Debates of June 10th, 2025

National Defence

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General has lambasted the Liberals' management of the F-35 fighter jet purchase. It is now 50% over budget, with the cost exceeding $30 billion. Construction delays, staff shortages and poor oversight are threatening this project and, once again, Canadians are footing the bill. The Prime Minister forgot to mention that the new money announced yesterday will only go towards the additional costs associated with the incompetence of his government and his ministers, who have botched this file over the past 10 years.

He promoted the former minister of national defence. Why?

[Mark Carney, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, one of the first things I did was review the F-35 contract, because it has to be right for Canada, for Canadians and for our security. We will report back to Parliament this summer.

Public Services and Procurement

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is the only new member of this government. The government as a whole is the same old one, and today we are seeing the problems caused by the Liberals' incompetence over the past 10 years.

Today, the Auditor General informed us that ArriveCAN's main subcontractor received $64 million from this Liberal government, even though it is under investigation by the RCMP. GC Strategies, a company with only two employees, received 106 contracts from 31 federal organizations, with a total value of $92.7 million.

Is this old Liberal government incompetent, corrupt or both?

[Mark Carney, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, last year, after an independent process, the government suspended the company for this year. It is finished.

Finance

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

Mr. Speaker, I hope you are sitting comfortably, because this is kind of complicated.

The Prime Minister gave Canadians a refund for money they did not pay. It was actually an advance, but they will never pay back that advance. Nearly $4 billion was distributed to Canadians one week before the election, but Quebeckers did not get a penny.

Can the Prime Minister explain that to Quebeckers?

[Mark Carney, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud that we cancelled the carbon tax. Quebec and British Columbia have their own system. Our decision, including the decision about the final rebate payment, concerns the rest of Canada.

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

Mr. Speaker, that makes absolutely no sense. Those who pay should get a rebate, not those who do not pay.

It has been clearly established that this has nothing to do with a carbon tax he abolished—a move the OECD criticized—and we all know it was a vote-getting gift and an injustice, so will he acknowledge that the $3.7 billion Canadians received has nothing to do with climate change?

[Mark Carney, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Quebec did not pay the consumer carbon tax. Therefore, this is not unjust. It makes sense that the rebate would be paid one last time as an adjustment for Canadian families.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would be happy to explain, because I was the one who implemented the carbon pricing that has been in effect in Quebec since 2013, when I was minister of the environment.

The Prime Minister clearly has an easier time with numbers than with facts.

Will he pay Quebeckers back the $814 million he owes them?

[Mark Carney, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as the leader of the Bloc Québécois just mentioned, he created Quebec's own carbon pricing system. Things were different elsewhere in the country, with the exception of British Columbia.

This is consistent, it is fair, and it is done.

Public Services and Procurement

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General has once again exposed the Liberals' incompetence, highlighting millions wasted on their good friends and favourite consultant, GC Strategies. Not only have the Liberals not clawed back one penny from this scam, but every Trudeau minister with their fingerprints on the scandal has been promoted by the Prime Minister. Now the Liberals are planning an extra $26 billion of taxpayer money for their insider consultant friends.

How about they spend less on insider friends and invest more on clawing back the money from GC Strategies?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Minister of Government Transformation]

Mr. Speaker, I will note that in March 2024, my department terminated all contracts with GC Strategies and has revoked its security clearance, rendering it ineligible for contracts that require that security clearance, but we went even further. The office of supplier integrity last week determined that GC Strategies is ineligible for seven years. This is a free, independent process holding bad actors to account and working exactly as it should.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it ended years after they were exposed. Now, $64 million went to Liberal friends at GC Strategies, in rampant sole-sourcing of contracts with no justification and projects paid for despite no work being done. Incompetence is so ingrained in the government that it has actually ordered officials to put in writing that they are not violating procurement rules when they are granting contracts. Now the Liberals want $26 billion more for these consultants.

When will the Liberals turn off the taps to their friends and focus instead on clawing back the money from this fraudulent GC Strategies?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Minister of Government Transformation]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Auditor General for her report and highlight that we have acted on previous reports by the Auditor General and also on internal audits to increase transparency, increase data collection and increase oversight. I will also note that last year, my department terminated all contracts with GC Strategies and revoked its security clearance, and as of last week, the office of supplier integrity has rendered a decision making GC Strategies ineligible for contracts for seven years.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, if someone is spending $64 million on a product, they would probably think to at least do some price comparisons. However, the Liberal government did no such thing. The Auditor General said that in 82% of GC Strategies contracts examined, there was no evidence that fees being charged by this two-person company were based on a fair market value.

Is this the Prime Minister's idea of a new fiscal discipline, or does price really not matter to Liberals when it comes to paying their well-connected friends? When will we get our money back?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Minister of Government Transformation]

Mr. Speaker, let me be absolutely clear. Misconduct of any kind in the procurement process is never acceptable, which is why we have acted on previous recommendations from the Auditor General. As of last year, GC Strategies has seen its contracts terminated by the Government of Canada, and the government has revoked its security clearance. The government went even further: The office of supplier integrity has rendered a decision making GC Strategies ineligible for seven years. This is a process that is free and independent, holding bad actors to account, and it is working as it should.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, if it was not bad enough that the government did not check for fair market value, Canadians could hope that at least we got something in return for $64 million. That is not the case here. This is how Liberals are spending taxpayers' money, overpaid and with nothing to show for it. The Auditor General said only 54% of contracts audited could prove deliverables were received.

Is this the Prime Minister's new fiscal discipline, or, for the Liberals, is it business as usual? When will we get our money back?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Minister of Government Transformation]

Mr. Speaker, as I have highlighted in previous answers, in March 2024, PSPC terminated all contracts with GC Strategies. We revoked its security clearance. Now, the office of supplier integrity, which we have put in place after a thorough investigation, determined that GC Strategies met the threshold to be found ineligible for government contracts. As such, it is ineligible for the next seven years. This is a process to hold bad actors accountable, because we will never accept and tolerate misconduct in the procurement process.

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Mr. Speaker, money does not grow on trees, but it sure seems to grow in the coffers of Liberal government insiders and contractors. Today we learned through the Auditor General's blistering report that 31 service procurement contracts had been awarded to GC Strategies, for $92 million. The ministers did not enforce security. The ministers did not monitor contracts, and they did not follow proper procurement policies. Guess what. These same Trudeau ministers are in today's cabinet.

Who is running that circus over there, and when will the Canadian taxpayers get their money back?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Minister of Government Transformation]

Mr. Speaker, following a thorough investigation by the office of supplier integrity, last week a determination was made that GC Strategies should be ineligible for the next seven years. This is a free and independent process we have put in place to hold bad actors to account, and it is working exactly as it should.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L’Érable—Lotbinière, QC]

Appearances do not lie. A Liberal is a Liberal is a scandal. The Auditor General issued a scathing report this morning on GC Strategies and the Liberal ArriveCAN app. That two-person company received $64 million in payments from the Liberals. The Auditor General found that nobody knows who did the work, what was done, whether the people who did something were qualified or whether they had the necessary security clearances. The ministers who allowed that to happen all got promotions.

When will the Liberal Prime Minister recover the money that his government took out of the pockets of all Canadians?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Minister of Government Transformation]

Mr. Speaker, in March 2024, Public Services and Procurement Canada terminated all contracts with GC Strategies. The company's security clearance has been revoked, rendering it ineligible for any contract requiring a security clearance. Last week, the office of supplier integrity and compliance determined that GC Strategies would be ineligible for any future contract for the next seven years. This is a free, independent process that is working exactly as it should.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L’Érable—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, GC Strategies did not force the government to pay it $64 million. It paid $64 million for an app that did not work, was not secure and cost much more than expected. The ministers who authorized those expenditures are in cabinet or in the Prime Minister's inner circle. Marco Mendicino is now the Prime Minister's chief of staff. Another former minister of public safety is now the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. The former health minister is now the Minister of Jobs and Families. Being promoted following a scandal is what being a Liberal is all about.

Which of these ministers will now be declared ineligible?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Minister of Government Transformation]

Mr. Speaker, let me be clear. We will never accept misconduct from our suppliers. In March 2024, my department terminated all contracts with GC Strategies and revoked its security clearance. Last week, the office of supplier integrity and compliance rendered a decision making GC Strategies ineligible for any contracts with the Government of Canada for seven years. We put this process in place to ensure that bad actors are held accountable, and it is working exactly as it should.

National Defence

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC]

Mr. Speaker, if Ottawa reinvests in defence, that money must serve Quebec's economy. It needs to be used for our aerospace sector, our shipbuilding industry and our artificial intelligence, among other things. Ottawa needs to hire Quebec suppliers instead of giving our money to the Americans, as it did with the F‑35s. That is why the Bloc Québécois is proposing a bill to implement a local procurement policy to encourage our businesses and keep the benefits at home.

Since the government has announced that it is going to reinvest in the military, will it take up the Bloc Québécois's proposal?