If there is one thing I have found to be true in my time as a member of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, it is that virtually every announcement, piece of new legislation, program and more made by government deserves very close scrutiny.
Case in point: a few years back, Canada’s Auditor General (AG) blew the lid off the Liberal Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) fund.
The AG’s audit found that $59 million was awarded to 10 projects that never qualified for funding and were not entitled to receive it, and uncovered 90 funding decisions, representing nearly $76 million, where conflict-of-interest policies were not followed. A separate Privy Council review went further, finding governance failures and executive mismanagement that cost Canadian taxpayers more than $150 million. SDTC has since been shut down by the Liberals, with its programs folded into the National Research Council.
This week, Liberal Industry Minister Mélanie Joly confirmed that the Liberal government will not make any attempt to recoup roughly $34 million that was paid out to ineligible green technology projects, claiming that recovering those funds is “not in the public interest.”
Compare that to Canadians who were overpaid CERB (the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit) during the pandemic through no fault of their own. They faced strict financial clawbacks with no recourse and, in some cases, no advance warning. For many living paycheque to paycheque, the sudden, unannounced garnishment of funds from their bank accounts created devastating consequences.
This raises an obvious and important question: why is there one set of rules for Liberal friends and insiders, and another set of rules for everyday Canadians struggling to get by?
You likely will not see any legacy media organizations asking this question of Prime Minister Carney or any of his ministers. Sadly, this is something we increasingly see in Ottawa, where governmental accountability and transparency seem to carry much less weight in newsrooms than they did even a decade ago.
I mention all of this because there was a time when a federal cabinet minister ordering and expensing a $16 glass of orange juice was a national news story for well over a week before the minister in question resigned.
Fast forward to now, and a minister in this case essentially throws $34 million away with zero accountability, and several media organizations will barely report on it.
I believe it is time Canadians started demanding more from government, and from the journalists and media who should be holding government accountable.
My question this week: Do you agree?
As always, you are welcome to share your thoughts on my Facebook page, by email at Dan.Albas@parl.gc.ca, or by calling toll-free at 1-800-665-8711.
