Debates of Feb. 27th, 2024

Public Safety

[Stephen Ellis, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Mr. Speaker, let us make a contrast again. Two scientists at our only high-security lab collaborated with the Beijing government. At least one Beijing military scientist was allowed in the lab. Members of Parliament, including Liberals, have said that it is essential for the government to release the documents.

Why are the Liberals still covering up the scandal? Are they afraid of the embarrassment? The Liberal government needs to release those lab documents today for all Canadians to see.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I am in the awkward position of agreeing. We were actually the ones who said the documents needed to be looked at by parliamentarians. We were the ones who introduced the process that asked parliamentarians to get together. Unfortunately, the Conservatives said no. Eventually, they did participate, and then parliamentarians had an opportunity to take a look at the redactions done by the Public Health Agency. Now, those documents, after the work of parliamentarians has been done, will be shared. That is exactly what we wanted to happen to make sure there is maximum public exposure, while at the same time respecting our national security laws.

Justice

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is unbelievable. I do not know how he can look himself in the mirror at the end of the day.

I would like to remind the House that we, the common-sense Conservatives, will axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime.

This Liberal government allows violent criminals to serve their sentences in the comfort of their living rooms with the complicity of the Bloc Québécois. A teenage girl was lured by a former police officer now serving his sentence at home. A woman was attacked with a knife by her ex-spouse, who was previously arrested twice for domestic violence.

When will the Liberals stop their soft-on-crime policies? When will they protect victims?

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question.

Domestic violence and intimate partner violence is a top priority on this side of the House. We addressed this issue twice, in Bill C‑75 and in Bill C‑48 with respect to bail conditions for persons charged with or involved in this type of crime.

We will always fight domestic violence and protect women and men across Canada.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Kody Blois, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, last week the Minister of Agriculture was in Malaysia and the Philippines on a trade mission to promote and secure new markets for our agri-food products.

Instead of taking a team Canada approach to promoting trade, and I will say they have been a bit iffy on trade, just ask Ukraine, the Conservatives decided to gaslight and to critique the minister for simply highlighting the important—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Colleagues, I am having difficulty hearing the latter part of the question. I would ask all members, on all sides, to please carry on your conversations more quietly so that we can hear the member, who is far away from the Chair.

I am going to add 20 seconds to the hon. member's question.

[Kody Blois, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, the Conservatives are not very happy about trade right now, but the minister was in the Philippines and Malaysia promoting trade and the importance of the seafood industry to Atlantic Canada.

Can the minister update the House on his trade mission and educate the member for Thornhill on the importance of lobster to Atlantic Canada?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for giving me another opportunity to promote world-class Canadian products, including lobster.

Farmers and fishers expect their government to open new markets, and in fact, that is just what we did. I officially opened a new Indo-Pacific trade office that will help promote Canadian agriculture and seafood products. I always promote Canadian products when I am overseas, no matter whether I am in the government or in the opposition. It is vitally important that we promote the fishers and farmers who work so hard for their dollar.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, more than eight million people in Sudan have been displace through 10 months of war. This has been devastating for people in Sudan and for their family members in Canada.

The special immigration measure for Ukrainians set important standards, and it should apply everywhere else. Canada showed that we can help those facing war and persecution when 220,000 Ukrainians got to safety. However, the Liberals put an arbitrary 1,000-person limit for people in Gaza and 3,250 for Sudan.

Will the minister lift these caps so that no Canadians with families in war zones are discriminated against?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, as the member well knows, the pathway for people fleeing war in Sudan opens today.

We worked with a number of Sudanese umbrella organizations on this important measure so that Canadians are really showing that they are opening their doors to people fleeing war. I am always ready to be more flexible as we see the situation evolve. It is clear that we, as Canadians, need to do more when it comes to, in particular, this forgotten war that is obviously getting less media attention than all the other devastating wars around the world. We are prepared to do more. We will continue to work with the umbrella organizations to make sure that they can welcome Sudanese people fleeing war.

Labour

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, 30% of the screening officers at Victoria's airport have lost their jobs without due process and with no access to an appeal.

Their employer wanted to keep them on, but the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority interfered, undermining labour relations and costing people their jobs. To make matters worse, the Minister of Transport refuses to meet with them. Again, the Liberals are dropping the ball when it comes to protecting workers.

Why is the minister refusing to meet with these workers and their union?

[Seamus O'Regan, Liberal, Minister of Labour and Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, I can say, certainly today of all days, we stand with workers, and we stand for a stable and fair working environment. I will immediately look into the situation that the member described.

The House resumed from February 26 consideration of the motion that Bill C-58, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code and the Canada Industrial Relations Board Regulations, 2012, be read the second time and referred to a committee.

Canada Labour Code

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

It being 3:18 p.m., the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at second reading stage of Bill C-58.

Call in the members.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #647

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I declare the motion carried. Accordingly, the bill stands referred to the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities.

(Bill read the second time and referred to a committee)

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I wish to inform the House that because of the deferred recorded division, Government Orders will be extended by 12 minutes.

The House resumed consideration of the motion.

Opposition Motion—ArriveCAN App

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, let me summarize what I talked about during the first minutes of my speech.

I talked about the fact that the ArriveCAN application could not have been developed for $80,000, but it should not have cost $60 million either. We talked about the paper cost of this application. Had we processed 60 million transactions, it would have cost $180 million. We talked about the valuation of an application as such. If it were an e-commerce application, transactions at the transactional level, it would have been hundreds of millions of dollars.

This perspective is vital in understanding the true value of ArriveCAN. The app's development cost, while substantial, represented just one aspect of its overall contributions. The efficiency, safety and economic benefits it delivered during a critical time offers a more comprehensive picture of its value to Canada and its citizens.

Our commitment to rectifying the identified shortcomings in the ArriveCAN project extend beyond mere acknowledgement. The departments are actively implementing measures to enhance the procurement and project management practices to prevent such discrepancies in the future. These efforts are crucial in restoring public trust and ensuring that taxpayer funds are utilized effectively and responsibly.

We recognize that there is more work to be done. The journey toward improving our procurement processes and ensuring the efficient use of public funds is ongoing. However, it is important for Canadians to know that these steps toward corrective action are not merely planned; they are already in motion.

As we move forward, we will continue to support the ongoing work of investigators and auditors. We welcome their recommendations and are committed to implementing them to strengthen our procurement practices further. The Government of Canada remains resolute in its pledge to uphold the principles of accountability, transparency, process integrity and value for money in all its endeavours.

Let me reiterate our unwavering dedication to learning from the ArriveCAN experience. Our goal is to ensure that our responses to any challenges are both effective and aligned with the prudent management of public resources.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, in debating this, I have tried to break this into two components. One is on the procurement process. The member provided a lot of positive thoughts with respect to that issue. The other one is related to how a company such as GC Strategies has been able to get to the point where it can get those sorts of contracts. I made the suggestion that we look at the origins of the company, which goes back a number of years. It is the same company but it just changed its name.

Is there merit in looking at how an individual company was able to come virtually from nowhere a decade ago to the point where it is today?

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Madam Speaker, that is the essence. The essence was that there were practices in procurement that fostered a two-man company, dating back decades, to find ways to become a preferred client of the Government of Canada and through that preferential treatment being able to source resources, individuals, to serve whether it is this government, the government before or the department during the time that is needed.

It goes back to what we should be doing, and I hope we will do it, which is re-evaluating our procurement processes so it is not such a lengthy time, and also accounts for other individuals who actually do the work to speed up the process of engaging with the government.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Madam Speaker, my constituents sent me to the House so we could become accountable on how we spent their valued tax dollars.

Would the hon. member please tell the residents of Canada why the government is not prepared to release all the documents to ensure that the funds that were spent were spent efficiently? This is not the case and unless we can become accountable, we cannot report that back to our constituents.

Could he please explain that?

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Madam Speaker, very much as my hon. colleague is proud to represent her constituents, I am also proud to represent my constituents of Richmond Hill.

The statement that was just made was not completely factual. The fact of the matter is that when the investigations were done, whether it was by the Auditor General or the procurement ombudsman, they clearly indicated that any time they requested documents, the government, the department, was forthcoming with all the documents that were available. The statement just made is misrepresenting what the government has done and also misrepresenting the results of the investigation. As such, the member is misrepresenting the facts to the Canadian people.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Madam Speaker, government outsourcing to the big six consultants went from $119 million prepandemic to over $470 million last year, and the ArriveCAN scandal is just the tip of the iceberg. The big challenge we are facing is that both Liberal and Conservative governments have chosen to privatize the work of government.

Can my colleague across the way explain how government outsourcing has ballooned by over four times over the last number of years?