Debates of Feb. 16th, 2024

Public Services and Procurement

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Speaker, the Prime Minister is ultimately the one responsible for the arrive scam scandal, his useless app that was supposed to cost $80,000 and ended up costing 750 times more. No one believes the Prime Minister's excuses anymore.

A former NDP leader said, “The scam of the century: [the Prime Minister] gave millions to a company with four employees”. One headline reads, “Arrive Scam: A $59-million-plus scandal thanks to the [Liberal] government's laissez-faire attitude”. La Presse called it “The tip of the iceberg of wasteful spending”.

After eight years, who in this government will finally dare to stand up and tell the Prime Minister that he is not worth the cost or the corruption?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Madam Speaker, not only should we be thanking the Auditor General for her work, but we also need to read her report very carefully.

The misinformation we are hearing from the other side of the House is unfortunately not helpful and can even be counterproductive. The Auditor General must continue with the serious work she does. We thank her for everything she has done so far, and we are counting on her to keep up the good work.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Speaker, the minister is denying the truth. I quoted newspaper articles that have been published since the Auditor General brought to light this scandal that saw Canadians pay $60 million for an app that should have cost only $80,000.

Radio-Canada found that GC Strategies, this infamous company that does not do IT work and that was paid close to $20 million to develop a useless app, actually got a lot more money than that. We are talking about $258 million.

Will the Prime Minister, who is not worth the cost, give the RCMP and the parliamentary committee access to all of the documents so that we can finally get to the bottom of this matter?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Madam Speaker, the member is quite right to talk about cost of protecting the health and safety of Canadians, including during a pandemic that cost tens of thousands of people their lives, including hundreds in his own riding. Millions of people lost their jobs, and we had to protect the integrity of our borders.

Despite how urgent and important this situation was, the Auditor General of Canada clearly indicated that it was unacceptable that public servants from the CBSA did not do their job properly.

Health

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Madam Speaker, last February, the federal government promised to increase health transfers. After a lot of political jousting, it forced Quebec and the provinces to accept six times less money than they needed.

A year later, Quebec has not received a cent. There is already a $1-billion gap in health care funding this year because Ottawa is withholding the money. Why is Ottawa withholding it? Because the federal government wants to impose conditions.

Will the government finally pay Quebec the money it promised instead of holding patients hostage?

[Yasir Naqvi, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Madam Speaker, our government is working very closely with all provinces and territories, including Quebec, to make sure that health care that is much needed for all Canadians is provided. That is why we are so proud to invest $200 billion over 10 years, to all provinces and territories, to support Canadians in getting the best and excellent health care. We will continue to work with Quebec to ensure that it gets the same care.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Madam Speaker, that is not the point. Let me remind members once again that the federal government does not run one single hospital. It has no expertise in health care, but it is withholding the money needed to care for people, because it thinks it can tell health care workers how to do their jobs.

Let me also remind members once again that the federal government is withholding nearly $5 billion in Quebec taxpayers' money. That is nothing more than our share, plain and simple. Quebeckers want their money to be used for health care, not for Liberal political games.

When will the federal government give us our money?

[Yasir Naqvi, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Madam Speaker, our government and the Government of Quebec share the same objective and that is to provide quality health care, guided by the Canada Health Act, to all Quebeckers, whether it is family health, whether it is mental health, whether it is health care for our seniors. We will continue to work with the Government of Quebec closely so that those shared priorities are met, and Quebeckers, like all Canadians, will get the best health care through the federal government.

Housing

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Uqaqtittiji, Canada's federal housing advocate confirmed this week that indigenous peoples are more likely to be forced to live on the streets. This government's lack of action means that indigenous peoples are being intentionally forgotten. In Edmonton, 60% of those living on the streets are indigenous. In Winnipeg, it is two-thirds and in Saskatoon, it is over 90%. In Nunavut, many tell me about overcrowding because of the lack of housing.

Will the minister listen to the federal housing advocate and stop underfunding indigenous housing?

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

Madam Speaker, we are taking action to address the tremendous lack of safe, affordable housing and housing supports for indigenous peoples in urban, rural and northern communities. The for indigenous, by indigenous approach that guides our housing strategy will ensure successful approaches for communities in need. Since 2016, we have supported the construction, renovation and retrofit of over 30,000 homes in first nation communities and have continued to work with partners to co-develop a 10-year housing and infrastructure strategy. All levels of government must work together to solve this crisis and continue to push for indigenous-led solutions to address these gaps.

Health

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Madam Speaker, it has been two weeks since I asked the health minister for his plan to address the closure of Clinic 554, Fredericton's only health care provider offering safe abortions. This government has done nothing. While Conservatives push backdoor legislation, violating the right to a safe abortion, the so-called feminist Liberals failed to address access.

Why is the government denying access to safe trauma-informed abortion care?

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

Madam Speaker, I am tremendously grateful for the allyship of the member across the way and for that very important question. That clinic is located in my riding. It is an issue that I have been on for many years. The federal government actually has stepped up and has supported research projects to support better data collection to inform our provincial partners, who really hold the pen on this issue. We have also held back provincial transfers, to ensure that the Canada Health Act is upheld. More absolutely needs to be done. Reproductive rights must be ensured in this country, no matter where one lives.

Public Services and Procurement

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Madam Speaker, the arrive scam app is just like the Prime Minister: not worth the cost and not worth the corruption.

The Auditor General revealed that an app that did not work cost taxpayers a staggering $60 million, including $20 million that went to a two-person company that did no work. Now the RCMP have launched a criminal investigation, but are being obstructed by the Liberals, who are hiding documents.

Will the Prime Minister stop the obstruction and turn over the documents today?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Madam Speaker, this question has already been answered a number of times over the past few days, and again today. The answer is the same. The Auditor General deserves our appreciation. She has done solid and important work over the past few months, leading to the tabling of a troubling report on Monday.

The good news is that many of her recommendations were implemented some time ago now. However, the work continues to move forward. It is important to ensure that the public service is doing its job properly, even in times of crisis.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Madam Speaker, 60 million taxpayer dollars wasted, fraud, forgery and corruption; that is arrive scam and the Liberals have tried to cover up the scandal every step of the way. They obstructed parliamentary committees, they attempted to obstruct an investigation by the Auditor General and now they are obstructing an RCMP criminal investigation.

When will the Liberals stop the obstruction and turn over the documents to the RCMP?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Madam Speaker, as I have said before, there is no obstruction here. On the contrary, the Auditor General must have all the documents she needs to do her job, because the Auditor General's work is critical to the integrity of our democratic and parliamentary system. That is why she was given access to all necessary documents over the past few months, and why she is able, as she clearly stated, to provide these documents to any other partner, including the RCMP, upon request.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Madam Speaker, the RCMP needs access to the documents so that people can be held to account for this waste. The NDP-Liberal government's waste of at least $60 million on the arrive scam app, which wrongly put 10,000 people into mandatory quarantine, was so bad that the RCMP are investigating, and it needs access to these documents. After eight years, Canadians deserve better. They deserve accountability and transparency.

Why have the Liberals not released these documents and what are they trying to hide?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Madam Speaker, it is a little disturbing to hear the Conservative MPs question the integrity of the Auditor General.

The Auditor General has said very clearly over the past few days that she was not only willing and able to work with the RCMP, but she was already doing so and providing the RCMP with all the information it wants.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Madam Speaker, to be clear, I am not questioning the integrity of the Auditor General. I am questioning the integrity of the government that is hiding these documents from the RCMP. Canadians deserve accountability. Somebody needs to be held to account for the waste of $60 million that went to a shady IT company that had two people working in a basement.

Why have the Liberals not released these documents? Release them now.

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Madam Speaker, we are sure that the opposition member is not also suggesting that the RCMP is incapable of doing its work.

The RCMP and the Auditor General operate at arm's length from the government; they can work very well together without any political or partisan influence.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Madam Speaker, Canadians are in shock. They paid 750 times more for the ArriveCAN app than planned. The Auditor General is also shocked. She said it is probably some of the worst record-keeping she has ever seen.

After eight years of this incompetent government, ArriveCAN is another example in a long list of abuses. The ArriveCAN app is just like the Prime Minister: It is not worth the cost.

Will he join us in calling on the RCMP to expand its investigation based on the revelations in the Auditor General's report?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Madam Speaker, there are two points that I believe have already been explained well, yet are important to reiterate.

Just a few months ago, Canada experienced the worst pandemic in a century, the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. The public service had to respond quickly and effectively to save the lives of thousands of Canadians; costs were in the billions of dollars per week.

Unfortunately, this work was not done by the book. As the Auditor General stated on Monday, it is unacceptable that people in the public service and at the Canada Border Services Agency in particular failed to do—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Madam Speaker, the government has to answer for this. Were it not for the Conservatives, Canadians would not have found out anything about the ArriveCAN app scandal. It has been chaos since this government took office eight years ago. This Prime Minister is not worth the cost.

The ArriveCAN scandal involves two men in the basement of a bungalow who received millions of dollars to develop an app that should have cost $80,000. This company received a large share of contracts, many without a bidding process.

It is a free-for-all with the Liberal Party. The Conservative Party wants the RCMP to broaden its investigation in light of the Auditor General's troubling revelations.

Do you have the courage to ask for that?

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I would remind the hon. member that she must address her questions through the Chair and not directly to the government.

The hon. minister.