Debates of Dec. 5th, 2024

Reference to Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Madam Speaker, this member knows I have a great deal of respect for him. He is the chair of the public accounts committee. We have done great work together to get to the exact bottom of SDTC. It is a shame that he will not answer directly how much the chair, Ms. Verschuren, kicked back to the Conservative Party.

He talks about pensions, and the Conservatives talk about pensions. At the time that they would both turn 65, Pierre Poilievre would qualify for a $230,000 pension—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

We do not use the first and last name of a member in the House. Again, the hon. member knows full well he is not to do that. I know that—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

Order.

The hon. member has about 30 seconds to wrap up.

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Madam Speaker, I apologize and withdraw the use of a proper name.

The leader of the Conservative Party's pension is one of the largest public pensions in the country in history. He would stand to earn $230,000 when he turns 65 because he was elected to this place for over 20 years, and the Conservatives often harp about our leader, who does not even qualify for a pension. The fact of the matter is that Conservatives are seeking to deflect from the very real reality that the Leader of the Opposition is a bootlicker for billionaires. He lives in a publicly funded mansion; he has a private chef paid for by taxpayers; he is driven here in his car, which is a taxpayer-funded car. Can the member explain why?

[John Williamson, Conservative, New Brunswick Southwest, NB]

Madam Speaker, this is so rich coming from the party of the Maserati Marxist. Has the member seen his leader and what he trucks around in, his fancy watches and his high-flying lifestyle? Talk about champagne socialists, and he is just hanging on so he can get that pension. As he does that, he is putting the hopes and dreams of Canadians on the back burner. That is how much the NDP cares about working families today: not a squat.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Madam Speaker, I really like cars, but perhaps not enough to drive around in a Maserati. Let us just say that I will leave that to the Maserati Marxist.

It is still very important to remember that we are talking about a green fund that seeks to reduce pollution. This fund was not managed properly over 180 times. Four out of five projects were not managed properly. That is close to $400 million in taxpayer money that was not properly allocated.

One could even say that this is just the tip of the iceberg. There is another $8-billion fund called the net-zero accelerator. Yesterday, in committee, we were able to ask questions about that. Do members know that over half the projects do not even have a net-zero emissions target? How can we trust this government?

[John Williamson, Conservative, New Brunswick Southwest, NB]

Madam Speaker, this problem has to do with the federal program that we examined but also other programs throughout the federal government. In my opinion, this problem exists across the federal government. That is why we need a change in government as soon as possible.

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Madam Speaker, it pleases me a great deal to rise to speak on SDTC, to try to clarify some misleading facts present in both the Liberals' and Conservatives' speeches throughout this affair.

It is of obvious interest to the Conservatives to try to score one on the Liberals, while ignoring the convenient fact that Ms. Verschuren is kicking back money that she stole from taxpayers to the Conservative Party. They do not want to talk about that. They do not want to talk about the fact that their party is so corrupt, one of the most corrupt parties ever to exist in this country. It is the same party that invented residential schools, the same party that said we were going to have a sixties scoop and the same party that said first nations people do not deserve clean water.

My colleagues will have to forgive me if I do not believe them when they say they are ready to stand up for Canadians. They are not ready to stand up for Canadians. They are barely ready to stand up for the truth, because the truth is that Ms. Verschuren has kicked back money she got through SDTC as donations of the maximum amount to the Conservative Party for over a decade. They like to deflect by saying it is not that much money. A little bit of corruption is great, right? It is okay. We can have a little bit of corruption. No, we cannot tolerate any of it.

These two dinosaur legacy parties have continuously, over and over, time and time again, abused taxpayers. They are the same side of the same coin—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

I am sorry. The hon. deputy government House leader is rising on a point of order. I hope he is going to be able to quote the standing order.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Madam Speaker, I do not know the number, but—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

I am sorry, but that is debate. The hon. member will have 10 minutes of questions and comments, and I am sure that members have enough time to jot those down.

The hon. member for Edmonton Griesbach.

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Madam Speaker, I apologize to my hon. colleague, and I withdraw the comment that they are dinosaurs. They are definitely not dinosaurs. They are more like a broken-down car, as a matter of fact, but I digress.

I will get back to the point of how much Ms. Verschuren donated to the Conservative Party, the maximum amount, when she was also serving as chair of SDTC. She donated the maximum amount but not to a leadership campaign. For some reason the Conservatives think that is less relevant, but she donated the maximum amount in a non-leadership campaign in March 2024, directly to the Conservative Party; on February 6, directly to the Conservative Party; on February 6, 2017, directly to the Conservative Party; on March 19, 2009, directly to the Conservative Party; and on May 31, 2023, directly to the Conservative Party.

There were dozens and dozens of donations over the last decades as she served as a Liberal-Conservative crony, and the Conservatives do not want to face this fact. However, I want them to, because if they did, maybe we could try to rebuild the reputation of the Conservative Party, which consistently wants to omit real, relative facts to this real, serious issue. We have this SDTC fund created in 2001. Several times over again, they seek to defend their crony culture, but then they blame the other guys every time it is one of their members. They are the same party of the same coin. At the end of the day, the Liberals and Conservatives stand for the very same policies. They stand for the very same people, and they get donations from the very same individuals.

That is something we have failed to speak about in this place, but I will turn back to the matter at hand, which is relative to Ms. Verschuren and her conduct. It is true that Ms. Verschuren, during her time donating to the Conservative Party, multiple times throughout her career, did in fact, at one point, stand for, at least in some instances, green technology.

Another unfortunate reality of the SDTC fund is the fact that we support the green initiative policy. It is important that we continue to do that. Me and my colleagues, New Democrats in particular, believe that Canadians can build the best and most innovative technologies in the world. We can do that right here in our country, and that innovation could also be used to support good union jobs while also supporting the very important innovation that is needed to combat the climate crisis. We could do both. We could have a fantastic economy, and we can support workers.

I want to mention support for workers. We had a whole debate around workers, and in this case, we are having a debate about workers again. However, the Conservatives have never stood on a picket line in their entire lives. It is a fact that they have never done that. Every time a union goes to bat to exercise its members' constitutional rights, to increase their wages, to increase safety in the workplace, to make certain that they have work-life balance, the Conservatives always opt for back-to-work legislation.

I find it rich that the so-called party of workers, which is the cosplay Conservatives, consistently say that they are for workers when every time they have a chance to, they are nowhere to be found. I have stood on every single picket line and I have never seen one Conservative there. Madam Speaker, I know that is also the case for you, as well as for me and my colleagues. I dare the Conservatives to stand on a picket line for once in their lives. Show us if they can even do that, which is an important piece to this work. However, now they are going to be upset—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

I have another point of order from the hon. member for Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB]

Madam Speaker, he is lying.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

Pardon me?

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB]

Madam Speaker, he is lying.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

I will ask the hon. member to withdraw his comment. He cannot mention that individuals are lying. He knows that is not appropriate. I would ask him to apologize and withdraw.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB]

Madam Speaker, I apologize and withdraw. He was—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

I would leave it there, because I think the hon. member will get himself into a lot of trouble if he continues. Again, the hon. member may not be in agreement with what is being said, and he can deal with that during questions and comments—

[An hon. member]

I have a point of order. For the record, I have stood on a picket line.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

Again, that is not a point of order. I do not think the hon. member's mic was on, but that is a point of debate. There will be 10 minutes of questions and comments, so please save it for then.

The hon. member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith has a point of order.

[Lisa Marie Barron, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Madam Speaker, my colleague is not wanting me to stand up, but I would like to point out that the member said a word that is unparliamentary. I would like to ask him to please apologize for the comment he just made toward our colleague.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB]

Madam Speaker, I apologize.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

I thank the member.

It would be so much easier if members were respectful to each other. That is what we expect in our own homes, in our workplaces and in our communities. As MPs, we do have a very high standard to uphold here, and we need to show that we are leaders.

The hon. member for Edmonton Griesbach has the floor.