“The government gave a $12-million security contract to an American company instead of a Canadian group that hires veterans. The price difference was less than 1%. I want the government to explain why it did not hire Canadian veterans.”

“Mr. Speaker, the Trump administration has hurled insults at Canada’s military and has made unjustified threats against our country, but we have learned this week that the Liberal government has awarded a $12-million security contract for the CRA to an American firm that does business with Donald Trump’s ICE instead of to Canada’s largest employer of veterans, the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires, a not-for-profit. The difference in price was less than 1%. I think we can all agree that employing Canadian veterans and hiring Canadian companies are important. The question for the Liberals is, why did they not do that in this case?”

“The government gave a $12-million contract to an American company tied to Donald Trump instead of a Canadian group that hires veterans. The minister promised to put Canadian workers first. I want the government to explain why it chose an American company over Canadians.”

“Mr. Speaker, when reached for comment, the minister said that “putting Canadian workers and industries first” was the heart of their buy Canadian policy. This does not look like either of those things. Instead, a $12-million contract went to a firm that does business with Donald Trump’s ICE instead of to a not-for-profit Canadian company, the largest employer of Canadian veterans. The question for the Liberals is this. Instead of creating employment opportunities for Canadian veterans and buying Canadian, why did they choose to put an American firm that has close ties to Donald Trump ahead of Canadians?”