Sébastien Lemire

“The government added $451 million to pay for software cost overruns after saying there were no problems. Then they blocked a committee investigation into it. Why are the Liberals hiding this information from Quebeckers?”

“Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are abusing their majority to cover up the Cúram software scandal. After spending months denying that any problem related to OAS or any cost overruns even existed, the government has added $451 million for Cúram and the Canada Revenue Agency to its economic update. That means another cost overrun where none was supposed to exist, to fix problems where no problems were supposed to exist either. We will never know why, because the Liberals either resorted to filibustering or used their majority in committee to kill an investigation into Cúram. Why are they hiding this information from Quebeckers?”

“Doctors have forced sterilization on Indigenous women without their consent. I want to know how we can fix this and bring about real reconciliation.”

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes for his concern, which we can feel, and for his commitment to this issue. These are deeply troubling issues that are difficult to address, but I think that he is doing so with great dignity. The fact that the bill is now at third reading is also a testament to his strong leadership. We just quickly completed report stage, but I think it is important to talk about the testimony that we heard from victims in committee. For example, Nicole Rabbit was scheduled for a C-section at the University of Saskatoon on September 11, 2001. We are talking about something that happened less than 30 years ago. She said: I trusted the medical team but knew something wasn’t right when I smelled the burning flesh. These were strangers who I had no previous encounters with who insisted I tie my tubes. The medical team took advantage of me in a vulnerable state....No one asked me what I wanted. No one explained to me why I apparently needed this done, and I didn’t sign any forms. I still have no real idea what the options were and why they said it was best for them to sterilize me. I know now that the sterilization can’t be reversed. My colleague talked about reconciliation and systemic issues. I would like to hear his thoughts on what we can do to ensure real reconciliation.”

“The government is spending an extra $451 million to fix software problems with seniors' pensions. They tried to block committee work to hide these extra costs. I want an independent public inquiry into this.”

“Mr. Speaker, what do they have to hide? The Liberals have just proven that a public inquiry is absolutely necessary. They know that Cúram is causing problems with the processing of OAS pensions because they are spending an additional $451 million to fix the problem. They know that there have been cost overruns. They have just added to them. In short, they have proven that the two problems are real and that they have been aware of them for years, even when former prime minister Justin Trudeau was in office. However, as recently as Monday, the Liberals were still filibustering at the Standing Committee on Public Accounts to hide information. What do they have to hide? When will they hold an independent public inquiry?”