Mr. Speaker, it is good to see you here today. I am happy to have a chance to contribute to this discussion. It is always an honour for me to stand and speak on behalf of the great people of Souris—Moose Mountain.
If I may, I would like to take a moment to give a shout-out to my five-year-old granddaughter Zella, who is beautiful and brilliant just like her mother Kathryn, my daughter, and her grandmother Donna, my wife. I would also like to shout out my two-year-old grandson Porter and my 16-month-old twin grandsons Kaysen and Atlas.
The reason I bring them up is that not only are these people very important to me, but these particular children, like all children in Canada, are the main reason I do what I do. I love them with all my heart. However, I worry about their financial futures after nine years of the government's reckless spending. The Liberal green slush fund we are talking about today is a prime example of just that. As I stated, I appreciate this opportunity to add my voice to the debate we are having here in the House, which we have been having for a number of weeks.
I have listened to many speeches delivered by my colleagues on this issue, and I admire the perseverance they have shown in making sure the government is held accountable for its failure to produce the documents that were ordered by the House. It is shameful we are not able to move on to other business simply because the Liberals refuse to follow the rules. This is also something we have, sadly, come to expect after the last nine years of the Prime Minister.
One of my colleagues tallied up the number of scandals that have occurred under the Liberal government, and he came up with approximately 68 scandals, an alarming number to say the least. If we look at it another way, that means the Liberals are dealing with a new scandal about every two months. Some people, like myself, might wonder how this is even possible, especially since the Liberals got into power by claiming to be the most transparent and accountable party out there.
Spanish philosopher George Santayana is credited with saying, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” I find that very ironic given today's discussion. In fact, in October 2013, six months after becoming the leader of the Liberals, the Prime Minister tweeted, “It’s hard not to feel disappointed in your government when every day there is a new scandal.” What does that say about the Prime Minister? There has been scandal after scandal.
We on this side of the House have been dealing with this exact problem for nearly a decade now. In this particular instance, it is costing the taxpayer an eye-watering $400 million. This is not the kind of governance I wanted for my country. I know the majority of Canadians are also sick and tired of the Liberals' repeated failures and complete inability to manage public funds.
I would like to remind all members that the seats we are sitting in do not belong to us. They belong to the people, the taxpayers, who put their faith in us to represent their best interests and to make their lives better in whatever way we can. The people voted for us because they trusted our ability to govern honestly and openly, and that is something I personally hold very sacred. Watching the Liberals flout the rules of this institution by refusing to comply with the House order to produce documents is offensive, not just to me but to all Canadians. It is a slap in the face of democracy and it insults the very people who put MPs in this position of privilege, here in the House of Commons chamber, in the first place.
The overarching theme that appears to encompass the Prime Minister's time in office over the last nine years is “rules for thee, but not for me”. What the public sees with the current government is hypocrisy at every turn. How are Canadians meant to trust a government when its leader continually says one thing but does another? The Prime Minister tells Canadians they need to cut down their emissions, and what does he do? He flies in a private jet, taking dozens of trips a month, and likely has one of the largest carbon footprints of anyone in this country.
The Prime Minister said “the budget will balance itself”, yet he has now spent more in the past nine years than all other previous prime ministers combined. The Prime Minister said he would maintain an open and transparent government when he got elected, yet the second the WE Charity scandal hit the headlines, he prorogued Parliament to avoid accountability. Time and time again, the Liberals fail to practise what they have preached, and they refuse to be held accountable for their failings.
The fact of the matter is that the rules of this place and how it functions are written out in black and white. I believe all MPs have a copy of Bosc and Gagnon's House of Commons Procedure and Practice in their office, and this information is also available on the Internet. We can all access it on our computers or on our phones, so there is really no reason these procedures would not or could not be followed when they are so clear and readily available.
When it comes to the right to order the production of documents, Bosc and Gagnon's House of Commons Procedure and Practice, third edition, 2017, states the following on pages 984 to 986:
The Standing Orders do not delimit the power to order the production of papers and records. The result is a broad, absolute power that on the surface appears to be without restriction. There is no limit on the types of papers likely to be requested; the only prerequisite is that the papers exist in hard copy or electronic format, and that they are located in Canada.
It continues on to say:
No statute or practice diminishes the fullness of that power rooted in House privileges unless there is an explicit legal provision to that effect, or unless the House adopts a specific resolution limiting the power. The House has never set a limit on its power to order the production of papers and records.
This is not the first time this section of the procedure and practice manual has been quoted during this particular debate. That is because it is so essential to how our country's government functions, or does not function, in this case.
The House of Commons has, without question, the right to order papers to be produced by the government, and it has done so in the appropriate way, by following the appropriate rules. The Liberals have failed to do their jobs and have broken those rules, yet again showcasing their disregard for the institution of Parliament and eroding public trust at the same time.
One of the roles I am very fortunate to have had during my time as a member of Parliament was chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, otherwise known as OGGO. I took that job very seriously, because I knew there was great trust being put in me to uphold the rules and follow the procedures that had been set out and established by my predecessors.
This was the job I was given, and I like to think I did it well and to the best of my ability. It was not difficult for me to follow the rules. I had some incredible support from the House of Commons committee staff, including the clerk and the analysts, so there was no reason I was unable to follow the letter of the law with their help and guidance. We have the same support here in the House of Commons, and I thank all the clerks and all the experts in this place who work so hard to make sure we can do our jobs properly for Canadians.
With all of these great minds coming together, as well as the ease of access we now have with technology, one would think it would be easy to know and comply with the rules of Parliament. However, the Liberals still cannot seem to figure it out. Canadians expect that at the very least, their elected officials are the type of people who follow the rules and respect the institution of Parliament. This is why they elected us, and upholding these rules and institutions is one of the most basic functions of this role.
What Canadians do not want to see are members of Parliament who are stalling the business of this country because they are desperately trying to cover up their $400-million scandal. That is exactly what is happening when they tune into CPAC these days. It is disappointing, yet not surprising, that the Liberals are doing anything they can to dodge accountability for their mistakes. What must be in these documents that the Liberals do not want Canadians to see? It makes us wonder.
As we know, Sustainable Development Technology Canada, also known as SDTC, is the organization that has been at the centre of our debate since September. The initial purpose of SDTC, as outlined on its website, was as follows:
SDTC finances and supports the development and demonstration of clean technologies which provide solutions to issues of climate change, clean air, water quality and soil, and which deliver economic, environmental and health benefits to Canadians.
As someone who represents a riding that has been a world leader in developing the utilization of carbon capture and sequestration technology, otherwise known as CCUS, I know first-hand how important it is to ensure that the funding meant for this purpose goes to the right people and places. Thanks to investments made by the previous Conservative government, the CCUS facility at Boundary Dam power plant in my hometown of Estevan, Saskatchewan, has now been in operation for 10 years. As of the end of 2023, this facility had captured a total of over 5.8 million tonnes of CO2 since 2014, prevented it from entering our atmosphere and sequestered it two kilometres underground. This is exactly the kind of project that SDTC was meant to facilitate.
It is clear that, when taxpayers' funds are handled by a competent government, it creates an environment where innovation and development can flourish. We have seen it before, and, under the next Conservative government, I know we will see it again. Sadly, the reason we are having this debate today is that taxpayer funds at SDTC were abused to the tune of a whopping $400 million, not a penny of which has been paid back. Money was given by directors to companies that they had huge conflicts of interest with, companies that they were affiliated with and stood to gain from.
I come from a rural riding that has historically relied on the development of this country's abundant natural resources. The biggest industries in my constituency are agriculture and energy, and I can say right now that farmers are some of the best, most-educated environmentalists and stewards of the land that we will ever encounter. The innovation and ideas that our agriculture producers have had, and continue to have, to reduce emissions, improve our agriculture and so much more are astounding. They have done this all while producing some of the best crops in the world. I can only imagine what these producers could have done with the $400 million that the government misappropriated through SDTC. Liberals should be ashamed of themselves for trying to cover up such a gross and egregious misuse of taxpayers' dollars. One might ask this: Where did that money go and into whose pockets?
I would like to focus on that figure for a moment because the amount of $400 million is difficult for the average person to really visualize. In times past, families and governments would count their nickels and dimes; over time, that was turned into dollars and cents, then into hundreds and thousands and then into millions and billions. If we look at the national debt, with the current government, we are counting trillions, with families still trying to keep up with the nickels and dimes.
The Liberals have upped the ante in all the worst ways. Too much scandal has been coupled with too much spending, and Canadians have had enough. When the Liberal leader became Prime Minister, the national debt was just over $612 billion. Today, nine years later, it has doubled to over $1.2 trillion. As mentioned, he has spent more in this time frame than all other previous prime ministers combined. As I stated before, I can only imagine the difference that $400 million would have made to the people in my riding if that money had been spent responsibly and constructively instead of being used for the Liberal green slush fund.
I know the town of Coronach, which has been absolutely devastated by the government's so-called just transition, would have benefited massively from just a small chunk of that money. It stands to lose up to 67% of the town's population by 2030 because of the government's policies and lack of support over the last nine years. Its local representatives have pleaded with the Liberals for more funding and more boots on the ground assistance, but they have been getting virtually nothing. They have even come all the way to Ottawa on multiple occasions to state their case before the government and the other House about the need for greater government support.
Instead of getting funding that might save their country, what do the people of Coronach see? They see rich Liberals getting even richer through corrupt and illegal means. They see a government that refuses to be accountable to the people who elected it. They see $400 million going to people who did nothing to earn it but rub shoulders with the right people in the right places. The system was blatantly abused, and the attempt to cover up this abuse by refusing to produce the ordered documents is almost as bad.
According to the Auditor General's report, there were 186 conflicts of interest in the grants that were delivered by SDTC. The amount given to projects in which board members of SDTC had a conflict of interest was roughly $334 million. For those following at home, such that the numbers add up, there was $58 million given to projects where the terms were not even ensured.
These board members, I will remind the House, were appointed by the Prime Minister and by Mr. Bains, the then minister of innovation, science and industry. They hand-picked these individuals and approved them for this job. The board members then felt it was appropriate to make funding decisions that benefited themselves. This is extremely concerning, and I will expand a little on why that is.
Since I became an MP in 2015, one of my biggest gripes with the government has been its unwavering devotion to creating unnecessary bureaucracy. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister seems to love nothing more than hiring a board of people to consult on every issue under the sun, and he has no problem whatsoever with billing the taxpayer for it.
The Liberals create these boards and pay the members to consult, hold meetings and write reports; in many cases, there is almost no concrete benefit to show for it and little to no accountability for the board members. These people are paid with taxpayers' dollars. By “taxpayers”, I mean the hard-working Canadians who go out to do a job and get paid for their work. These people then pay taxes on that income. That is how governments make money. The current government likes to take the money from them to pay bureaucracies rather than using it to benefit the very people who work for it.
My worry is this: If the board of SDTC was able to waste and abuse 400 million taxpayer dollars so flippantly, how many other boards appointed by the government are doing the same? Are we just starting to scratch the surface or only beginning to really see the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how deep this scandal might truly run? As we know, an iceberg is always bigger under the water than what is seen on the surface. Oftentimes, the cover-up is worse than the crime.
In this case, the Liberals will not even give the authorities the chance to determine how bad the crime really is. We know it is bad. The famous Liberal sponsorship scandal that brought down the government of the time was about $40 million, and this is 10 times that amount. As I mentioned before, it is a number so high that most struggle to really conceptualize it, including myself.
The $400-million scandal we are debating here today is not the Prime Minister's first. It is far from it. In fact, I am sure we all remember the WE Charity scandal, which was a whopping $600 million that the Prime Minister gave to his friends and Liberal insiders. He obviously did not learn his lesson then, and it is likely that he will not learn anything from this situation either.
We also had the ArriveCAN app, otherwise known as arrive scam; it cost the taxpayers $56 million for something that could have been created for a few thousand dollars. I am sure my constituents who cannot afford groceries would have loved a piece of that wasted $56 million, but I digress.
There was also the SNC-Lavalin scandal, in which the Prime Minister unethically and inappropriately interfered with our country's justice system by pressuring a cabinet minister to do something against her greater judgment. That is a prime example of how he has absolutely zero regard for the rule of law of this country; it shows that he truly believes he can do whatever he wants without consequences.
I would like to wrap up my remarks by reminding my colleagues that Remembrance Day is soon approaching. As the son of a veteran and as someone who was raised to have the utmost respect for the men and women who have fought for this country, we need a government that does better. Our veterans fought for us to be able to live peacefully and safely in this country, which upholds the rule of law above all else. The least we can do as parliamentarians is to reflect that value here in the House.
I call on the Prime Minister and his Liberals to stop the cover-up and produce the documents so that we can get back to the work that truly matters. Better yet, he can just call a carbon tax election.
