Parliamentary Speeches

Madam Speaker, I was thinking of doing the play-by-play of the Riders and Bombers here today because it is their big playoff game on Saturday. I know those back home in Saskatchewan are looking forward to Saturday afternoon. I see members on the other side who are Argos fans. We will see if the Argos can make it to the Grey Cup this year. I thank the member for mentioning Reg “Crash” Harrison. He has gone through a lot. He is a hero in this country. He is 102 years old, or I should say 102 years young. He believes in this country. I know if he was the member of Parliament for Saskatoon—Grasswood, he would agree that the Liberals should show us the unredacted documents so we can move on with our agenda here in the House.

Yes, Madam Speaker, the member for Windsor West and I have worked on a number of things together and I have the utmost respect for him. In nine short years, there has been SNC-Lavalin, the Winnipeg labs, the WE Charity, the arrive scam and the green slush fund. I have missed about five or six others. The concern I have right now is that Canadians, not only in Windsor but everywhere, are hurting. Everybody in the last week or so has talked about food bank lineups of over two million people a month, and $400 million is unaccounted for. What would the member do in Windsor with $400 million? What would the member for Saskatoon—Grasswood do with $400 million in the community? We would do quite a bit. This is a sizable amount of money. It is the biggest scandal in the last nine years that we know of. It could be bigger than $400 million, who knows, because the unredacted papers have not gone where they should go, and that is to the RCMP.

Madam Speaker, Murray Sinclair passed away earlier this week and there is a lot of work in this country with respect to reconciliation. I remember going to Prairieland Park and listening to Murray. He did a wonderful job. I was so happy that former prime minister Harper appointed him to look after the reconciliation. Murray went to several communities in this country. It was absolutely jammed at Prairieland Park. We could hear a pin drop on the floor when he spoke. This is disturbing because the week that Murray Sinclair passed, the Liberals all of a sudden now are hearing some rumours of the employment minister along with his company involved in procurement, which is a major story if this is true. All across this country, we believe in indigenous issues. We want to see them do a bit better financially and we have a plan, when we become government, to help aid the indigenous, the Métis and the Inuit in this country.

Madam Speaker, whistle-blowers revealed everything in all of this. They came to committee and they felt free to talk about what they had seen. Whistle-blower legislation is very important. We stand with the whistle-blowers in this country because they should have the freedom to come to committees and talk about what they are seeing with the current government and the money that is not going where it should be going. I support every whistle-blower. It takes a lot of courage; I am going to say that. It is not easy being a whistle-blower in this country. They are in the line of fire because not only are they trying to get things right, but employees around them may look the other way. Certainly the government of the day does not believe in whistle-blowers because they are showing the corruption of the current Liberal government.

Madam Speaker, we have been trying to move on for weeks. It is simple: Produce the papers and we will move on. Canadians want that. The government has run out of ideas. That is why the members of the government do not want to show the unredacted papers. It is pretty obvious, standing over here, when we go home and listen to Canadians, that the Liberals are out of ideas. Of course the Liberals are going to continue this for weeks and months because they are out of ideas. They are tired and Canadians want a new government.

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to stand in the House today on behalf of the Conservative members on the Standing Committee of Canadian Heritage. We submit this dissenting report on the tech giants' use of intimidation tactics to evade regulation in Canada and across the world. The main report failed to adequately explore the state of censorship in Canada, as well as the roles played by tech giants and the current federal government. This dissenting report is required. I should say that the committee got to hear from 18 witnesses over the course of the study. Many of those testimonies expressed the censorship of Canadians by the government and tech giants in terms of what they can see, hear and say online, with specific nods to the hindrances being caused by both Bill C-11 and Bill C-18.

Madam Speaker, we are talking about $400 million here, which is a big number. We all know the cost of living is up. We all know food banks in this country have seen lineups out the door. The carbon tax is a big issue and so is housing. I mean, the member comes from B.C., and B.C. has one of the highest housing costs in the entire world, not the country, the world. However, this $8-billion budget overrun, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, is not helping Canadians with the cost of living. I would say to the member from B.C., with the highest cost of living in the entire world, we can blame the Liberals, and everyone in B.C. knows the problem, certainly in your hometown of Abbotsford.

Mr. Speaker, I know the member for Winnipeg North likes to quote The Hill Times. I am going to quote Canada's national newspaper, The Globe and Mail. Two weeks ago today, The Globe and Mail said the Conservatives are right and the Liberals are wrong; the redacted documents should be presented in Parliament; and the Liberals have held everything up. This is Canada's national newspaper, not The Hill Times. I wonder if the member for Barrie—Innisfil would like to comment on Canada's national newspaper supporting the Conservative Party of Canada in asking for the unredacted documents from the Liberal Party.

Mr. Speaker, I move that the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, presented on Tuesday, December 12, 2023, be concurred in. It will be interesting to talk today about the concurrence motion coming out of the heritage committee. I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Battle River—Crowfoot. I have been on the heritage committee for years now, but last month I asked my constituents of Saskatoon—Grasswood for their views on the public broadcaster, the CBC. It was in response to the CBC paying out bonuses that added up to over $18 million, which were approved by the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the Privy Council. Of that sum, $3.3 million went directly to CBC executives. Forty-five executives had their hands in the pocket of that $3.3 million, and it averaged out to $73,000 each for one year in bonuses. I could not believe the number. I see that even some Liberals are shaking their heads. They cannot believe that number either just for the executives. I asked in a mail-out what we should do going forward with the CBC. Should we do nothing or keep it as is? Should we keep the CBC but make some changes, or simply defund it? Defunding the CBC has been the narrative of this party for months, if not a year and a half now, and for very good reason. I had literally hundreds of responses. It was probably the best response I have had in the nine years I have been a member of Parliament. Some 86.5% were in support of overhauling or even defunding the entire operation of the CBC. CBC CEO Catherine Tait admitted recently, about two weeks ago, that Canadians want to defund the CBC entirely. She was caught off guard that Canadians were talking about defunding her operation. She said that maybe she should have responded sooner to the public's outcry on how the corporation is compensated by the federal government. In its corporate plan summary, tabled in the House of Commons, the CBC said viewers are leaving television, especially young people. They are going to streaming devices and have been doing so for many years. That is certainly not a surprise. However, a big surprise to me was the ad revenue. It has dropped another 9.6% in the last 12 months, which is a concern. I think trust in the CBC News organization, as we have seen across this country, has also dropped. Here we have trust, viewership and revenue dropping, but what did not drop? The bonuses did not drop, surprise, surprise. In the last year, $18 million was handed out, and when Ms. Tait came before the heritage committee for the third time, she talked about the key performance indicators, better known as KPIs. She said that those determine the bonus structure. Amazingly, despite viewership, revenue and trust dropping, the bonuses remained. Why? Well, the CBC honchos, in their wisdom, decided to lower the key standards from a year ago so they could justify the rich bonuses. Only CBC executives would huddle up and determine that despite everything going down, they needed to protect their bonuses. They agreed to this and the Liberals bought in, agreeing to $18 million for the top-up. Since 2018, CBC viewership has collapsed nearly 50% and the CBC has failed to meet 79% of its key performance targets. Did I mention that the executives who got these bonuses were the same ones responsible a little over a year ago for cutting 800 jobs? These cuts amounted to about 10% of the entire workforce of CBC/Radio-Canada. The federal government, as we know, compensates the CBC. It gives the CBC about $1.3 billion a year, so the public broadcaster, to me, already has a head start over the private broadcasters in this country. It does not stop there. It is even worse, believe it or not. The CBC was given millions in last year's fall economic statement. It was 21 million gift dollars last year, and another $21 million this year. On top of that, it generates about $400 million in ads, even though, as I just talked about, ad revenue is going down. Canadians need to understand that their government is choosing to give more than $1.3 billion to a company that already makes $400 million in advertising. Canadians are tired of their money being spent on bonuses for absolutely dismal performance. I questioned CBC/Radio-Canada's CEO at the Canadian heritage committee. Hundreds wrote in to us and others and took to social media to express their dismay about the arrogance and entitlement at a time when so many are hurting in this country. It is astonishing. One person said, “These elites live in their own bubble, protected from us by their entitlements and their social status. They simply do not care what we think, and are shocked that we would speak up against them. It is time to clean out the corrupt federal bureaucracy the Liberals have built.” Broadcasters need to have accountability and fairness for people to have trust in them. How can Canadians possibly have any faith in an institution that rewards its executives after cutting hundreds of jobs in the last year? Canadians are tired of seeing their taxpayer funds mismanaged by the Prime Minister and his cabinet. It is no wonder nobody trusts the government anymore with their money. The Liberals fail to see that Canadians are struggling in every aspect of their lives. Their response is that they will give $18 million to the CBC, to their corporate buddies, at a time when a record number of Canadians are heading to food banks. In my city of Saskatoon, there was an outcry yesterday by the Saskatoon Food Bank, which is asking the public for help, as it is running out of the most essential items it gives out. The Saskatoon Food Bank has seen a 40% increase since 2019, in five short years, yet the CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada believes it is appropriate to ask for millions of dollars in bonuses for executives after letting hundreds go. It is arrogance and is absolute tone-deafness. The CBC was failing to deliver all along on its key performance indicators, so it just changed the indicators. It lowered them from the year before and thought nobody would notice. Well, we noticed, and obviously Canadians have noticed. The government has no remorse about giving out massive amounts of money, simply handing it out no questions asked. It is handing money over to the public broadcaster rather than supporting small and medium-sized newspapers. That was the issue with Bill C-18, some may recall. It was a bill designed to help the newspaper industry, but telcos and the CBC, the public broadcaster, took it over. They thought they were going to get millions of dollars. It ended up that Google said it would give them under $100 million and they could disburse it, but there we go again. It was the CBC with its hands out; it was right there. The Liberal government is absolutely out of touch and the CBC is out of touch That leads me to its CEO, Catherine Tait, who was appointed by the government in 2018. Since taking over, viewership, as I mentioned, has been cut in half. What worries me now is that Catherine Tait has not had a bonus in 2022-23—

Madam Speaker, this is what really worries me. As Ms. Tait has less than three months left as CEO of CBC and has not taken any bonuses in the last two years, here is my prediction: She will bolt from the position in January and take two and a half years of bonuses. We will never hear from her again. The public needs a response. Do members know what? Conservatives are right on this. As common-sense Conservatives, we will clean up the mess created by the heritage minister and the Liberal government. Call the carbon tax election now.

Madam Speaker, the issue is the CBC bonuses. I know that the member does not want to talk about the bonuses. I know that he does not want to talk about them because the Liberals paid out $18 million. They have given CBC $1.3 billion. It has been a cash cow for the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the Privy Council. That is why they do not want to talk about it. They know Canadians are upset; they are lined up at the food bank every day, yet $73,000 is going to—

Madam Speaker, the Bloc member is absolutely correct. CBC/Radio-Canada is a very good institution. It has done very good work in this country, especially in the province of Quebec, yet when it started cutting the 800 employees with CBC, the first place it looked was the province of Quebec and CBC/Radio-Canada. The most successful of the operations of CBC is CBC/Radio-Canada. Where did it start the cuts? It started there instead of talking about television. It does not measure up at all in western Canada in television. The government and the CEO are out of touch. We cannot wait to correct their mistakes.

Madam Speaker, the member for Windsor West and I have worked together on several private members' bills in the House of Commons, but the topic here is the bonuses; there was $18 million handed out last year when the corporation cut over 800 jobs. How arrogant that was. I watched an interview that CEO Catherine Tait did with Arsenault on CBC, and it was astonishing that CBC's CEO had little remorse for the 800 jobs leaving, but boy did she want to fill her pockets and her executive table, which she has done in the last year.

Madam Speaker, it is interesting that when CBC made its cuts last year, it started in Quebec. CBC/Radio-Canada had 25% listenership in the province of Quebec, and yet CBC executives decided to hit CBC/Radio-Canada first, with 800 employees losing their jobs. Some $18 million was presented in bonuses, with $3.3 million going to executives. I know my friend from Drummond has been on the heritage committee for a long time, but when Google came out with $100 million to help the industry, guess who was at the trough first? It was CBC, who he complained about being at the trough with Google. I would like the hon. member for Drummond to talk about Google and CBC again putting their hands in the public broadcaster trying to get more money out of the public.

Madam Speaker, we cannot justify the bonuses. There is no way. The Liberal member is even questioning his own party, the Prime Minister and the Privy Council. The bonus structure came to cabinet and the Minister of Canadian Heritage rubber-stamped it for $18 million, $3.3 million of which went to CBC executives, averaging over $70,000 for each executive member. The member from Manitoba has always complained about CBC coverage in northern Manitoba. I come from TV, and APTN picked up what the CBC should have. APTN saw a need for indigenous broadcasting, which CBC avoided for decades. That is why we have APTN today. I wonder if the member from Manitoba would like to comment on APTN, which is stationed in Winnipeg.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for the Bloc, who spent hours, along with other Conservatives and me, on the safe sport committee. It has been a failure since day one. The government is clearly trying to support Sport Canada, which has never done its job; it never checks in with the 62 national sport organizations. That was evident with the sexual assault charge against Hockey Canada in London, Ontario in 2018. Then the government added the OSIC. That is another layer of bureaucracy that is now doing the work that Sport Canada should have been doing all along. To the member from the Bloc who put this concurrence motion forward today, what are his thoughts on what the government should do with Sport Canada? My own thoughts are to disband it altogether.

Madam Speaker, I have been involved in sports for some 45 years. I have enjoyed it and seen a lot, but how dare the Liberals suggest that we should keep funding an organization that contributes to a culture of abuse in sports? Here is part of the issue I have. In the spring of 2018, the then sports minister proposed, and in fact held a news conference, that the government was going to roll out a new safe sport agenda for Canada. Good for the minister. However, within probably two weeks, one of the biggest sex assault scandals in sport in this country took place in hockey. Sport Canada, which was in charge, failed to even follow up with Hockey Canada. We heard nothing from Sport Canada, which should have suspended funding immediately. That is its mandate, and it was not following through on its mandate. It stayed silent and did nothing until May 2022. Why? It is because a prominent sports reporter broke the story about the sexual assault allegations from the Hockey Canada gala in London, Ontario, which had actually taken place four years earlier. Only when Sport Canada was embarrassed by its lack of due diligence, I believe, did it even begin to take half-hearted measures to manage the crisis. At the time, Sport Canada funded hockey. Canada did absolutely nothing. The government proved its incompetence and its unwillingness, I believe, to support safe sport in this country. Then we found out that Hockey Canada paid out, from a slush fund, $3.5 million as a settlement to a woman known as E.M. We found out in testimony from Hockey Canada that it had an equity fund. It was actually set up long before, to take money from hockey membership registrations paid by parents, just to cover uninsured liabilities that included sexual abuse claims. Again, where was Sport Canada? This is the issue I have. Understandably, minor hockey parents in this country were livid about the allegations of Hockey Canada's taking registration money and putting it into the fund. It paid out $7.9 million for nine claims out of the national equity fund. Of that, $6.8 million was for the settlement related to Graham James in my home province of Saskatchewan when he was head coach of the Swift Current Broncos. The government set up the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner to investigate complaints in a timely and impartial fashion. However, we have received numerous anonymous calls to my office here in Ottawa from individuals, parents and athletes who are concerned that the rules are not being complied with in a timely manner by OSIC. That is right; my office is receiving anonymous calls because people are very concerned about the repercussions of even speaking out about abuse. Sport Canada was told it must hold national sports organizations, all 62 of them, accountable. However, it is silent. We know from the Hockey Canada debacle in 2018 that it failed to do this. Sport Canada is not fulfilling its mandate. We also heard from a number of members of the Canadian women's soccer team on their concerns about pay equity. It has affected their training and preparation for World Cup matches. Again there has been nothing from Sport Canada. The funds must be fully accounted for and transparency must be disclosed, which it has not been. Since only national sports organizations are captured by the Office of the Sport Integrity Commission, OSIC, it is now essentially doing the job that Sport Canada was asked to do for many decades. That is the issue I brought up earlier: Sport Canada is not fulfilling its mandate. OSIC is another level of bureaucracy by the Liberal federal government, which has spent millions of dollars to set up safe sport in Canada, to the embarrassment of Sport Canada. We would think in this country that is where we should start the conversation about safe sport. How does anyone know, when they drop off their children at soccer, ringette or hockey, that they are safe? It is provincial jurisdiction, and all the sport organizations do is ask for a police check of the coaches and volunteers. We know that every organization in this country is grappling with the lack of volunteers. Many organizations will take anybody from the sidelines; they simply invite them onto the field or the ice. The disappointment is that the heritage minister knew of the 39 recommendations, still funded Hockey Canada and funded only six recommendations.

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to stand in the House today to speak to this issue. It was in the spring that I walked here with our shadow minister of innovation, and he said, “Kevin, I'm on the cusp of a big story.” This was in March. We were walking from the Confederation Building over to West Block and he said it was going to shake the country. He did not say much else. The member for South Shore—St. Margarets told me back in March about this green slush fund, which I did not really know anything about. In fact, I do not think Canadians had heard about the green slush fund until probably June. It is called green for a reason, I can see, as the Liberals have filled their pockets. It is appropriate that we call it the green slush fund. I was walking over in March when the innovation shadow minister told me to think about this: He said it would rock Canada because it was way bigger than the sponsorship scandal of the Chrétien government, when $42 million was handed off to many advertising agencies and Liberal friends. We all remember the golf balls being presented at the time. The total bill was $42 million. Today, we are talking about 10 times that amount, $400 million. When the member for South Shore—St. Margarets told me that in March, little did I realize that, wow, it was 10 times the $42 million of the sponsorship scandal, which, by the way, took the Liberals down in defeat. Now this is way bigger. When I walked over to the House with the member, I said that Saturday was my ninth anniversary as a member of Parliament. I was elected in 2015. It was bittersweet then because the Harper government had lost in 2015, but we retained the seat in Saskatoon—Grasswood.

As I was saying, Mr. Speaker, Saturday marked my ninth year as a member of Parliament, which is bittersweet because the Conservatives lost the government that year. What is interesting is that Sustainable Development Technology Canada was a pretty good organization. It was started in 2001. It did a lot of good work in energy, agriculture, transportation and cutting greenhouse emissions. Jim Balsillie was once the chair of SDTC. It was run pretty well until the Liberals took over and filled the board with their cronies. In 2017, all of a sudden, Sustainable Development Technology Canada changed. As I mark my ninth anniversary, I look at the scandals of the government. Almost immediately, that Christmas, we had the Aga Khan, with the Prime Minister taking that paid vacation. Later, there was SNC-Lavalin, one of the biggest controversies we have had in the last nine years in the House. There was the Winnipeg lab; the WE Charity, which cost the former finance minister his job; and the arrive scam, when $60 million was paid for an app that should have cost maybe $80,000 to produce. Now we have another one, the green slush fund. In nine years, we cannot count how many scandals the Liberal government has been involved in. We are on day 12 of this debate. The Liberals, of course, are refusing to obey an order of the House, which would permit the distribution of the documents regarding a $400-million scandal. Canadians have seen countless scandals in the last nine years, and I have mentioned a number of them already. However, this one reaches new heights that we have never seen in the House of Commons. The Liberals have gone to tremendous lengths to make sure the public, the RCMP and even the House do not obtain access to these documents that would expose the injustice done at SDTC. Sustainable Development Technology Canada turned into a slush fund for Liberal insiders. The program was made to give away taxpayer dollars to green technology initiatives, some even in my province of Saskatchewan. It is important to note that the government was directly in charge of appointing the board members of this fund. This means the Prime Minister would have personally appointed some of those board members. What happened to those Liberal insiders who directed funds meant for green technology toward, unfortunately, their own companies, totalling $400 million and 186 conflicts of interest? Those were 186 incidents where money from taxpayers, like us, could have gone to help many families in this country, a good portion of whom, in fact, are dealing with the cost of living. We could have helped small businesses in this country stay afloat. Instead, the money was funnelled to companies with ties to senior Liberal officials. Furthermore, the Auditor General found that, on top of those staggering numbers, $58 million was given to companies that were not eligible for the fund. There were 10 ineligible projects, and I have them right here, totalling $58,784,613. That means not only that taxpayer money was given to people who should not have received a single nickel, but that $58 million plus was given to those who should never have been considered for the fund. It is ridiculous. The current Prime Minister's Canada is where so many are now forced to line up at food banks, including in my city, with over 20,000 a month in a city and a province that feeds the world. What has happened in this country in the last nine years is disgusting. Let us think about that. I met with SARM, the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, this morning. My province feeds the world, yet when we look at Saskatchewan these nine years out, from 2015 to 2024, there are lineups in every community for food because of the cost of living. We wonder about the contracts that were given out to Liberal insiders. It is important to note some of those 186 conflicts of interest just to give Canadians an idea of the Liberal corruption we are seeing today. There was a board member appointed to the green slush fund way back in 2016. Interestingly, that was a year after the election. The board member runs a venture capital firm called Cycle Capital. Her company received a total of $250 million from the green slush fund. Some of that came before she was even a member, but $118 million came to companies that she had invested in while she was on the board. The value of her company, amazingly, tripled when she was there. The Minister of Environment was a strategic adviser for Cycle Capital from 2009 right up to 2018 before joining the cabinet. In fact, he also owned shares in that company, which is interesting since the company got so much money from the green slush fund. The green slush fund director Stephen Kukucha previously worked for a Liberal environment minister and as an organizer for the Liberal Party on behalf of the Prime Minister in B.C. That is how someone gets a job on the board of the green slush fund. Unsurprisingly, companies in which he had financial interests received $5 million from the fund. Even worse, when questioned in a committee hearing, he downplayed the issue by stating that it was just a small amount of money, no big deal at all. It was $5 million, but it was no big deal to the Liberal insiders. That is the attitude of the government and of the board of SDTC. A lot of us have been on boards. We have taken governance training. I was part of Johnson Shoyama, a group out of Regina. I cannot believe they were not scolded long before this. These are board members who, when they were put onto a board, went through governance training. They should not be in the room at all when there are votes on certain issues dealing with companies they are associated with. Why are we surprised? The finance minister stood in the House and said the budget would not exceed $40 billion this year. We are into mid-October and we are at $47 billion. Nothing surprises us. We are already 17% over budget in the middle of October. Liberals know how to spend. They know how to spend to keep their friends happy. This is ridiculous. I think Sustainable Development Technology Canada, 20 years ago, was put in place when we needed it. It was for innovation. I look at my province of Saskatchewan with regard to agriculture. Saskatchewan companies are the most innovative in the world when it comes to agriculture, and the SDTC fund certainly helped them. They continue to be among the best in the world. They do not need government money to be innovative. Our companies are doing it on their own. Insider favouritism, at the expense of taxpayers, has become all too common with the Liberal government. One thing is for sure: It really pays to be a Liberal insider. We have seen it with all the violations: the WE Charity, the arrive scam and SNC-Lavalin, along with SDTC. However, this is $400 million. This is not a chunk of change. This is $400 million of taxpayers' money. What could we do with that? We could do a lot in this country. It is only fair to assume the Liberals do not want to comply with the will of the House in order to cover up this scandal. The Speaker has ruled that this failure to adhere to the will of Parliament constitutes a breach of privilege, which is why all business in the House has been stalled now for 12 days. Canadians from coast to coast to coast have a right to know what is inside the documents and what the Liberals are trying to hide. Conservatives want to see the documents released not only to give Canadians answers, but also because the RCMP has concluded there are reasonable grounds to believe an offence under the Criminal Code may have been committed. The people of Saskatoon—Grasswood who send their hard-earned tax dollars here want to know where that money went. They want to know where the $400 million is. We have 10 ineligible projects, totalling $58 million. There were 90 cases where conflict of interest policies were not followed; that was $75 million. All totalled here, it is $390 million. I was looking over the testimony by one of the whistle-blowers, who said: I know that the federal government, like the minister, has continued saying that there was no criminal intent and nothing was found, but I think the committee would agree that they're not to be trusted on this situation. I would happily agree to whatever the findings are by the RCMP, but I would say that I wouldn't trust that there isn't any criminality unless the RCMP is given full authority to investigate. To give “full authority” would be to give the papers over. That was part of the whistle-blower's comments, whom we commend for stepping up and helping this country defend $400 million of taxpayers' money given to Liberal insiders. It is unreal that this has taken place in Canada. I read an interesting article. I know a lot of my friends on the other side probably will not agree with this, but I am going to quote it. Canada's national newspaper, The Globe and Mail, stated: The most outrageous show of contempt has been the government’s months-long refusal to hand Parliament a complete set of documents that they were ordered to produce in a motion passed by the House last June. The Liberals argue that the production order goes too far.... More importantly,...were the reference to the RCMP not in the order, the Liberals would find other excuses— They have, Mr. Speaker. —not to hand over documents about Sustainable Development Technology Canada — or to release only some of them, with heavy redactions, as it has done so far. That’s because the federal Ethics Commissioner and the Auditor-General both found dozens of cases where SDTC handed out grants totalling tens of millions of dollars without following conflict-of-interest guidelines. This is an editorial in The Globe and Mail, Canada's national newspaper, not the Conservative Party of Canada. This is a well-respected media outlet in this country. According to The Globe and Mail: ...the government has no choice but to turn them over. The House has the absolute power to order the production of government documents, and only it can decide if the order has been respected – as the Speaker ruled on Sept. 26. The Globe and Mail editorial states: The power to order the production of documents is essential to Parliament’s role as a check on the government. Without it, it cannot do the work it was created to do. The Liberal government’s efforts to subvert that power is a direct attack on Parliament and a show of contempt for the institution. That was from the editorial board for The Globe and Mail, last Thursday. Canadians know this is far from the first scandal of the current government. I named nine or 10 already that were in the nine years that I have been here. They include SNC-Lavalin, Winnipeg labs and WE Charity. We had a number of ventilators by a former Liberal MP, Frank Baylis, that came through here. I know my colleagues on the other side of the House like to think this is just incompetence on the government's part and has nothing to do with them. Let me remind them that the government is supposed to be accountable, and every one of the ministers is supposed to be accountable for their departments. Let me make them aware that taxpayers in this country are watching the people involved and making sure taxpayer money is spent correctly without corruption. The Minister of Innovation, who the Auditor General said was at fault, is clearly not being accountable for his actions in this case. If these actions are criminal, like the RCMP has indicated they could be, would this not be a cover-up of criminality? The whole scandal could end if the Liberals simply hand over the unredacted documents today. If the RCMP finds nothing of value in the documents, then so be it. Then we move on to Randy versus Randy. That is another one that we are going to be talking about in the House very shortly. Over a span of five years, the board approved 405 transactions. Out of those, the auditor found 186 conflicts of interest, which equals about 82%. That means that in 82% of the examined transactions, individuals gained from their own decisions to sign over the money. This lack of oversight, as highlighted by the Auditor General, has allowed for more conflicts of interest to persist without even being addressed, ultimately contributing to a very serious ethical lapse within the government's handling of these transactions. Canadians have a right to know where $390 million has gone. They pay their hard-earned taxes, each and every one of them, and it is deplorable how the government has wasted that $390 million. Not one of the Liberals has stood up in the House in the last 12 days to talk about government waste, and this is a form of a violation. We need to have those documents sent to the RCMP, unredacted. It needs to see them, and we can move on to another corruption that I think the House will deal with, and that is Randy versus Randy.

Mr. Speaker, there is no confidence anymore in the country. The member is from Nepean. I look at the Toronto condo industry right now, which has collapsed. Why? It has absolutely no faith in the government. It has destroyed the housing industry in nine short years. We have tents cities in every city. It is deplorable. When I walk down Bank Street in Ottawa, I see our big friend Mike outside in his tent. We all talk to him. He used to be from Saskatchewan. Has the member ever stopped and asked him why he has been in that tent for the last three years? I have. He has a tent and his dog. He cannot afford anything. Canadians cannot afford anything. Two million-plus Canadians are lining up at a food bank, and that member thinks we are okay right now. I really cannot see it. Canadians are hurting more than they have ever hurt under the Liberal government.

Mr. Speaker, if I could be a fly on the wall in the Liberal caucus meeting tomorrow we might know. The Prime Minister has not been here for weeks. He is facing a revolt within his own caucus. The Liberals are 20 points down in the polls. Do they want to be here? Probably not, but two or three of them are here talking about this. They should hand over the documents so we can move on. A government bill has not been debated in the House for over two weeks, and it appears Liberals are in no hurry to do that, which is a crime for all Canadians. It is not the fault of opposition members. It is the government's fault that it has not sent the unredacted documents to the RCMP so we can move on.

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo has done a great job on this. As I said, the sponsorship scandal back in the day was $42 million and all Canadians gasped. What are they saying about this? It is 10 times the amount, $400 million. We do not know all the specifics because the Liberals will not hand over the documents to the RCMP. All we are asking is they hand over the unredacted documents to the RCMP, and then we can move on. Canadians deserve to know where $390,072,774 went.

Mr. Speaker, I would say one thing for the hon. member for Winnipeg North, and that is to call a carbon tax election. The government does not want to hand over any of the documents or tell Canadians where the $390 million went. The Conservatives and the RCMP have an idea where it went. The Auditor General has an idea where it went. It went to the Liberals' friends, and they are embarrassed about it. Obviously, they do not want to provide the documents because it would be troubling not only for those involved in their companies but for the Liberal Party of Canada and the government.

Mr. Speaker, what is at stake is the 186 ethical violations of this organization, which started out very well in 2001. I talked about a lot of good things that Sustainable Development Technology Canada did. However, since the Liberals took over and filled the board with their Liberal cronies, we are seeing some issues. There are 186 ethical violations, totalling $390 million. Canadians deserve an answer.

Mr. Speaker, all I have to say is that Canadians are hurting. I go everywhere in my riding. I go to rinks and the legion and I door knock. In fact, we are having a provincial election right now. It is funny, because Scott Moe, who is the premier, is not running against the provincial NDP. He is running against the national NDP and the Liberals, and he is going to win next Monday on that. People in my province are fed up with the federal Liberals and the NDP, and on Monday, we will see what happens in my province. They will be returned again. Mr. Bill Waiser wrote a wonderful editorial today in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix. This will be a historic election win for the Saskatchewan Party on Monday night.

Madam Speaker, I will share my time tonight with the member for Battlefords—Lloydminster. I am pleased to rise on behalf of the people of Saskatoon—Grasswood here tonight to speak about this concurrence in committee report. Canadians have sent a clear message to the government: They are struggling to keep up with the cost of living and are not getting the support they need. In the middle of this historic cost of living crisis, the Prime Minister decided to hike the carbon tax by 23%. This is just one step in his plan to quadruple the carbon tax over the next six years, a tax that will continue to increase the cost of food for all Canadians. The panicking Liberals are back to resorting to every trick in the book, trying desperately to prevent farmers from getting a carbon tax carve-out for grain drying, barn heating and other farm operations. The amendment would be another blow to the wallets of Canadians. It would reduce fresh produce availability by some fifty per cent, while costing the industry a remarkable $5.6 billion. I want to talk tonight about how the government and the industry can fight back against rising food price volatility. I come from the province of Saskatchewan, where people are proud to say that we feed the world. However, times are now changing desperately for producers in the province, as costs have soared under the Liberal-NDP government. As chair of the Saskatchewan caucus, I can say that we have had extensive talks with SARM, which is the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities. During our talks with President Ray Orb and the entire board at SARM, they brought up the inflationary pressures from the government that are simply killing rural Saskatchewan. The carbon tax, which had increased by 23% as of April 1, led to SARM members' writing letters to every member on the agriculture committee. The premier of Saskatchewan, Scott Moe, led six other provincial premiers who were opposed to the government's carbon tax increase. Even in the legislature of Saskatchewan, the opposition NDP agreed with the Sask Party on the carbon tax. Saskatchewan has been joined by Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in asking for a carbon tax carve-out for the farmers and to pass Bill C-234 in its original form. We should talk about Bill C-234 because it would provide relief to Saskatchewan farmers, but let us recall it was the Liberal-controlled Senate that gutted the bill in that place. The Senate amendments would cost Saskatchewan farmers $9 million this year, and by 2030, an added cost of $96 million. That is from one bill, Bill C-234. Provinces like B.C., where MLAs once actually supported a carbon tax, have turned right around. They have turned their backs on the federal government, although we all know it is flip-flop for Premier Eby, as he knows he will probably be going down in the next 28 days. The Canadian Federation of Agriculture surveyed the impact of the carbon tax on crop production, livestock and greenhouse farms across this country. It found that the carbon tax accounted for up to 40% of their energy bills. In my province alone, farm efforts to sequester carbon have gone basically unrecognized by the NDP-Liberal government. The policies by the NDP-Liberals are simply punishing farmers. The government's ideological pursuit to penalize greenhouse gas emitters through the carbon tax, to me, is very short-sighted and inequitable. Farmers have, for years, maybe even decades, demonstrated an ability to deliver meaningful reductions in emissions through the adoption of new technologies, through education and through innovative practices, not through taxes. In Saskatoon, we hold the crop production show every January at Prairieland Park, which, by the way, is in my riding. Thousands of producers come from all over western Canada and the United States to talk about farming innovation. Then, in July, just a couple of months ago, we had Ag in Motion just outside of Saskatoon, in Langham, bringing tens of thousands of producers together from all over the world to find best practices. One could not get a hotel room within a 100-kilometre radius of Saskatoon; everything was full for that four-day show. I cannot forget about the Canadian Western Agribition show in Regina each November, as it services farmers and ranchers from all over the world, and we are innovative in our thoughts going forward. Farming groups are on the leading edge of innovation. We have led for years, for decades, trying to find innovative ways to produce food for the entire world. I compliment the innovative companies that have set up in my province, like Bourgault; Agtron; Brandt Industries; Schulte Industries; Bin-Sense, a new company that just started in Saskatchewan; Redekop Industries; and Wilger Industries, which, by the way, sell their product to John Deere and Case worldwide. Many other companies have surfaced in Saskatchewan. All one has to do is go to the small communities in my province. Every little town has set up something on agriculture, and that is what is keeping them alive. Saskatchewan has led the world for decades on zero tillage. It has led on direct seeding, crop rotation and rotational grazing. With the Bank of Canada confirming that the carbon tax was responsible for at least 16% of inflation last October, it is no wonder that the food professor that we have talked about from Dalhousie University, Dr. Charlebois, recommended a pause on the carbon tax for the entire food industry. We in the Conservative Party also want to axe the tax. We know that it is hurting every citizen in this country. Why? Two million people are visiting food banks today in this country, with 25,000 in my city of Saskatoon, a city of just under 300,000 people. We have 25,000 people per month visiting the Saskatoon Food Bank, in a province that produces food for the entire world. Yesterday, I had the chance to pop into a grocery store in downtown Ottawa. I was shocked. Three tomatoes cost $5.50, three apples cost $5.00, raspberries were $6.00 and the list goes on and on. We had a chance to visit Yorkton Grain Millers about a year, a year and a half ago. It supplies oats. It has one production facility in Canada and several others in the United States. The day that we arrived at the mill was fantastic. There were trucks lined up 24-7. These trucks transport oats from as far as 200 kilometres away. The carbon tax we have talked about is affecting the trucking industry deeply. It is hard to compete against other jurisdictions that do not have a carbon tax. We saw it first-hand in Yorkton and how the producers around the Yorkton, Manitoba and Saskatchewan area are feeding off grain millers. My dad was the head miller at Robin Hood in Ontario, Moose Jaw and Saskatoon. If he were alive today, he would be shocked, because it is the cost of production that is going through the roof that has hurt every Canadian coast to coast to coast.

Madam Speaker, the professor from Dalhousie University said that food is up 34%. He is the professor saying to get rid of the carbon tax. We have been saying for years to get rid of the carbon tax. Saskatchewan has led all the other provinces in trying to get rid of the carbon tax. It has a direct effect on every farmer, every producer and every person in my city. Every person in my province of 1.2 million is affected by this carbon tax. It is not good news. If members do not believe that, they should know that the Moose Jaw food bank ran out of food and could not provide services to those who needed to go there.

Madam Speaker, I used to be a school trustee, and now the Liberals and the NDP are trying to bring out a food program. What do members think the problem has been in the last nine or ten years? It is the carbon tax that has increased the price of food. I know that for a fact. I have kids in the school system. I have kids in York, in Saskatoon. I have another who teaches in Lethbridge. It is the same. The carbon tax has affected each and every household in this country. When we look at the price of food, it has gone up. That is because of 10 years of the NDP-Liberal government and its insistence on a carbon tax. It has hurt the lower echelon of our economy more than any other. In here, the 338 members can afford the increase. However, in my province of Saskatchewan, over half cannot. They have to supplement their groceries by visiting a food bank. This is not only in Saskatoon but also in Regina, Moose Jaw and every other community in my province.

Madam Speaker, there are lots of recommendations we can talk about in the House here tonight, but the number one recommendation is to cut the carbon tax. We have seen from coast to coast to coast that the carbon tax has really hurt families in this country. I can go through the list of small communities that have no more food in their food banks because they have seen an increase in use, and I am sure in Quebec it is the same thing. People are in need. The family of—

Mr. Speaker, in fact, I do have a dissenting report, in both official languages, on behalf of the Conservative members of the committee. The fact that this report is being tabled more than two years after the original Hockey Canada scandal broke shows that the current Liberal government does not take this issue seriously at all. We think Sport Canada has failed to hold the national sporting organizations to account. I want to wish everyone on both sides of the aisle a happy summer.

Madam Speaker, it is an honour to speak to this bill in Parliament. Third time lucky, maybe. Now it is called Bill C-20. It was Bill C-98, when it was brought to the House in May of 2019. Then it was dropped because of the writ in September. Then the Liberals brought it back again as Bill C-3. It was brought back in January of 2020, and then it died in August when the Liberals prorogued Parliament. Here we are, maybe third time lucky, for Bill C-20. We will see what happens here. It is an act establishing the public complaints and review commission, something that I think is actually deeply needed in this country. I am going to talk about that in a moment. The legislation, right now, would rename the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to the public complaints and review commission. Under its new name, the commission would also be responsible for reviewing civilian complaints against the Canada Border Services Agency. This bill follows through on a Liberal election promise. I remember running in 2015 for the first time, and that was one of the bills the Liberals talked about. Then, as I mentioned, in 2015, the Liberals got elected with a majority. Finally, they brought this bill out four years after that. Now we are at another four to five years, and maybe we will get Bill C-20 passed in the House. I am going to talk about it a little, because there is no question a civilian review commission would improve the oversight and help the CBSA be an even more effective agency in its duties and its functions. The public complaints and review commission should end the practice of police investigating police. There is nothing good that comes out of that. There will be a lot of questions, as we have seen over the years. We want to implement a fully independent model, and I think this is where we are going with Bill C-20. We all know that over the past number of years, we have seen an increase in interest in police activities all through social media. The latest is people with cellphones. I have seen it in my city of Saskatoon, people taking a cellphone out, not to record an accident, but to record the police and what they are doing. This is very dangerous. This is an ongoing thing that we have seen in this country, time and time again. Now, there is a risk of some bias or perceived bias in investigations that have been conducted by police officers from the same organization. As we all know, this can potentially undermine public trust and confidence in the investigation process. The internal investigation process may lack the transparency and public accountability that could lead to skepticism and doubts about the fairness of all these investigations. We have seen a lot of that, and I am going to talk about it right now. Some of the groups in my province that seems to be under a lot of pressure with the police, whether it is city police or municipal police or even the RCMP, are the indigenous groups. They feel that being independent from the agency would certainly be more helpful. The community would feel more comfortable filing complaints, knowing that an independent body would review and take action, if appropriate. Everyone understands that all complaints should be resolved in a timely manner. It is in the interest of both the complainant and the employee subject of the complaint. I am going to go back in time to the James Smith Cree Nation mass killer Myles Sanderson. Unfortunately, he was actually released from custody before killing 11 and injuring 17 others, and that was during the 2022 rampage. The investigation into his statutory release made 14 recommendations for the Correctional Service Canada and the Parole Board of Canada. Sanderson had a massive record of violent assaults over a number of years. The killings have raised questions about why he was released. The police really did not know where he was for months. Ten recommendations were directed at the Parole Board, including reviewing scheduling guidelines to allow members more time to prepare for hearings and for writing decisions thereafter. The community involvement, I feel, in the James Smith Cree Nation mass killing was excluded from this process, and that is something we need to learn from. The RCMP certainly made some mistakes during the mass killing of 2022. I would say there were several mistakes also made by the James Smith Cree Nation. The communication between the reserve and the RCMP detachment in Melfort was spotty at the best of times. I will compliment the provincial government, as it held an inquiry. A coroner, Clive Weighill, who was the former city police chief of Saskatoon, conducted the inquiry for several weeks in Melfort. The RCMP, as I said, admitted it made mistakes. It was a very emotional inquiry. It went on for weeks in Melfort. It was closely followed by the whole province. This was an event we hope will never happen again. It gave the chance for family members to finally grieve. As I said, 11 passed away; Myles Sanderson killed 11 and injured 17. During this inquiry, the members of the families needed to talk about what they saw and what their family members went through, which was deeply needed. That is the part in question. When the public complaints and review commission is established, we need to hear from the public. James Smith Cree Nation is only a few kilometres from the city of Melfort, where all the RCMP of the detachment came from. I remember reading the stories. There was a gentleman stabbed in a vehicle. Some say the police should have known. If they had stopped, maybe they could have saved that person. He died later in a hospital. There was a lot of miscommunication between the RCMP and James Smith Cree Nation. With Bill C-20, I am hoping we could have these public discussions before an event like this happens rather than having it after. As I said, it was a very emotional event. I received texts from all over the world about it. I remember a banquet I held in Delisle with Billy Smith, who was the notorious, great goaltender of the New York Islanders. He texted me right away when that happened because he was that concerned. Chico Resch is from Regina, by the way, and the home of the RCMP depot is Regina—Lewvan. Chico knew right away this was an issue in our province of Saskatchewan between the RCMP and, in this case, James Smith Cree Nation. He just wanted to reach out to see if everybody was fine. That was one of many texts I received that week, where people were genuine. They knew the issue in our province between the RCMP and indigenous groups, and unfortunately it took an event like this to get this raised. As I conclude, I am happy that we are talking about this. The mandatory annual reporting by the RCMP and CBSA on actions taken in response to PCRC recommendations is something we desperately need, as well as the mandatory reporting of race-based data by the PCRC. Public education is first and foremost. We all need to get educated on situations like this. This bill going forward, Bill C-20, would help everyone, not only in my province of Saskatchewan, but also in every district in this country.

Madam Speaker, what I am worried about is that nobody in this country wants to be a police officer anymore. In the city of Saskatoon, recruitment is hard. From RCMP Depot in Regina, officers can be stationed anywhere in this country. It does not matter if one comes from Toronto; one may go to Lac des Îles and have no say in that. When I look at the Toronto area, with all the shootings every night and the killings that have taken place there, I am fearful. Who would want to be a peace officer today in this country? I am really concerned about this, because these are the people who sacrifice everything for us to be safe; right now, it is a very tough job to be a police officer in this country, whether municipal, provincial or RCMP.

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.

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.

Madam Speaker, as we enter the first week of June, with the school year coming to an end, Canadians are very much looking forward to a well-deserved summer holiday break. Our common-sense Conservative motion last week would have given Canadians a break at the pumps so that many families could afford a modest road trip over the summer, but no, it was voted down by the NDP-Liberal government. A 23% increase in the carbon tax by the government has driven Canadians to the food bank in record numbers across this country. A jet-set international holiday is certainly not in the budget for most Canadians, but the government would limit those same Canadians from the ability to take what I call a modest Canadiana road trip. The health minister proclaimed that a reasonable Canadian family road trip would end the planet. As I mentioned last week, we all have fond memories of these road trips, such as “Are we there yet?” and playing “I spy with my little eye”. This is what Canadians remember the most on a family road trip. It is the time spent together playing games, laughing, talking and sharing experiences; it is quality family togetherness time. However, it is not just during holidays. Every day, Canadians face higher costs because of the carbon tax. Businesses in my province reach out to me daily, telling me that the carbon tax and the GST on the carbon tax are putting a huge burden on their ability to do business. Some, in fact, have had to pack it in. Restaurants, in particular, are really feeling the pressure. Some have closed. Others are scrambling to stay afloat because their operating costs are too high and people's disposable income is too low. This is a recipe for failure for many restaurants. A local restaurant, which I take my family to quite often, is feeling the pinch, with 37% of its total energy bill being carbon tax. That has to be passed on to us customers. How are Canadians getting that money back? I will give another example. A concrete and gravel operation in Saskatchewan is spending about $700,000 in carbon tax per year. This represents an increase of about $3.50 per unit. That is passed on directly to the customer. The cost goes up for the customer, and the government tells Canadians that the gas tax rebate will make it all even. However, the math simply does not add up. The government will tell us all day long that Canadians are doing fine, but Canadians know the truth. They are struggling in these tough financial times, and they see a government with no compassion for the hardship it is creating day in, day out.

Madam Speaker, on Tuesday, the Auditor General of Canada released a damning report on the taxpayer-funded contracts that the Prime Minister awarded his well-connected friends at McKinsey. Over the last number of years, the Auditor General has discovered that McKinsey had been awarded $209 million in contracts. Now, 90% of the contracts that the Liberal government awarded McKinsey were given without following the appropriate guidelines. In many cases, it was actually unclear what the purpose of the contract was or if the desired outcome was even achieved. It is a damning report from the AG today. What will this government not do to feed its friends at McKinsey?

With regard to surveys commissioned by the Government of Canada since January 1, 2021, broken down by department or agency and by year: for each survey, (i) what was the purpose, (ii) what were all questions asked, (iii) what were the answers received, (iv) what costs were associated with the survey, in total and broken down by type of expense, (v) what external suppliers and consultants were used to commission the survey, (vi) what external suppliers and consultants were used to analyze and collect the results of the survey, (vii) how many responses were received for each survey, (viii) who did the survey target, (ix) was the survey available to all Canadians, and if not, who was able to respond to the survey?

Madam Speaker, after nine years, the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the cost. Instead of offering tax relief, the government increased the carbon tax by another 23%. Conservatives are asking the Prime Minister to immediately axe gas taxes. That would save a Saskatchewan family $860 this summer alone. Will the Prime Minister vote with us on this side of the House on a common-sense Conservative motion, so Canadians can afford a summer trip?

Madam Speaker, I spy with my little eye a government that wants to ruin family summer holidays. Does anyone remember playing that game while travelling through this beautiful country? I am sure they do. We all do, yet yesterday the Liberal health minister described this family road trip as a punishment. For all average Canadians, it is quality time. Will the Prime Minister show some compassion and vote for us on Monday, so Canadians can afford a summer road trip?

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition signed by Canadians from all over the country, including 107 from my province of Saskatchewan. The petitioners call upon the House of Commons to support patient access, the funding of lung cancer therapies, and the approval and funding of new treatments and clinical trials, and to work with other stakeholders, such as provincial cancer agencies, health care providers, patient groups and drug manufacturers, to improve access and affordability of cancer drugs for all Canadians.

Madam Speaker, here is the issue we are going to have in the hour. It is not a secret vote. We are going to stand up and vote yea or nay on the removal. Can members guess who is going to sit at home watching our vote? It will be the Speaker. Let us see what the Speaker does when he comes back. We all know that the NDP has supported the current Liberal government. We tried today to remove the Speaker. I suspect with the vote that we are going to be unsuccessful tonight with respect to dumping the Speaker. Therefore, what happens when we come back, when the Speaker acknowledges every one of us standing up to vote nay or yea to get rid of him over his partisan shots that he has taken the last six months?

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate my member of the Legislative Assembly in Saskatchewan, Don Morgan, on his retirement coming up this fall. Don graduated from the University of Saskatchewan College of Law in 1978. Between 1988 and 1992, he was chair and CEO of Saskatchewan Legal Aid Commission and was appointed as King's Counsel in 1990. Don was first elected to the Legislative Assembly in November 2003 for the Sask Party and has served ever since. He had a number of portfolios: minister of justice and attorney general, minister of education, minister of advanced education and many more. Don served his constituents of Saskatoon Southeast faithfully, and he will be deeply missed. Congratulations to Don on his upcoming retirement. It is well deserved.

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister, more Canadians are hungry and homeless. One in four Canadians is experiencing food insecurity. Food Banks Canada even gave the NDP-Liberal government a failing grade. Forty per cent of Saskatchewan residents have visited a food bank, and 35% are worried about putting a meal on the table for their family. The Prime Minister is not worth the cost, so why does he tell Canadians we have never had it so good?

Madam Speaker, before I get into my speech, I just want to say this. Last week, we lost Darren Dutchyshen. He was only 57 years old. He anchored TSN SportsCentre for decades. Darren was bigger than life. As a former broadcaster, I competed against him in Saskatoon. Darren was the pride and joy of Porcupine Plain, Saskatchewan. To see an individual come from a very small community in this country and make it to the top, the voice of SportsCentre, speaks a lot about Darren Dutchyshen. I just wanted to say to all the TSN family that it has been a rough week for all the broadcasters in this country. It has been a tough week for us because Darren was, as I said, bigger than life and gone at 57 years of age, which is way too young. We are with him and his family and all of those here tonight. I just wanted to say that, being a former sportscaster. Darren actually came through STV. He competed against me and did very well. He went on to Edmonton, and then made his career for good in the city of Toronto. It seems funny tonight that I am standing here on the fall economic statement, nine months later in the House, yet the Liberals are blaming the Conservatives for the nine months. They are in charge of the agenda. They could have moved this long before May 21. It is ridiculous. Here we are tonight, May 21, talking about the fall economic statement, which happened eight to nine months ago. We all know that we are facing a crisis across this country. It is an affordability crisis. It is an inflation crisis and a housing crisis. By the way, tonight was the first time I have heard, in over two years, the Liberals admit that they are at fault for the housing crisis in this country. That is the first step. They have known they have blown the housing industry in the last three years. They have only been in government nine years, but tonight was the first time I listened to a number of MPs who said that they are at fault for the country's dismal housing situation. That is the first time we have heard it. They know it. That is why they are reeling in this country, being 20 points behind in the polls. They have finally listened. They have not done the job for the last nine years, and the public knows it. We know the root of the crisis. It is the Prime Minister. We heard from the Deputy Prime Minister and their Liberal-NDP government. It is the reckless spending, the red tape, the carbon tax. I heard today that inflation is down to 2.7%. The Bank of Canada is still at a big rate, if one goes and borrows money. It is 5%, 6% and 7%. In fact, if one wants a used car, it is 9% and 10%. These rates should have been down long before now. They were going to come down in December or February. They were going to come down in April. We are now hearing that they might not come down. Maybe it will be September. It could be at the end of the year, 2024. These guys across the aisle are flushing money out as fast as they can. They did not need to have a deficit of $39.5 billion this year. There was no need for that. The families, the small business owners, the single parents, the young graduates who are going to graduate in May and June, and so many others, are struggling today to get by. Do we know what this budget is going to do? To make it worse, this year, $414 billion of Canada's $1.4 trillion in debt will all be refinanced. What did I say about when these guys were spending money at 1.5% and maybe 2%? The interest rates are now at 5%, 6% and 7%, so they go refinance this. The costs are ballooning for all Canadians after nine years of the Prime Minister and nine years of the Liberal-NDP government. Rent and mortgage payments have doubled across the country. Interest payments, like I mentioned, are sky-high and are not coming down. The cost of living everywhere continues to rise, coast to coast. For two years, Canadians have been suffering from the highest levels of inflation we have seen in decades. We have talked all night long about groceries. Someone goes into the grocery store and gets a bag of groceries. If they are lucky, it is well over $100, and that does not include meat. The cost of gas is so high. We have encouraged the government to take the taxes off starting now and through to August, to give families a chance to go on a summer trip. However, the government has raised the tax all over this country, and gas is expensive. I think it is going to go to $2 this summer. Right now in Ottawa, it is $1.65. In B.C., it is $1.90 and going up. The damage that the Prime Minister has done is being felt across the country. I am going to read what some people who have contacted our office through mailers have said. A number of constituents have responded to us. I am going to name them, though I will not name their last names for confidentiality. Amanda tells me that she is 25 years old. She cannot afford a house today. She and her boyfriend are both professionals but cannot afford a down payment. That is the story. Canadians need a lot of money down now if they going to buy a home in Saskatchewan worth $300,000 plus. Tim and Tanya say that the cost of living is a crisis. They are moving into their seventies and are deeply concerned. Emma says that the current government is a real embarrassment and that our country has a terrible debt issue right now. Elaine has noticed people are starting to lose their homes due to the high interest rates. Luke says that we have big problems with housing, rental prices, rising interest rates and mortgage rates. However, the one that got me came from Samantha, who wrote to me saying that she is a student, and the rent in Saskatoon has gone up $500 this year. Where is she going to get the extra money? That is a problem we are seeing: students faced with a big increase in rent. There is another thing that really disturbs me in my province right now because we provide the food for the world. We in Saskatchewan are so proud of our producers who are putting in the crops right now. We have had some rain, which has been good. We are proud of our farmers in Saskatchewan. What I am not proud of, because of nine years of Liberal neglect, is needing food banks in every community. Small towns are running out of food on their shelves. In Saskatoon alone, there are the head office of Nutrien potash, K+S Potash, and BHP potash, the biggest producers in the world, and 23,000 people a month are visiting our food bank. Let us think of that: 23,000 people a month in a population of less than 300,000. It is disturbing. I blame the Liberal government for it. It has not done its job in the last nine years. Now it is panicking with about 12 to 18 months left in the mandate that it has. It is even worse with all the long-term consequences, all of the deficit spending and all of the debt we have. I really also worry about the social programs. We are paying more today on debt than we are for health transfers to each of our provinces and our territories. The federal government will spend over $54 billion servicing the federal debt. That is more than the federal government spends on health care with its transfers. The number is only going to go up. The Prime Minister spends more and more. In saying that, I am disappointed that we are talking about the fall economic plan, as I mentioned, nine months later. It is up to the government to move fast. I was proud tonight to talk about Darren Dutchyshen. I was also proud to represent Saskatoon—Grasswood, which will soon be called “Saskatoon South”, as we will not vote for the disastrous Liberal-NDP government.

Madam Speaker, yes, as Conservatives, we have a lot of work to do to get votes in Quebec. We know that. We have a good section in Quebec City. We have about 10 Conservatives from that province. We have a great base, but more needs to happen. We understand that. We have some great MPs here. We want more in 2025, if we go to the polls, and I think we can get more. Right now, the polls are very good in Quebec. However, as we know, when we flip the switch, anything can happen during an election time. We have not forgotten about Quebec, and we will be there in 2025.

Madam Speaker, it is simple. Canadians want us to cut the tax. Whether it is the carbon tax or the gas tax, they are paying too much right now. I used to drive to B.C., but I cannot afford to anymore, to be honest. I mentioned that the gas prices there are over two dollars, but that socialist provincial government will get its reward this year when it gets kicked out of office once and for all by a new Conservative government.

Madam Speaker, the impact has been great. Two Boston Pizzas have closed in the last month. Why is that? It is because of tax on a tax. Seven to eight restaurants, in the last three months, have come to my office to show me the carbon tax bill and the GST bill. For many of these restaurants, it was $1,300 or $1,400 a month in the cold months of January, February and March. That is a staff member they could have kept on. Instead, with the carbon tax and the GST, they simply have to let people go, or better yet, shut down altogether.

With regard to the electoral district of Saskatoon–Grasswood: what are the details of all the grants, contributions, loans and any other payments from Government of Canada departments, agencies and Crown corporations, but excluding the Canada Revenue Agency, to all other levels of government within and outside of Canada, First Nations, corporations, non-governmental organizations and charities for the fiscal years 2015-16 to the current fiscal year, inclusively?