44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 21, 2022 10:00AM
- Oct/21/22 11:24:04 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, in all matters, obviously, the government ensures that contracts are handled to the highest standards. There are questions about this contract that are being looked at. Certainly, we want to make sure that there are answers, but I will say that what we did, when the country was in a situation of crisis and when the opposition was calling for the border to be closed, was ensure that we brought forward an app that allowed for the movement of people safely during that crisis and that is something that worked and was extremely effective.
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- Oct/21/22 11:24:36 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, it was extremely effective at making somebody rich. We just do not yet know who.
The government released a document to the House of Commons saying that ThinkOn Inc. got $1.2 million in ArriveCAN contracts. Yesterday, the CEO said, “We have received no money from the CBSA.” He further said, “We’re not even remotely in that space.”
In other words, they do not even do the work that was paid for. This company did not get the $1.2 million. I have two questions. Who got the money, and where is it now?
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- Oct/21/22 11:25:51 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, Radio-Canada is reporting that the federal government is hunting down journalistic sources in order to punish a whistle-blower. It wants to know who disclosed that the federal government was appointing a unilingual English speaker as CEO of the Canadian Museum of History. What the government should have done was take a hard look in the mirror and ask why it continues to make unilingual English appointments. No, instead it searched the emails and phone records of 82 employees to find out who had spoken out.
Why is it that the government's problem is not the appointment of a unilingual person, but the fact that everyone knows about it?
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- Oct/21/22 11:26:27 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her question.
I would point out that the president of the Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec himself stated in an interview for that article that federal public servants are not supposed to use their office equipment to disclose information that is supposed to remain internal to the government. Of course, we are working to advance the cause of French. When I was heritage minister, I worked hard to ensure that we invested more than any other government to support art and culture across the country, and particularly in Quebec.
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Madam Speaker, Canada is one of the most transparent countries on the planet. Just look at the annual reports of Transparency International. We are one of the countries that gives journalists the most freedom. We have very important procedures when it comes to disclosing information, and we are extremely proud of that. We will continue to work on being one of the best in the world.
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- Oct/21/22 11:29:27 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, they need to start funding health care now.
Nova Scotians lost loved ones and an entire community was devastated by a mass shooting. People deserve honest answers from the government. Yesterday, in recordings released by the commission, it is clear that the former minister of public safety and the RCMP commissioner's stories do not add up.
If the Liberal government interfered with an investigation into the worst mass shooting in Canadian history for its own political gain, Canadians need to know. Who is telling the truth, the minister or the RCMP commissioner?
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- Oct/21/22 11:30:05 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to remind the member opposite again, and I am sure he is aware of this most important principle in our democracy. Politicians do not interfere in police operations. They do not interfere in police investigations. That is a sacrosanct principle that our government will always live by. At no point ever did the minister or the government interfere in a matter of police operation or investigation; nor will it ever do so.
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- Oct/21/22 11:30:37 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the newly released audio recordings of the RCMP commissioner confirm that the minister pressured the commissioner to release sensitive information about the ongoing investigation into the worst mass killing in our history. By requesting this information be released to further the Liberal political agenda, the minister politically interfered in the RCMP investigation, and he misled a parliamentary committee about it. For this, the minister must resign. Will he resign today?
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- Oct/21/22 11:31:44 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the former minister of public safety misled a parliamentary committee, on the record. He said he was not aware that the commissioner would release sensitive information, and he said he never asked her to reveal that information, but both claims are now proving to be completely misleading with the new audio recording. Worse yet, the minister knew the release of this information would jeopardize the investigation into the worst mass killing in Canadian history. This was all for Liberal political gain. He must resign today. Will he resign?
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- Oct/21/22 11:32:20 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, at no point did our government attempt to direct or otherwise interfere in the police operation that was taking place after that tragic incident that took place in Nova Scotia.
Let me quote again what the commissioner said in a parliamentary committee on July 25. She stated, “Let me be clear. I did not interfere in the investigation, I did not receive direction and I was not influenced by government officials regarding the public release of information and, more importantly, on the direction of the investigation. I ensured that operational independence—
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- Oct/21/22 11:33:00 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, Commissioner Lucki told the Nova Scotia RCMP that she wanted the details of the makes and models of the weapons used in Canada's most deadly mass shooting released. Why? It was because the minister pressured her to do so. We know they spoke about it. He knew it would jeopardize the investigation, but the minister had legislation coming and this was part of a communications exercise for him. It was not about the investigation, the victims or public safety. He played politics with a mass-shooting investigation. At what time today will he resign?
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- Oct/21/22 11:33:58 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, in an accountable democracy, a recording of an RCMP commissioner working with a minister to cover up the politicization of the biggest mass killing in Canadian history would result in immediate resignation. Not only did the minister mislead the House about knowing what we have all heard on tape, but he was advised that releasing this information would jeopardize the investigation and he asked for it to be done anyway. He put politics above the safety of Canadians and then covered it up, so at what time today will he resign?
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- Oct/21/22 11:34:33 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, what happened in Nova Scotia by way of the mass shooting is an absolute tragedy. Innocent people lost their lives. Our focus has been to ensure that through this inquiry—
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- Oct/21/22 11:34:56 a.m.
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Our focus, Madam Speaker, through the inquiry, has been to make sure we learn the lessons on how to prevent such mass shootings ever taking place in any part of Canada. That investigation was led by the RCMP. The government did not interfere in that investigation, because that is a fundamental principle of our democracy. Politicians do not interfere with police operations.
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- Oct/21/22 11:35:22 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, this is a very serious issue. The government has always said that it never interfered in the judicial process regarding the tragic murder of 22 people in Halifax. That is completely false.
Yesterday, a recording was made public of a meeting that took place a few days after the tragedy. It clearly shows that the government was in up to its neck in the judicial process.
At that meeting, the commissioner said, and I quote: “I flew it up the flagpole because it was a request that I got from the minister's office. And I shared with the minister that in fact it was going to be in the news releases, and it wasn't.”
When will the minister resign?
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- Oct/21/22 11:36:05 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the independence of police operations is a key principle in our democracy and one that our government deeply respects.
At no time did our government attempt to interfere in police operations.
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- Oct/21/22 11:36:25 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to repeat the testimony that was made public yesterday: “I flew it up the flagpole because it was a request that I got from the minister's office. And I shared with the minister that in fact it was going to be in the news releases, and it wasn't.”
She told the minister. Moreover, we later learn that the RCMP commissioner was waiting for the Prime Minister to call her so she could apologize. This makes no sense in a self-respecting democracy.
When will the minister resign?
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- Oct/21/22 11:36:58 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I agree with the member. In our democracy, politicians do not interfere in police operations or police investigations, and they did not do so in this matter. We did not interfere in a police operation or a police investigation. That was confirmed by the commissioner herself when she testified before a parliamentary committee in July of this year. She clearly said she was not asked to direct the investigation and she worked hard to maintain the independence of that investigation.
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- Oct/21/22 11:37:36 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the truckers' occupation of Ottawa dragged on because the federal government blocked any possibility of intervention for three weeks.
We know that when the City of Ottawa asked for reinforcements of 1,800 police officers, the federal government did not grant the request. However, we also learned from the commission that the mayor of Ottawa, Jim Watson, repeatedly asked the federal government to appoint a mediator. This request was also refused. For three weeks, there was no police reinforcement, no mediation, no progress.
Why did the federal government block any possibility of intervention for three weeks, while residents were being held hostage?
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- Oct/21/22 11:38:55 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, that is not true. Crisis management is about hours, maybe days. Not three weeks.
After three weeks of inaction, it was not the emergency measures that brought an end to the siege of Ottawa. It was the police. It was the 1,800 or 1,900 additional police officers that the City of Ottawa had been calling for all along.
The moment the city got those reinforcements, an operation was launched, and less than 48 hours later, the streets of Ottawa were empty. It was the police who ended the siege of Ottawa.
Why did the federal government sit on its hands for three weeks, doing nothing to mobilize and coordinate police officers?
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