Jennifer O'Connell

[Carbon Pricing, February 5th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, if the Conservatives are truly concerned about the price of groceries, why do they not just ask their top adviser to pick up the phone and talk to Loblaws, or perhaps the next time she goes to pick up her paycheque, she could just ask Loblaws to join in our work to bring down grocery prices, to bring in more competition and to get rid of predatory practices.

If the Conservatives are truly concerned for Canadians, I know just the person they can have give their buddies at Loblaws a call.

[Conservative Party of Canada, February 5th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, last week, we learned that the Conservatives' top adviser, Jenni Byrne, is also a lobbyist for Loblaws. Maybe this explains why Conservative MPs have been blocking legislation to deal with predatory pricing. Six leaders and counting, but it is the same old Conservative Party that promised to stand up for Canadians. In reality, they are making deals behind closed doors to help their wealthy connected friends.

We know those Conservatives love a slogan, so here is one for Canadians to remember. The Leader of the Opposition will raise grocery prices in their homes, my home. They are going to bring higher prices home.

[Public Safety, February 2nd, 2024]

Madam Speaker, it is interesting how the Conservatives are just waking up to the issue of auto theft in this country. This is something we have been working on with our local partners, including police.

While the Conservatives sit here and talk tough to cameras, just over 50 days ago they actually voted against over $80 million that would go precisely to combat the issues that the member is raising.

They talk tough, but there is no action when it comes to actually dealing with crime in this country.

[Public Safety, February 2nd, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Vaughan—Woodbridge for standing up for safety in his community and joining the Minister of Public Safety to address auto theft, which is a serious problem that requires collaboration and an all-hands-on-deck approach with our provincial and municipal partners.

Canadians are understandably concerned for their safety, and they expect elected officials to put their partisanship aside and work together. That is why our government is working with local partners, including the police, while the Leader of the Opposition insults the individuals who have taken an oath—

[Carbon Pricing, February 2nd, 2024]

Madam Speaker, it seems the Conservatives have some explaining to do. While they are taking acting classes and talking about the plight and affordability of Canadians, the leader of the official opposition's chief strategist is getting rich off the back of Loblaws as a lobbyist. We now know that while the Conservatives act for their videos, they are voting against Canadians' interests, and against affordability and competition for grocery prices. While the Conservatives take acting classes, we are acting—

[Public Services and Procurement, January 30th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, when our government released government policies during the global pandemic to help save Canadian lives, we expected the public service to implement these contracts following the procurement policies and rules set out by the government.

We are concerned with some of the initial findings, as is the CBSA president. That is why she has already implemented measures, including calling in the police when necessary and conducting more internal audits. There will be consequences for anyone who did not follow the procurement processes.

[Public Services and Procurement, January 30th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, what we expect from the public service is that it implement contracts based on government policies that follow the rules and procurement policies, and when we were aware—

[Public Services and Procurement, January 30th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, it is important to remember that the ArriveCAN app was built to help save lives during an extraordinary time. However, with that being said, we expect the procurement process to be followed, and I have said time and time again in the House that any wrongdoing in the procurement process would face consequences. The CBSA has already begun this important work by calling in the police when necessary and by doing internal audits. We are committed to ensuring that the procurement processes are always followed.

[Questions on the Order Paper, January 29th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, With regard to part (a), there have been no reported assaults related to the prison needle exchange program, PNEP, in any Correctional Service of Canada, CSC, institution.

With regard to part (b), appropriate safeguards are established in every institution to ensure that PNEP kits are safely stored and accounted for on a daily basis. While we are unable to provide specific numbers in this time frame, so as to avoid providing inaccurate information, we can say that it is very rare. However, if a needle were to go missing, CSC would take immediate action to ensure that the safety and security of staff, the public and inmates are maintained.

With regard to part (c), CSC undertook an extensive preliminary search in order to determine the amount of information that would fall within the scope of the question and the amount of time that would be required to prepare a comprehensive response. The level of detail of the information requested is not systematically tracked in a centralized database. CSC concluded that producing and validating a comprehensive response to this question would require a manual collection of information that is not possible in the time allotted, and this could lead to the disclosure of incomplete and misleading information.

[Questions on the Order Paper, January 29th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, contract 47419-212524/001/EL awarded to GC Strategies for COVID-19 pandemic IT PRO services was signed by Angela Durigan, Public Services and Procurement Canada, PSPC, Procurement. As per the contract, the contracting authority is Alain Huot, PSPC supply officer. The technical authorities for the contract are Antonio Utano, CBSA executive director, and Cameron MacDonald, CBSA director general, in Antonio Utano’s absence. The contract referenced above was provided to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates on November 24, 2023.