Blake Desjarlais

[RCMP Allegations of Foreign Interference by the Government of India, October 21st, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the leader of the Democratic Party for his steadfast support of Canadians right across the country who may fear for their own safety. In my own community of Edmonton Griesbach, I get reports of community members whose houses are being shot at. They are scared to report this to police; they are paralyzed.

We truly need to see country before party, but what we are noticing is that the Liberals have been too slow to act. They voted against the establishment of an India-Canada committee. They voted against the NDP's foreign interference commission into India.

In addition, the Conservatives are compromised. Their leader will not even get a security clearance, and they refuse to act after learning that their leadership race was interfered in by the Government of India.

This is why New Democrats are important. This is why New Democrats need to see accountability. It is why I believe that New Democrats are the only party positioned to truly get to the bottom of this.

Will the member speak to how urgent this issue is and speak directly to those voices right across the country who are fearing for their loved ones and for themselves?

[RCMP Allegations of Foreign Interference by the Government of India, October 21st, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I think the Bloc Québécois and the New Democrats are quite aligned on this issue, which pertains to the safety and security of Canadians. One thing that is troubling for, I think, both the member and me is that over a year ago, when the New Democrats brought forward a motion to establish a public commission that would review all aspects of foreign interference, including foreign interference by India, the Prime Minister voted against it. Earlier today, in this place, we noticed the Liberals defeat the establishment of a special committee that would study Canada-India relations for the purpose of identifying measures that would combat foreign interference.

Does the member want to elaborate or speculate on why the Liberals are voting against these measures?

[RCMP Allegations of Foreign Interference by the Government of India, October 21st, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for his advocacy on this important issue. I think we agree on many aspects of this.

I would like to hear the member's position in regard to the fact that we are finally having this debate today. It has been on the minds of so many individuals across the country, particularly Sikh and Muslim communities as they have been dealing with and raising the alarm of foreign interference for a very long time in Canada. We are finally getting to a position where we can do things, like ban the RSS.

Is that something the member would support?

[RCMP Allegations of Foreign Interference by the Government of India, October 21st, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, it is important, as we look at this issue, that we centre and make best efforts to understand the deep pain of many Canadians right now. There are many Canadians, and they may be from a diaspora, with their parents being here, or they themselves have been victims of some of the hate and violence we are seeing across the country.

In particular, it has been raised with me that the RSS is a violent extremist group. So many across the country right now, particularly Sikh Canadians, are calling for accountability and to have this organization registered as a terrorist organization. Would the member comment on the important need of designating RSS as a terrorist organization to help protect Canadians?

[Privilege, October 21st, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, now they are upset.

How can the Conservatives square the circle of the fact that they are involved?

[Privilege, October 21st, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague did a great job outlining the tremendous record of the Liberal Party's failures to report to this place or to provide good documentation as many Canadians need to see transparency for the SDTC file. That is why New Democrats support this motion.

However, this is the troubling part. We often hear the Conservatives speak to financial accountability and then leave out completely the history of the Conservative Party's deep involvement in scandals. I can even list some of the scandals the member missed in his review: the Airbus scandal where we saw kickbacks to Conservative ministers; the in-and-out scandal where the Conservatives got away with election fraud. Mike Duffy literally took a $90,000 bag of cash right from the Prime Minister's Office.

[Privilege, October 21st, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, on the topic of affordability in Alberta, CUPE Local 3550, representing over 4,000 educational assistants who make just $27,000 annually, are fighting for better wages. They are fighting for better work conditions, and they are fighting so that they can actually have a work-life balance.

This is an incredibly important issue that we are seeing. Almost 4,000 EAs are prepared to strike in Alberta on Thursday for better wages. The problem in all this is the fact that the province has instituted a 2.5% cap on their wages, which is nearly nothing.

Would the member agree that the most important part of getting good, powerful paycheques is actually supporting powerful unions?

[Privilege, October 11th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, for those who are tuning into this debate, it is very clear to see that with the extreme issues present in the current Liberal government, like the serious mismanagement of funds at SDTC, and with the historic contempt case of the former Conservative government, these parties are consistently abusing Canadians. They are abusing Canadians' ability to get things done in the House and abusing Canadians' tax dollars. When it is politically convenient for them to call out each other's mismanagement, they do so in this place. It shouldn't have to be that way.

The New Democrats always believe in financial accountability and transparency. That is why we voted in favour of this motion. However, we cannot help but point out the direct hypocrisy we have witnessed in this debate from these two parties and their complete lack of memory when it comes to their own mismanagement.

Does the member agree that a serious debate on this issue should require reflection of one's own actions, in particular regarding the issues present not just to the Liberal government, but to that of Mr. Harper?

[Privilege, October 11th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, part of what we have heard in the last many days on this issue, in particular, is this idea that these are Liberal insiders. This is a Liberal-Conservative insider, as a matter of fact. We have pointed out many times that Ms. Verschuren, the former chair of SDTC, donated to both the Liberals and Conservatives during nearly her entire stint as chair of SDTC. She pushed money back to her own company, to Conservative campaigns and to the Conservative Party.

Can the member promise Canadians that, should the Conservatives form government, they will not allow Ms. Verschuren back into this place and that they will ban donations from her to their party?

[Privilege, October 11th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member just admitted that the Conservatives want to play games with this issue.

The Bloc Québécois and the New Democrats have been consistent in our message. We need to see financial transparency with regard to the very serious allegations and issues present in the Auditor General's report. We know that these documents have an incredible amount of information that could shed light on a very important and credible issue.

I take issue with the member's answer about the structure of committees of this House and with the play the Conservatives are trying to utilize. It is one the member himself has experience with from when he was in government.

Can the member speak to why he thinks these games are occurring in this place on an issue as serious as financial accountability?