Tag Archives: Auditor General

QP: Day three of the same GC Strategies response

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As the countdown to the G7 summit was on, the PM was not in the House for Question Period today, nor was Andrew Scheer. That left it up to Leslyn Lewis to lead off, raising their Supply Day motion to force GC Strategies to repay their contracts. Anita Anand said she would get go the question, but wanted to raise their air crash in India that included one Canadian aboard. Lewis also extended condolences, before repeating her question. This time, Joël Lightbound recited the talking points about barring GC Strategies, and that there are RCMP investigations and legal actions ongoing. Bob Zimmer read the same script, and demanded support for their motion. Lightbound released his same response. Zimmer said that the answer wouldn’t cut it, but got much the same response. Dominique Vien recited the French version of the same script, and Lightbound recited his same points en français. Vien tried again, and got the same answer one last time. 

Christine Normandin led for the Bloc, and decried that the government is planning to invoke closure on Bill C-5, which would steamroll fossil fuel projects and gut environmental assessments. Steven MacKinnon insisted that this was necessary in response to the trade war that the Americans started. Normandin corrected stated that this bill needed more study, and MacKinnon responded that Quebec voted for 44 Liberal MPs, as though that justified a Henry VIII clause in that bill. Patrick Bonin took over and said those 44 Quebec Liberals voted to steal from Quebec when they voted against the Bloc motion to extend the rebates for Quebeckers. This time Steven Guilbeault pointed out that there is still an industrial pricing system, and that Quebec’s price under cap-and-trade is below the price in the rest of the country.

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QP: Repeating the same questions about the AG’s report

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Wednesday, and everyone in the Chamber was revved up from their morning caucus meetings. The prime minister was present, as were the other leaders, and Andrew Scheer led off, and boasted that the Conservatives would force a vote to get money that went to GC Strategies back (which I don’t think you can do legally). Mark Carney said that the government was focused on best-in-class procurement practices, which is why they changed the department. Scheer claimed that Carney must have somehow been involved because he was an economic advisor to the Liberal Party, along with other ministers still in the Cabinet, and Carney crowed about the new minister and that his deputy used to fly fighter jets. Mark Strahl repeated the same accusations and accused the government of making no effort to get wasted dollars back, and Carney said that the Conservatives are ignoring that there was just an election. Strahl tried again, and got much the same answer. Luc Berthold read the French version of Scheer’s script, and Carney repeated his best-in-class line in French. Berthold repeated the notion that the ministers involved got promoted, and Carney stated that he will be focused on best-in-class procurement.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he wondered if the carbon levy rebates that went out in April was paid for already through the levy collected, and Carney said that it was a transitional payment because they cancelled the levy and people still needed it for the transition. Blanchet Said that the government is refusing to pay back Quebeckers if others didn’t pay into it, and demanded they now be compensated. Carney reminded him that Quebec has their own carbon pricing system, and that he respects their jurisdiction. Blanchet reiterated that the rebate was not paid for, and called it an injustice against the people of Quebec. Carney repeated that there are different systems and different transitions, so the system is coherent. 

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Roundup: The Auditor General on F-35s and ArriveCan

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Yesterday saw the release of the Auditor General and Environment Commissioner’s reports, and lo, these ones actually got a tonne of media attention and took centre stage in Question Period, which is a far cry from most of their recent reports. The reason, of course, is that the topics were sexy—F-35 fighter jets and the ArriveCan app gong show in particular, the latter of which the Conservatives have been salivating over for three years now, which made the day pretty much insufferable as a result. But there was more than just those.

  • The F-35 procurement costs have ballooned because of delays, pilot shortages, infrastructure, and inflation but acknowledged the Canadian government has little control over most of these factors.
  • CBSA failed to follow procurement and security rules when it used GC Strategies to contract out work on ArriveCan, and didn’t follow-up to ensure work had been done before more contracts were awarded.
  • Public Services and Procurement has been slow to modernise and downsize office space, and turn over surplus buildings for housing.
  • Indigenous Services has failed to process Indian Act status applications within the required six-month timeline, with a backlog having grown to over 12,000 applications.
  • The climate adaptation plan is falling short, with only one of its three pillars in place and little connection between spending and results.

I’m not sure that the F-35 news is all that surprising, but it does actually work to either justify a potential move away from the platform, or to reflect increases in defence spending calculations. The GC Strategies findings are also not unexpected, but one thing the Conservatives have been failing to mention is that CBSA is an arms’-length agency, so ministers had no real say over any of its contracting practices (as the Conservatives try to insist that any minister who had carriage on the file should be fired). Meanwhile, their narrative that this was somehow about “Liberal friends” was never mentioned in the report, nor was there any mention about partisan considerations, or indication that the firm had any connection to the government, so these are just rage-bait accusations used solely for the performance art, which is how most things go with these guys.

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2025-06-10T21:22:14.366Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Tuesday’s attack from Russia was one of its largest strikes on Kyiv, which also hit civilian targets in Odesa, and Kharkiv was subjected to a nine-minute-long drone attack that killed at least two and injured 54. Another prisoner swap took place yesterday, this time for an undisclosed number of sick and wounded soldiers.

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QP: GC Strategies, over and over and over again…

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Fresh from the Pride Flag raising on Parliament Hill, the prime minister was present for Question Period today, as were the other leaders. Andrew Scheer was present but did not lead off, leaving that up to Larry Brock, who put on his most serious tone to decry the Auditor General’s report on the “fraudsters” at GC Strategies and the dollars that they got from government, and demand taxpayers get their money back. Mark Carney thanked the Auditor General for her service and noted that the company has been prohibited from government contracts for seven years, and that “Canada’s New Government™” would uphold higher standards. Brock blustered that ministers responsible for those “fraudulent” payments are still in Cabinet, and demanded taxpayers get their money back. Carney instead praised them for supporting their legislation on tax cuts. James Bezan took over and thundered about the AG report on the F-35 procurement, and the increased cost projections and delays to necessary infrastructure for the planes, and demanded that the ministers responsible be held to account. Carney in turn wondered if Bezan held himself to account for military funding falling below one percent when he was in the government, before patting himself on the back for the military funding announcement. Bezan sputtered and insisted that the Conservatives “delivered” for the military, and demanded to know why Anita Anand was still in his Cabinet, as he blamed her for the findings in the report. Carney instead delivered an ode to the Canadian industry that they would be featuring in this military rebuilding. Pierre Paul-Hus asked the same condemnation about the report and Anand in French, to which Carney pointed to this first action he took was to review the F-35 contract. Paul-Hus then turned to the ArriveCan portion of the report and the GC Strategies condemnation. Carney noted that an independent process suspended their ability to bid for contracts already.

Yves-François Blanchet said that the final carbon levy rebate was paid out before the money was collected, then Quebeckers were also owed a payment. Carney responded that while he was “proud” to cancel the levy, Quebec and BC have their own systems and didn’t pay into it. Blanchet tried a second time, and Carney repeated that they didn’t pay into it. Blanchet put a price that of $814 million on that, and Carney noted that Blanchet himself created Quebec’s carbon pricing system, and that their not getting a rebate was coherent.

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QP: More swipes before a confidence vote

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The PM was away in Halifax, and his deputy was elsewhere, and most of the other leaders were also away. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he accused the prime minister of a litany of economic sins, and demanded he stop raising taxes and “inflationary” spending. Arif Virani said that they were proud of their record and that the Fall Economic Statement would be released on Monday, and praised that inflation as on target and that interest rates have come down. Poilievre mocked that the government wants to bury their record, and wondered if the deficit would remain under target. Jonathan Wilkinson praised the GST cut on purpose-built rentals, and that they are building more houses than ever before. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his first question, and Virani got back up, but this time praised how their childcare programme has seen one of the largest rates of female participation in the labour force. Poilievre lied about debt causing inflation (ignoring the pandemic and the global supply shock), and again asked about the deficit target. Virani cited current and former Bank of Canada governors about the current inflation spike being tamed and how Harper muted the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis by cutting too quickly. Poilievre then said that in the spirit of non-partisanship, they took Jagmeet Singh’s words and put them in a non-confidence motion, and wondered if the prime minister was going to let the NDP to vote for the motion. The Speaker warned that this stretched what was permissible under the administration of government, but Karina Gould got up to point out that it was the Conservatives who muzzled their members.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and raised concerns about religion in schools in Quebec, and demanded the federal government stop “undermining” secularism in Quebec. Jean-Yves Duclos reminded him that education was a provincial matter. Therrien insisted that multiculturalism is what is undermining the ability to live together, and Duclos noted that there is strength in diversity before returning to the reminder that education is a provincial matter.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP to give an anecdote of the plight of a retiree in relation to the demand to extend the $250 “rebate” cheque. Virani got back up to pat himself on the back for their other programmes for seniors, including dental care. Singh retorted that Virani didn’t answer the question, before repeating it he demand in French. Virani said that they always fight against poverty, and the data shows progress.

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QP: Today’s slogan of “border disorder”

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Following all of the speculation and accusation about the dinner at Mar-a-Lago, the prime minister was finally present today, along with his deputy, as were most of the other leaders. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he said that regardless if you take the Trump’s threats seriously or believe them to be a negotiation tactic, he claimed Trudeau has “lost control” of everything and demanded an election. Justin Trudeau said that they had a good discussion that talked about the good work they can do together, and added a jab about voting against the tax “holiday.” Poilievre claimed that Trudeau’s “destructive” policies were a gift to Trump, and Trudeau again chided Poilievre from voting against the GST “holiday,” as well as programmes like dental care or school food. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his first question, and this time, Trudeau cautioned about taking too seriously the erroneous talking points the Americans have weaponised, and that it wasn’t responsible leadership. Poilievre said that his job was not to cover for Trudeau “breaking” things, and listed a bunch of non sequiturs, and Trudeau said that they were stepping up for Canadians, and again listed the things the Conservatives voted against. Poilievre dismissed the programmes, and railed about the carbon levy. Trudeau recited that the carbon rebates puts more money back in the pockets of eight out of ten Canadians.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he demanded a budgeted, detailed plan about the border. Trudeau said that they shared their immigration plan several weeks ago, and that they would continue to reduce the number of irregular migrants thanks to significant investments in staffing levels at the border. Blanchet said that they need a plan for the future, not the past, and listed other files he is concerned about, and wanted a Quebec representative in any future negotiations. Trudeau assured him that they did talk about trade, steel and aluminium, as well as softwood lumber on Friday, and that they will stand up for jobs.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, raised that Conservatives fired thousands of CBSA officers when they were in power, and wanted them all rehired, more hires on top of that, and their mandate expanded. Trudeau said that he agrees that the Conservatives only know how to cut, and listed other programmes they want to cut as well. Singh repeated the same in French, and closed with accusing Trudeau of coming back from the meeting empty-handed. Trudeau repeated that they have reinvested in the border, and have reduced the number of irregular arrivals.

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Roundup: The Speaker imposes the last of the Supply Days

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Yesterday began with the government’s attempt to let the opposition parties have their remaining Supply Days (aka “opposition days”) that remain in the supply cycle before the Estimates votes next week, and even though the Conservatives had indicated they were going to move a confidence motion that would force Jagmeet Singh to eat his words about the Liberals, being one giant dare. But when the Government House Leader Karina Gould moved the motion that would let this happen, that would give them a chance to move this confidence motion, the Conservatives decided against it in order to continue the privilege filibuster.

Later in the day, Speaker Greg Fergus decided to step in, given that the ability for the parties to work this out for themselves had clearly failed. To that end, he has imposed that the Supply Days will run Thursday, Monday and Tuesday for the Conservatives, with the Friday for the NDP, and that because Tuesday is the last day of the Supply Cycle, the Estimates votes will happen then. This ensures that the parties get their allotted days (the Bloc already had theirs before the privilege filibuster began), and the Conservatives will have their chances to try and embarrass the other opposition parties into voting non-confidence, the NDP won’t oblige them, and the NDP’s motion will likely be something related to abortion in their own attempt to embarrass the Conservatives, because nobody can be mature about any of this.

I will say that I’m a little surprised that Fergus made this move, because he very well could have used this as something of a “learning opportunity” for the parties—that because they refused to come to a deal about these days that they would lose them because they didn’t use them. But that actually would have been the bigger surprise, because Fergus isn’t exactly a very strong-willed Speaker. As for the Conservatives, one suspects that they turned down the motion in order to push the envelope, so that they could cry foul and try and challenge Fergus if they did lose those days, and send out more fundraising emails that he’s being partisan (which is against the rules), and to try and play the victim. Andrew Scheer was already trying to denounce these moves, but nothing he says has any semblance of truth, so that’s no surprise. Nevertheless, there won’t be a crisis of Supply, government departments won’t shut down, and Canadian journalists won’t get the opportunity to excitedly write about a “U.S.-style government shutdown.”

Ukraine Dispatch

Another Russian drone attack on Trenopil has left it without electricity. And while president Zelenskyy is hoping for quick NATO membership as an avenue to ending the war, NATO members are unlikely to take him up on it.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1863186805463437571

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QP: Revisionist history about CEBA

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Neither the prime minister nor his deputy were present, and neither were most of the other leaders. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he raised the Auditor General’s report, and the $3.5 billion that was given to businesses that didn’t qualify for the CEBA loan programme, and the fact that the government subcontracted out its administration, claiming this was a loss of control and corruption. Rechie Valdez, in English, retorted that during COVID, Poilievre said that they don’t believe in these kinds of supports, while the government stood up for small businesses. Poilievre said that this report shows that he was right all along, and Arif Virani, in French, listed the help they have given businesses, including the carbon levy rebates (finally) being returned to them and the GST “holiday” (which most businesses are not really thrilled about). Poilievre switched to English to repeat his first question, and Valdez cited Conservative MPs who wrote her office to advocate for the loan programme. Poilievre said his members champion constituents who are eligible for the programme, not those who weren’t, and pivoted to another report on food insecurity, and misleadingly blamed the carbon levy. Jenna Sudds praised the work of food banks and cited from the report that praised government efforts for seniors. Poilievre cited the faux talking point about food price increases in Canada versus the U.S., and demanded once again to kill the carbon levy, and Karina Gould cited the ways he has voted against Canadians, that they gave him an opposition day to make his case and he turned it down, which was a sign of his own weak leaders.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and raised the Auditor General’s report that they are not tracking the data for support for seniors, and used this to demand more aid for them. Steven MacKinnon retorted that the Bloc have voted against seniors at every opportunity. Therrien again demanded more aid for seniors, and MacKinnon again listed programmes that the Bloc voted against, calling it “shocking.”

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, and in French, worried about the Trump tariffs and accused Trudeau of coming home empty-handed. Dominic LeBlanc agreed the tariffs would be destructive, which his why they spoke to their American counterparts about the integration of the economy. Blake Desjarlais repeated the same in English, and LeBlanc responded much the same way.

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Roundup: Emissions cap unveiled

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At long last, the federal government unveiled their long-awaited oil and gas emissions cap draft regulations, mandating that they reduce emissions by 35 percent by 2032, with the expectation that much of these reductions are going to come in the form of reducing methane emissions—much of which is already underway—and that production is still expected to rise by 16 percent over those eight years. (Five things to know about the proposal here). For an industry that insists that it’s going to be “Net Zero” by 2050, this would seem like an achievable milestone to get there along the way, but apparently not.

Danielle Smith had a meltdown and started threatening legal action, but can’t exactly articulate on what basis that would be. Certain newspaper columnists posited that she could somehow invoke the Notwithstanding Clause, which doesn’t apply to this sort of situation in any way, shape or form (and should be disqualifying for someone writing in a newspaper with a six-figure salary).

Industry insists this is going to kill them, but they’ve been promising reductions for decades and have taken plenty of government money to help them fulfil those promises that they are now insisting are impossible. So…at what point do we start calling them on their own bullshit? If their plan is to hope that there will be magical technology by 2050 that will painlessly reduce their emission for them, well, that’s their problem. They made these promises, and it’s time they show how they’re going to live up to them.

Ukraine Dispatch

There was another Russian air attack made against Kyiv overnight, but it’s too early to tell how much damage was caused. South Korea’s defence ministry now estimates more than 10,000 North Korean troops are in Russia, but the Pentagon cannot confirm if they are currently fighting in the Kursk region.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1853389611604615191

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Roundup: Senators won’t be pushed around

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The Bloc Québécois are trying to sweeten their demand for their two private members’ bills to pass before October 29th, saying they will help end the current filibuster in the House of Commons if the government does. Couple of small problems there—one is that the Senate can’t speed passage of any private members’ bills, no matter how much MPs or even the government strongly encourages them to; and the second is that the government isn’t going to give a royal recommendation to their OAS bill, because they absolutely don’t want to set a precedent there.

Nevertheless, Mary Ng wrote a letter to Senator Peter Boehm, who chairs the committee studying the Supply Management bill, urging him to speed it along, and it was co-signed by a few MPs from different parties, no doubt to try and demonstrate that they all care about this. Boehm, rightly, responded by telling them to go pound sand. The committee estimates it’ll get to clause-by-clause of the bill in the first week of November, because that’s how long it’ll take, end of story. And let me reiterate once again—there is no mechanism in the Senate to fast-track private members’ bills, and that’s for very good reason. In fact, during the Harper years, they tried to rewrite the Senate rules to allow for it to happen—in part because they were moving some odious legislation through as private members’ bills instead of government bills for various reasons (including the fact that PMBs get very little study and are automatically time-allocated so they can’t really be filibustered), and enough senators pushed back on that attempt that it didn’t happen. Again, for good reason.

As for the Bloc’s frankly boneheaded suggestion that the prime minister needs to get on the phone to order senators “that he appointed” around undermines the entire institutional independence of the Upper Chamber. They are appointed in such a way as to make them largely immune to this kind of political pressure for very good reason, and this is proving that very point. By that logic, should the prime minister be phoning up judges that they appointed in order to pressure them to deciding cases in a particular way? How about the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court? This extended tantrum they’re throwing is embarrassing for them, particularly when it began as a ham-fisted attempt at blackmail that it turns out they weren’t very good at.

Ukraine Dispatch

Three people, including a child, were killed in a Russian drone strike in Sumy. The UN estimates that the Ukrainian population has declined by ten million since the start of the invasion, a combination of people being displaced and war deaths. Ukraine has been targeting alcohol plants in Russia over the past several days. With news that North Korea is sending troops to fight with Russians, South Korea is now considering sending weapons to Ukraine.

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