44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 20, 2023 10:00AM
- Apr/20/23 2:27:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have learned that this Liberal government spent hundreds of millions of dollars to outsource the work of public servants: $200 million to Deloitte, $100 million to PwC, $45 million to Accenture. The Liberals are unable to negotiate a fair agreement with the federal public service, but when it comes time to write cheques to their friends at large firms, they are more than able, and the sky is the limit.
Why is it so hard for the Liberals to put the interests of workers over the interests of their rich and powerful friends?
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- Apr/20/23 2:28:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, obviously we are looking very closely at management consultants. They are used only in the case where we need specific expertise or in the case of fluctuating workload, but I can assure the member that we are always looking to ensure we get the best value for Canadians.
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- Apr/20/23 2:28:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians were shocked when news broke of the government's reckless outsourcing to McKinsey. This week, we learned it was just the tip of the iceberg. In the last year, the Liberals handed out more than $200 million to Deloitte, $100 million to PwC and $45 million to Accenture for contracts with a single department.
The Liberals seem to have no problem giving massive public handouts to their rich friends while delaying a fair deal for public sector workers. Will the Liberals put an end to this unchecked outsourcing and instead invest in Canada's public service by coming up with a fair deal?
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- Apr/20/23 2:29:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the government operations committee for its work in studying the use of management consultants.
I am sure the member is very pleased that, in budget 2023, we proposed to reduce spending on consulting, other professional services and travel by roughly 15% of planned 2023-24 discretionary spending in these areas.
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- Apr/20/23 2:29:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it takes a special type of incompetence to spend 50% more on the bureaucracy yet have the largest public service strike in 40 years. It takes a special type of incompetence to have not only passport delays but also delays in immigration processes and tax returns. It also takes a special type of incompetence to spend $22 billion on outside consultants and still end up in the same strike position.
When will the Prime Minister apologize for his incompetence and end this strike?
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- Apr/20/23 2:30:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, unlike the Conservatives opposite, we respect collective bargaining, we respect the right to strike and we understand that negotiations need to happen at the negotiating table. The government has been extraordinarily engaged to ensure we get a fair deal for Canadians, a fair deal for the workers and a fair deal for government. We are going to continue to negotiate in good faith and to ensure that we can continue to serve Canadians in such an effective way.
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- Apr/20/23 2:30:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister is part of the problem.
We have a Prime Minister who never shows up. He does not show up for work, and he certainly does not show up for Canadians. It is no wonder that both rents and mortgages have doubled. It is no wonder that one in five Canadians is skipping meals. It is no wonder that, right outside these doors, we have the largest public service strike in 40 years.
When will the Prime Minister show up to work and fix what he broke?
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- Apr/20/23 2:31:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the members on this side show up to work every single day to work for Canadians. Let us talk about the public servants who showed up to work every single day throughout the pandemic to deliver CERB to eight and a half million Canadians. Let us talk about the public servants who worked overtime to make sure they could help Canadians access the services they needed.
We respect collective bargaining. We respect the right to strike. We respect the fact that we are at the negotiating table having hard conversations. In the end, we are going to get a good deal for Canadians.
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- Apr/20/23 2:32:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are experiencing the largest public service union strike in over 40 years, even though the government has spent 50% more, $21 billion more, on bureaucracy. That is some special kind of incompetence, and still the public service is demoralized. The government has wasted $22 billion on Liberal-connected contracts and outside consulting firms.
When will the Prime Minister get to work and fix the mess he created?
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- Apr/20/23 2:32:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is important for us to compare and contrast with what the Conservatives did, because since 2006, they did not increase vote A funding for core services to any of the services we provided to Canadians. That means that, as the population of Canada has continued to grow, we actually have been spending, since we came into government in 2015, to deliver services for the population we have.
Unlike the Conservatives, we know we need to deliver good services for Canadians. We have made those investments and we are seeing those investments delivered to Canadians. The Conservatives can talk about cuts and they can talk about austerity, but we are going to continue to invest in government and, most importantly, in Canadians.
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- Apr/20/23 2:33:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians need leadership and accountability from the Prime Minister. Canadians are paying for the lack of leadership by the Prime Minister. Maybe he does not care about passport lines because he has never had to wait in one. Maybe he does not care about broken airports because he flies on a private jet. Maybe he does not care about small businesses because he has never had to balance a budget.
When will the Prime Minister get down out of his ivory tower and start serving Canadians?
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- Apr/20/23 2:33:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am not sure what the member opposite is saying. Is she saying the Prime Minister should not have security or should not be flying in such a way that his security is protected?
Of course, the Conservatives are playing games, as they usually do. They try to mis-characterize things that have to happen, to try to twist them for partisan advantage. However, what has happened is that Canada is now leading the world in terms of economic growth and job production. At a time when the world is going through the most difficult time humanity has faced since the Second World War, the only things the Conservatives have to offer are fear and despair.
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- Apr/20/23 2:34:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let me get this straight. The Prime Minister has increased the spending and the bureaucracy by 50%, and increased the cost of the public sector by more than $21 billion, yet the vital services Canadians rely on, whether immigration, passport or airport services, have never been this dysfunctional. In fact, we now have 150,000 public sector workers on strike, the largest job action in more than 40 years. Who can possibly be that incompetent? Only the Prime Minister can spend so much to achieve so little.
Will the Prime Minister stand up, do his job and fix the government he has broken?
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- Apr/20/23 2:35:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is not really surprising today to hear the Conservatives attacking the investments we made in the public service, because who can forget the fact that, when they were in power, they slashed the public service like never before with austerity measures and unprecedented cuts.
That is without counting the number of laws they tried to pass to limit the actions of unions and destroy unions in Canada. It is not really surprising today to hear them complaining about the public service strike.
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- Apr/20/23 2:35:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, why is the Prime Minister not the one standing up and answering for his own failures? Why is the Prime Minister not standing up and doing his job? I will tell members why. He is not worried about lines at passport offices, because he has never had to stand in one. He is not worried about the chaos at the airports, because he has a private jet. He is not worried about skyrocketing food prices or Canadians scavenging from dumpsters to feed their families, because he does not have to pay for it. He is certainly not worried about struggling small businesses, because he has never had to balance a budget.
When will the Prime Minister stand up, do his job and douse this dumpster fire he has created?
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- Apr/20/23 2:36:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if my hon. colleague is asking what the Prime Minister is standing up for, he is standing up for the people who live in my community, like the low-income families who now receive more through the Canada child benefit than they did when the Conservatives were in power. He is standing up for workers' rights to collect their Canada pension plan, which the opposition leader has criticized as being too expensive to properly fund. He is standing up for workers who have been impacted by natural disasters on my coast and in Atlantic Canada to make sure they are supported by EI when they lose their job as a result of conditions beyond their control. Every day of the week, we are going to stand up for working families and communities like mine. I invite the Conservatives to join us one day.
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- Apr/20/23 2:37:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has told us that he has not had any ties to the Trudeau Foundation for ten years. Let us assume that is the case. However, one year after he became Prime Minister, China thought it was a good idea to make a $140,000 donation in honour of his father. We know that nothing is free in this world.
What did China have to gain by making a donation to a foundation that hands out scholarships to Canadians? Did it want to help students or act out of altruism? Excuse me if I laugh. Could it be that it wanted to get close to Pierre Elliott Trudeau's son, who had just been elected Prime Minister?
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- Apr/20/23 2:37:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, is the member suggesting that China is responsible for Canada's policies or that the government is influenced by that? That is absolutely ridiculous. That is not at all the case. My colleague opposite and I have stood up for our democracy our whole lives. These are difficult times for democracies, and we must remain united in protecting them.
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- Apr/20/23 2:38:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it would be impossible for anyone looking at this situation not to wonder. We are in the midst of a crisis over Chinese interference. On one side, we have a Prime Minister who is still intimately associated with the Trudeau Foundation. On the other side, we have China, which has paid a lot of money to get as close as possible to the Trudeau Foundation. In the middle, we have an arbitrator, the special rapporteur chosen by the Prime Minister, who is a friend of the Prime Minister and a member of the foundation. One has to wonder.
How can the government hope to restore trust without an independent public commission of inquiry?
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- Apr/20/23 2:38:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yes, one can take shots at Mr. Johnston. Anyone can do so, but he is a former governor general who was appointed by Prime Minister Harper. His impartiality is therefore absolutely clear. It is also clear that we must protect our democracy. The only way to do that is to stand united against foreign interference.
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