Jennifer O'Connell

[Government Business No. 35—Extension of Sitting Hours and Conduct of Extended Proceedings, February 26th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, it was an interesting speech by the opposition House leader. He alluded to the fact that somehow the Conservatives did not win the last election or that he was not the party leader anymore because of something that the Liberals did. In fact, the reason that member is not the leader of the Conservative Party anymore is that it came out that he actually misused party funds to pay for private schooling for his children and to pay for clothing for himself and his children. I wonder if the member thinks it is common-sense economics to misuse funds to pay for private schooling for his children.

[Public Services and Procurement, February 13th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said before, it is not politicians who direct investigations with the RCMP, but the RCMP that will determine the scope as the evidence permits.

It is important to know that any wrongdoing and misconduct in procurement will come with consequences. We have confidence that the CBSA is completing this work. It is doing initial audits, and the RCMP is looking into the matter where necessary.

[Public Services and Procurement, February 13th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, any misconduct during a procurement process is completely unacceptable. This is precisely why, when the CBSA learned of the irregularities, it immediately initiated an internal audit. Based on some of that work, it referred some of these elements to the RCMP.

It is unfortunate when situations such as this occur, but the fact is that the CBSA has been following the process to ensure that something like this can never happen again and that any wrongdoing comes with consequences.

[Public Services and Procurement, February 13th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, obviously we accept the Auditor General's report. We thank her for this work. There are obviously some concerning allegations being initiated. This is precisely why the CBSA initiated the audit. This is precisely why it then referred the materials to the RCMP.

It does not matter how many times the Conservatives say it, but politicians do not direct police investigations. It is the RCMP that will do this work, and we trust that it will follow the evidence. Again, procurement with any misconduct will come with consequences.

[Public Services and Procurement, February 13th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, as we have said in the House time and time again, any misconduct in the procurement process is unacceptable. We accept that the president of the CBSA has initiated internal audits and has issued some initial reports.

She has also referred some of the concerning reports to the RCMP, but members opposite should know that it is not politicians who direct the RCMP; it is the RCMP that does this work. The RCMP will set the mandate for wherever the case may lead, and we will accept that work.

[Corrections and Conditional Release Act, February 9th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for bringing this matter forward. At committee we also heard that some victims and family members are not always ready, or do not always want, to hear about those who have impacted their family. Therefore I appreciate that the member has worked across the aisle on this to ensure that those who want the information are given it, but there is also a recognition that it is up to the victim and the victim's family to decide what information they receive. Could the member comment on that?

[Public Services and Procurement, February 9th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, once again, we have concerns about some of the initial reporting, but we designed the ArriveCAN app to help Canadians during the global pandemic. That being said, we will never risk the integrity of our procurement process. We expect any contracts that the government issues to be issued properly. The president of the CBSA has already put in some interim changes on the procurement process, and we look forward to the results of the full investigation.

[Public Safety, February 9th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives tough-on-crime talk does not result in action.

What we are doing is taking concrete steps to deal with extortion and organized crime in this country. I said earlier that just 60 days ago, those very members voted against $80 million to support the work of the RCMP. Cuts have consequences. The Conservatives have not learned their lesson that, when it comes to dealing with safety in this country, we need to invest in the expertise of our police forces.

[Public Safety, February 9th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I find it interesting that the members opposite bring up issues around firearms and safety in our communities, when they actually, just over 60 days ago, voted against $80 million for the RCMP that would specifically go to supporting the work of the RCMP on guns and gangs, and organized crime.

We are taking the issue of extortion very seriously. This is why the RCMP are working with local police. The Conservative cuts would not solve this issue.

[Public Safety, February 9th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, far too many Canadians have been experiencing this situation. It is precisely why the RCMP is seized with this issue and working directly with local police. This is something we are seeing operating with organized crime. However, what we also know is that the Conservatives' tough talk on crime does not actually create the solutions and the results. We saw that as the Conservatives cut funding to the RCMP to do this very work to crack down on organized crime, but we are going to be there for Canadians.