Blake Desjarlais

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, September 16th, 2024]

With regard to the electoral district of Edmonton Griesbach, between the fiscal year 2015-16 and the current year: (a) what are all the federal infrastructure investments, including direct transfers to municipalities, regional district associations or First Nations, national parks, highways, etc., broken down by (i) fiscal year, (ii) total expenditure, (iii) project; and (b) what funding is allocated to highways, including, but not limited to, Alberta Highway 16, broken down by (i) fiscal year, (ii) total expenditure, (iii) project?

[Indigenous Affairs, June 19th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the Trade Winds to Success training society helps indigenous people build up the trade skills we need to rebuild our own communities and our own future. Not only does the organization create a pathway to apprenticeship, but it also guarantees indigenous peoples' opportunity for good-paying jobs.

Despite the Liberals' commitment to support them, no movement has been made. Is this yet another empty promise to indigenous peoples? When will the Prime Minister establish a five-year funding plan for Trade Winds to Success so it can continue to empower indigenous labour?

[Electoral Participation Act, June 18th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I have an interesting question related to the government's commitment to indigenous peoples. It has been very obvious that the government publicly has stated that it supports indigenous peoples' rights, most particularly the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Particular to that document, it suggests, in article 5, that:

Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinct political, legal, economic, social and cultural institutions, while retaining their right to participate fully, if they so choose, in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the State.

Does the member have any comments as to when or how the government will continue to advance reconciliation, continue to advance the principles of the United Nations declaration, in particular to this legislation, and ensure that indigenous people can be seen as self-determining and even sovereign if they so choose?

Could the member speak to his support, if he does have it, of indigenous people's pursuit of self-determination and sovereignty?

[Truth and Reconciliation, June 17th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I want to humbly offer new thoughts on an aging tradition. Canada is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 157 years old. Happy birthday, kid. However, like any good coming of age story, there is much internal conflict. We, indigenous peoples and settlers alike, are at the convergence, or better said, at the place where rivers meet, perhaps again. All that has kept us from each other has now led us to one another.

Although our experiences over the last 157 years are vastly different, we can today see each other more clearly. We can hear each other more soundly, and we can understand each other more emotionally. Indigenous peoples History Month and Canada Day are often a reminder for me of just how far we have truly come, even in my short time. It is also a painful reminder of just how much more work there is to be done, but justice begins with truth. It is where wisdom, redemption and forgiveness live. Reconciliation is not a policy, but a journey toward that truth that we all must take.

I want to thank all those who are offering truths about these lands, especially our youth and our elders: kinana'skomitina'wa'w. Let us continue to heed these truths, and in time, we can become a worthy nation.

[Indigenous Affairs, June 6th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, one loses someone and is trying to grieve and then somebody else dies. This is the feeling of the Piikani Nation, which has seen an unfathomable amount of death because of the toxic drug crisis. First nations in Alberta are dying from toxic drugs eight times faster than the rest of the province's population. The Alberta Conservative model is just not working, and the federal government has shown no leadership.

When will the Liberal government have the courage to intervene in dangerous Conservative policies and save indigenous lives?

[Business of Supply, June 6th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, on the first portion of the member's comments regarding the arms-length nature of the not-for-profit, I would submit that this is the truth. However, another truth is the fact that the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry entered into an agreement with Sustainable Development Technology Canada in order to deliver a fund.

The government needs to take more seriously its approach to partnering with groups when they are in breach of very basic principles.

[Business of Supply, June 6th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for what I believe is a very good-willed offer to parliamentarians in this place to not only strengthen this motion, but to enable us to get more documentation, appropriate documentation, allowing more time for translation services, allowing more time for the public service to actually provide credible documents to the betterment of this investigation, which is an important piece to this work.

I would support such an amendment that would see, for example, in the first paragraph of the motion, “within 14 days” amended to a longer period of time to give the supply period of these documents a better chance of being fully reviewed and also tabled in this place.

To the second point that the member makes about directing the RCMP, I fully agree that the RCMP cannot be directed by parliamentarians, particularly in places of democratic nature, because the RCMP investigation needs to have impartiality and independence, which I support.

[Business of Supply, June 6th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for the opportunity to speak to not only the party's record of corruption, but how consecutive governments, particularly Liberals, have to wait for the Auditor General to catch them red-handed. It should not take the Auditor General and other independent officers of the Parliament to hold the government accountable to do the job that it is supposed to do.

A government should have the ability to hold itself accountable and review these processes internally before this level of corruption takes place. The whistle-blowers came forward many times, and it took them filing an official complaint before the government even listened.

Worse yet, we still know that the recommendations made by the Auditor General to just follow the rules that are in place are still instances where the Auditor General has to call attention to the government. Her recommendations are squarely put on the fact that rules are in place, but rules are meaningless if they are not followed.

We need to hold governments accountable when they breach public trust, and we need to set an example so that Canadians can actually build trust in our systems and not continue to see what is a tradition in the country of the breach of public trust toward the abuse of taxpayers.

[Business of Supply, June 6th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, before I begin, I want to thank my hon. colleague, the member for Windsor West, for his immense work in making certain there is justice for workers and for Canadian taxpayers in regards to this ridiculous and unfortunate circumstance that the government finds itself in, which is a very blatant disregard for the procedures and practices that are required of boards and taxpayer dollars.

I want to first recognize the immense suffering of Palestinians who are seeking safety and shelter. Just this morning, we learned that there was another air strike against a United Nations school that harmed over 6,000 innocent lives. We need sanctions, we need a two-way arms embargo and we need a ceasefire now.

The Auditor General just released her damning report in regard to serious issues and claims made against Sustainable Development Technology Canada's governance and stewardship of public funds, issues that were present in her investigation. The report reads:

We found that the foundation awarded funding to projects that were ineligible, that conflicts of interest existed in some instances, and that certain requirements in the Canada Foundation for Sustainable Development Technology Act were not met.

It continues to say, “the foundation awarded funding to 10 ineligible projects of 58 we examined.” It goes on to suggest that they “found 90 cases that were connected to approval decisions, representing nearly $76 million in funding awarded to projects, where the foundation’s conflict-of-interest policies were not followed.” In addition, it suggests, “The board of directors...did not ensure that the foundation complied with its enabling legislation. The act requires that the foundation have a member council of 15 members.” It says that unfortunately “The board of directors supported reducing that number to 2.”

I do not think it takes a rocket scientist to know that public accountability in the creation of a board, particularly of 15 members, is an important piece of the enabling legislation that would have, or could have, required more oversight. However, the reduction of those members to just two creates a very obvious vulnerability and risk present to the very obvious mismanagement of this fund, likely leading to the very serious issues of conflict of interest.

It is extremely concerning that SDTC was handing out money to companies for projects that were not eligible. This fund is intended to ensure that we have sustainable development of clean technology, something I believe many members in the House support. In fact, this fund goes back in its origin for a significantly longer amount of time, beginning in 2001. Back then, it was established as a not-for-profit corporation, with a mandate to award funding to eligible projects, carried on primarily in Canada, to develop and demonstrate new technologies related to climate change, clean air, clean water and clean soil, to make progress on sustainable development.

The goals are to ensure that we have a responsible path toward a future where our children and our grandchildren can breathe good air, drink good water and live in an environment that Canadians, for so long, in particular indigenous people, have safeguarded and stewarded for generations. It is needed now more than ever to ensure that these projects are not just developed in Canada, but that they actually serve the goals of a more sustainable future.

However, it is a double sin to not just see that this fund has been left largely in the hands of a government that is so disinterested in the accountability that is required of non-for-profit corporations, but it is leading to what is a very obvious and extreme instance of misappropriation of funds. In addition to all of that, we see these extreme conflict of interest cases where, in one circumstance, a board member was able to award their own company millions of dollars. That is basic-level transparency of which members of boards, particularly government created boards, should have an understanding.

I know many members in my community who sit on small non-profits and do the hard work every time they go into their board meetings. They read the minutes, and they clarify among themselves and their colleagues the true facts. They also hold themselves to a moral standard, because they are serving a community and they are serving a real need.

It is a second sin to use what was intended to be one of the most important pieces of a better future for Canadians as an easy access point for corruption and conflict of interest. The foundation entered into contribution agreements with the Crown, most recently with the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, to manage the sustainable development technology fund. According to these contribution agreements, the fund's goal is to advance clean technology innovation in Canada, specifically by funding and supporting technology projects at the pre-commercial development and demonstration stages, to demonstrate solutions to Canadians that have a potential for our future.

It came to light in February 2023 that Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada had received serious allegations of financial mismanagement and poor human resource management practices at the foundation. In March of 2023, the department hired an external consultant to conduct a fact-finding exercise to determine whether there was sufficient merit to the allegations. In November of 2023, the department announced that a law firm would be hired to review alleged breaches of the labour and employment practices and policies.

In August of 2023, whistle-blowers filed a complaint against SDTC, hoping for a management overhaul. In their complaint, the whistle-blowers alleged a series of conflict of interests and a number of potential cases of mismanagement of public funds at the foundation.

It is important that I make note of those very brave workers, the people who were able to see what was wrong when it was meant to be for true good. They courageously stepped forward under penalty of losing their jobs. For many Canadians, the penalty of losing their jobs would also mean they would also be penalized by losing their ability to house and feed themselves, of dignity for themselves and their family. These workers put everything on the line so that Canadians could get the truth that we are dealing with here today.

These whistle-blowers are in need of real protection. That highlights an even bigger problem we have, which is the need for whistle-blower reforms to better protect whistle-blowers in an instance where they have witnessed corruption and mismanagement and bring forward what they have seen.

We know that in the instance I cited earlier, it was an approving grant to NRStor, totalling $217,000 in 2020 and in 2021. Those grants were part of COVID-19 funding to help businesses survive the pandemic. However, the former board chair of SDTC said that she received a legal opinion to not recuse herself in the very instance of her own company applying for funds to the fund she chaired. She followed that legal advice, citing that this was the reason why she did not recuse herself. It does not take an immense amount of knowledge to know that if someone's company is applying to a fund of a not-for-profit of which that person is the chair, that it is not just a perceived conflict of interest but a very real conflict of interest.

I am delighted to say that I am thankful to our Conservative colleagues for bringing this motion forward. The New Democrats will be supporting this motion to better understand and to better bring clarity to this immensely difficult issue facing Canadians and Canadian taxpayers.

I hope we have the courage in this place to not only deal with the production of these documents for the better purpose of our investigations, but to also recommend true solutions that can put an end to this kind of extreme level of breach of trust. It is not just present here but has been on so many issues even prior to the current government. It is so important that we take this opportunity to clampdown and create better security assurances, as called for by the Auditor General.

[First Nations Clean Water Act, June 5th, 2024]

You will learn. You will get it.