Madam Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in the House on behalf of the Westman residents. Today, as in past weeks, we are once again seeking clarity on why the Liberal government has refused to comply with a binding House order to produce documents related to Sustainable Development Technology Canada, better known now as SDTC, and perhaps better known to Canadians as the Liberal green slush fund.
Let us take a moment to recap what we already know. The Auditor General conducted a thorough investigation into SDTC's governance after a whistle-blower came forward. What she uncovered was shocking. As my colleagues have stated, nearly 400 million dollars' worth of contracts were inappropriately awarded by the board of directors, all of whom had multiple conflicts of interest.
As reported by The Globe and Mail:
Some of the complaints alleged SDTC had made grants to startups and technology accelerators with ties to its own senior management, or to companies or technology accelerators that were ineligible because they were too established. The complainants also alleged a volatile workplace under [the CEO of Sustainable Development Technology Canada] Ms. Lawrence, marked by high staff turnover rates and stress-related leaves.
The Auditor General determined these complaints were rooted in serious issues within SDTC. Ultimately at issue is the Auditor General's finding that Liberal appointees gave nearly 400 million tax dollars to their own companies, which involved 186 conflicts of interest. That is nearly $400 million wasted, or stolen tax dollars, while so many of our fellow Canadians cannot afford the cost of gas, groceries and home heating.
After nine years, Canadians are yet again reminded that the Liberal government is not worth the cost, not worth the crime and certainly not worth the corruption. SDTC was a Crown corporation fully funded by Canadian taxpayers. Every member of its board of directors, including the CEO, was appointed by the Liberal government.
When the Auditor General began her review, she found that $58 million had been awarded to 10 ineligible projects. Furthermore, an additional $334 million was linked to 186 projects for which the nine board members had conflicts of interest and failed to recuse themselves from the decision-making process. In fact, nearly 59 million dollars' worth of projects had no contribution agreements, nor were the terms of those agreements met.
The Auditor General made it abundantly clear that this failure lies squarely at the feet of the Liberal minister of industry, who failed to ensure proper oversight or governance. Instead, he turned a blind eye when it was revealed that public money was being funnelled to Liberal insiders.
We now know that the RCMP has launched an investigation into the nine directors identified by the Auditor General in the SDTC green slush fund scandal. The RCMP has also confirmed it is using some of the documents turned over by the parliamentary law clerk. However, this raises serious questions. Why is the government willing to provide only some documents while other departments have outright refused? Even more absurdly, some departments have claimed they are not even part of the government.
To give Canadians a sense of just how bizarre this situation is, here are a few departments that refused to produce documents: the Department of Justice, of all places; the Canada Revenue Agency; the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency; Global Affairs; the department of housing; the Department of National Defence; and Natural Resources Canada. The list goes on.
The question is simple: Why will these Liberal ministers not turn over the documents to the police? What is so damning in them that, while the RCMP confirms it has some documents, the Liberals and their co-conspirators refuse to hand over the rest? Canadians have a right to know what is in those documents.
The House of Commons has spoken on the matter. The Speaker has ruled that the Liberals violated a House order to turn over evidence to the police for a criminal investigation. That is pretty serious. Moreover, the decision to refuse to turn over the documents has left the House paralyzed as day after day the Speaker's ruling is not adhered to by the government.
We cannot and should not let the corruption slide. The Liberals keep saying that we should move on and look away. “There is nothing here to see”, they say. If there is one thing we can all agree on, it is that no one wants to spend their time talking about this kind of gross mismanagement and corruption.
It just plain should not have happened, but it did, and now it has become impossible for the House to focus its full attention on the needs of Canadians. We should be addressing the doubling of housing costs. We should be addressing the Liberal government's policies that have resulted in inflation and higher prices for gas and groceries. We should be addressing rising crime and chaos in our cities and rural crime outside our urban centres. We could be having a very different debate right now if the Liberals ended the cover-up and provided the evidence to the RCMP. That is all it would take to get this place focused on the priorities to which we need to return our attention.
Should we really be surprised by any of this? After all, the current Liberal government has been ethically challenged every step of the way during its years in power. It has been plagued by scandals and continues to demonstrate a culture of corruption. We only need to look back at its history.
Let us begin with the SNC-Lavalin scandal in 2019. In that case, the Prime Minister pressured his then justice minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould, to approve contracts for SNC-Lavalin and grant it a pardon, allowing it to bid on government contracts again. However, when she refused to comply, the Prime Minister removed her from her position.
Next there was the WE Charity scandal in 2020, in which the Liberals attempted to funnel over half a billion dollars, so this was not just a wee scandal, to their associates at the WE Charity. Fortunately this was halted, but not before it was revealed that former finance minister Bill Morneau had close ties to WE. His daughter worked for the organization, and he advocated for it without recusing himself from the decision-making process. Although the Ethics Commissioner cleared the Prime Minister, that does not erase the fact that his close family members have received nearly $500,000 from WE Charity since he took office.
Foreign interference is yet another issue where the Liberals not only turned a blind eye but also appointed two individuals with close connections to the Trudeau Foundation to investigate how the government might have benefited from such interference. It is not a surprise that the investigation went nowhere.
Then there is the ArriveCAN app scandal, in which tens of millions of dollars were funnelled into the pockets of Liberal insiders. It was later revealed that the ArriveCAN app could have been developed for around $80,000. Instead, $60 million of taxpayer money was used to enrich a couple of individuals working out of their basement.
We must not forget the issue of the Winnipeg lab documents, from 2021. The House of Commons requested and ordered the production of the documents, but the government stalled and blocked the process at every turn. It even took its own Speaker of the House to court to prevent the documents from being released. When they were finally made public this year, they revealed that two scientists involved were operatives for the People's Liberation Army in Beijing.
The documents also showed that viruses and intelligence on various vaccines were sent to China, raising serious concerns about other potential security breaches at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg. The Liberals were so determined to keep the documents from the public that instead of complying with the House's order, they called an election in 2021, effectively breaking Parliament and halting that process as well.
Moreover, the public safety minister has been found guilty by the Ethics Commissioner on two separate occasions. These violations include awarding contracts to family members through a Crown corporation and appointing his sister-in-law as interim ethics commissioner. How can the public expect him to remain impartial when family members are directly involved?