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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 151

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 1, 2023 02:00PM
  • Feb/1/23 2:36:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what do we know about the McKinsey case? We know that the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister and Dominic Barton are very close friends. We know that their friendship is also one of the reasons Mr. Barton has been able to secure over $117 million in federal government contracts for McKinsey over the past eight years. We know that all of the contracts given to McKinsey were for work that our public servants could have done in-house, and now we know that the Prime Minister does not trust our public servants. Why?
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  • Feb/1/23 2:37:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said, the two ministers involved are following up to make sure that Canadians got value for their money, that these contracts followed all the rules, and that they followed the parameters that are set up to ensure that contracts awarded by the public service are the right ones. We are going to continue being transparent with the public and investing in the middle class. Given that they oppose help for dental care and low-income renters, the question is why the Conservatives have abandoned the middle class.
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  • Feb/1/23 2:38:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is trying to change the subject, but the question is clear. The government has lost confidence in its public servants. Moreover, the Prime Minister appointed Isabelle Hudon as the president of the Business Development Bank of Canada. The first thing Ms. Hudon did was award a $4.9‑million contract to McKinsey to do work that BDC's team could have done. Her employees were so frustrated that they went to the media with their concerns. Why does the Prime Minister let people like Ms. Hudon or anyone else award contracts to McKinsey when the work could be done by public servants?
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  • Feb/1/23 2:38:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have already answered these questions. The reality is that Canadians are going through tough times. As the government, we are there to help Canadians. We are there to help them by doubling the GST credit for six months, by providing assistance for dental care to families that cannot afford it and by providing support to low-income renters. Unfortunately, the Conservative Party voted against these initiatives. It would rather support austerity than investments that help Canadians get through these tough times.
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  • Feb/1/23 2:39:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today the Prime Minister's friend Dominic Barton will appear before the government operations committee. Over the last eight years, Canadians have been struggling, but Dominic Barton's former company has cashed at least $100 million worth of government cheques for consulting services. I will be asking Dominic Barton about his involvement in the opioid crisis. While Mr. Barton was advising the Prime Minister and while his company was collecting Canadian government contracts, they were advising Purdue Pharma on how to turbocharge opioid sales. During their time working together, did the Prime Minister ever ask Dominic Barton about his work turbocharging opioid sales?
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  • Feb/1/23 2:40:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I know Mr. Barton is looking forward to appearing at committee and answering any and all of those questions. What I will highlight is that, as a government, we will continue to stay grounded in science, facts and data as we address the terrible opioid epidemic across this country. Where Conservatives dig into random conspiracy theories and ignore science and evidence on how to keep people safe through the opioid epidemic, we are going to continue to step up with a harm reduction approach, with an approach that puts science first and keeps Canadians safe through this terrible ordeal.
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  • Feb/1/23 2:40:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, McKinsey's involvement in the opioid crisis is not a conspiracy theory. It is in The New York Times. The Prime Minister should read the stories about how, under Dominic Barton, McKinsey incredibly advised Purdue Pharma on a scheme to pay pharmacists for overdoses. I asked a specification question of the Prime Minister about his conversations with Dominic Barton, and I think families deserve an answer. Did the Prime Minister ever ask Dominic Barton about his work with Purdue Pharma, yes or no?
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  • Feb/1/23 2:41:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, with so many conspiracy theories rattling around the Conservative caucus one can understand where the member would misunderstand me. I was referring to the approach that the Conservative leader is taking against harm reduction, against science and evidence in supporting people facing the tragedies of the opioid epidemic. We need to put a public health lens on this. We need to be grounded in science and data as we look to care for the most vulnerable, not have a criminal approach, and not be grounded in things that sound good but actually would be harming the most vulnerable people. That is what I was calling out on the Conservative side.
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  • Feb/1/23 2:42:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, since it is a question of building bridges, since some of his MPs are going to the front lines in Quebec to defend the most indefensible decisions, and since some MPs, specifically the member for Honoré-Mercier and the member for Saint-Maurice—Champlain, have expressed concerns, I would like to know what the Prime Minister said to his members from Quebec, other than that he supported his own appointee nothing short of 100%.
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  • Feb/1/23 2:42:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to be a member of the Liberal Party of Canada's Quebec caucus, and I can say that we are here to have difficult conversations with one another, with our colleagues and with Canadians. I know that the issue of Islamophobia is a sensitive topic all across the country. It exists everywhere, not just in Quebec. That is why we are here to dialogue with our colleagues, to talk about how we can create more harmony across the country and continue to be there for each other. I was very proud to be in Sainte‑Foy on Sunday night, and we will continue to be there for the Muslim community.
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  • Feb/1/23 2:43:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if we make a distinction between secularism and racism, and because what he proposed or announced falls somewhere between “not very good” and “really bad”, and without judging what anyone has to say since that is not really up to us, given that public opinion will take care of that, and without impugning anyone, I have a tough conversation to propose to the Prime Minister. Why not meet with me so that we can come up with an alternative to what seems to be a mistake?
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  • Feb/1/23 2:43:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, opposition parties have a responsibility to oppose what the government is doing. Sometimes we manage to see eye to eye, other times we are in disagreement. On this side of the House, we know that we made the right choice in appointing Amira Elghawaby as special representative on combatting Islamophobia, and we support her in the important work she has ahead of her in the months and years to come.
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  • Feb/1/23 2:44:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years under the Prime Minister, mortgage payments have more than doubled, going from $1,500 a month to over $3,000 a month. After eight years under the Prime Minister, rent has more than doubled, going from about $950 to over $2,000. After eight years under the Prime Minister, a fifth of Canadians are skipping meals or cutting groceries because they cannot afford the inflationary carbon tax he has imposed on our farmers. After eight years, 30,000 people have died of the hopelessness of drug addiction. Egged on by McKinsey, which promoted the opioid crisis in this country, why does the Prime Minister keep governing for the super rich instead of the ordinary Canadian?
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  • Feb/1/23 2:45:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, over the past eight years, we have consistently stepped up for the middle class and people working hard to join it, with the Canada child benefit that Conservatives voted against, with child care agreements across the country that Conservatives campaigned against, with investments in rental benefits for low-income renters and with investments so that all families could take their kids to the dentist. These are the kinds of things that we have invested in. They have not only benefited Canadians but also created a strong and growing economy. The Conservatives have had nothing to offer but a recommendation around Bitcoin.
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  • Feb/1/23 2:45:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, a strong economy? It is like the Prime Minister is telling Canadians that they have never had it so good. Why does he not talk to the 1.5 million Canadians going to food banks in a given month? Some of them are asking food bank presidents for help committing suicide, not because they are sick but because they are too hungry. It is as though he has not spoken to the nine in 10 young people who do not own homes and believe they never will because mortgage payments have doubled under his watch. It is as though he has not spoken to the 30,000 families who have lost loved ones because of the record overdoses that have happened under his watch. Why will the Prime Minister not take responsibility for this disaster?
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  • Feb/1/23 2:46:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have been very clear that the Liberal government is very aware of the difficult times Canadians are facing right now. That is why we have stepped up with direct, targeted supports for people who need it and why we continue to invest in Canadians, despite Conservative politicians continuing to call on us to do less, to spend less and to support people less. That is why Conservatives voted against support for the lowest-income renters just a couple of months ago. That is why they voted against support for families who could not afford to send their kids to the dentist. We will stay on the side of Canadians while Conservatives abandon the middle class.
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  • Feb/1/23 2:47:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is the middle class that is left paying the bill. He has doubled our national debt by adding more debt than all other prime ministers combined, causing the inflation rate to spike to the highest levels in 40 years. The more he spends, the more Canadians pay. It is “justinflation”, and Canadians are paying the bill. What do we get? We get more people visiting food banks, more people living in poverty, and more money for his friends at McKinsey. How much did McKinsey get?
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  • Feb/1/23 2:47:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I notice that the Conservatives do not mention the pandemic when they talk about the challenges that Canadians have faced over the past few years. Perhaps that is because, if the Conservatives had had their way, we would not have invested to support Canadians during the pandemic. Without that help, thousands of small businesses would have closed their doors, and thousands of Canadians would not have received the support they needed to get through the pandemic. While they sowed doubt about vaccination, we made investments that helped Canadians get through the pandemic.
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  • Feb/1/23 2:48:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is not me who says that the Prime Minister overspent; it is Bill Morneau. Do members remember him? My old friend Bill Morneau is the one who said the Prime Minister spends too much. The future Liberal leader, Mark Carney, is the one who, along with the current Governor of the Bank of Canada, says that this overspending is contributing to inflation. Forty per cent of the spending had nothing to do with COVID. In fact, much of it went to Liberal cronies and Liberal friends, nearly doubling the amount of money that goes to high-priced consultants like McKinsey. If he has nothing to hide, then he has one more chance to tell us: How much did he pay McKinsey?
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  • Feb/1/23 2:49:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, you know the Conservative leader is stumbling over himself when he starts quoting random Liberals. The reality is that we will continue to move forward on investing in Canadians— Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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