Discussion · Government Orders
James Bezan Conservative
“I oppose this bill. The government changed its plan for the defence agency to create a corporation with too much power. It lets the minister completely control the agency and give those powers to the CEO.”
“Madam Speaker, as we know, we were here just months ago talking about Bill C-31, division 16, which was going to create the Defence Investment Agency under an omnibus budget bill. The secretary of state got up and made a big speech. He was actually hoping to be, fingers crossed, the minister of defence procurement, a full minister. Of course, in Bill C-40, that has been downgraded to associate minister of national defence for procurement. What has changed? We originally set up the Defence Investment Agency as part of PSPC, and we brought it around to where it is today. We went through Bill C-31. We are now on Bill C-40. There are rumours that Doug Guzman, the Prime Minister’s BFF, his Goldman Sachs investment banker buddy, has threatened to quit. Is that the reason why we now have to set up an authoritarian corporation with powers that we have not seen before in any Crown corporation: that a minister can direct the agency, that it must do what the minister wants and that he can also pass those powers down to and share them with the CEO? Is that the very reason we are doing this? I hear that Chairman Mao is actually blushing on this one.”
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Question or comment in debate
Respect 84 of 100
This statement targeted a person rather than their actions or views: “the Prime Minister's BFF, his Goldman Sachs investment banker buddy”.
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Madam Speaker, as we know, we were here just months ago talking about Bill C-31, division 16, which was going to create the Defence Investment Agency under an omnibus budget bill. The secretary of state got up and made a big speech. He was actually hoping to be, fingers crossed, the minister of defence procurement, a full minister. Of course, in Bill C-40, that has been downgraded to associate minister of national defence for procurement. What has changed? We originally set up the Defence Investment Agency as part of PSPC, and we brought it around to where it is today. We went through Bill C-31. We are now on Bill C-40. There are rumours that Doug Guzman, the Prime Minister’s BFF, his Goldman Sachs investment banker buddy, has threatened to quit. Is that the reason why we now have to set up an authoritarian corporation with powers that we have not seen before in any Crown corporation: that a minister can direct the agency, that it must do what the minister wants and that he can also pass those powers down to and share them with the CEO? Is that the very reason we are doing this? I hear that Chairman Mao is actually blushing on this one.