44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 4, 2024 10:00AM
- Jun/4/24 11:33:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my seatmate hit on a point. I have the honour of representing RCMP Depot in Regina—Lewvan. I have visited there many times. I have gone to a couple of troop graduations and a few sunset ceremonies; I have gotten to know a few of the officers there. He hit the nail on the head. The biggest problem right now with the RCMP is recruitment and retention; RCMP members feel as though they are not supported. I think a bill such as this would bring some civilian oversight, and it would make them feel better because there would be more accountability. However, what they really want is for parliamentarians and provincial leaders to support them and their cause. They are the ones who run into trouble when everyone else runs away from it, and we have to have more people who support them. Could my colleague comment on that?
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- Jun/4/24 11:34:21 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, as the chair of the Saskatchewan caucus, I ask members to guess whom we are going to have coming to caucus tomorrow, in eight hours' time. Members of the police association are coming to the Saskatchewan caucus on Wednesday. Eight and a half hours from now, we will chair it; we are going to hear their stories. We are really concerned in this country about recruitment and retention. Retention is the big issue with these people. They will go on for maybe the first three or four years; then, all of a sudden, there is an incident that may change their life, and they want to move on from it.
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- Jun/4/24 11:35:12 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to talk about hypocrisy a bit. The member of Parliament for Winnipeg North stands up over and over again and talks about the amount of time the debate is taking, yet he burns up more minutes in the House talking than any other member here. He complains about the Conservative members who stand up to raise concerns from their constituents on important legislation, yet he speaks for more minutes, by multiple times, than every one of the Conservative members he has been complaining about.
Could the member comment on the rights of Conservative members of Parliament to take even a fraction of the time the member for Winnipeg North has in the House to raise concerns brought up by their constituents?
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- Jun/4/24 11:36:09 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we have heard some great comments tonight from the Conservative side. I have brought mine from my constituents in Saskatoon. The member for Saskatoon West brought up another issue. On this side, we have issues from all over this country that need to be debated. I know the debate is being shut down, and we have had five hours here, but these are good points that we brought out tonight.
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Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to join the debate tonight and follow my friend from Saskatoon—Grasswood, who gave an excellent speech. He mentioned that the police would be coming to the Saskatchewan Conservative caucus meeting tomorrow, which is great news. I wonder if the police will be going to the Liberal caucus meeting tomorrow as well after all the ethical scandals that we have been seeing, but that is to be determined.
I have been listening to the debate tonight and want to start by delving into some of the exchanges that have taken place so far, some more substantive ones and less substantive ones that perhaps should be commented on. Earlier in the evening, I had the opportunity to have a good exchange with my colleague from Edmonton Griesbach. In his speech, he highlighted, importantly, instances of injustice, abuse and violence through the actions of members of the police. We need to draw attention to those instances of violence, injustice and racism, call them out and put in place the actions to combat them.
I also think it is important to establish a positive discourse about the work being done by police and the positive role that police officers play within our society. That is important because, of course, without a positive message around the contributions that police officers are making in our society, we will struggle to recruit, which other members have commented on the importance of. Moreover, we should be grateful to the vast majority of police officers, who sacrifice and risk their lives and safety every day when they go to work, not knowing what they will encounter or what the outcomes will be and nonetheless working hard to protect their communities.
Are there instances where people in those sorts of positions betray that trust? Absolutely those instances exist. Are there more than just individual instances? Are there cases that we might be able to identify where there are histories or mentalities that contribute to wrong action? Those are legitimate things to discuss and certainly explore, but we need to recognize that, overwhelmingly, police play a positive role in our society, particularly when we have proper oversight, as advanced by this bill. As I and my colleagues have said, we support Bill C-20, but in the context of proper oversight, the commitment and sacrifice of police officers can be harnessed for them to play a dramatic, productive role in our society.
I worry that a discourse that emphasizes the negatives without the positives has led to bad policy outcomes, which are very dangerous for marginalized communities. All the evidence shows us that when we do not have a properly funded, effective police force in place, it is the most vulnerable who suffer. In certain contexts, there may be weaker state institutions, which we see in certain places around the world where the state does not have the capacity to provide the kind of protection from law enforcement that we take for granted generally here in Canada. There, wealthier people are still able to provide for their own protection through other kinds of private means for protecting their security, whereas those who cannot afford these mechanisms are the most vulnerable.
If we push the “defund the police” movement forward, the result is that those who are not able to protect themselves are more vulnerable to violence, while those who have more power and resources within a society are, to a greater extent, able to invest in their own protection. This is why the demonization of police and the movements to defund the police are ultimately deeply destructive, especially to the most vulnerable and marginalized. I would affirm the importance of recognizing injustice, of holding people accountable and of proper oversight, but I would also challenge all members in all parties of this House to recognize the positive contribution of police officers and police forces and establish a discourse that is affirming of their efforts and sacrifices.
I also believe in the importance of individual responsibility. I think when we see bad actions take place, the primary response should be holding the individuals who commit those actions responsible, recognizing that individual action is never rendered inevitable by institutional context, and that regardless of the context in which an individual is, the organization they are a member of, etc., they still bear responsibility for their own choices to act or not to act in a certain way.
Now, I want to respond as well to the exchange that I had with the member for Winnipeg Centre, and this was a perplexing exchange. I rose in response to her speech about violence against indigenous communities to ask a specific question about violence against indigenous communities and the destruction of churches and other cultural property that we have seen. It is a highly pertinent question at this time in Canada when dozens of churches have been not just vandalized but burned to the ground, many historic churches in indigenous communities, and where indigenous leaders have spoken out against these attacks on their communities. I think it is important when we see this rampage of violence against indigenous cultural property, against churches in particular, that leaders at all levels speak out against that violence. Strikingly, there has been a lack of response to these attacks on churches, in particular, on churches in indigenous communities. There has been a stark silence from so many leaders who should be condemning these acts of violence, and who would be quick to condemn acts of violence against other kinds of religious institutions.
The reason I have persisted in asking the member for Winnipeg Centre these questions is because I had asked the questions before and she had refused to condemn these acts of violence against churches. I have now asked the member the same question four times, and her response has been to attack me personally and to make all kinds of absurd, obviously verifiably bizarre allegations and accusations, which she has been told by the Speaker to withdraw. She has refused to withdraw, and I have no doubt that there will be follow-up on that matter. However, the point is that these were serious questions that were ignored. I think we should be clear and consistent in condemning all forms of abuse, all forms of violence against all communities. It is a glaring hole in that pattern of general condemnation to see the lack of response from many politicians to the rampage of destruction that has targeted Christian churches.
Further to the debate that has happened tonight, I want to agree with the comments that have been made by many of my Conservative colleagues about the increase in crime being an important part of the context of this legislation, and about how there was, leading up to 2015, during the tenure of the previous Conservative government, a decline in the rates of violent crime, and there has been a spike in violent crime since this Prime Minister took office. As they say, elections have consequences. When we elect a political party that has an ideology and implements that ideology, we see the results of it. I think we have seen, over the last nine years, the ideological experimentation of this Prime Minister, and we have seen the results: higher rent, higher cost of living, declining reputation in the world and increasing violent crime. The Prime Minister, over the last nine years, has experimented with putting one of the furthest left ideologies we have ever seen in this country into action, and we have seen, over the last nine years, the results of that extreme ideology.
There has also been some discussion tonight of scheduling issues. I think it is clear that this government has wildly mismanaged its legislative agenda, and every time the member for Winnipeg North stands up to speak for 20 minutes about how the opposition should stop talking about bills, yes, I do just shake my head.
We support Bill C-20. We think there are some important provisions in it, and I appreciate the chance to participate in the debate and engage in dialogue with various members about various issues.
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- Jun/4/24 11:46:44 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is a little bit tempting to venture into the area of filibustering with the member who just spoke. He is the one who has probably introduced more concurrence motions to prevent the government from being able to debate legislation than any other member. I will avoid commenting on that.
Rather, I would put forward the proposition that this is important legislation. We recognize that it is important for citizens and it would reinforce confidence in the system itself by having that sense of independence. Incorporating the Canada border control would be such a positive thing. I am anxious to ultimately see the legislation pass. I am somewhat grateful that we finally have time allocation on the legislation. I would just like to get the member to provide his thoughts on the benefits of the passage of the legislation itself.
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- Jun/4/24 11:47:45 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am not going to allow his comment about concurrence motions to go unanswered. He says the legislation is important. I would just say that I am proud of my record of proposing many important, substantive concurrence motions in the House that are not aimed at blocking government legislation but at advancing serious issues that are important to different communities.
I put forward a concurrence motion to reopen the Lachin corridor, an issue that was critically important to the Armenian community, given the escalating aggression that we have seen. I was pleased to put forward a concurrence motion to call for genuine autonomy for Tibet, affirming the right to democratic self-determination that Tibetans, Uyghurs and all people everywhere enjoy.
I was pleased to, again, put forward a concurrence motion calling on the government to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization, a motion that passed unanimously, yet it is one that the government has persistently failed to implement. I think that many of these communities, the Iranian community, the Tibetan community, the Armenian community, which have been deeply invested in the outcome of these concurrence motions, would find it offensive the way this member persistently dismisses the substantive role that concurrence motions have played in advancing issues that are critical to different communities across this country.
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- Jun/4/24 11:49:10 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people from Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I feel like I have said that a few times tonight.
I really appreciate my colleague's passion. If he could distill his message down, we hear the Liberals and their heckling about different things, saying that we as Conservatives have slowed this down, when they have had nine years to get it right. Can my colleague reflect on that? What would he say to the Liberals who have been quite vocal today about Conservative actions in the House, when they could not get the job done in the last nine years?
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- Jun/4/24 11:49:53 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member is right. It is quite simple. The Liberals complain about this Sisyphean task of passing legislation, but they are the ones who send the boulder down the hill every time. They bring all this legislation almost to the point of passing, and then they prorogue Parliament or call an early election. They then complain, but we did not make them do it.
That said, we would be prepared to have an early election at this point. Given the disaster we have seen over the last years, if they were to call an election, bring it on. We want to have that carbon tax election, and we have no confidence in the government. Nonetheless, Liberals complain about their own failures to pass legislation when they are the ones that undermine the passage of their own legislation by constantly resetting the clock. It does not make any sense.
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- Jun/4/24 11:51:04 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am wondering if the member could give a clear indication of why the Conservative Party genuinely feels that, for every piece of legislation brought forward by the government, if the government is not prepared to bring in time allocation, there is an endless stream of members from the Conservative Party that would not only like to speak to it but also bring in amendments.
As a bonus, the member opposite, who only listed about four concurrence motions, and I think there is another dozen he could have also made reference to, is a master at filibustering. I will give him that much. Could he just provide some further comment on that master skill he has?
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- Jun/4/24 11:51:50 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I think if we were to put the question to the members present in the House tonight, there would actually be a demand for even more concurrence motions than we have seen previously.
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Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to join this debate, and I am looking forward to speaking, then to question and answers. Before I get into the substance of the debate, this is the 10th anniversary of the shooting in Moncton, New Brunswick. Five officers were shot and three were shot fatally. I would just like to read their names into the record, so we should always remember our fallen heroes: Constable Larche, age 40; Constable Ross, age 32; Constable Gevaudan, age 45. Injured in the shooting in Moncton 10 years ago today were Constable Goguen and Constable Eric Dubois. When we are speaking to this bill, we should always keep all those in our mind who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms and for the safety that we enjoy in this country.
Now, we can get to the substance of Bill C-20. The legislation would rename the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to the public complaints and review commission, which would also have the ability to accept complaints filed against the Canada Border Services Agency.
First and foremost, I will be continuing to support our men and women in uniform. The RCMP Depot, like I said earlier, is in the heart of Regina—Lewvan. I have been on the grounds many times, and wherever there is an RCMP officer across this beautiful country, that officer was trained in our hometown of Regina and we are very proud. Despite some of the ideas that might be flowing out there, I will fight tooth and nail to ensure that the Depot will stay in Regina—Lewvan for the next 50 years or 100 years, because that is where it deserves to be.
It is with great pride that I represent that area because the RCMP has continued to increase its training every year. I think there is the idea out here in the public that it still trains the way it did in the 1980s and 1990s. However, one can see the new innovation training and the simulators where trainees get to do different situational engagement with the public and the training has evolved so much. They have social workers, and they do so many more things to get ready to have the men and women go out and protect their communities, more than they have ever done before. I have gone through and watched the training facilities, and it is never stagnant. They are always trying to get better. They are always trying to build on what they are doing to make sure that the men and women are ready to face very difficult situations when they are protecting their communities.
I would like to talk a bit about what I asked my good friend and colleague from Saskatoon Grasswoods, and I appreciated his speech. There is a serious deficit when it comes to recruitment and retention of people who want to be in the RCMP or the RPS or the Saskatoon Police Service. I suspect most cities and communities are finding it more and more difficult to find people who want to serve and protect Canadians. That is something we have to take on as leaders in our communities and make sure that we have the support. The police have our support, and I want to put that on the record. All Conservatives will stand with our men and women in uniform always. It is a tag line that we have in Saskatchewan. Our Saskatchewan caucus is 14-strong and we always say we are always on Saskatchewan's side, and that means the men and women who serve across our communities to help keep us safe.
I do have a couple of quotes in favour of this legislation and I want to get into the record. The National Police Federation states:
While there are many advantages to having the police investigate the police, many provincial public complaints bodies have utilized a hybrid investigative model. This model includes the involvement of civilian investigators in the investigative process, with some reliance on experienced police investigators, either retired or serving.
The National Police Federation members are in favour of this because they want to have that openness and transparency if something goes wrong. To err is human, and that is what our men and women are who serve. Sometimes, situations arise where officers have to be reviewed and see what happens, and we see that more often than not, now. We have seen that crime has risen across this country over the past nine long years with the NDP-Liberal coalition in power. We want to get back to having safer streets, and that is the commitment that the Conservatives will make. We would bring common sense back to Canada so we can make sure that Canadians have their safe streets again.
With that, I just want to continue to say that I appreciate what our men and women in uniform do. Hopefully, we do not have to talk about anniversaries when our men and women have passed away in the line of duty. It has happened far too often, and we have to make sure that we give them all the tools to be able to come home safe each and every night. That is what we want to make sure that we do by supporting the legislation so that if there is something that does happen that we have to review, the proper processes are in place.
With that, I will take some questions.
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- Jun/4/24 11:57:33 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I sincerely appreciate that the member for Regina—Lewvan recognized the officers who lost their lives and were injured 10 years ago today. The comments that we are hearing today about the lack of support for the RCMP and difficulty in recruiting and retention come back to incidents such as this. Out of that incident rose a demand for the RCMP to provide proper critical incident response training. We have just found out that, in terms of of that requirement, the RCMP has mainly missed its goal: 75% of constables, 37% of those in senior ranks and 50% of sergeants have not received the proper critical incident response training.
Could the member fill us in on what he believes the government's priority is, when it is basically not providing the proper training or the tools for the RCMP.
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- Jun/4/24 11:58:36 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, those are some damning numbers, and I think they speak to the fact that there are members within the NDP-Liberal coalition who are part of the “defund the police” movement. They may think that they would be better off without the men and women in uniform to protect them. However, when there is something that happens in their house and someone is trying to bust down their door, the first call they make is to the police.
We have to get back to respecting police and making sure that the men and women who serve in uniform and keep our communities safe have that support. I think there are also probably a lot of timing issues, where the government has pushed things down the road and not given the proper resources to the RCMP to ensure that training can take place. I know that the RCMP is always struggling to find opportunities and training opportunities, even at Depot. They have to go and rent out ranges in other areas so that they can keep up with their firearms training.
If they cannot have that training at Depot, then they have to rent that out and it costs more money. Thus, more resources need to be put into training our RCMP and our police forces. This is something that the government has let fall by the wayside because there are some within that caucus who do not even believe that the police should be funded at all.
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- Jun/5/24 12:00:26 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, tonight, I am glad to have a chance to continue pressing for badly needed investments in predictable, ongoing and significant investments for deeply affordable housing with a real focus on co-op housing. It is critical because we are in a housing crisis. One of the reasons for that crisis is that Canada has the lowest percentage of deeply affordable social housing stock in the G7. It is about 3%, or just over, of housing stock across the country, or about 650,000 units. Even if we were to double our social housing stock, we would still be the middle of the G7. It is clear that we are not going to solve the housing crisis unless we get more deeply affordable housing built. Co-op housing, of course, is a big part of this.
In the past, we used to do this well. Back in the seventies and the eighties, for example, we got 60,000 co-op homes built. As one example, in 1982, 8% of all rental units constructed across the country were co-ops. It was about 6,500 units that year alone. It is investments like that, every single year, that led to the construction of co-ops such as Brighton Yards in uptown Waterloo, which I lived in for six years. Brighton Yards is deeply affordable, dignified housing with a strong sense of community. There are many others all across Kitchener, including in the riding I represent. There is Asgard Green in Cherry Park, Bread and Roses in downtown Kitchener, and Willowside Co-op on Victoria Street.
It is clear we need to get back to building co-ops every single year. Instead, what has happened is that the federal government has stagnated in funding co-ops and, as a result, construction has stagnated also. In 2020, for example, less than 1% of all rental units constructed were co-ops, about 477 units. That is a far cry from the 6,500 built back in 1982.
It is pretty clear we are going to need to continue to apply more pressure for the government to commit significant annual and predictable investments in co-op housing. The good news is that, because of that pressure from housing advocates across the country, the government did propose a significant new investment in budget 2022 of $1.5 billion. That funding was announced over two years ago. The government has not actually built any co-ops with that funding yet. The money has yet still to flow. Those funds could have built 6,000 units across the country.
I last asked about this in question period in mid April. Here is what the executive director of the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada, Tim Ross, had to say about the issue: “We have shovel-ready projects at risk of missing the 2025 construction season”. He also said, “Co-op housing is just the type of housing we need more of, to ease the affordability crisis. The federal government needs to launch the program in the coming months, so together we can create more co-op homes.”
Could the parliamentary secretary explain to Canadians what is delaying these funds being rolled out? Could he then go on to answer when these funds will get spent so that these needed co-op homes will get built in my community and across the country?
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- Jun/5/24 12:04:27 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am always pleased to share information about how the Government of Canada is taking concrete action to help build more homes faster. A key part of our work is to ensure fairness for every generation.
For decades now, co-operative housing has provided affordable housing and caring communities for Canadians. That is why the Government of Canada is supporting the co-operative housing sector to grow and become more resilient. In budget 2024, we proposed a number of measures that will benefit co-operative housing providers and the families that call these communities home.
First, we proposed to enhance the affordable housing fund with an additional $1-billion top-up. This brings the fund to $15 billion, and we encourage co-operatives to continue to access it to build units and repair existing ones.
We also proposed to protect and expand affordable housing by creating a new $1.5-billion Canada rental protection fund. This fund will provide loans and contributions to help housing providers acquire units that will be rented at affordable rates and preserve rents at a stable level for decades to come. It will prevent those units from being redeveloped into out-of-reach condos or luxury rental units.
We also proposed to keep not-for-profits and co-op homes affordable by introducing new flexibilities to the federal community housing initiative. This will ensure eligible housing providers can access funding to maintain affordability for low-income tenants and co-op members.
Finally, our new Canada greener homes affordability program will help housing providers make energy-efficient retrofits that will help them and their tenants.
In addition to these initiatives specifically designed for not-for-profit and co-operative housing, we announced a number of measures that will make it easier to get affordable housing projects off the ground. For example, the $400-million top-up to the housing accelerator fund will help more local governments cut red tape and make the changes needed to get more housing built faster.
Our investments to boost the productive capacity of the construction industry will ensure that Canada has the workers and innovative technologies needed to scale up supply. Starting in 2024-25, we plan to invest $100 million over two years to encourage Canadians to explore careers in the skilled trades and to help create apprenticeship placements. Our new $6-billion Canada housing infrastructure fund will help communities build the essential infrastructure needed to support more homes and more vibrant and livable neighbourhoods, including with co-operative housing.
The Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada supports our plan. It said, “We recognize and support the important federal commitments detailed in today’s plan to ensure co-op housing is part of the supply response to this generation’s housing crisis”. While not part of budget 2024, I would also like to note that the housing plan launched just ahead of the budget includes a $1.5-billion co-operative housing development program developed with the CHFC that will commence this summer. The program will build capacity with the co-op sector and support the sustainability of housing. It is an effective and affordable model that has stood the test of time.
We are there for co-op housing, we are there for Canadians and we will continue to support building co-op housing across Canada.
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- Jun/5/24 12:08:27 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate that the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, at the end of his remarks, got to the question of this investment. The issue is that this investment was committed to two years ago. It has been two years since the government finally announced that it was going to get back into the business of building co-ops, and it has not built any. We are in a housing crisis. This is not a time to be spending two years talking about getting co-ops built. It is time to actually get them built.
Could the parliamentary secretary at least share some explanation with Canadians of what has happened over the last two years? This investment was committed to, but two years later nothing has been built. Even better, can he share when the funding will flow so that my community and others across the country will see new co-ops getting built, which I know is what he wants to happen too?
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- Jun/5/24 12:09:21 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the hon. member talked about the last two years. We have been at the table since 2015, since we came into power. I know for a fact that co-op housing has been a major priority for our government because I have lived it in my own riding. Co-op housing, under the previous government, was on a downward scale. We have increased funding for co-op housing, and I can say for a fact that we have built over 30 units based on co-op housing funding because we chose to invest in housing. We will continue to choose to invest in housing.
We made an announcement, and I would invite my hon. colleague to speak to the minister. I am not sure which project the member is talking about, but a home is not built in two months. There are obviously conditions that come into play. I know that my hon. colleague understands that. I would invite him to contact the minister to talk about his specific project.
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- Jun/5/24 12:10:27 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, today is an important day in the arrive scam scandal saga, because later today, Minh Doan, who is one of the central figures in this affair, will be testifying before the government operations committee.
He will be testifying for three hours and will be required to answer critical questions about how the decision was made to choose GC Strategies and who was responsible for that decision. He will need to answer questions about significant allegations around the destruction of emails. Since his last appearance before the government operations and committee, there have been revelations in The Globe and Mail that note an accusation of unusual steps that he took that led to the destruction of emails at the Canada Border Services Agency.
There is an Auditor General's report on the arrive scam scandal that shows that there are missing records. There are also allegations filed by a CBSA IT employee that were obtained by The Globe and Mail, allegations of moving files in an odd way that led to the destruction of emails and other critical documents. This has, of course, as The Globe and Mail noted, particular importance given that we are seeking information about what happened with GC Strategies, that is, how it was awarded the contract. One of the deeply suspicious aspects of the arrive scam scandal is that nobody is actually prepared to take responsibility for the decision to choose GC Strategies. There is a flurry of very sharp and public accusations among senior public servants, which speaks to significant and enduring challenges at CBSA.
There are new audits that came out yesterday, new, damning audits from the Auditor General. One issue in particular that we have highlighted has been the government's cosy relationship with McKinsey, the government's constantly funnelling money and contracts to McKinsey, close friends with the government, without the proper processes in place and without demonstrating value for money.
It is another day, another series of corruption scandals and more damning reports from the Auditor General. Whether it is yesterday's Auditor General's report on McKinsey, as well as the green slush fund, or today's hearings that we are going to have with Minh Doan, it is scandal after scandal. After nine years, the Liberal government always wants to blame somebody else. The Liberals always want to say that it is somebody else's responsibility, without any clarity about who is actually going to take responsibility.
After nine years, the Prime Minister bears responsibility. He bears responsibility for a broken contracting system, for the fact that the Auditor General's reports repeatedly emphasize the lack of accountability for the way the government is serving up contracts to its close friends, and for the fact that there is a GC Strategies model. It is not just one company; it is a model that we see growing across government, where a small firm specializes in simply getting government contracts but then subcontracts all of the actual work and takes a big cut along the way.
This is systemic corruption in the procurement process that we have seen in the arrive scam and in multiple other instances. When will the corruption end? Will it be soon, or will it be after the election?
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- Jun/5/24 12:14:32 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have heard this before in the House by this particular member, and he has a short memory. I recall procurement processes under the government that he used to work for. They were not perfect. I actually recall—
Mr. Garnett Genuis: We are a lot better.
Mr. Francis Drouin: The member says that they are a lot better, but his government signed a contract with IBM for Phoenix. I would argue that it was not a lot better. He continues to yell, and I get it. He is not happy when we remind him of the Conservatives' record.
Madam Speaker, I do want to thank him for his important question. It is not the first time the member has risen in the House to ask this question. Obviously, as the member is aware, because he was there when I was there, the former minister had no say in this particular contract. It was never brought up for the former minister to sign. The member knows that, but he continues to sling mud in this place, and I really get it. That is all he has.
The CBSA initiated an internal investigation as soon as there were allegations of inappropriate contracting practices. The matter was also referred to the RCMP for investigation. Contracts with three companies involved, including GC Strategies, also had been suspended through a stop work order from PSPC. We expect the procurement processes to be followed properly, and anyone who does not follow contracting rules will face appropriate consequences. This has been, and will always be, the practice of this government.
The procurement ombudsman's and the Auditor General's reports have identified unacceptable gaps in management processes, roles and controls. Some recommendations have already been implemented, and the CBSA is taking further action to ensure that practices are aligned with policies and meet that they the expectations of Canadians.
Need I remind my hon. colleague of the context in which the app was developed? The CBSA needed to develop and launch this app, as quickly as possible, at the request of the Public Health Agency of Canada, after a global pandemic was declared in March 2020. The CBSA was working as quickly as possible to replace a paper process that was not meeting public health needs and that was also impacting the border with significant wait times that disrupted the essential flow of people and goods.
I wish to point out that the Auditor General did recognize, in her report, that the government improved the speed and quality of information collected at the border by using the ArriveCAN app, rather than the paper-based form. The ArriveCAN app was an essential tool at the time to collect mandatory health information, while facilitating travel and trade. The government is taking steps to ensure that all departments are better positioned to undertake projects of this nature in the future.
In wrapping up my remarks, I want to emphasize that this should not detract from the commendable efforts of frontline border officers and all CBSA personnel who diligently serve and protect Canadian citizens on a daily basis in support of our country's economy. The government remains committed to act on the findings of all audits, reviews and investigations. Obviously, as the minister said, if somebody broke the law, they will face the full consequences of the law.
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