Debate Continues on Failed Inflationary Fall Economic Statement

Plus pain medication shortages, pandemic contracts to Liberal friends and more...

Tom Kmiec, MP

Nov 19, 2022

Debate Continues on failed inflationary Fall Economic Statement

Debate continues on the inflationary budget update from the Liberals. Conservatives laid out two conditions for supporting the budget update including no new taxes and now new spending. The update failed on both counts. As the Fall Economic Statement (FES) is a matter of confidence, it means any failed vote to pass this matter will result in a federal election. Not one measure promised a cancellation of upcoming tax hikes on groceries, home heating and gas.

Under this federal government, spending will continue to rise, and Canadians will have to pay. Spending is once again up with another $20 billion in new spending from their spring budget. And that spring budget was $90 billion over the target of prior years.

The Trudeau Liberals have added more debt to Canada than all previous governments combined. They contend the spending was pandemic related, yet, $205 billion of all new spending had nothing to do with the pandemic according to the independent Parliamentary Budget Officer. And the spending spree continues.

Liberal spending is up 30% compared to pre-pandemic levels. In 2023, debt interest payments will cost nearly as much as the Canada Health Transfer. Because of its money printing during the pandemic to feed the Liberal government’s spending, the Bank of Canada is now set to require a bailout from taxpayers to pay higher interest costs. Families that bought a house five years ago with a typical mortgage at renewal may pay as much as $7,000 more a year.

Canadians who are waiting for real solutions from this Liberal government will be disappointed. Instead of offering a lifeline to Canadians through the FES, the government suggests you cut Disney+ from your viewing diet. These Liberals are out of touch with the real plight Canadians are in. Food Bank use is at record highs, and Canadians are skipping meals because they can’t afford to buy groceries.

Germany just recently opened their first Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal. It was built in 194 days. They are keen on ending their dependence on Russian energy and being held hostage by the Kremlin and its war machine. Canada has the natural gas Germany and our other allies are looking for, but we don’t have the export terminals to lend assistance. Under former prime minister Stephen Harper, we had 15 LNG projects in the queue for construction, but they were all abandoned except for the LNG Canada's $40 billion investment on the West Coast. And that project is only going ahead after being exempted from paying the carbon tax and exempted from the burdensome anti-energy legislation known as C-69.

An area of major concern is the FES has $14.2 billion of spending without an identified purpose (according to the parliamentary budget officer). I have been quizzing Liberal MPs on where this blank cheque is going.

Watch as I question Liberal MPs this week on their lack-lustre Fall Economic Statement.

Watch

Just the Facts: Questionable Pandemic Contracts

Conservatives have long pressed the Liberal government to detail every line of spending they intended during the pandemic. Ensuring proper oversight was of exceptional importance, given the nearly $700 billion in spending since March 2020. What we are now learning is all that spending is being covered up. The procurement ombudsman, a public servant tasked with ensuring fairness, accountability and transparency, says the federal government is concealing records on contracting, hiding records that he knows for a fact exists.

Here are just the facts: of the nearly $600 billion that had been spent since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, over a third of expenditures had nothing to do with COVID at all. That figure has now increased to nearly $700 billion following the Liberal government’s fall economic statement, adding more fuel to the fire of inflation. Sole-sourced contracts is one way in which the federal government often carried out the pandemic spending. Some of the contracts that have come to light are worrying. Here are some documented instances of problematic sole-sourced contracts:

a $237.3 million purchase order for ventilators from Baylis Medical Co., a firm that had never made ventilators but was operated by ex-Liberal MP Frank Baylis;
a $23.4 million grant and $118.6 million contract for masks by 3M Company after the firm contacted lobbyist Kevin Bosch, ex-deputy director of the Liberal Research Bureau who boasted in an email of “getting things done”;
an appeal by Elly Alboim, former Liberal Party organizer, who emailed a cabinet aid seeking a contract for his son. “I vouch for Elly,” wrote the chief of staff to the Minister of Public Works;
a $149 million contract to Spartan Bioscience Inc., a now-bankrupt test kit supplier hired after “a couple of good meetings” in the Prime Minister’s Office;
a $150 million contract for SNC-Lavalin Group field hospitals that no health authority requested; and,

A $54 million contract on the ArriveCAN app, an app that was reproduced by local companies for just $250,000 in one weekend.

These suspicious contract offerings is the perfect example of the rot in Ottawa. Canadians deserve to know how their hard-earned tax dollars were spent. Given the severe problems noted with the pandemic contracting, how much worse will be it for non-pandemic expenses? When Conservatives proposed a motion to study the pandemic spending in depth, Liberal and Bloc Québécois MPs opposed the motion, with Liberal MP Greg Fergus stating “it doesn’t seem logical to waste our time.” With respect, it does not seem logical to waste taxpayer dollars in the manner the Liberal government has done. Conservatives will continue fighting for answers and will leave no stone unturned.

Children’s Medication Shortage: What The Liberals Knew

There has been a steep rise of flu cases amongst Canada’s youngest. Many hospitals are overcapacity, with wait times exceeding 12 hours for a child to be seen by an emergency doctor. Hospitals are the only option parents have for a feverish child if they don't have Tylenol or Advil. The Liberals knew this was going to be a problem, and did nothing until the damage was done.

On Tuesday, Health Canada officials revealed that the government was made aware of the shortage for children’s medication in April. It wasn’t until August, when there was a spike in demand, that they realized that production wouldn’t be enough to fill the shelves.

Parents are so desperate in getting their children the medication they need, that they’re making trips to pharmacies across the U.S border. When they arrive, they are met with shelves stocked with the over the counter pain medication they need. We share the same supply chains as the Americans. The medication shortage is a uniquely Canadian problem.

Today, the federal government announced an upcoming shipment of children’s pain medication next week. This means that children’s hospitals will continue to be stretched thin, kids with fevers will continue to have sleepless nights (along with their parents) and potential conflict at the locations these limited resources will be stocked. This is another example of a government who would rather wait until a problem arises instead of being proactive in stopping the problem from happening. Passports, immigration, inflation, now this.

The Liberal government claims it's not responsible, and I agree, indeed they have shown a lack of responsibility for shortages of medication in our country. As a parent, they have to stop making up excuses and deflecting blame and start acting proactively before problems like these arise.

Watch Explanatory Video

Prime Minister Award for Teaching Excellence in STEM - Véronique Brunelle

I’d like to congratulate Véronique Brunelle, a constituent from the riding, who is the recipient of the 2022 Prime Minister Award for Teaching Excellence in STEM.

Veronique teaches at William Aberhart High School and has worked as a French Immersion math teacher for grade 10, 11 and 12.

Veronique is committed to innovation and her unique teaching style. It is not uncommon to see students writing on whiteboards on the walls, and even on the windows.

Students are challenged and she especially has worked to inspire and encourage students in their university aspirations. Her encouragement has led to students joining the WISEST program at the University of Alberta that places high school girls in research labs, providing teens with an opportunity to work on campus in a science or engineering related field.

Congratulations again Véronique. Your students, your teaching colleagues and parliamentarians are proud of you.

Meeting With the Canadian Construction Association