SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 150 - Jan/31/23

Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

Jan/31/23 2:44:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is one more sleep until the Prime Minister's good friend Dominic Barton appears before the government operations committee. The Prime Minister has called Dominic Barton an “exceptional individual”. Dominic Barton's company fuelled the opioid crisis, advised Saudi autocrats on dissident crackdowns and helped Chinese state-owned companies build militarized islands in the South China Sea. Yes, Dominic Barton certainly is “exceptional”, but why does the Prime Minister do so much for his ethically deficient friends and so little for struggling Canadians?

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Hon. Helena Jaczek (Minister of Public Services and Procurement, Lib.)

Jan/31/23 2:44:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, we are committed to ensuring that government contracts stand up to the highest standards. We ensure value for money. We ensure quality of services for Canadians. We only contract and procure professional services to complement our professional public services when there are unexpected workload fluctuations and when there is a need for specific expertise. Of course, I will elaborate further when I attend the committee next week.

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Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

Jan/31/23 2:45:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we continue to hear complete non-responses from the government. The Globe and Mail has reported that federal government contracts accounted for 10% of McKinsey gross revenues. I think McKinsey puts the gross into gross revenue. When Dominic Barton led McKinsey, they developed a plan to supercharge the opioid crisis that included rewarding pharmacists for overdose deaths. That is despicable. Why did the Prime Minister funnel over $100 million into this disgusting company?

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Hon. Mark Holland (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Jan/31/23 2:46:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in all things, the government ensures that the contracts it enters into are efficacious and get good value for money and ensure we deliver services to Canadians. The questions that are being posed are fair. We will get an opportunity in committee to be exhaustive and get answers. However, understand that Canada has a reputation around the world for the quality of the contracts it enters into. That is absolutely something we are committed to continue to ensure we get value for money for Canadians.

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Mrs. Kelly Block (Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, CPC)

Jan/31/23 2:46:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years under the Prime Minister, Canadians have never had it so bad, while Liberal lobbyists and high-priced consultants have had it so good. The amount that the government has paid to McKinsey, formerly led by a personal friend of the Prime Minister, Dominic Barton, has gradually grown from $50 million to over $100 million. While Canadians are struggling, Liberal insiders are flourishing. Will the Prime Minister tell us the real amount his government has paid to McKinsey?

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Hon. Mark Holland (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Jan/31/23 2:47:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have to take exception to this notion that Canadians have never done worse, and talking down our economy. I would point out that when the members opposite, the Conservatives, were in power, the economy had 1.5 million less jobs; there were over a million and a half more people in poverty; Canada was at the bottom of the G7 across about every single indicator and, in fact, had the worst growth rate in terms of GDP of any government since 1946. Next year, Canada will be number two, as projected by the IMF, in GDP growth. When Conservatives talk down our economy, they should be careful they do not get reflected back to their own record.

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Mrs. Stephanie Kusie (Calgary Midnapore, CPC)

Jan/31/23 2:47:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal government, inflation is at a 40-year high as a result of the government's inflationary spending. The government has handed over $100 million in contracts to McKinsey & Company, with one contract not sunsetting until the year 2100. While Canadians have never—

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The Speaker

Jan/31/23 2:48:15 p.m.
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I need to interrupt for a second. There seems to be an issue with the interpretation. The interpretation is now functioning. I would ask the hon. member for Calgary Midnapore to take it from the top, please.

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Mr. Charlie Angus

Jan/31/23 2:48:42 p.m.
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Make it more comprehensible this time.

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Mrs. Stephanie Kusie

Jan/31/23 2:48:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal government, inflation is at a 40-year high as a result of the government's inflationary spending. The government has handed over $100 million in contracts to McKinsey & Company, with one contract not sunsetting until the year 2100. While Canadians have never had it so bad, Liberal insiders and consultants have never had it so good. Why does the Prime Minister and the government not come clean and tell us how much they promised Dominic Barton and McKinsey & Company?

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Hon. Sean Fraser (Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Lib.)

Jan/31/23 2:49:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what I am observing today is an interesting trend where the Conservatives are trying to create a bogeyman to distract from the fact that we are working hard to make sure that families that are struggling get the supports they need to do well during challenging times. I am beginning to believe that the Conservatives actually view it to be in their interest to continue to have Canadians experience problems because they never introduce solutions. On this side of the House, we are going to continue to make investments that are going to reduce costs for child care, that are going to reduce costs for dental care, that are going to provide supports to low-income renters. With or without them, we will do what is necessary to make sure that people can feed their kids and keep a roof over the heads during difficult times across Canada and around the world.

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Mr. Matthew Green (Hamilton Centre, NDP)

Jan/31/23 2:49:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is not just the Conservatives who have questions. The New Democrats have questions too, and it is not just about McKinsey. While the Liberals have awarded $160 million to McKinsey with this 100-year deal, companies such as McKinsey and Deloitte, which has ten times the amount of money, along with KPMG, are raking in billions of taxpayer dollars without accountability or transparency. Canadians deserve to know exactly who is making decisions for the government, how much they are getting paid and to whom in the Liberal government they are connected. Will the government commit to extending the review to include all of its outsourcing contracts?

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Hon. Mark Holland (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Jan/31/23 2:50:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as the member well knows, Canada has a reputation around the world as having the highest degree of excellence in the way it conducts its business and contracts. That is something of which we are deeply proud. I understand that members in opposition want to foment issues, but there is an excellent opportunity in committee to ask these questions directly. If members want to have real answers, then there will be the opportunity for mature, reasonable discussions during that period of time. However, talking down the way in which we conduct contracts does not behoove anybody.

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Ms. Heather McPherson (Edmonton Strathcona, NDP)

Jan/31/23 2:51:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the people of Ukraine, Iran, Haiti and Myanmar deserve our support. The government constantly pats itself on the back for adding individuals to the sanctions list, but yesterday we learned that the government had only seized one asset in six months. The Liberals claim sanctions are a key piece of our foreign response, but there is no enforcement, there is no investigation and there is almost no seizing of assets. When will the Liberals stop the political theatre and start getting serious on our sanctions regime?

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Hon. Mélanie Joly (Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lib.)

Jan/31/23 2:51:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, indeed, we have imposed extremely strong sanctions against Russian oligarchs, Belarusian oligarchs, Haiti elite members and Iranians. We want to make sure that now we implement new legislation that we have passed, which will allow us to not only seize assets but to forfeit them. I look forward to working with the member on this very important duty we have. We are the first country in the world doing this, and we will lead.

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Ms. Joanne Thompson (St. John's East, Lib.)

Jan/31/23 2:52:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the pandemic has highlighted long-standing and systemic challenges in Canada's long-term care system. Could the Minister of Seniors please update the House on how the government is ensuring that seniors have access to safe, reliable and high-quality care in our long-term care homes across the country?

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Hon. Kamal Khera (Minister of Seniors, Lib.)

Jan/31/23 2:52:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, seniors deserve the best quality of care rooted in dignity and respect regardless of where they live. That is why we welcome today the residence centre standards, released by HSO and CSA, that will make a tremendous difference in the quality of care seniors receive in long-term care homes. I want to take a moment to thank both organizations for the extensive consultations they have done with Canadians, seniors, health care workers and care givers in creating these standards. We will continue to work with provinces and territories in their efforts to support long-term care homes in their jurisdictions.

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Mr. Michael Barrett (Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, CPC)

Jan/31/23 2:53:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, time and time again we see Liberal cabinet ministers breaking ethics laws to help their friends and Liberal insiders. The Liberals will funnel money and lucrative contracts to them. They will take illegal vacations. They will even interfere in criminal prosecution to help their friends. After eight years under the Prime Minister, Canadians have never had it so bad and Liberal insiders, friends and high-priced consultants have never had it so good. When will the Liberals stop the corruption and start putting the needs of Canadians first?

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Hon. Mark Holland (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Jan/31/23 2:54:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, again, saying that Canadians have never had it worse is an absolutely ludicrous statement. There have been all kinds of instances in history where Canadians have faced hard times and dealt with difficult situations. Whether it was in great wars or in difficult economic storms that took the world, Canadians rose to those occasions and met them with strength and determination to build a stronger future thereafter. The notion, as Canadians are facing anxiety and as they are looking at global tumult, that they should think they are in the worst position they have ever been is simply irresponsible.

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Mr. Michael Barrett (Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, CPC)

Jan/31/23 2:54:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, throughout history and up until this point, governments were there for their people when they were facing hard times, but not those Liberals. They are there for insiders. The Prime Minister helped his buddies get off criminal charges. The Prime Minister took an illegal vacation. The intergovernmental affairs minister gave lucrative contracts to family members. The Prime Minister's hand-picked finance minister tried to give a half-billion dollars to WE. The trade minister just gave tens of thousands of dollars to her bestie. Canadians are lined up at food banks; Liberal insiders are lined up to get rich. What is it going to take for one of those corrupt ministers to resign?

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