Mr. Speaker, with respect to the matter at hand, today Canadians are watching to see whether their Parliament can still do the basics: recover their money when it is wasted and protect them from being defrauded by their own government.
I rise today to speak in support of the motion, not just as the member for Windsor West but also as someone who has seen first-hand how Liberal mismanagement harmed our economy, damaged trust at the border and wasted millions of our hard-earned dollars.
The motion calls on the government to do two simple things: one, to get taxpayers their money back within 100 days, and two, impose a lifetime contracting ban on GC Strategies Inc., its subsidiaries and its founders, who are now under criminal investigation by the RCMP.
Let me repeat the headline, because it cannot be said enough: The Liberals need to get the taxpayers their money back.
The Auditor General released one of the most scathing reports in recent memory, a deep dive into how GC Strategies, a so-called IT firm with just two employees and no developers, received over $64 million in contracts from the Liberal government. GC Strategies did not build software. It did not write code. It subcontracted the work while skimming millions in fees. It was a middleman billing the government while doing virtually nothing itself, and for this, it was rewarded not once, not twice but 106 times across 31 government departments, including Global Affairs, National Defence and even the Department of Justice.
This is not just waste; it is systemic rot. There was no proof of work, no accountability and no consequences. The Auditor General found that in 46% of the contracts, the government had no proof of deliverables' being received, yet officials still signed off on the payments. In 33% of the cases, they could not even confirm whether the contractors had the experience to do the job. In over 50% of the cases, contract staff had no security clearance when they began work, even on sensitive projects. The government paid out $64 million with almost no documentation, no oversight and no explanation.
Let us be clear: GC Strategies was cleared to receive over $100 million in total. We may have only scratched the surface, so let us see what the RCMP finds out.
What happened when all this came to light? The RCMP raided the home of one of the company's founders, Parliament was misled, border communities like mine were ignored, and yet no one has been held accountable.
We did get excuses. We got many deflections, and, of course, we got more spending. Windsor West was hit especially hard by the ArriveCAN disaster. We are Canada's busiest border region. We rely on cross-border travel, not just for tourism but also for trade, family, health care and work. ArriveCAN was not just a glitchy app; it was a gatekeeper, and it failed. Seniors and truckers were detained and fined because the app crashed. Seniors who did not have a smart phone were punished with fines or unbelievable delays while crossing. Nurses and doctors were delayed at crossings. American visitors disappeared overnight from our small businesses, and all the while, the Liberals handed out contracts like candy on Canada Day, while telling Canadians it was just a tech issue.
The scandal is about judgment, values and governance, or rather the lack thereof. Canadians, especially in my community, were the ones left holding the bag. We now know, thanks to the Auditor General, that the government had the power to fix this. Public Service and Procurement Canada testified before a committee that, had a fraud occurred, “we have the ability to recover the funds from the suppliers, and it's in our regular practice to do so”, so let us do it.
What are we waiting for, a red carpet? Let us recover the money, let us end the excuses, and let us pass the motion, because inaction or delay sends a message that this kind of behaviour is acceptable. Clearly, it is not. I am sure that both sides of the House would agree on that.
Let us also talk about the government's first major spending bill. The Liberals have said that they would spend less. Instead, they brought forward a spending bill that increases total expenditures by 8%, nearly three times the combined rate of inflation and population growth.
Where is the money going? There is $26.1 billion for consultants. That is $1,400 per household in Canada handed to insiders and lobbyists, even after the arrive scam mess. That is not about innovation. It is not about investment. It is about a government addicted to outsourcing, with no accountability and no shame.
Let us turn to the core of this motion. This is not radical. It is not partisan. It is about restoring faith in how our money is spent. The Liberals gave $64 million to a two-person firm that never delivered and is now being investigated by the RCMP. The Liberals ignored procurement rules, they ignored security rules and they ignored the taxpayer. Now the Liberals want to move on like there is nothing to see here; let us go on. Well, we say not this time. The motion would give them 100 days to act: 100 days to return the money using the very tools that their own departments say already exist and 100 days to ban GC Strategies, its subsidiaries, its founders and any shell company they try to hide behind from ever touching federal dollars again.
Public service is a privilege, as we all know, not a business model. To my colleagues, especially those on the government benches, this is their moment to shine. Are they willing to stand up for their constituents or are they going to protect a pair of contractors who cashed $64 million in exchange for smoke and mirrors?
To the people of Windsor and the rest of Canada, I say this. We are fighting to get their money back. We are fighting to end the gravy train and demand accountability and responsibility. We are demanding on their behalf that this Parliament finally delivers results, not just reviews.
The Liberals need to get the taxpayers their money back. This House needs to send a clear message that this needs to happen at the end of the motion.