House of Commons grinds to halt over allegations of Liberal ‘corruption’
Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer said the governing party would rather see the House bogged down in debate than produce documents related to misspent government dollars in a program his party has dubbed the “green slush fund.”
The government has been unable to conduct any of its own business in the House of Commons for over a week, with the Conservatives attributing this to Liberal “corruption.”
On Thursday, Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer accused the governing Liberals of preferring to prolong debates rather than release documents tied to what his party calls the “green slush fund,” a program linked to misspent government dollars.
Last week, House Speaker Greg Fergus ruled that the government "clearly did not fully comply" with a House order to provide documents concerning a defunct foundation that managed hundreds of millions in federal funding for green technology projects. Since then, the House has been embroiled in debate over the issue. Scheer stated this would continue until the government hands over the unredacted documents to the RCMP.
“They’re willing to have Parliament grind to a halt rather than hand over this information to the RCMP for a potential criminal investigation,” Scheer said in an interview.
While the RCMP previously informed MPs that they might not be able to use the documents in an investigation, Scheer argued that law enforcement should have access to all the information before making that determination.
The Liberals countered that handing over the documents to the RCMP blurs the boundaries between Parliament and law enforcement. They have also blamed the Conservatives for the resulting gridlock in the House.
Liberal House leader Karina Gould described the request for documents as an abuse of parliamentary power that infringes on Canadians' Charter rights.
“Let’s be very clear, this is the Conservatives trying to muck up Parliament,” Gould said Thursday. “Conservative members of Parliament are here for their own political, personal objectives, and they don’t care what they do to Canadians in the meantime.”
Scheer rejected this, arguing that the Charter is meant to "protect the people from the government" and not shield the government from accountability.
A similar standoff over government documents occurred more than a decade ago, when the Conservatives were in power. In 2009, a minority Conservative government faced a House order to release unredacted documents about Canada's role in the torture of Afghan detainees. Shortly after opposition parties passed a motion to demand the documents, then-prime minister Stephen Harper prorogued Parliament, halting the issue's progress.
In this current case, the Liberal government dissolved Sustainable Development Technology Canada after the auditor general issued a critical report on its management. The report found that one in every six funded projects was ineligible and identified 90 instances where conflict-of-interest policies were violated. Additionally, the ethics commissioner found that the foundation’s former chair failed to recuse herself from decisions that benefited organizations she had connections to.
The House has been in turmoil since MPs returned in mid-September. The Conservatives have attempted twice to pass non-confidence motions, both of which failed due to a lack of support from other opposition parties. However, they have promised more such motions in the future.
Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet criticized the state of affairs in Parliament during a separate press conference, lamenting the lack of respect for democracy. He claimed that while Bloc MPs are asking thoughtful questions, other parties are simply “spouting slogans and banging on the desk.”
One of the few successful votes this week was a Bloc Québécois motion pushing for government support of its pension bill, which would extend benefits to seniors under 75. Despite their previous criticism of inflationary spending, the Conservatives backed the bill.
Scheer declined to explain the party's support for the motion. Conservative critic for seniors, Anna Roberts, noted that government spending has driven up the cost of living, affecting seniors on fixed incomes.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives have requested that Canada’s lobbying commissioner investigate whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s appointment of Mark Carney as a Liberal adviser violates ethics rules. Carney, a former Bank of Canada governor, was recently named chair of a task force on economic growth at the Liberal caucus retreat. Conservative ethics critic Michael Barrett raised concerns over potential conflicts of interest, given Carney’s corporate ties, including his role as chair of Brookfield Asset Management, which is in discussions with the government to establish a $50-billion investment fund.
When asked about these concerns in the House, Health Minister Mark Holland accused the Conservatives of attempting to “smear” Carney, whom he described as a highly respected Canadian leader.
