Tories demand for documents and government's reluctance to release them stalls Parliamentry business

Photo: Contributed

Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola MP Dan Albas

When the House of Commons is in session, I typically focus on the various bills progressing through Parliament.

Unfortunately, the House of Commons remains gridlocked due to the ongoing debate on a motion of privilege.

To recap, as I wrote Oct. 9, the current privilege motion stems from Speaker Greg Fergus's ruling the government "clearly did not fully comply" with a House of Commons order. The order demanded the government provide documents related to the now-defunct Crown corporation, Sustainable Development Technology Canada.

As some may recall, the auditor general's audit of that program uncovered 90 cases—totalling nearly $76 million in funding—where the foundation's conflict-of-interest policies were disregarded in awarding projects.

The auditor general also discovered some companies awarded contracts under this now-defunct program were clearly in conflict-of-interest situations. In some cases, thee companies weren't even eligible for funding as they didn't meet the criteria.

It's worth noting thee findings only represent about 40% or so of the total funds under direct review by the auditor general, suggesting the possibility of even more undiscovered issues.

While this is a sore spot for many on Parliament Hill who wanted a greater number of grants reviewed under the audit, it is well known the Office of the Auditor General has publicly stated its requests for more funding—to keep pace with the Trudeau government's spending—have been denied.

Many Canadians are well aware that if they receive an overpayment of federal government benefits—even through no fault of their own—the Canada Revenue Agency will fully claw back those overpaid benefits.

That raises an obvious question: Will the companies awarded funding they were not eligible for have that funding clawed back?

Of course, we don't know the answer to that question. The government is not only refusing to answer (that question) but also continues to withhold the documents related to the program.

This week, the House of Commons Law Clerk stated he recently received new documents from three government departments relating to the Sustainable Development Technology Canada program. However, in all cases, information was once again withheld by the government.

This is not the only noteworthy challenge facing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week. It has been widely reported that as many as 20 Liberal MPs have signed a private letter calling on him to resign.

As I write this, the Liberal caucus is meeting behind closed doors to discuss that very issue.

Does that mean Trudeau will resign? In my view, thiat is unlikely. With an election scheduled for this time next year, there's little time left for any party to replace a leader and prepare for a national (election) campaign.

My question this week:

Should Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resign? Why or why not?

I can be reached at [email protected] or by calling toll-free 1-800-665-8711.

Dan Albas is the Conservative MP for Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.