Debates of June 8th, 2026

Concurrence in Vote 5—Department of National Defence

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie South—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the reason corruption, cronyism, well-connected Liberal insiders and well-connected lobbyists come up all the time is that we see them all the time, and they benefit while Canadians are suffering at great cost because of the Liberal government. This is why they are brought up all the time.

The second part of the member's question was on the support of this project. What Conservatives are looking for, and I think what most Canadians would want, are some accountability and transparency over this project. As I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of questions that need to be raised. We are trying to highlight some of those concerns, not just to make Canadians more aware, but also to make sure that we are providing accountability and transparency on this project.

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know whether my colleague was here earlier when I asked my question about businesses, but the Bloc Québécois believes that small businesses in Quebec and, of course, across the rest of Canada need direct, rapid, effective support to avoid going under.

Over the past few weeks, we have seen furniture businesses closing down. I mentioned earlier that a very happy event took place this morning in Berthier—Maskinongé. The Duchesne et Fils plant in Yamachiche reopened after the company sought protection under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of elected officials, we succeeded in applying pressure and making sure the company that took over had favourable conditions to make it work. I want to take this opportunity to recognize them and thank them again, along with the people at the business support centre, who had a major impact on this file.

We succeeded in saving one business, but we are worried about other businesses that are closing down and about businesses that have not gone under yet but that are struggling. I would like to know whether my colleague supports our proposal for a wage subsidy to keep the economic fabric of our regions from unravelling.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie South—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my riding is in the same boat. Many businesses are suffering right now because of the tariffs, but also because of the rules and laws imposed during this Liberal government's 11 years in power. I think we should support businesses.

We need to support businesses in our ridings. There is no question about it. One of the ways we can greatly support businesses is by ensuring that with much of the legislation, many of those regulations and policies that are in place right now and the red tape that exists among businesses, we get the government out of the way and let these businesses flourish on their own.

Of course, we should always be there to support businesses as well, but the government creates the environment for success. It does not actually create that success—

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Peace River—Westlock.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Mr. Speaker, $200 million is what we are talking about with this launch pad. In my riding, a sawmill was recently shut down, with 190 jobs lost. That $200 million would have gone a long way there.

The member for Taiaiako'n—Parkdale—High Park and I were debating this earlier, and he talked about how we needed a Canadian Cape Canaveral. I wonder if the hon. member could do a bit of a comparison between Maritime Launch Services and Cape Canaveral.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie South—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there is really not much to compare, because we have, as I said, a gravel road with a concrete pad. Compare that to Cape Canaveral. Members can see it if they fly over it. If anybody has been there, it is very well established. There is no question about it.

The issues here are transparency, accountability and the fact that so many taxpayer dollars were given to this company that was on the verge of bankruptcy. There are a lot more questions than we are getting answers to right now. We need to keep pushing on this.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, what is our role here as elected officials? We have a legislative role when it comes to bills. We must ensure the sound management of public finances. We represent the people of our ridings. We are the eyes, voice and ears of the people.

Earlier, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House said that we were against the development of the aerospace industry. We are not against the development of the aerospace industry; we are against the mismanagement of public finances. We are dealing a financial scandal involving Maritime Launch Services, a private company that leases 135 hectares of land from the Nova Scotia provincial government. This private company took its contract and decided to lease the land to the federal Liberal government for $20 million a year for 10 years, for a total of $200 million.

My question for the Liberal government is simple. If it had been their own money, would they have signed this contract? The answer is clear. Of course, no one here would have done that. No Canadian would have signed a contract like that. Why did the Liberal government sign a contract like that? The Maritime Launch Services site is on a gravel road. There are two shipping containers and a concrete pad measuring 25 feet by 35 feet. That is the infrastructure that the government is renting for $20 million a year for the next 10 years.

Over the past few days, I asked the Minister of Finance some questions. Who signed the contract? Who read the contract? When was the minister informed of this contract? I asked him if he had met with officials from Maritime Launch Services. He did not recall. I reminded him of the exact date he met with them. I asked him if his chief of staff had ever met with officials from Maritime Launch Services. He did not know. When he was industry minister, his chief of staff met with them 14 times, seven times in 2023 and seven times in 2024. Again, he met with them 14 times. How is it possible that the minister does not remember that he had these important meetings with his chief of staff?

The minister is currently taking Canadians' concerns so lightly that he offered to introduce me to some astronauts. I do not want to meet astronauts. I want to meet with experienced stewards who will sign contracts that meet the expectations of Canadians, the people who elected us to ensure the sound management of public finances. This is unacceptable to us. Canadians work hard every day to earn a living, to be able to pay for a place to live, a vehicle to drive and food to eat. They send a portion of their wages to us here as taxes. Our role is to be good stewards and to serve Canadians. That is our role. It is to be good stewards.

Right now, the federal government is being a very poor steward. This is just one example. Then people wonder why the country's deficit, which was $700 billion when the Liberals took office 10 years ago, is now at $1.4 trillion. Bad decisions like this add up. I can say that Canadians are extremely frustrated right now.

A lot of people are telling me that. Frédéric told me that the government never answers questions and that I will definitely never get any answers. Nathalie wonders why they do not answer and adds that ministers are all the same when they have to be accountable. Mathieu says it is not easy to answer such a simple question.

Stéphane says that he has rarely seen someone dodge such a simple question. Patrick says that he cannot get over how some people never answer questions. Sébastien says that the minister never manages to answer and that he always runs out the clock. Guylaine said that he stalls for time and never answers my questions. Sylvie says that his total disregard for us and the way he treats us like idiots is unbelievable. This is what people are writing to tell me about this matter. Faced with such a case, how are Canadians supposed to trust a Liberal government?

On August 13, 2024, the Minister of Finance and National Revenue met with representatives of Maritime Launch Services. The former Nova Scotia Liberal minister sits on the advisory board of Maritime Launch Services. I remember that Maritime Launch Services had signed an agreement with the Nova Scotia provincial government and, lo and behold, the former premier of Nova Scotia also sits on its advisory board.

According to the Halifax Examiner, the former premier of Nova Scotia had written a letter of support on the company's behalf even before the project had been submitted for an environmental assessment. Mr. McNeil was appointed to the Maritime Launch Services advisory board in 2023 after announcing his resignation in 2021.

It is only natural to ask questions. How can anyone agree to a deal like that? Who signed that agreement? Someone accepted it; someone put their signature to it. There had to have been a point when the minister knew this agreement was going to be signed. When was he made aware of it? As MPs who are mandated to be the eyes, voice and ears of our constituents, we cannot accept this situation. It is our role to strongly call this out.

What would make me happy is if the Liberal MPs who also just found out about this in recent weeks were as outraged as we are and said that this is unacceptable. After all, this money is coming from their constituents too, and they are suffering as a result. Canadians have worked hard for the money they send to us. They want us to recognize the value of every single dollar they send to us. The minister finds this funny.

The minister just walked into the House and he finds this funny. We are talking about a land lease, minister, which you arranged for $20 million a year—

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

I have to interrupt the hon. member. Members are not to speak directly to the minister or other members. They must address the Chair.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, can you tell the minister, who just entered the House laughing—

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

Members cannot do directly what they cannot do indirectly. They cannot refer to the presence or absence of a member. That applies to ministers as well.

I will allow the hon. member to finish his comments. He has one minute.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Personally, Mr. Speaker, I do not see the humour in the situation.

What is funny, however, is that the site is located in a Liberal riding. The former aide to the Minister of Justice was a lobbyist for the project. The former Liberal premier of Nova Scotia sits on the advisory board. Furthermore, the president of the Canadian Space Agency has stated that she was never consulted about the choice of site.

The minister told me this week that he wanted to introduce me to some astronauts so that I could understand why he had chosen this site. The president of the Canadian Space Agency was not consulted. I think that says it all. Everything is in place. This is a financial scandal, and on this side of the House, we will stand up for Canadians.

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

Mr. Speaker, the member seems a little upset that it is in a Liberal riding. All the ridings in Nova Scotia are Liberal. The Premier of Nova Scotia is actually a Progressive Conservative.

What we are seeing is a federal government working in collaboration with a Progressive Conservative government in Nova Scotia to have a space launch sector. There is value in that in terms of the potential of creating jobs. It will have an impact not only in Nova Scotia, but also in my city of Winnipeg where they manufacture satellites and want Canadian sovereignty in allowing Canada to be able to launch these satellites.

If you are so much against Nova Scotia, what province would you prefer to see the launch pad in?

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

I would remind the parliamentary secretary that I cannot answer these questions, but I will ask the member for Richmond—Arthabaska to answer them.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is pathetic to hear the parliamentary secretary to the government House leader speak. The parliamentary secretary is doing the Liberal government's dirty work, which is indefensible. It is indefensible.

We are not against aerospace development. We are against financial scandals. Now the parliamentary secretary to the government House leader is trying to defend them. I commend the parliamentary secretary for courageously doing his party's dirty work. That is to his credit, but it does not reflect well on his party because, right now, this is a financial scandal, and we are going to stand up for our constituents.

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague said something that resonates with me because it is something I have felt as well.

According to feedback from the public, when they saw the exchange between my colleague and the Minister of Finance, they did not understand why the minister was not answering. I must admit that, over the past year, this is one of the things I have noticed that really amazes me. When we go to a committee meeting and ask questions, it seems as though the government's primary goal is to avoid answering questions and just run out the clock. I really do not understand what the point of that is.

Does my colleague have any explanation or possible theories to share?

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague, whom I hold in particularly high regard and who lives in an incredible part of the country.

This is sad. It is something we often say, for example during oral question period, which is aptly named. It is a question period, not an answer period. It is the same in committee. We ask questions, and sadly, we get no answers. There are Canadians who listen to question period and committee hearings. Unfortunately, all this does is fuel their cynicism about politics. People can clearly see that we are not getting any answers from the government. This applies even more in the case of financial scandals like this one.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, some things are indeed ridiculous. Public funds are being wasted and there are financial scandals with this government. It never ends.

One of the things that the leader of my colleague's party has said is that he is against corporate welfare. This was in response to a question from my colleague from Jonquière ahout whether the government should stop subsidizing the oil and gas industry, which is getting $14 billion this year. The Conservative leader agreed and said that we need to fight corporate welfare.

Will my colleague proclaim loud and clear, like his leader, that one of the current government's worst financial scandals in the estimates we are voting on is that there is a subsidy of $14 billion that is coming out of taxpayers' pockets and going directly into the pockets of those who are making the biggest record profits, namely oil and gas companies?

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's greatest wealth is its natural resources. We have a duty to exploit them.

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

It being 10 p.m., it is my duty to interrupt the proceedings and put forthwith every question necessary to dispose of the business of supply.

Call in the members.

The House resumed consideration of the motion.

Opposition Motion—The Government's Fiscal Policies

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

The first question is on the opposition motion relating to the business of supply.

The question is as follows. Shall I dispense?

[Some hon. members]

No.

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

[Chair read text of motion to House]

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

Vote #138

Business of Supply

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

I declare the motion defeated.