“Private companies pay workers inside the government office that approves their projects. I want the Prime Minister to tell Canadians how many of these workers there are and which companies pay them.”

“Mr. Speaker, after 11 years of the Liberals, one thing is clear. There are now two Canadas, one for hard-working Canadians who play by all the rules and one for the Liberal club. While Canadian families struggle to put food on the table, private corporations are paying employees who work inside the Major Projects Office, and the Prime Minister refuses to reveal who they are. Imagine an employer having their own employees working inside the very office responsible for advancing the projects the employer’s company wants approved. Can the Prime Minister tell Canadians exactly how many corporate-paid employees are working inside his MPO and which companies are paying for that?”

“Canadians are struggling, and food bank visits are at a record high. At the same time, private companies are paying workers inside the Prime Minister's Major Projects Office. The government needs to tell Canadians which companies are paying these workers.”

“Mr. Speaker, I would not want to talk about the Major Projects Office either. Last year, the Prime Minister told Canadians to prepare to make sacrifices. Well, guess what. They are already making them. Food bank visits have reached a record 2.35 million in a single month, with 776,000 of those visits being made by children. Canadians are being made to make sacrifices, yet private corporations are paying employees working inside of the Prime Minister’s Major Projects Office, and the government refuses to disclose which companies are involved. Again, Canadians deserve transparency. How many employees working inside the Major Projects Office are being paid by—”

• Echo ×5

  A repeated line

  “The Prime Minister told young Canadians they would have to “make sacrifices.”

  Said 5 times by 5 members since May 8.

  Every time it was said →

“The Major Projects Office is keeping secrets. Up to one-third of the workers there are paid by private corporations, but the government will not say which ones. These workers can influence decisions that help their employers. I want the minister to release the list of these companies.”

“Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised lots of things about his new Major Projects Office, but he forgot to mention that it would be done with unprecedented secrecy. It could be up to one-third corporate-sponsored employees working inside the office, and we do not know which private corporations are paying them. Canadians have a right to know who has a seat at the table. These insiders have direct access to government decisions that could benefit their employers. Yesterday at committee, I asked a simple question. Which companies do they work for? The minister refused to answer, so I will ask again. Will the minister be transparent and release the list of corporations, yes or no?”

“The government is hiding which companies pay their workers to work in the Major Projects Office. Canadians need to know who these companies are, how conflicts of interest are checked, and if they will gain from government choices.”

“Mr. Speaker, there is clearly something to hide. The minister refused to identify the corporations that are paying their employees to work inside the Major Projects Office. This is the same Liberal government that has been found guilty of ethics violations time and time again, and now Canadians are supposed to trust them. Why should they? How can Canadians be expected to believe that large corporations are paying employees to work inside the Major Projects Office simply out of generosity? Canadians do not know who these companies are, how conflicts are being screened or whether those companies stand to benefit from government decisions. If the government has nothing to hide, why is it hiding?”

“The government is putting people on loan from banks and private companies in charge of handing out billions in public money. These workers can choose to give money to their own employers. This is a clear conflict of interest, and regular Canadians are paying for it.”

“Mr. Speaker, the way the Prime Minister is managing taxpayers’ money is starting to become extremely worrisome. On one side, we have ordinary citizens who are affected by those decisions on a daily basis and who are paying the price every day. On the other, we have the people who make the rules and the friends of the people who make the rules. They are the ones reaping the benefits. We have learned that many of the employees of the Major Projects Office are there on loan from private companies and banks. These are the people who are responsible for deciding which companies will receive billions of dollars from the Liberals. They get to choose the winners, and their boss might be one of them. How can we expect Canadians to have confidence in our institutions when transparency—”

“The Major Projects Office has no independent oversight. The Prime Minister's own staff decide if there is a conflict of interest. The government hid the names of the companies involved, saying it would be embarrassing to release them. Will the government tell us which businesses are paying these workers to pick winners?”

“Mr. Speaker, the most alarming thing about all this is that these employees’ potential conflict of interest is not subject to any independent oversight. The Privy Council Office is staffed by employees who work directly for the Prime Minister. The Major Projects Office is the Prime Minister’s creation and tool. They are the ones who decide whether or not there is a conflict. When we asked for the names of the companies involved in all that, they responded that the information is confidential and that revealing it could cause embarrassment. Since when is transparency something to be embarrassed about? Are the Liberals going to reveal which businesses are paying employees to pick the winners, yes or no?”