The chamber of the House of Commons is seen in Ottawa. During Question Period on Oct. 9, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre argued that 'there is potential criminality' in the Liberals' refusal to provide forms.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
When MPs head to their ridings for Thanksgiving break, they won’t have much to say about what they’ve accomplished so far this fall. Nearly half of the sitting days have been devoted to one thing: the Liberals’ refusal to hand over a trove of documents connected to a major spending scandal.
Wednesday was the eighth day of debate on the opposition’s demand for documents related to the now-defunct Sustainable Development Technology Canada agency, a standoff that’s led to a backlog of government bills and cross-partisan finger-pointing.
The Conservatives have nicknamed the SDTC scandal the “Green Slush Fund,” alleging a partisan bent to where the money went, a claim the Liberals have outright denied.
But no one is denying there was a problem. In 2022, whistle-blowers alleged government money flowing through SDTC was going to organizations with direct ties to management. That revelation prompted an internal government probe and SDTC’s work was suspended. The federal ethics commissioner found the chair broke the rules and the Auditor-General also launched an investigation, concluding there were “significant lapses” in governance and stewardship of public money meant for bolstering green technology.
It’s what might happen next that is at the heart of the debate in the House: The opposition parties, a majority of MPs, passed a motion calling for all the related documents so they can be handed over to the RCMP for a potential criminal probe. The Liberals don’t want to release them all.
That’s led Speaker Greg Fergus to rule MPs’ rights were breached, setting up the motion under debate. Should it pass, the issue would go to a Commons committee. Until that vote, most other House business falls by the wayside as privilege issues are considered supreme.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre – allowed to speak again in the chamber after a one-day ban Tuesday – argued his party’s point of view this way during Question Period Wednesday: “There is potential criminality, according to the main whistle-blower in the scandal. Any other employer would voluntarily turn over all the evidence to the police if it had been ripped off by its own staff. What is the Prime Minister hiding?”
To which Government House Leader Karina Gould replied that it was Mr. Poilievre people should worry about. “If and when the police request that information, it will obviously be handed over, because that is proper judicial process,” she said.
“But, when it is Parliament that is doing it, this is where Canadians should be concerned, because when he is going after the rights of other Canadians, it is only a matter of time before his political vendettas come after the rights of all Canadians.”
While there have been similar demands for the production of documents in the past, this one is unique in that it calls for the papers to be handed over to the RCMP, and the force has expressed reservations that it could use documents obtained this way in an investigation. The Liberals have also argued the MPs’ right to have the documents doesn’t extend to giving the papers to someone else, and also that the documents being requested aren’t germane.
To that, the Conservatives reply: Hand them over and let the RCMP decide.
Absent handing over the records, the Liberals could break the gridlock by moving a motion to shut down debate. Ms. Gould wouldn’t say Wednesday if she will.
The Liberals would need the support of either the Bloc Québécois or New Democrats for the motion to pass.
On Wednesday, the Bloc said they wouldn’t vote in favour of such a motion now. Party leader Yves-François Blanchet is holding fast to his pledge that unless a bill protecting supply management and another boosting federal benefits for seniors aged 65 to 74 become law by Oct. 29, he’s not supporting the Liberals.
“I believe that both Liberals and Conservatives, whatever they say, are quite happy about the situation, because they seem to gain from the fact that the Parliament is not working,” he said Wednesday.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh didn’t signal much support for ending the stalemate either. “The ball is the government’s court,” he said.
When this privilege debate ends, it still won’t mean business as usual. There’s another waiting in the wings.
Mr. Fergus has also ruled that Tourism Minister Randy Boissonault’s former business partner’s refusal to provide all the information about the pair’s business relationship breached MP privilege, so next up will be the debate on that.