Madam Speaker, I look forward to the question from the now former member of the public accounts committee, where things have changed since his departure. The Liberal and NDP members at public accounts have introduced a closure motion to cut off debate. This is despite the fact that, in recent weeks, we learned even more about the enrichment of personal financial interests by Liberal-appointed officials overseeing SDTC as well as other benefactors.
For example, the radical Liberal environment minister joined the cabinet, and after that his shares in Cycle Capital skyrocketed. This was not a stroke of luck. It was a direct consequence of the abuse of his public office to funnel more taxpayer money into Cycle Capital through the Liberal green slush fund. Since the environment minister's appointment in 2019, another $17 million has flown into the company. This double-dealing is totally unethical, but apparently allowed under the Liberals.
Our committee has asked the minister to appear for the last two months to answer questions from members, but he will not. What we have seen over and over again is the minister trying to dodge this accountability, to stonewall and to hide from the public accounts committee. I know the environment minister has appeared at other committees. However, when our clerk contacted his office and offered any date over the last two months, we were told it was not possible due to scheduling issues with his calendar.
The minister believes he is above Parliament. He believes the repeat abuse of tax dollars should not be questioned. That is the heart of the matter as to why we are here tonight and why this Parliament is dysfunctional under the Liberals. They too do not believe they have to be accountable to this place, which is why they are wrongly withholding documents that Parliament has ordered. They are, in fact, engaging in a huge cover-up to prevent Canadians from knowing how this program operated, how it was broken and who benefited from it.
When the House of Commons ordered the production of papers related to the scandal, the government used every trick in the book to keep the truth from being known. The Prime Minister's Office instructed departments to use the Privacy Act to censor documents, even though the law clearly states the Privacy Act cannot be used to withhold documents from Parliament. This is not transparency. This is the total opposite. This is obstruction and it is a direct affront to the principles of democracy.
This leads me to the rot that was fostered by Liberal appointees like Annette Verschuren, who was appointed by Navdeep Bains, the former minister of industry, over the objections of the previous CEO of the SDTC program. What followed was not a management of conflicts, but a systematic looting of taxpayer funds. A shocking 82% of the transactions sampled by the Auditor General were in a direct conflict of interest. A staggering $400 million approved by the board benefited their own companies.
Liberal Minister Bains chose Ms. Verschuren, despite the fact that her company was already doing business with SDTC and was in a conflict of interest. However, Mr. Bains told the committee he does not remember any of this. I do not know about anyone in this room, but if I was tasked with making an appointment for a billion-dollar program that gave out tax money, I would take some notes. If a committee had questions about it, I think I would be in a position to answer.
Of course, the value of Mr. Verschuren's investments dramatically increased thanks to SDTC funding. Practically overnight, the company's value exploded. It was not because of the technology it produced, a competitive process or even the patents it owned, but because of an injection of tax dollars. Even when these glaring conflicts were brought to light, what did the Liberals do? They did nothing.
Senior executives at SDTC like Ziyad Rahme refused to even address the issue of bonuses for those who oversaw these corrupt dealings. He dodged the question no less than seven times at committee, stating vaguely that any bonuses would comply with employment law. However, the truth is that, under the Liberals, overseeing a billion-dollar slush fund that enriches insiders does not just earn someone a salary; it earns them a bonus.
I want to thank the Auditor General, who has been relentless in her efforts to ensure that the truth was brought to light. However, it is now up to parliamentarians to ask tough questions and to receive answers from the government that continues to stonewall us.
The government's ongoing cover-up has paralyzed Parliament and has obstructed the truth from reaching Canadians. The former deputy minister responsible for SDTC, John Knubley, also appeared before the public accounts committee, and he gave a convenient story about not being aware of the many conflicts of interest. He said it was his deputy's responsibility. The top civil servant washed his hands of it.
Meanwhile, the assistant deputy minister he was referring to, Andrew Noseworthy, who attended every single board meeting where monies were dispersed, where Liberals were funnelling money to other insiders, to their own companies, was the department's supposed eyes and ears on the board. However, he claims he did not report obvious conflicts of interest because he was “not a lawyer.” This is absolutely unacceptable.
The position of a senior government official is to protect the interests of taxpayers, not to turn a blind eye to corruption and obvious conflicts. We must ask ourselves how many more programs under the Liberal government are being mismanaged in this way.
SDTC was a billion-dollar fund riddled with conflicts of interest, a fund that was meant to advance technology, not enrich Liberal insiders, yet here we are, finding out that no one, from ministers to political appointments to senior bureaucrats, is accountable. It is clear what we are dealing with, a dirty trio of fraud, corruption and lies. Hand-picked board members have fleeced Canadian taxpayers using a simple scheme: get on a board that approves government funding; own shares in a company; tell that company to apply for funding; approve that funding as a board member; and profit, big time.
The Liberal insiders turned SDTC into their personal piggy bank. This is not just a story of mismanagement. It is a story of corruption that reaches the very top of the Prime Minister's office. Indeed, the PMO's previous director of appointments, involved with the decision to select Ms. Verschuren, despite all her conflicts, is nowhere to be found, has disappeared and, today, cannot be found to be summoned to committee.
To my colleagues on the government bench, we all remember the Aga Khan scandal, when the Prime Minister took illegal vacations to a billionaire's island. We all remember the SNC-Lavalin scandal, when Liberals fired their own colleague for standing up to the Prime Minister's pressure. We all remember the WE Charity scandal, when millions of dollars were paid to a supposed charity that paid, of course, members of the Trudeau family for, we do not know what, but something.
Time and again, we see the same story: a Prime Minister who believes the rules do not apply to him or his family. Today I stand here, not just as a member of the Conservative opposition, but as a representative of Canadians who are tired of this behaviour. Canadians work hard, pay their taxes and play by the rules, and they deserve a government that does the same. They deserve a leader who will put their interests above those of well-connected insiders. We cannot allow this culture of corruption to continue.
That is why my colleagues and I will continue to push for the release of all unredacted documents related to this program scandal. We will continue to demand accountability from the government in the House and at the public accounts committee. We will continue to fight for the principles of transparency and good governance, which are the foundation of our democracy. This green slush fund scandal is not just about money. It is about trusting that the government will act in the best interest of its people, not for the benefit of a select few.
The refusal to provide unredacted documents is a blatant disregard for the authority of Parliament, and it sends a dangerous message that the government thinks it is above the law. This is not just about dollars and cents. It is about the principles that underpin our democracy, principles that should never be compromised.
I want to take a moment to address the broader implication of the scandal of public trust in the government, because once trust is broken, it is very difficult, maybe even impossible, to repair. Canadians deserve to have confidence in their government, confidence that it will act in the best interest of Canada, uphold the highest standards of integrity and be accountable for its actions.
I know where I stand, and on this side of the House, we want our colleagues on the government bench to take a stand as well. We cannot sit idly by while our institutions are eroded and the trust of Canadians is betrayed. Canadians are watching us. They are watching to see whether we will stand up for them or whether the Liberals will once again turn a blind eye to corruption. They are watching to see whether we will take action to protect their hard-earned tax dollars.
The time for excuses is over. It is time for accountability and transparency in government. It is time for a change after nine long years of the tired and corrupt Prime Minister. I am confident that in the next election, Canadians will make their voices heard and choose a government that will serve them with integrity.
Canadians will remember that the green slush fund scandal is not just about the misuse of taxpayer dollars but also about the principle that no one, not even the Prime Minister, is above the law. The refusal of the government to provide the documents requested by Parliament is a clear violation of those principles. It is an attempt to subvert Parliament to shield from accountability the people responsible for the corruption. Parliament must not allow it to happen. When a majority of members of the chamber are in agreement that the documents must be released, it is a signal that the trust has been broken and that the government must act.
In the upcoming election, Canadians will have the opportunity to choose a different path. I stand today to say that Conservatives will bring on a government that Canadians can trust, a government that will be a responsible steward of their tax dollars and a government that will always act in the best interests of the people who elect them to serve them.
We will ensure that the people in positions of power are held accountable for their actions. This means real consequences for ethical violations and conflicts of interest, not just a slap on the wrist or, worse, the idea that these things are not even happening and do not matter.
We will ensure that tax dollars are spent wisely and responsibly. This means ending the culture of cronyism that has taken hold in the Liberal government and in too much of the bureaucracy. It means ensuring that public contracts and grants are awarded based on merit, not on whom one knows. It means bringing transparency to the process so Canadians can see exactly how their money is being spent.
We owe it to the people of this great nation to live up to the standards they expect of their government, indeed the standards they live every day in their life and in their community. Unlike our opponents, Conservatives seek to govern for the betterment of Canada, not to flout accountability rules and make Canadians pay more to insiders and well-connected Liberals. We will work for Canadians. Conservatives will deliver a government that will improve this country and finally clean up the mess here in Ottawa.
