Marty Morantz

[Privilege, October 22nd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to stand on behalf of the great people of Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley. Axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. Conservatives have been saying this for months. To be honest, when I have been saying, “Stop the crime”, I was not, until now, thinking about the crime actually being committed by the government.

What made me think about it was the response in debate last night made by my colleague from Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner. He was asked about delivering documents to the RCMP. He is a retired police officer, and what he said was that the government is not acting like the victim of a crime. He went on to say that victims normally want to co-operate with the police. He said that the Liberals were behaving the way the perpetrator of a crime would behave: not co-operating, deflecting, stonewalling and trying to avoid at all costs providing important evidence to the police.

Conservatives say, “Stop the crime”, and it is sad that people now need to be wary of their own government's participation in the crime. It is time to call the cops. Where is ministerial responsibility in all of this? Why is the minister not insisting on documents being delivered to the RCMP? I know my colleagues will say that the RCMP has said it does not want the documents, that it is a breach of charter rights and a violation of people's privacy, and that it is not the place of the official elected body, the House of Commons, to provide evidence to the police.

However, I have a letter to the chair of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, dated October 9. It is from the commissioner of the RCMP, Mike Duheme. He writes, “I wish to inform you that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigation into SDTC is ongoing.” He goes on to say that the RCMP has received documents from the law clerk and parliamentary counsel that were produced pursuant to a June 10 order of the House of Commons. The RCMP is obviously okay with receiving documents from the House of Commons.

The argument the Liberals are making, the fallacious argument they are standing behind, which is that this is somehow a breach of charter rights and that the RCMP does not want any documents from us, is just not true. It begs the question of why they are not delivering these documents. I am going to get to that.

For people watching, I want to go back a bit and explain what happened. The House voted for the evidence to be produced, and various departments and agencies of government have refused to comply. The Speaker correctly ruled that the House order had not been complied with and that this was a matter of privilege. Liberals are how saying that the Auditor General's report is not sufficient. They want to turn this over to committee to study it even more. Most people who are the victim of a crime, and who are asked whether to call a committee or the police, do not say to call a committee. They say to call the police.

Most people would say that the Auditor General's report alone is reason enough to call the police. Another committee report would not do anything but further delay the process, again stonewalling the ability of the House to hold the government accountable. To those watching the proceedings today, if someone steals from them, do they call a committee or do they call the police?

There are so many problems with SDTC that need to be highlighted. I am going to go through some of the horrible details that have fanned the flame of this scandal. From March 1, 2017, to December 31, 2023, Sustainable Development Technology Canada's board approved 226 start-up, scale-up and ecosystem projects to receive $836 million. Eight start-up and scale-up projects totalling $51 million did not meet eligibility criteria. For example, some projects did not support the demonstration of a new technology or the projected environmental benefits were unreasonable. Two ecosystem projects totalling $8 million were ineligible because they did not fund or support the development or demonstration of a new technology.

The board of SDTC approved $20 million for seed projects without completing the screening and assessments required by the contribution agreements with the government. There were 123 million dollars' worth of contracts that were found to have been given inappropriately. This is from the Auditor General. There was $59 million that was given to projects that never should have been awarded any money at all, and 82% of these contracts were found to have been part of a conflict of interest.

On top of this, the Auditor General found that over $330 million in taxpayers' money was paid out in over 180 cases where there was a potential conflict of interest with Liberal-appointed directors. This is the important part and what this is all about: Liberal appointed directors were funnelling money to companies that they owned. Let me say that again. Liberal appointed directors were funnelling money, taxpayers' money, to companies that they owned. In other words, they were funnelling money to themselves.

What do we do when somebody illegally funnels taxpayer dollars to themselves? What do we do? We call the police, but again, we do not have ministerial accountability. The minister is nowhere. He will stand up to say that they shut it down, but of course they shut it down. They had no choice but to because the Auditor General had caught them red-handed.

What is next? Why are they not co-operating with the police? That is really the big question, and the answer has to be that there has got to be some really bad stuff in these documents that the Liberals do not want to come out. I can understand why the Liberals do not want it to come out. They are hanging on by a thread.

There are several members I am looking at across the aisle here who have signed a letter saying that they want the Prime Minister to step down. There is discord within. They are over there. They are everywhere. They have all signed the letter.

However, for some reason, these members have come into the House today to say that they are trying to circumvent charter rights and the privacy of Canadians and that, when money is stolen, we do not call the police, we call a committee. That is what these members are trying to have us believe, and it is just total nonsense.

It is obfuscation, and I feel sometimes that some of these members are suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. They do not know what to do. They are like held prisoners. Should they criticize the Prime Minister or protect the Prime Minister? They are protecting the Prime Minister one day, and then they are criticizing him the next. They do not know what to do. They are completely lost. They are completely falling apart, and Canadians see it for what it is. The Liberal government is a tired, out of steam, corrupt government that really needs to call it a day.

There are other things that happened at SDTC. It was not even in compliance with the basic requirement to have 15 members who were separate from its board of directors to represent Canadians and appoint most of its board. Instead, they only had two. As a direct result of this, Canada's Ethics Commissioner ruled in July that the Prime Minister's hand-picked chair of the Liberals' $51-billion green slush fund broke the law. The Liberal government was aware of the chair's conflicts but decided to appoint her to the position anyway.

Of all this, the Auditor General said, “Like all organizations funded by Canadian taxpayers, [SDTC] has a responsibility to conduct its business in a manner that is transparent, accountable, and compliant with legislation.” This sordid affair leaves serious concerns about the government's ability to account for public funds.

I ask the question of how we can account for public funds. We are the official opposition. It is our job to hold the government to account, but its members do not want to be held to account. All they have to do is release these documents to the RCMP. As I said earlier, the commissioner said, “We have received documents from the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel”.

The argument that the RCMP is not interested in seeing documents produced by the House of Commons is just simply not true. It does not hold up. I am still trying to get my head around this. As stunning as these revelations are by the Auditor General, we should not be surprised because the government has no problem with ethical lapses.

My short time today does not allow me to go through every scandal of the Liberal government. There are really too many to mention in the short period of time that I have. However, we all remember, for example, the SNC-Lavalin affair. That company had been charged under the Criminal Code and was actively lobbying the Prime Minister for something called a deferred prosecution agreement. The problem was that our Criminal Code did not allow for a deferred prosecution agreement. What did the Liberals do? They slipped the provision into a massive budget, what we call an omnibus budget bill, hoping nobody would ask why it was there. Sure enough, nobody did. All of a sudden, the Criminal Code contained a clause that allowed for a deferred prosecution agreement.

The Prime Minister pressured his then attorney general, the first indigenous attorney general in Canadian history, Jody Wilson-Raybould, to agree to a deferred prosecution deal for SNC-Lavalin. What I find interesting about this story is that I read Jody Wilson-Raybould's book after she left office. She said a bunch of really interesting things. I wish I had enough time to read out the whole book, but I am just going to read this one passage:

As I sat there in that room – a big room, all by myself – waiting for Prime Minister...to arrive, I asked myself why I felt that I had to try to help him out of this mess, to protect him. Especially when his government had been digging a deeper and deeper hole by the hour by not coming clean on how I was pushed to take over the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin to enable them to enter into a deferred prosecution agreement, or DPA. Especially when his office had been telling their MPs to repeat lines they knew were not accurate.

That sounds like a very familiar pattern because it is exactly what is going on right now. The Prime Minister is sending his members out. He is sending the member for Winnipeg North out to defend the indefensible. The member for Winnipeg North knows it is indefensible, but he will stand up and do it anyway because he is not being true to himself. As Polonius in Hamlet said to his son, Laertes, “to thine own self be true”. I know that the member for Winnipeg North has been co-opted by the Prime Minister into saying things he would not normally say to defend the indefensible.

That is the tale of the Prime Minister. He has a pattern of using people. He used Jody Wilson-Raybould. He is using the member for Winnipeg North. He has used every single Liberal member in the House who has said that the RCMP will not accept the documents or that the Conservatives want to breach Canadians' charter rights.

Earlier, one of my colleagues asked a Liberal member about which charter right. The answer he got back was that she did not know. She rambled on and on about something incomprehensible. We have asked that question a few times. I would like an answer to that question. Maybe we should do an Order Paper question to get in writing specifically what the charter right is, what section, what right of Canadians they are protesting.

[Privilege, October 22nd, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The member just said that parliamentary privilege is being abused, and yet we are debating a motion that comes out of a privilege ruling the Speaker made. The member is essentially saying that the Speaker's ruling was an abuse. The member is basically saying that the ruling—

[Privilege, October 21st, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, what I find interesting about this debate is that the Liberals admitted a long time ago that money was stolen. That is when they shut down the SDTC.

All we are asking is that the Liberals turn over the evidence of this theft to the RCMP. What the Liberals want to do is refer this to committee. When the member's constituents tell him that they have been stolen from, is his advice to call a committee or call the police?

[Public Safety, October 8th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, on October 7, while burning the maple leaf, Samidoun terrorist sympathizers openly called for “Death to Canada. Death to the United States. And death to Israel”. After nine years of the Prime Minister, sadly, calls for death to Canada and our allies have now been normalized. Samidoun operates as an arm of a listed terrorist organization in Canada.

Will the Prime Minister protect Jewish Canadians from homegrown extremism and list Samidoun as a terrorist organization?

[Rosh Hashanah, October 2nd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, tonight, at sunset, marks the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year.

Rosh Hashanah is one of the most important holidays in the Jewish calendar. This holiday allows family and friends to come together to appreciate the struggles and triumphs of the previous year, as well as to reset and refocus on the year ahead. It is a time of hope and encouragement that has inspired Jewish people for millennia, comforting them even in times of unimaginable hardship.

Rosh Hashanah is particularly important this year as the Jewish community faces so much uncertainty and hatred. In the 10 days leading up to Yom Kippur, I hope that not only the Jewish community but also all of Canada commits to fighting hatred and anti-Semitism.

To everyone celebrating Rosh Hashanah, I say shana tova u'metuka to them and their family. Canada's Conservatives wish them a peaceful and prosperous new year.

[Situation in Lebanon and Israel, October 1st, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I always enjoy the member's speeches. It is nice to know that there is at least one voice of common sense in the entire Liberal caucus.

I do have one question. It has to do with the issue of his government saying that Israel has the right to defend itself, but that it is not going to help it defend itself, it is not going to sell it arms. I just think that is so hypocritical. It cannot say, on the one hand, that Israel has the right to defend itself, but on the other hand, that it is not going to give it the means to defend itself.

I know we could argue that it would get its arms somewhere else, but the point is what Canada does sets an example for the world. What this policy really means is that the people who brought it forward want every country in the world to follow suit, which would be a disaster for Israel and really be a problem. I would like the member's comments on that one particular issue.

[Situation in Lebanon and Israel, October 1st, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I cannot get into people's heads and understand what is motivating them. I can only presume this from what they say and what they do. However, as I said in my speech, we cannot say that Israel has the right to defend itself and then advocate for every country in the world, including Canada, not to give it the means to defend itself. That in itself is inherently hypocritical.

As I said, I think it would nice if for once Israel could not be blamed for being shot at.

[Situation in Lebanon and Israel, October 1st, 2024]

Madam Speaker, that is a bit rich coming from a member who claims that Israel has the right to defend itself, but at the same time thinks that every country in the world should ban arms sales to Israel. We cannot have it both ways. Israel is on the front lines of protecting and defending western values and democracy. As a country that also values those things, we should be doing everything we can to help and, in any event, not get in the way of Israel doing what it needs to do.

[Situation in Lebanon and Israel, October 1st, 2024]

Madam Speaker, even as the tyrants of Tehran are raining down missiles on all of Israel, even while millions of Israelis, including children, from the north to the south in Haifa, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, are seeking shelter from the bombings and even while Canadian citizens are seeking shelter from the bombings in Israel, the NDP blames Israel.

It would be nice, for once, for Israel not to be blamed for being shot at. It would be nice, for a change, for Israel not to be labelled a villain for protecting itself. It would be nice if the House stopped living in a perverse inverted reality where Israel is framed as bad. It would be nice if Liberal members would stop saying one thing to one community and something completely different to another.

It would be nice if the House recognized that as a liberal democracy, Israel is on the front lines of protecting western values and our way of life. We should do all we can to help in this pursuit or, at the very least, not make it more difficult for them.

On October 7, 2023, the evil death cult Hamas invaded Israel without provocation. It attacked multiple communities, as well as the Nova music festival. It targeted and murdered 1,200 innocent Israelis and took 250 more hostage, which is a war crime to be sure.

Since that time, Israel has been drawn into a conflict it did not seek and it did not want. Shortly after those attacks, the Iranian-backed terrorist group, Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, began raining down rockets on the people of northern Israel, over 11 months ago, forcing 60,000 Israelis to flee their homes.

These innocent Israelis were made refugees in their own land. I ask members to imagine if this happened in Canada. Imagine if tens of thousands of Canadians could not go back to their homes because of attacks like this by an invading force. How long would it take our government to respond? Would it be a day, a week, a month? Israel has waited patiently for almost a year.

Any sovereign nation has an obligation to protect its citizens, to protect its territory, to safeguard its security, and to defend itself and its citizens. Israel is no different. For this conflict to end, the aggressors, Hezbollah and Hamas, must immediately stop attacking Israel and lay down their weapons. Hezbollah is a terrorist group backed by the tyrants of Tehran.

The truth is, the Iranian regime, through its proxy, Hezbollah, is holding Lebanon hostage and deepening the suffering of its citizens. Canadian citizens have been warned for months to leave Lebanon immediately while commercial options exist. Conservatives reiterate that call and encourage Canadians to please get out now. As long as Hezbollah is raining terror down on Israel, as long as it is causing suffering among the people of Lebanon, it is not safe to be there. We call on the government to immediately provide a full and transparent update on the contingencies in place to evacuate Canadian citizens.

At home, since October 7, we have seen an unprecedented rise in anti-Semitism in Canada. B'nai Brith reports in its anti-Semitic incidents report that anti-Semitic incidents have increased by 109.1%. In 2022, there were 2,799 reported incidents, and in 2023, that number was 5,791, which is a staggering increase.

We see it in our streets. There are anti-Semitic mobs calling for death to Jews and death to Israel. Synagogues and schools have been shot at and vandalized. Jewish-owned businesses have been targeted, only because their owners are Jewish. Hospitals founded by Jewish communities have been targeted. The anti-Semitic Hamas death cult fan club has been going into Jewish neighbourhoods and demonstrating outside of seniors' homes. This madness must come to an end. It is just not the Canadian way.

What have the Liberals done to help? They have done nothing. In fact, they have made it far worse. When the conflict first began, they publicly scolded the IDF for ostensibly bombing a hospital in Gaza, when it did not do so.

The Liberals voted for and passed a motion in the House that punished our democratic ally Israel by blocking arms sales and rewarded Hamas by reinstating funding to UNRWA, even though its employees participated in the October 7 attacks. When that motion passed, they got up and gave themselves a standing ovation. They were proud of what they had done.

It should go without saying that Canadian tax dollars should not be funding terrorism. The Liberals voted for a one-sided, anti-Israel motion at the United Nations. Even after Iran launched a direct attack with hundreds of missiles and drones, they did not remove the arms ban. Just today, Iran attacked Israel once more, but will they remove the arms ban? No, of course they will not. They say that Israel has the right to defend itself, but then they deny Israel the means to defend itself. With friends like the Prime Minister, who needs enemies?

All of these actions taken together signal to the anti-Semitic mob that the government gives them the green light. UNRWA directly contributes to the radicalization of Gazans. It has been known for years that UNRWA school material promotes the hatred of Israel and Jews and the culture of violence that has poisoned the minds of young Gazans and made a lasting peace so much more difficult.

What was not expected is that employees of UNWRA, which is part of the United Nations, participated in the slaughter, killing and kidnappings on October 7. Canada gives tens of millions of hard-earned tax dollars to UNRWA each year. Knowing about the anti-Semitic school materials alone should have been enough to cut it off, yet we are still paying. Just last week, a senior Hamas official in Lebanon was killed. He was also the head of the UNRWA teachers' union. A high-ranking UNRWA official participated in the October 7 slaughter, yet we are still paying. UNRWA should not be receiving tax dollars from Canada.

Last November, I travelled to Israel with some of my colleagues. I had the opportunity to meet with family members of those who were murdered and those who were taken hostage on October 7. I had the opportunity to see Kibbutz Kfar Aza, one of the communities that was attacked. I saw the burnt up, shot up blackened homes, a sight indelibly and forever etched in my mind. I promised those families that I would bear witness to their plight. I am doing that here right now, so I say that ours is a promise to keep, to bear witness and to work until every hostage is home and every Jew, no matter where they live, work or go to school, once again feels safe.

[Situation in Lebanon and Israel, October 1st, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I have to say that the letter written by the NDP calling for this debate is completely one-sided and unfair to our great democratic ally and the only truly pluralistic society in the Middle East: Israel. Of course, I should not have expected anything different from the anti-Israel members over there on the NDP bench.

I will pause for a second to say that I will be sharing my time with the great member for Mégantic—L'Érable.

There used to be a time when the NDP actually cared about workers. In fact, one could say that the NDP's raison d’être was promoting workers' right. That simply is no longer true. The mantle of workers' rights has been taken up by Conservatives. Instead, the NDP is now the party of the radical left, which is obsessed, absolutely obsessed, with Israel and its right to exist. It feels like that is all its members ever think about. They wake up in the morning and think, “How can I attack Israel today?”

Last week, it was a ridiculous motion at the foreign affairs committee calling for a Palestinian state without negotiation or conditions. Today, it is this anti-Israel emergency debate, even as the tyrants of Tehran are raining down missiles on all of Israel—