Debates of Nov. 4th, 2026

Major Projects Office

[Carol Anstey, Conservative, Long Range Mountains, NL]

Mr. Speaker, after 11 years of the Liberals, one thing is clear. There are now two Canadas, one for hard-working Canadians who play by all the rules and one for the Liberal club. While Canadian families struggle to put food on the table, private corporations are paying employees who work inside the Major Projects Office, and the Prime Minister refuses to reveal who they are. Imagine an employer having their own employees working inside the very office responsible for advancing the projects the employer's company wants approved.

Can the Prime Minister tell Canadians exactly how many corporate-paid employees are working inside his MPO and which companies are paying for that?

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, I actually have some very good news for the member opposite. Today we were proud to announce the removal of China's tariffs for two years—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

We need it to be a little quieter so the minister can answer.

The hon. Minister of Fisheries and Oceans has the floor.

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take it from the top, if I could, because this is such important, good news for the province I share with the member opposite.

There is a two-year removal of the Chinese tariffs on lobster and crab, which is so significant for Atlantic Canada. On top of that, there is over $300 million over five years for AFF funding.

Instead of reading prepared notes, let us get together and do something that actually makes sense.

[Carol Anstey, Conservative, Long Range Mountains, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I would not want to talk about the Major Projects Office either.

Last year, the Prime Minister told Canadians to prepare to make sacrifices. Well, guess what. They are already making them. Food bank visits have reached a record 2.35 million in a single month, with 776,000 of those visits being made by children.

Canadians are being made to make sacrifices, yet private corporations are paying employees working inside of the Prime Minister's Major Projects Office, and the government refuses to disclose which companies are involved. Again, Canadians deserve transparency.

How many employees working inside the Major Projects Office are being paid by—

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

The Honourable Minister of Energy.

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, rather than come up with conspiracy theories, why does the member not talk about what the MPO did at Churchill Falls? It is the largest renewable energy—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

The member may continue.

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, rather than come up with conspiracy theories about the MPO, the member might recognize that the MPO helped make Churchill Falls happen. It is the largest renewable energy project in the history of North America, with 5,000 new jobs in her province, new mines in her province. Instead of coming up with conspiracies, why does she not help the MPO get—

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

The hon. member for Cambridge has the floor.

[Connie Cody, Conservative, Cambridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised lots of things about his new Major Projects Office, but he forgot to mention that it would be done with unprecedented secrecy. It could be up to one-third corporate-sponsored employees working inside the office, and we do not know which private corporations are paying them. Canadians have a right to know who has a seat at the table. These insiders have direct access to government decisions that could benefit their employers.

Yesterday at committee, I asked a simple question. Which companies do they work for? The minister refused to answer, so I will ask again.

Will the minister be transparent and release the list of corporations, yes or no?

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, just as with the last member, I would invite the member, rather than focusing on conspiracy theories about the MPO, to focus on the 18,000 jobs at the Darlington nuclear reactor. It is one of the most important renewable energy projects in the world, the first SMRs in the world, and the Conservatives are talking down the office that made that happen. Maybe they should get with the program.

[Connie Cody, Conservative, Cambridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there is clearly something to hide. The minister refused to identify the corporations that are paying their employees to work inside the Major Projects Office.

This is the same Liberal government that has been found guilty of ethics violations time and time again, and now Canadians are supposed to trust them. Why should they? How can Canadians be expected to believe that large corporations are paying employees to work inside the Major Projects Office simply out of generosity? Canadians do not know who these companies are, how conflicts are being screened or whether those companies stand to benefit from government decisions.

If the government has nothing to hide, why is it hiding?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have talked about Atlantic Canada, we have talked about Quebec, and we have talked about Ontario. Now it is time to talk about British Columbia, where I was last Friday to announce, with the help of the MPO, it must be said, the listing of Roberts Bank Terminal 2. It is a megaproject for all of Canada, with $6 billion and 17,000 jobs for British Columbians and Canadians, to export our goods, our farm goods and the products of our ingeniosity over to Asia and create—

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

The hon. member for Montmorency—Charlevoix.

[Gabriel Hardy, Conservative, Montmorency—Charlevoix, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the way the Prime Minister is managing taxpayers' money is starting to become extremely worrisome. On one side, we have ordinary citizens who are affected by those decisions on a daily basis and who are paying the price every day. On the other, we have the people who make the rules and the friends of the people who make the rules. They are the ones reaping the benefits.

We have learned that many of the employees of the Major Projects Office are there on loan from private companies and banks. These are the people who are responsible for deciding which companies will receive billions of dollars from the Liberals. They get to choose the winners, and their boss might be one of them.

How can we expect Canadians to have confidence in our institutions when transparency—

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

The hon. Minister of Government Transformation.

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Minister of Government Transformation]

Mr. Speaker, what I do not understand about the Conservatives is the way they talk about helping ordinary people and then systematically vote against those people's interests. That member specifically voted against 19,223 children who are receiving an average of $5,000 through the Canada child benefit, in addition to the 19,000 people in his riding who are benefiting from the Canadian dental care plan.

The confusion and hypocrisy across the way do not stop there. Yesterday, the member for Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis accused us of helping businesses too much. However, when we were in her riding, visiting Prevost and helping businesses deal with the trade war, they were quite happy to be there on the sidelines and applaud the announcements we were making to support Canadian businesses.

[Gabriel Hardy, Conservative, Montmorency—Charlevoix, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the most alarming thing about all this is that these employees' potential conflict of interest is not subject to any independent oversight. The Privy Council Office is staffed by employees who work directly for the Prime Minister. The Major Projects Office is the Prime Minister's creation and tool. They are the ones who decide whether or not there is a conflict. When we asked for the names of the companies involved in all that, they responded that the information is confidential and that revealing it could cause embarrassment.

Since when is transparency something to be embarrassed about?

Are the Liberals going to reveal which businesses are paying employees to pick the winners, yes or no?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Major Projects Office has selected Quebec winners as well.

I implore the member to support this side of the House, because we revealed the investment and the start of construction on the Contrecoeur project, which will increase the Port of Montreal's container capacity by 50%. What is that going to accomplish? It is going to create wealth, opportunities and supply chains for Quebec manufacturers, farmers and producers to reach the entire world. It is creating jobs in Quebec.

Artificial Intelligence

[Aaron Gunn, Conservative, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, at a time when many Canadian families are feeling the pinch of the cost of living crisis, how can the Liberal government justify taking $1.6 billion out of the pockets of Canadians and giving it to Cohere, an AI company valued at more than $36 billion?

Is this AI company so strapped for cash that it has to take it from taxpayers who are struggling to put food on their tables and gas in their tanks, or is this just another example of the Liberals giving taxpayer-funded handouts to big corporations and their Liberal friends?

[Evan Solomon, Liberal, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, we have a choice. We can either build this strategically important technology here in Canada, or we can buy it from someone else. We choose to build in Canada, support Canadian champions and build safe, sovereign AI.

With this company, we are taking an equity position so all Canadians can benefit. This company will create 1,000 jobs and invest $1.7 billion in computing here. This is what it means to build Canada strong and build sovereign, safe Canadian AI.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Ponoka—Didsbury, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the federal government recently announced that it purchased a $1.6-billion stake in the artificial intelligence firm Cohere. We soon found out this money was being funnelled to well-connected Liberal insiders. Dominic Barton, the chair of Invest in Canada, and Patrick Pichette, the head of digital transformation Canada, were early investors in Cohere. They also have long-standing ties to the Prime Minister. Having been promoted to these high-profile government roles, they now stand to gain from the Liberal government's so-called investment in Cohere.

Why is it that every time the Prime Minister spends millions or billions, a Liberal insider is so easy to find?