Small Business  Mr. Speaker, a growing number of small and medium-sized businesses, or SMEs, are warning us that the federal government is behaving like a predator when it comes to emergency business account loans. They tell us that they paid off their entire loan to the federal government, but

Small Business  Mr. Speaker, the government is supposed to support struggling businesses, not kick them when they are down. This is a very unfortunate situation that perfectly illustrates the federal government's program management. Once again, when people want to talk to the federal governmen

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to the awarding of non-competitive contracts, broken down by department, agency or body and by year, from 2006 to present: for each contract, what is the (i) total amount awarded, (ii) reason, if any, for awarding the contract, (iii) name of the organization that rece

House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, does he agree that any public servants that did not follow internal procedures should lose their jobs and that if this is a widespread problem within the CBSA, then that agency should be put under third-party management?

House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, to summarize, Mr. Firth never paid for a coffee, never paid for a restaurant meal, never paid for a golf tournament and never paid for a whisky tasting, despite all the testimony we heard?

House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, here is a good example of a contradiction. We went from zero to yes, there were coffees, restaurant meals, golf tournaments, whisky tastings and on and on, with dozens of federal public servants. I will repeat the same question. How much, in money or in kind, was g

House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, why do that if not to obtain federal government contracts?

House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, had he previously identified those with whom he was having coffee and tasting whiskey as people who could grant him contracts, or were they simply people he met on the street?

House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, that is clearly providing a service paid in kind to obtain a contract. It is the very definition of it. Let us go on to the next question. Mr. Firth justified his rate of $2,600 per hour by saying that he did not just work 9 to 5. Does he think that Canadians and

House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Firth and Mr. Anthony met at Veritaaq, which was accused of colluding on contracts in 2009 while Mr. Firth was working there. The judge who looked into the matter had ordered that all employees receive anti-collusion training. Did Mr. Firth learn anything from

House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, that is too bad, because even a recruiter is considered a company employee. I think that what we are seeing today is that there is a big problem when it comes to procurement and that there is a certain loss of control when it comes to the gifts that are being accept

House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, what we heard in committee is that the public servants did everything they could to make sure the contracts were awarded quickly. That is why many contracts were awarded non-competitively. Once again, we are hearing contradictory testimony. According to Mr. Firth,

House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, does Mr. Firth have a number in mind for the many gifts in money and in kind that he offered the federal public servants?

House of Commons  Mr. Speaker, far be it from me to defend Canada's Parliament, an institution to which I hope one day Quebec will no longer have to answer. Nevertheless, I must defend the principles behind this Parliament, in particular respect for democratic institutions, and therefore of the pa

Privilege  Mr. Speaker, there are two committees that are conducting a very intense study of the ArriveCAN issue. There is the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, which we have talked about at length, and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, of which I am a memb