Mr. Speaker, thank you for your service today. It gives me an opportunity to practice my French, one of the two official languages of my country of birth, Lebanon. Today is Lebanese independence day. I want to take this opportunity to say to my birth country and the people of Lebanon that I hope for an end to the war that has been going on there for two months now.
It is raining today in Ottawa, and it being almost the end of November, we can perhaps be thankful that what we are getting on this gray day is rain and not snow. At this time of year, with the weather just above the freezing point, snow does not last very long as snow. It is quickly turned into slush. As Wikipedia tells us, “Slush, also called slush ice, is a slurry mixture of small ice crystals...and liquid water. In the natural environment, slush forms when ice or snow melts or during mixed precipitation. This often mixes with dirt and other pollutants on the surface, resulting in a gray or muddy brown color.”
Strangely, Wikipedia makes no mention of green slush, though I suppose we could make green slush by adding a little food colouring. If we did, it would still be slush, which “often goes through multiple freeze/thaw cycles before being able to completely drain and disappear.”
The Liberals are desperately hoping someone or something will make their green slush fund drain and disappear. For that to happen, though, they have to be willing to accede to the will of this House and produce the documents that were requested in unredacted form. I understand they do not want to do that.
The Auditor General uncovered many instances of apparent corruption. Releasing the documents would allow us to determine whether there were more. One would think a government that was honest would want to do that. Failing to release the documents makes it look like the Liberals have something to hide. Maybe it is the Prime Minister. Maybe it is one or more of the ministers. Where there is the smell of corruption, it seems safe to say there is corruption somewhere. We have the smell. What is making the stink? What might the corruption look like?
One of the supposedly shining lights in the Liberal plan to fight climate change was Sustainable Development Technology Canada, or SDTC, a foundation the Liberals created to fund new clean technologies. Their desire was to tackle climate change through Canadian innovation.
It was a good goal and well intentioned. It looked like a good idea. Who could argue against this concept? We all understand the need to fight climate change, and Canadians should be world leaders in developing new technology. We have the know-how, but those with the brain power sometimes need help bringing their ideas to fruition. However, what this great turned into, apparently, was a Liberal slush fund.
Merriam-Webster provides us with three definitions for what constitutes a slush fund. It can be, “a fund raised from the sale of refuse to obtain small luxuries or pleasures for a warship's crew”. Certainly, when the Liberals are involved, there is a lot of refuse. However, I doubt if anyone would be willing to pay for their excrement, so we should turn to the other definitions.
A slush fund can also be “a fund for bribing public officials or carrying on corruptive propaganda”. I think this hits closer to the mark, though the public officials appear to be unelected party insiders.
One could say it was used for corruptive propaganda, though. The Liberals talked about climate change and the great things that would be done by SDTC. It turns out the Liberals' plan to fight climate change was anchored in the idea of giving money to their friends. No wonder they do not want to release the documents that will show the full extent of their corruption.
Merriam-Webster's final definition of a slush fund also seems appropriate: “an unregulated fund often used for illicit purposes”. Certainly, no member opposite could really believe it is right to reward Liberal insiders with million-dollar contracts without public scrutiny. Do they believe the public is being served by this conflict of interest? Are they so self-righteous that they believe the means justify the ends as long as they are Liberal ends? Apparently they do or they would stop this sham and release the documents. They would rather tie up the House than do the right thing.
I was raised in a country that believes in honour. I have always known the importance of doing the right thing, the honourable thing. A person is judged by their actions, by whether they do the right thing, and not just when it is convenient. To act incorrectly and be less than honourable brings shame on a person, their family, their friends and their nation. A person would rather die than act shamefully.
Apparently, this is not true in Canada anymore, as we see from the government. When I look across the aisle and see the faces of the Liberal members, I have to ask whether their sense of honour is gone. Each and every one of them, I am sure, came to this House wanting to do the right thing for the good of the country. Somehow, they have lost their sense of honour and are taking part in shameful acts. They are complicit in a cover-up. They are aiding and abetting possible criminal activity. They are disrespecting the will of the House of Commons and the order of the Speaker.
They sit there and do not even feel shame. If they did, they would come into the chamber with paper bags over their heads to conceal their faces from the people of Canada, whose trust they have betrayed. It saddens me to see them, those people who once had the ideal of serving the country, and see how far they have fallen. They have lost their honour and shamed not only themselves and their families but the constituents they were elected to serve. The longer they continue this cover-up, the more shameful their actions become.
There is a way out of this, of course. The Liberals can regain their lost honour. They can tell the Prime Minister and the ministers to stop the cover-up, do the right thing and release the documents. Somehow, though it saddens me to say it, I do not see the members opposite having the courage to do that, which is why we have to debate the motion before us today.
It is important the people of Canada know that the government is trying to conceal wrongdoing. The $400 million may seem insignificant to the Liberal government that has, in nine years, more than doubled Canada's national debt and is handing out such sums to the Liberal insiders. Violating the rules is apparently business as usual for the Liberals. It is not business as usual for the Canadian people who are being carbon-taxed to death. It is not business as usual for the record number of people visiting Canada's food banks each month. With that money, how many people could we feed? Canadians are appalled that money that was supposed to fight climate change was instead used to line Liberal pockets. The Liberals cannot deny it.
The corruption was so bad they had to shut down their green slush fund. I do not think any member there will deny what I am saying. Earlier this year, the Prime Minister explained the Liberals' new climate strategy. Canadians who are worried about feeding their children are being short-sighted, he says. Apparently, he thinks it is morally selfish to be concerned about feeding their children, better they should starve to death for the good of the planet. It is easy to take the moral high road when he was born into privilege and the only food bank he has ever seen was as a visiting politician. That is not the real world most Canadians experience.
It is more important that we in the House show Canadians there is still honour in this land, and that graft, greed and corruption will not be rewarded. Politicians at any level of government should not be allowed to hide corruption and wasteful spending. It seems to me that for those who are inviting mob rules, the day will come when the people will say they have had enough with politicians who do not understand that their role is to serve, not to reward their friends.
The member for Calgary Rocky Ridge has proposed what I see as a reasonable subamendment to the amendment to the amended motion. It takes into account the possibility, however remote it may seem, that the government fully complies with the order from the Speaker of June 10. If the Liberals were to do this, if they were to show respect for the Speaker and the House, there would be no need to refer the matter to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs. Adopting this subamendment could save the committee time in the unlikely event the Liberals decide to do the right thing.
When will the Liberals realize they have no right to overrule the Speaker and the will of the House? The Prime Minister has expressed his admiration for the way dictatorships can get things done, so it is understandable that he wishes to ignore those who do not see things his way. Someone needs to tell him that no matter how much he wishes it was, Canada is not a dictatorship. He and his party are supposed to respect the rule of the law, even if they do not like it. Maybe, given his famous math skills about balancing budgets and small deficits, and his unwillingness to think about fiscal policy, the Prime Minister has become confused.
The Prime Minister knows the Auditor General found that some SDTC contracts involved conflicts of interest involving Liberal appointees and their friends, but maybe he thinks it was only one or two incidents, nothing to get excited about; surely the people of Canada will not be concerned about one or two incidents.
However, it was not one or two; it was 186 incidents of corruption. That is not a mistake, someone forgetting to recuse themself once or twice, not realizing that there was a conflict. It is a systematic failure, one that has cost taxpayers $400 million so far.
Only if the documents are released as ordered can we find out whether the problem is bigger than that and the corruption runs deeper. If there is no wrongdoing, what are the Liberals afraid of? The only reason not to comply with the Speaker's order is that they know the real numbers are much worse and the corruption is much more widespread than they have already admitted. No wonder they do not want the police involved.
In not complying with the Speaker's order, the Liberals are paralyzing Parliament, preventing it from doing other important work, not that they are willing to admit it. “It is not our fault” is what we hear. They tell anyone who will listen that it is the fault of the evil opposition that will not allow them to get away with covering up the corruption. They do not know why it has to be so mean to them. We hear that all the time, every day.
Canadians deserve to know the details about who profited from the $400-million scandal. The money did not come out of the pockets of members on the other side. Liberal donors did not offer it as donations. The money came from taxpayers, from people wondering whether they can afford to heat their house this winter and put groceries on the table. For Canadians, $400 is a big deal, but $400 million is beyond their imagination. It is no wonder the Liberals think they can get away with it. They think people will not believe how corrupt they are.
After nine years of the Liberal government, the scandals are too many to list. The Prime Minister leads by example with his multiple ethics violations. It is no wonder so many of his ministers have difficulties determining right from wrong, something we have seen again and again in the past week.
Canadians are sick and tired of the arrogance and the paternalism the Prime Minister and his Liberal government have shown. Apparently, the Liberals know best about everything, and anyone who disagrees with them is just too ignorant to understand. That would explain why the Prime Minister would suggest that Canadian parents should let their children go hungry in the name of serving the planet, even if there is no proof that any of his policies will have any appreciable effect on climate change.
Those of us who live in the real world know it is time for the government to do the right thing. The people living in Liberal fantasyland will continue their efforts to paralyze the House and perpetuate the cover-up. I for one do not believe that participating in a cover-up of the mismanagement of public funds is the honourable thing. I would be ashamed to be part of it.
I ask members opposite to remember the ideals and values they held when they were first elected. Live up to them now and do the right thing. Hand over the documents and end the cover-up.
