House of Commons remains ‘paralyzed’ as Tories push privilege debate – National

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre deplored House of Commons remains “paralyzed” Tuesday as his party prolongs the debate on the handing over of government documents to the RCMP.

Poilievre was referring to the government’s delay in producing seven years of documents related to the Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) organization within 30 days.

The now-defunct organization, which was federally funded but independent from the government, was found earlier this year to have violated conflict of interest rules and made “significant errors” in the management of funds public by the Auditor General of Canada. The Conservatives have taken to calling this a “green slush fund”.

If you already feel lost, don’t worry. This is a natural reaction to the political posturing that typically occurs in the final days of a minority parliament.

The debate on the publication of the documents paralyzed the work of the House of Commons for a week.

When asked why his party wouldn’t refer the issue to a Commons committee for study – miraculously curing Parliament of its paralysis – Poilievre responded that he wouldn’t let “corruption” pass so that “Justin Trudeau can go on with your day.”

A House of Commons committee investigation doesn’t exactly sweep an issue “under the rug,” as Poilievre charged, and is the most likely outcome of the debate. In the meantime, however, conservatives can use this issue to level accusations of corruption against the Liberal government.

Poilievre was absent during question period Tuesday, after being reprimanded by Speaker Greg Fergus for accusing Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly of pandering to “Hamas supporters” and refusing to retract his comments.

But his deputy chief, Melissa Lantsman, insisted on the contents of the documents and why they did not turn them over.

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“How bad are these documents, that they would blockade this place for seven days, defying your order and hiding the $400 million they gave to their friends? asked Lantsman.

“They are trying to get out of their own obstruction because they don’t want this issue to go to committee,” retorted Liberal House Leader Karina Gould.

“Because they will hear from expert after expert about the blatant abuse of power that the Conservatives are trying to commit here to override the rights of Canadians. We are ready to move forward…only conservatives are afraid of the vote.”

Earlier this year, Auditor General Karen Hogan’s office found that SDTC had awarded funding totaling $51 million to eight start-up projects that did not meet eligibility criteria. A subsequent investigation by the federal Ethics Commissioner found that SDTC President Annette Verschuren did not recuse herself from the funding decisions of organizations with which she had ties – including her own company, NRStor Inc. .

In June, a Conservative motion demanded that the government turn over all SDTC-related documents to the House of Commons law clerk within 30 days. The clerk then handed them over to the RCMP.

This means that all federal departments and agencies, as well as the Office of the Auditor General, would have to submit any documents relating to the foundation dating back to 2017 within one month.

Although the House of Commons law clerk confirmed providing documents to the RCMP throughout the summer, not all files were turned over before the deadline.

This paved the way for Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer to claim that the privileges of the House had been violated – a claim that Speaker Fergus found to be true. And this is what has brought the House of Commons to its current state of dysfunction.

To further complicate matters, the RCMP has already confirmed that an investigation is underway into SDTC and has already received tranches of documents from the government, as first reported by the National Post.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, speaking to reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday, said the government’s work continues despite being “frustrated and dismayed by the spectacle the Conservatives are putting on the Parliament.”

She said the government is in discussions with the New Democrats and the opposition Bloc Québécois about the fall economic statement – an economic update that would be a matter of confidence and, in the event of Failure would plunge Canada into a general election.

“We’re doing a lot, and we’re being thoughtful and creative about things, looking for areas where we can move forward and not be blocked by, you know, playground tactics,” Freeland said.

When asked if the Liberal government was considering proroguing Parliament – ​​a potential way of resetting parliamentary business and the government agenda – Freeland responded with a resounding “no”.

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