Mr. Speaker, for two and a half months, the House has been seized with this privilege motion. We are still waiting on documents that were ordered by the House months ago, documents that would shed light on the misuse of taxpayer dollars through the Sustainable Development Technology Canada green slush fund. Despite a clear parliamentary order, the Liberal government has refused to comply, obstructing the vital work of Parliament and undermining the principles of transparency and accountability.
Meanwhile, Canadians are hurting and the NDP-Liberal government is failing them. The issues facing Canadians are only growing more and more severe, yet the Liberal government persists in its efforts to evade transparency and accountability. From the skyrocketing costs of housing and basic necessities to the ever-increasing food inflation, the pain felt by everyday Canadians is undeniable, yet instead of tackling these issues head-on, the government has chosen to prolong its cover-up of ethical failures. Canadians are left to suffer while the Prime Minister and the Liberal government are busy protecting their own.
After nine years of the Prime Minister's leadership, the price of groceries has skyrocketed and food insecurity has become one of the most urgent issues facing Canadians. Food Banks Canada reported that in March of this year, there were more than two million visits to the food bank. That is a staggering increase of 90% since 2019. Canadians are already struggling with the cost of food, but unfortunately, things are set to get even worse. This was confirmed by Canada's Food Price Report 2025. The average Canadian family of four will have to spend $800 more on food in the coming year. That $800 is on top of the year-over-year increases on food, bringing the average total family spend on food to $16,833.
Meat and vegetables are expected to see an even higher price hike, with the cost of meat rising from 4% to 6% and vegetables by 4% to 5%. The rise in costs for nutritious food are particularly alarming given the growing number of reports of scurvy here in Canada. It has gotten so dire that doctors in Canada have been warned to consider scurvy as a potential diagnosis for their patients.
In northern Saskatchewan, 27 cases of scurvy have been diagnosed. In all of these cases, the patients had one thing in common: a lack of fresh fruits and vegetables in their diet. This was once a disease that was associated with sailors on long sea voyages and is now a growing concern in Canada due to limited access to affordable and nutritious food.
To be clear, the NDP-Liberals' two-month tax trick on chips and chocolate is not going to provide vulnerable Canadians with the nutrition they so desperately need. Scurvy should be unimaginable in Canada but that is the Prime Minister's record. The rise in food insecurity is a direct result of the Prime Minister's carbon tax. Food prices have risen 36% faster in Canada than in the United States, where there is no carbon tax.
The reality is simple. If we tax the farmer who grows the food and the trucker who ships the food, ultimately we end up taxing the family who buys the food.
Instead of giving Canadians tangible, permanent relief, the NDP-Liberal government is preparing to hike the carbon tax again next year. In the middle of a persistent affordability crisis, it is hell-bent on making life more expensive for Canadians. The carbon tax-obsessed Prime Minister is determined to quadruple the carbon tax to 61¢ per litre by 2030. Canadians want a carbon tax election, but the NDP-Liberal coalition continues to hold the interests of Canadians hostage. With its lust for power and backroom deals, the NDP-Liberal coalition is refusing to face the consequences of its policies at the ballot box.
Canadians cannot afford to wait any longer for relief from the damaging policies of the government. That is why, in light of the fall economic statement being delivered today, Conservatives have one simple demand: to stop. The government needs to stop all planned tax hikes, especially the carbon tax hike that would further increase the cost of food, gas, home heating and basic necessities. It needs to stop fuelling inflation by cutting wasteful inflationary spending, like the 390 million dollars' worth of contracts handed out through the Liberals' green slush fund. That includes the 58 million taxpayer dollars that went to 10 ineligible projects, the 334 million taxpayer dollars that went to 186 projects that involved conflicts of interest and the 58 million taxpayer dollars given to projects without ensuring the terms of the contribution agreement were met.
However, that is not enough. The Liberal government needs to stop adding to Canada's debt. Conservatives are calling for a dollar-for-dollar law that requires new spending be offset with an equal amount of savings. This afternoon's fall economic statement should confirm that the deficit for this year and last year has not risen above the already reckless $40-billion guardrail the former finance minister promised in this year's budget. Unfortunately, there is no reason to believe the Prime Minister or Mark Carney, the phantom finance minister, will heed our common-sense recommendations or, at the very least, maintain the already reckless so-called fiscal guardrail.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer has said the deficit could be as high as $46.5 billion. The Prime Minister's former budget director has come out and said, “over the past few years, the federal government has consistently prioritized short-sighted decisions over long-term fiscal and economic stability.” The Prime Minister's own former budget director does not have faith that the government will show the fiscal restraint that is needed in the fall economic statement.
It is far from just the former budget director raising concerns with the anticipated fall economic statement. This morning, the deputy prime minister and the minister of finance resigned from cabinet. She has arguably been the most loyal cabinet minister to the Prime Minister, but even she is now raising alarm bells in the face of the Prime Minister's bullish tactics to spend taxpayer dollars rashly in a reckless attempt to save himself. The now former finance minister has admitted that excessive spending drives inflation. Her letter of resignation this morning confirms the Prime Minister's decisions are short-sighted.
Today's decisions will have long-term repercussions for Canadians. That is why the former budget director also warned, “You can't pick and choose fiscal anchors as you go, and renege on a commitment you made only a year ago.... The fact of the matter is this government is losing control of public finances and Canadians are noticing.” Canadians are indeed noticing. Canadians cannot help but notice because it is Canadians who will always pay the price for the Prime Minister and his costly failures.
It is Canadian taxpayers who are on the hook for the waste and the mismanagement in the green slush fund, but it is not just for the green slush fund. The Liberal government's mismanagement is a pattern. The Auditor General has now revealed that the Liberal government's $50-billion CEBA program is its latest boondoggle. The Liberals paid out $3.5 billion in taxpayers' money through the CEBA program to over 77,000 recipients who did not meet eligibility requirements. That means 9% of the program's recipients were ineligible.
The Auditor General's report determined that the Ministry of Finance failed to provide effective oversight of the CEBA program. Even worse, the Liberal government awarded 92% of the total contracts to Accenture in a non-competitive process. Accenture took that money and then performed much of the work in Brazil instead of Canada. That work was done in Brazil, despite the Liberal government's claims of supporting Canadian jobs.
This is a government that has no regard for taxpayers' hard-earned money. The NDP-Liberal coalition's failures are not just numbers on a spreadsheet; they are real costs to Canadian families who are already struggling with skyrocketing costs of living. The Liberal government's high-tax and high-deficit agenda is fuelling inflation and it is the most vulnerable who are the hardest hit. Lower-income Canadians are disproportionately suffering from the government's inflationary policies. It is time for a government that puts Canadians first, not its own political interests. Canadians need a prime minister who understands the economic realities they are facing, who is focused on the long-term prosperity of Canadians, yet what have we heard from the current Prime Minister? “I'll let the bankers worry about the economy.” That recent display of incompetence from the Prime Minister follows memorable comments like budgets balance themselves and “you'll forgive me if I don't think about monetary policy.”
After nine years of his failed leadership, it is no wonder Canadians are struggling to keep a roof over their head and food on their table. Everything is broken. The NDP-Liberal government has doubled the debt, doubled housing costs, caused the worst inflation in 40 years and sent two million people to the food bank. Canada's GDP per capita is smaller than it was when the Prime Minister took office. Canada has the most indebted households in the G7, with the worst housing inflation, and food prices have risen 37% faster in Canada than in the United States.
Our economy is teetering on the brink of collapse and now Canadians are faced with a threat of 25% tariffs on our shrinking economy. Canadians need a prime minister with the brains and the backbone to stand up for Canada. Canadians deserve a prime minister who actually worries about the economy, who will work for their future and who will take action to fix the mess the current government has created, a prime minister who will restore the Canadian promise that hard work leads to powerful paycheques and pensions that buy affordable groceries and homes in safe neighbourhoods.
The clock is running out on the NDP-Liberal coalition's backroom deals. Canadians will go to the polls in the coming year and they will have a clear choice: a choice between the NDP-Liberal coalition, which will continue to tax Canadians' food, punish their work and let crime spiral out of control, or the common-sense Conservatives, who will axe the carbon tax, build affordable homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. Our common-sense plan is one of opportunity for all Canadians, a plan that rewards hard work, not who someone knows.
While Canadians have been struggling with rising costs over the last nine years of the Prime Minister’s leadership, the only people who seem to have gotten ahead are Liberals and Liberal insiders. The issues surrounding the Liberal’s Sustainable Development Technology Canada green slush fund are far from isolated incidents; they have been part of a disturbing pattern of mismanagement, lack of accountability and outright disregard for hard-earned taxpayer dollars.
That is the legacy of the Liberal government: an increasing cost of living that is making it difficult for Canadians to afford basic necessities, while demonstrating a blatant disregard for transparency and accountability. Canadians cannot afford the corruption of the NDP-Liberal government. The failure to provide the documents ordered by the House is not merely an obstruction; it is also an affront to the very principles of transparency and accountability that are essential to the proper functioning of our democracy.
It is not just a matter of parliamentary procedure; ultimately this comes down to the health of our democracy. That is why Conservatives are persistent with our demands. The Prime Minister could bring the months-long debate to a close if he respected the motion passed in the House and delivered on the production of documents. The refusal to fully release the requested documents is a deliberate attempt to prevent the Canadian public from understanding the full extent of the Liberal government’s corruption and mismanagement. With the refusal, the people responsible get to evade accountability.
The Liberal government has shown time and time again that it values protecting its own interests over the interests of Canadians. Whether it is allowing the $400 million in misused funds to go unchecked or failing to address the growing economic hardship faced by millions of Canadians, the government’s actions, or lack thereof, speak volumes. Canadians cannot afford to continue down this path of unchecked spending and hidden truths.
Accountability is not a luxury; it is a necessity in a democracy. The time for cover-ups and evasive behaviour is over. Canadians deserve a government that upholds its duty to them and a government that ensures that every dollar is spent responsibly and that the people responsible for mismanagement are held accountable. The green slush fund scandal is just one example of how the NDP-Liberal government’s lack of transparency has eroded public trust. The longer it continues to obstruct the production of documents, the deeper the damage to our democracy.
It is time for the Liberal government to stop protecting insiders and start listening to the Canadians who elected its members. It is time for the Prime Minister and his government to stop hiding and to start facing the reality of their actions. It is time for them to end the cover-up, restore trust in our public institutions and begin putting Canadians first. Canadians need transparency, accountability and, most of all, a government that works for them and not for itself. It is time for a carbon tax election.