Debates of Feb. 14th, 2024

Public Services and Procurement

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

We are dangerously close to crossing the line of what is considered parliamentary language. That is an abbreviation of language that is commonly understood to be not parliamentary.

I am going to ask the hon. opposition leader to please withdraw that comment and to use parliamentary language.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, “where's the funds”?

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I appreciate that the Leader of the Opposition clarified his comment.

I will ask all members to not use that acronym because it, in the minds of Canadians, would clearly be considered unparliamentary language. I ask all members to use the full words.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, during the time of the pandemic, the government rightly did everything it could to keep Canadians safe and keep them protected, but of course, even in the most trying times, perhaps especially in the most trying times, all the rules need to be followed.

In this case, the Auditor General has highlighted some very concerning questions that need to be answered. That is why we are expecting and supporting all relevant authorities to follow up on this irregular contracting and perhaps breaking of the rules. This is an important issue, and that is why we are taking it seriously.

[Disturbance in gallery]

Sitting Suspended

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

In light of the disruption we had, we are going to suspend for a couple of minutes to allow things to calm down.

(The sitting of the House was suspended at 2:32 p.m.)

(The House resumed at 2:34 p.m.)

Sitting Resumed

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, let us recap. A company that had never before received contracts from the federal government started getting an avalanche of contracts just three weeks after the Prime Minister took office. The company, in fact, got a quarter of a billion dollars for IT, even though it admits it does not do IT. It has four employees and a headquarters in the basement of a cottage.

Can the Prime Minister explain why this suspicious company started getting these contracts exactly 21 days after he took office?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is obviously an unacceptable situation, which is why the relevant authorities are fully investigating exactly what went on here, particularly highlighted by the Auditor General's recent report. This is an issue we need to continue to understand, and we need to make sure the rules are being followed and our procurement practices across government are respectful of taxpayer money.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, that is more proof the Prime Minister is not worth the cost or the corruption. After eight years of doubling housing costs, quadrupling the carbon tax and sending two million people to food banks, he somehow found a quarter of a billion dollars for this one company, which boasts on its website that it is now Ottawa's fastest-growing company. There is no doubt about that when its employees are having their faces stuffed with tax dollars by the Prime Minister.

Why is it that when Canadians are starving in food bank lines, the Prime Minister finds a quarter of a billion dollars for his friends?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, obviously the relevant authorities need to follow up on this and get to the bottom of exactly how this unacceptable situation happened.

In the meantime, on this side of the House, we are going to continue to focus on making life more affordable for Canadians, for example by attracting thousands of health care workers by increasing by 50% student loan forgiveness for rural doctors and nurses, by fast-tracking the construction of more than 51,000 homes, and by finalizing the housing accelerator agreements with over 60 small and rural communities.

While the Conservative Party continues to block these initiatives, we are going to continue to step up for Canadians.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there is one important piece of information that every citizen in Quebec and Canada needs to know. The government has a nasty habit of finding scapegoats to blame for all the mistakes it has racked up over the past eight years.

This time, my first question will be quite simple. Who is to blame for ArriveCAN? Whose fault is it?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, while the pandemic raged, our government tried to find as many ways as we could to help Canadians protect people's health and safety.

That said, there are clear and precise rules that must be followed when it comes to awarding contracts, even during a pandemic. We expect the investigators and appropriate authorities to do their work to find out exactly how this unacceptable situation came about.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, to be clear, I presume that, henceforth, the person responsible for all the corrective work to be done is the Prime Minister of Canada.

What sort of investigation has he launched, since this company had been receiving government contracts for a long time, since long before the Liberals came to power, but its contracts did not start to be suspended until November? What sort of investigation has he launched? How long will it take? Who will lead it? When will we get the results from this urgent internal investigation?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as soon as we became aware that there were irregularities or that rules had not been followed when this contract was awarded by the public service, internal public service processes were triggered within the different departments. We know that other authorities, including the police, have taken interest in this case as well.

We expect all of this work to be taken seriously to ensure that all the rules and consequences are applied if necessary and as needed.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we have learned the ArriveCAN scandal goes even deeper. The Liberals gave $250 million to GC Strategies. Let us talk about what that $60 million for ArriveCAN could have bought: 125 affordable homes or 800 nurses hired. Instead, the Prime Minister spent this money on an app that does not work and that no one uses.

How does the Prime Minister look Canadians in the eyes with all this waste?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, during the pandemic, Canadians' lives were at risk and we, quite rightly, as a government, reached out to use all the possible tools to keep Canadians safe. Indeed, the pandemic was less deadly and less harmful to our economy in Canada than it was in most, if not all, of our peer countries.

At the same time, even as we were innovating and trying to do everything we could to keep Canadians safe, the rules needed to be followed. It is obvious that in this case the rules do not look like they were followed, and that is why there are investigations ongoing that need to get to the bottom of this.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the rules were flagrantly violated, and millions of dollars were wasted.

The Liberals gave $250 million to GC Strategies and that includes $60 million spent on an app that does not work. The government could have built 125 affordable housing units with that $60 million.

How can the Prime Minister look Canadians in the eye after wasting so much money?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, during the pandemic, our government sought to keep Canadians safe and healthy in every way possible. That was our overarching goal, and we succeeded in doing better than most of our peer countries.

At the same time, when we were doing all this to protect Canadians, we expected all the rules to be followed. That is what we demanded. Clearly the rules were not followed. That is why we are making sure there is a follow-up, an investigation, and there will be consequences for anyone who has broken the law.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, he did not answer the NDP leader's question. The question was, how can the Prime Minister waste millions of dollars on the arrive scam app when Canadians cannot afford to eat, heat or house themselves? The answer is because the NDP keeps the Prime Minister in power, that is how, and votes consistently in committee to cover up the scandal and shut down investigations.

This app was supposed to cost 80 grand, said the Prime Minister. Now it is at least $60 million, but we do not know for sure because of missing documents. What is the full and final cost of the arrive scam app?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have addressed these questions, but I will highlight that some of the Conservatives' attacks on this situation are because they deeply deplore all the measures we put in to keep Canadians safe during the pandemic. We remember how they gave in to conspiracy theories, spreading anti-vaxxer conspiracies and standing against measures we needed to put forward to keep Canadians safe.

Yes, as we did all those things, we made sure rules were followed, and for any rules that were not followed, there are consequences and there are investigations ongoing. We will continue to keep Canadians safe—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, what was the full and final cost of the app?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, that is among the questions. There are direct follow-ups. Investigations are ongoing right now, both internal and external, to ensure that, as rules were evidently broken, there are consequences and there is accountability for this.

There is no doubt that there are serious challenges around procurement and the public service that were evident at that time. We need to make sure that is fixed. We need to move forward in a way that takes better responsibility for the kinds of challenges we saw in this situation.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, how much?