Debates of June 5th, 2024

Ethics

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we have the same suspicion as the Speaker does, that in fact there is perhaps some concern about using the member's name, but while the government House leader wants to hide his member, I am going to run through a scenario here. What are the chances that the other Randy is just the minister from Edmonton in a rubber nose and a stick-on moustache? I would say about 100%. He broke the Conflict of Interest Act, he broke the Lobbying Act, he broke the Criminal Code.

We want to know. Will the real Randy please stand up?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I, of course, just answered all—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

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

Order. That is enough.

The hon. government House leader.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Indeed, Mr. Speaker, I thank you for that. That is beneath the dignity of this place, where we presume all members are honourable.

The member in question spent an hour at committee yesterday answering questions from the member and other members. Of course, I know the member will continue to ask those questions and I will give the same answer. We have a very strict code of conflict of interest and ethics in this country and all ministers are expected to comply with that.

Public Services and Procurement

[Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, Bloc, Terrebonne, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Auditor General confirmed what has been suspected for months. She tabled three reports, each with the same damning finding: The Liberals have completely lost control of the machinery of government. Contracts are being awarded without tenders and without justification, payments are being made to companies before anything is even delivered, funds are being paid out for ineligible projects, and money is being spent without oversight.

This brings us back to the question we have been asking for months. While the Liberals are busy trying to take over governing Quebec and the provinces, who is governing Canada?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for allowing me the opportunity to thank the Auditor General of Canada once again for her important work on this and many other files.

Yesterday, we heard the Auditor General reach findings that are very similar, and at times identical, to the findings of reports that the government published about a year ago. Based on these previous shared findings, we have been taking action for over a year now to end the standing offers with McKinsey and all similar companies.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the McKinsey case reveals a culture of decadence within the federal government.

The Auditor General has confirmed that, out of the $200 million in contracts awarded to McKinsey, 71% were untendered, 58% were unmonitored and, for 24% of the contracts audited, the federal government has no idea what was done. This is scandalous.

The report makes only one recommendation: that all federal organizations identify actual or perceived conflicts of interest.

Will the government finally take real action?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General's recommendations are indeed very similar, and often identical, to those that have already been published and have been known for several months.

We have been taking significant action for more than a year now on the issues my colleague mentioned. It bears saying not only that we will continue the work, but that it is important to do so to ensure the integrity of all procurement processes and the confidence Canadians have in those processes.

Innovation, Science and Industry

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

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General released another report yesterday about another Liberal scandal. This time, it is was about Sustainable Development Technology Canada's green fund.

According to the report, administrators gave themselves funding 186 times, $123 million was paid out inappropriately, and half of that should never have been paid out in the first place.

There is only one way to get to the bottom of this situation. Does the minister agree with our proposal to have the RCMP investigate?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the Conservatives, that is for sure. We have been very clear. The moment the allegations were made, we launched investigations, one by Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton and one by the law firm McCarthy Tétrault.

Members know that this is an organization created by Parliament 20 years ago that operates at arm's length from the government. In light of the allegations, we suspended the funding, and the chair of the board and the CEO both resigned.

Now we have a new governance model. The activities will be transferred to the National Research Council. We are committed to the highest standards of governance and that is exactly—

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

The hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent.

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

Mr. Speaker, in the same report, a senior official accuses this government of outright incompetence and says that the scandal rivals the sponsorship scandal, a phrase that brings back bad memories for all Canadians, especially the Liberal Party.

I urge the minister to tread carefully, because on November 11, the whistle-blower said, “The minister said, on the record and multiple times, that he was briefed on the outcome only on August 27, but that's definitively not true. He lied at the ethics committee.”

Who should we believe, the whistle-blower or the minister?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, the people watching us know that the Conservatives are asleep at the wheel. Those comments serve no purpose.

We launched the investigation though an independent body created by Parliament 20 years ago. Canadians watching at home are reasonable people. They know that a responsible government launches investigations and acts on the findings. That is exactly what we did.

What we are proposing to Canadians today is a new governance model within the National Research Council of Canada in order to continue helping our SMEs, to continue fighting climate change and, above all, to continue moving the country forward.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the AG's report proves again that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost or corruption. The report reveals massive corruption at the green slush fund, highlighting the misappropriation of $76 million through 90 cases of conflict of interest. The directors sat at a table and awarded millions of dollars to their friends and to their own business interests. All the while, more and more Canadians are hungry and homeless.

The question is simple: What plan does the minister have to get that money back?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are so allergic to good news that they go to old news. The big news today is 4.75. That is the number that all Canadians will remember, because we have good economic news, but I am happy to answer the same question again.

What is a responsible government? It is about launching an inquiry. That is what we did, and on the basis of the findings we suspended funding to the organization, and the CEO and the chair resigned. Now, we are proposing a new governance model with the National Research Council, because we want to restore funding to small and medium-sized businesses in this country.

Indigenous Affairs

[Sophie Chatel, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

Mr. Speaker, water is essential to indigenous communities. Water is life. Water is sacred. Before 2015, the Conservative government refused to listen to the heartfelt pleas from indigenous peoples. There were 105 long-term drinking water advisories at that time.

Can the Minister of Indigenous Services tell us what Canada is doing to protect this vital resource that is so essential in indigenous communities?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Pontiac for her work on access to safe drinking water.

In 2015, the Liberal government completely discarded Stephen Harper's paternalistic approach. Now, we listen to indigenous leaders and work closely with them. We have lifted 144 long-term drinking water advisories, and we are not stopping there.

We also introduced Bill C-61, the first nations clean water act, to make sure things never go back to how they were.

Public Services and Procurement

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General's report proves that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost and corruption. Most of the government's $200 million in contracts with its friends at McKinsey broke the rules.

The Liberals are tight with McKinsey. The former ambassador to China and head of the Prime Minister's economic advisory panel came from McKinsey. The policy director to the former minister of public services and procurement was also from McKinsey. The current government serves McKinsey consultants and scandalizes Canadians.

Why did the Liberals repeatedly break the rules to benefit their friends at McKinsey?

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

Mr. Speaker, I have already answered that question several times.

A question that has not been answered, however, is why are the Conservatives not sharing today's good news about the interest rate being lowered for the first time in four years, a first among G7 countries?

That was possible not only because we have responsible management from a fiscal, economic and social standpoint, but also because Canada, in 2025, is going to have the strongest economic growth of all the G7 countries. We have made investments in dental care, in health care, in child care across Canada, and in particular in Quebec, as well as in housing, including in my own riding, Québec.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is no surprise that the Liberal minister would do everything to avoid talking about or even mentioning McKinsey in the response.

This question is about McKinsey. The company supercharged the opioid crisis, advised totalitarian regimes and held a corporate retreat down the road from a concentration camp. It has a vile track record, yet the Liberals have constantly turned to this company, supercharging its profits. They have turned to McKinsey to make critical decisions about this country's future.

Now that it has finally been caught by the Auditor General, will the NDP-Liberal government finally ban this vile company from government contracts, yes or no?

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

Mr. Speaker, it may indeed be that our colleague was distracted when I spoke about the matter many times during question period.

I am happy to repeat the same answer to the same question, which is that we thank the Auditor General for her report. It contains recommendations and views that have been understood and heard in many other reports in previous months. We have been acting on those recommendations for more than a year now.

There is nothing more to add, except that today is an important day for Canadians and their economy. For the first time in four years, there has been a fall in the interest rate, the first decrease across all the G7 countries.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years under this government that is not worth the cost or the corruption, we found out from the Auditor General yesterday that the government awarded 70% of its contracts, untendered, directly to McKinsey with the support of the Bloc Québécois.

This shows a complete lack of ethics and responsibility. It is thinly veiled corruption. It is scandalous.

Why is the Prime Minister awarding so many untendered contracts to McKinsey? Why?

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

Mr. Speaker, members on the other side of the House clearly have a listening problem, because I have answered this question many times today.

I say it is a listening problem because, a few days ago, other members and I heard the Leader of the Opposition and chief insult-hurler tell Quebeckers in my region that the Canadian dental care plan does not exist. However, there are 9,000 seniors in my colleague's riding of Lévis—Lotbinière who are already enrolled in the plan. More than 60%, 62% to be precise, of dental care providers in Quebec are already enrolled.

Indigenous Affairs

[Michael McLeod, Liberal, Northwest Territories, NT]

Mr. Speaker, the opportunities for indigenous tourism are unlimited. In spectacular Northwest Territories, people have come to experience the unparalleled northern lights and our northern hospitality. Last November, we launched the first stream of the indigenous tourism fund, which currently supports over 150 projects. At least 50% of the tourism growth program will be invested in indigenous tourism attractions.

Can the Minister of Tourism tell us how our government is supporting reconciliation through infrastructure investments and indigenous tourism?