of Christmas presents this year. The Harlos family, including daughters Kaylee and Taylor, filled an entire shopping cart with toys and piled them up on day one of this event that the Salvation Army puts on in Swift Current. I really want to give a big shout-out to the Harlos family for doing that. I also read that Haubie Yard Maintenance and Landscaping filled a couple of shopping carts as well to be able to pile onto the mountain of toys, so I give it a quick shout-out as well for doing that.

I also read that in Kindersley a couple of different things have happened. The Kindersley & District Food Bank, the Salvation Army there and the West Central Crisis and Family Support Centre hold a drive as well to gather food and toys for people in need.

Also, the Kindersley & District Co-op and the RCMP held a toy drive day called Cram the Cruiser, and they managed to fill an RCMP truck cruiser four times with food and toys for kids in the area. That was remarkable. They filled 360 food bags for families in the area, and they also had over $7,300 in cash donations that was donated to the Salvation Army to help families in need this Christmas season.

I know that there are several other great organizations also doing similar things. I do not have enough time to list all of them here tonight, but a few of the great groups include the Kinsmen and Kinette Club, among others in various communities that are doing great work to try to make sure everybody has an opportunity to have a warm meal, to have a few presents underneath the tree for their kids and to truly celebrate the joy, hope and love that Christmas really means and that are reflected upon. I just want to give a big shout-out to the people who have done these great things.

With the SDTC fund, there were over 180 conflicts of interest and $330 million that the Auditor General was able to find in her time auditing it. There are many irregularities that have occurred over time. I will be able to spend more time tomorrow, when I finish my speech, to be able to really break it down and get into a lot of these things.

When I look at the number of $330 million identified by the Auditor General, I start to think about what $330 million could mean for organizations and families. We look at the inflationary crisis we are still dealing with and how much money people now have to pay to buy essentials to put on their table; $330 million that was misappropriated and given to organizations and individuals would have gone a long way toward helping to keep the cost a bit lower for families for the groceries they need to buy and the toys they are looking to buy at this time of year.

I look forward to continuing the discussion tomorrow.

A motion to adjourn the House under Standing Order 38 deemed to have been moved.

Ethics

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, I am speaking tonight about the Liberals' indigenous procurement scandal. We need to be very clear about what indigenous leaders have repeatedly told us at the various committees that have been studying this: that abuses of indigenous procurement under the Liberal government have become systemic. The Assembly of First Nations said “the majority” of those who benefit from these procurement set-asides are actually not indigenous. Liberals have trumpeted a 5% target, but Chief Joanna Bernard from the AFN has said it is closer to 1%.

We have repeatedly heard from indigenous witnesses, and every indigenous group has said there are serious, major problems in this program. Sometimes it is people like the member for Edmonton Centre, outright pretending to be indigenous for personal advantage. In some cases, they are shell companies or shady joint ventures that are set up to exploit these programs with all the benefit going to non-indigenous actors.

This week, we had another example revealed of this, a very significant example. This was a non-indigenous company, a Canadian health care agency, that was supposedly in joint venture with an indigenous company. The reality was that, according to the evidence we heard, the indigenous side of the partnership was exploited. All of the benefit and all of the work went to the Canadian health care agency. This was years ago.

At the time, the auditor himself came forward with the fact that he thought there was criminal activity, the invention of names of employees and fraud going on. People attempt to defraud the government, we know that, but in this case the auditor told the government about an instance of fraud, and he was told the government did not want to bring it to the RCMP. He recommended it be brought to the RCMP, and unbelievably, the government decided not to share this information with the RCMP.

We have the issue with the member for Edmonton Centre pretending to be indigenous and his company, Global Health Imports, misrepresenting itself as indigenous-owned to try to get these contracts. We have now this issue of a Canadian health care agency. More broadly, we have indigenous leaders saying that, systematically, there are abuses of this program. Then, the Liberal government is interested in championing claims that it has made progress in terms of its target, so it has an incentive to turn a blind eye when these abuses take place.

On the one hand, we have bad actors, non-indigenous companies, that have an incentive to misrepresent their identities, to pretend to be indigenous to get these contracts. On the other hand, we have a government that is more interested in virtue signalling than in actually achieving results. It is more interested in being able to make statements claiming it has realized its targets when it has not. Companies misrepresent themselves as indigenous to get these contracts and the government turns a blind eye to be able to say it has achieved targets that in reality it has not achieved.

We have seen over the months that Conservatives have been looking into this and bringing attention to this abuse that Liberals have tried to cover it up, tried to cast aspersions at us and make all kinds of claims to bury the reality. However, here is the reality: We know now that they had information brought to them about criminal activity, fraud, by those pretending to be indigenous in order to take contracts intended for indigenous people. The victims of this are the taxpayer and indigenous communities. This evidence was brought to the government, and the government, in fact, buried it. It did not bring it forward.

Why have the Liberals failed so badly and why have they not prioritized results?

[Jenica Atwin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services]

Madam Speaker, I acknowledge that we are on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin and Anishinabe people tonight.

Here we are again. It is truly incredible that the member would suggest he supports indigenous people the day after every single MP in his caucus voted against essential funding for indigenous health care, housing, school food and school infrastructure, including two schools in my home province of New Brunswick. Earlier last week, his party blocked the first nations clean water act from moving forward to the Senate. We will take no lessons from Conservatives when it comes to standing up for indigenous people.

Many allegations are being made in the House that have not been backed up. Specifically, I would like to address the issue of the member for Edmonton Centre. The company in question was never listed on the indigenous business directory. I want to be crystal clear about what this means. It means that the company has never been part of the government's procurement strategy for indigenous businesses. The company was not awarded any contracts through the procurement strategy for indigenous businesses.

The member has spent hours at the government operations committee hearing about this program. I would think it would be well understood by now, but here we are again.

I will say that relevant concerns have been raised in our committee work, and I will point out that, if a problem is suspected with the supplier's business integrity, the case can be referred to Public Services and Procurement Canada to be assessed. Based on the assessment of each situation's specific circumstances, PSPC may then take steps to suspend or debar the supplier from future contracts awarded by the Government of Canada, and rightly so.

It is most important to note the good this program has done, as well as that it is supported by indigenous leaders and has benefited many indigenous businesses across the country. The member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan also heard about this yesterday at the indigenous and northern affairs committee, where witnesses such as Brian Doxtator, an entrepreneur and member of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, told the member how a joint venture allowed his business to grow and create more jobs for indigenous people. Specifically, this was with a non-indigenous company.

Fundamentally, these programs are a building block toward economic reconciliation, which is a cornerstone of supporting strong, healthy indigenous communities. The procurement strategy is a catalyst for forging long-term relationships that help businesses build capacity and achieve self-sufficiency. Involving indigenous businesses in the supply chain creates a wealth of opportunities that often stay in their home communities. This, in turn, supports local economic development, helps to develop employment opportunities and skill building, and generates revenue; all of this can help support the preservation of indigenous cultures.

Indigenous leaders have told us that they support the program and that they want it to stay. Moving forward, we will work with indigenous partners to ensure ongoing improvements of the program.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, it is sad to see the government now taking this posture. In fact, it was earlier this week that the Minister of Indigenous Services seemed to be making some progress in admitting that there was a serious problem.

Even more information came out that, frankly, I suspect the Minister of Indigenous Services was aware of months ago. She has said that there is now going to be an investigation, yet we have the parliamentary secretary taking this defensive posture.

Indigenous identity fraud is when people who are not indigenous pretend to be indigenous in order to take benefits that are supposed to go to indigenous people. In fact, this is rampant in programs run by the government. Over 1,000 businesses have had to be removed from the indigenous business directory, but there have been zero consequences for any business. Indigenous identity fraud is rampant, but there have been no consequences who those who engage in it.

Why is that?

[Jenica Atwin, Liberal, Fredericton, NB]

Madam Speaker, again, the member knows that a business can be removed from the indigenous business directory for a whole host of reasons. We heard specific examples from witnesses who came forward to speak in committee, such as a status card expiring.

Again, there are some leaps being made here. The minister has also committed to an external audit of the program to encourage the ongoing improvement in collaboration with partners, as well as always listening to those indigenous leaders, not only when it benefits the narrative that they are trying to spin. The continued exclusion of indigenous people from our economy costs the Canadian economy $27.7 billion every year. The Indigenomics Institute projects that the indigenous economy has the potential to grow from $32 billion to $100 billion in the next five years.

When first nations, Inuit and Métis communities have access to economic opportunities, we all benefit, and that is what this program is about. It seems that we all agree that such initiatives as the 5% minimum target are important and worth protecting. As I already said, we will continue to improve and support the program, to make sure it is delivering for first nations, Inuit and Métis businesses and communities.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Madam Speaker, today, we are continuing to ask about the immigration levels plan. I want to draw the attention of the parliamentary secretary to annex 4, this loose-leaf piece of paper that was added to the annex. It was actually a separate document. There was a printed document and a bunch of loose-leaf pieces of paper from a photocopier. I want to draw the attention of the parliamentary secretary to the following numbers, because they are in the plan: The plan assumes that, in 2025, 816,900 persons will be allowed into the country and that, in 2026, 659,036 will be allowed in. If we look at the outflow numbers, it assumes that 1.26 million will leave the country in 2025 and that 1.1 million will leave the country in 2026.

Combined, that is a net 900,000 people who are supposed to leave the country in those two calendar years. When I asked the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship how these people were going to be made to leave, whether there were mandatory or voluntary measures, he had no answer. It was widely covered in the media that he could not answer such basic questions.

For these 900,000 people who are expected to be part of the outflows, which means they will exit the country, what are the mandatory measures to ensure that they do so? What are the voluntary measures to ensure that they do so?

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Madam Speaker, I want to say that our first and foremost priority at the moment is to take concrete and immediate actions at the border to show Canadians and our U.S. partners that our shared border is secure and that we continue to work to improve its integrity.

To that end, we are working on a strong, smart and tough border plan, which includes immediate actions at the border as well as short-term investments and measures to bolster our posture. Our government has made significant efforts in the past years to combat cross-border criminality and transnational organized crime, particularly around the issues of human smuggling, drugs and firearm smuggling, as well as trafficking. In budget 2024 alone, we announced funding totalling $399.5 million over five years, and $69.2 million ongoing, for the CBSA to support the processing of asylum claims and facilitate removals. The results speak for themselves.

We have recently seen record-breaking seizures of methamphetamine as well as cocaine, alongside arrests linked to firearms trafficking. Collaborative efforts between the CBSA, the RCMP and other Canadian and international law enforcement partners, such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection, have been central in clamping down on cross-border threats.

Partnerships with U.S. law enforcement agencies and partners have already enabled several successful law enforcement actions, including Project Moneypenny, a collaboration that saw the disruption of a firearms trafficking operation and led to the seizure of 173 smuggled firearms, drugs and other proceeds of crime, coupled with dozens of arrests. These great examples of co-operation between all partners and successful stories of seizures show, clearly, that our system is working, that our border is secure and that Canadians and Americans are safe.

We have no intention of stopping here. We will continue to invest and support our law enforcement and border agencies to ensure that they have the human resources as well as the tools they need to enhance the security and integrity of our border and to respond to any potential threats or surges well into the future.

That is why, in coming days, our government will make further announcements to strengthen Canada's border security posture. These additional measures will focus on providing the resources and tools the RCMP and the CBSA need, whether it be by leveraging new technologies, providing additional drones and helicopters or putting more boots on the ground and boats in the water to ensure that all areas are controlled.

I hope that all my colleagues will join me in supporting these important measures so that we can move swiftly on ensuring a smarter, stronger and tougher border.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Madam Speaker, the parliamentary secretary said that the border was secure. Perhaps he would like to comment on this headline from The Globe and Mail that reads, “Jordanian terror suspect deported from the U.S. had crossed the Canada-U.S. border illegally twice”. This person crossed illegally into Canada in 2017, made a refugee claim and was rejected for that refugee claim at the same refugee border that now has a 260,000-application backlog. He was not deported from this country. He crossed illegally into the United States, was apprehended by the American authorities and was then deported to his country of origin because he was a known terror suspect.

Perhaps the parliamentary secretary would like to amend his statement that the border is in fact secure when we have massive border disorder.

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, frankly, alarmist discourse that feeds into disinformation about the security of our border is not helpful and undermines the team Canada approach we have taken with the provinces and territories on this issue.

Just today, the first ministers were meeting with the Prime Minister to go through many issues, such as the one we are discussing this evening.

I have total confidence in the ability of these brave women and men, who every single day work tirelessly to keep our border safe and secure. We will continue to support them, because they support us, by increasing human resources, technologies and the equipment they need to continue to protect the integrity of our border and ensure border security readiness in the face of uncertainties. We will do so while also strengthening our collaboration with provincial, municipal, indigenous and American law enforcement partners.

I invite my colleagues to leave their political agendas behind and to join us in speaking in unity to show that Canada is and will continue to be a strong, reliable and trustworthy partner.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 6:46 p.m.)