QUESTION PERIOD — Privy Council Office
Cabinet Committee on Operations
November 3, 2020
Senator Gold, as Senate government leader, you were invited to attend the Trudeau Cabinet Committee on Operations. In late June, you told me that committee had not met since the pandemic shut down in March. This used to be known as the most powerful committee of cabinet. For how many months during a health and economic crisis did the Cabinet Committee on Operations stop meeting?
Senator, thank you for your question. I am indeed a member of that committee. The committee has resumed its meetings, and I’m pleased to attend.
The fact that that particular committee suspended its operations during the period to which we refer in no way should suggest that ministers and others, including my office, did not remain in close contact to monitor all the ongoing issues for which we are responsible.
Senator Gold, when did it resume? During this pandemic, the Trudeau government has dodged parliamentary oversight of $350 billion of taxpayers’ money it has blown out the door. At the very least, close scrutiny at the executive level of government should have occurred. That’s why it’s hard to fathom that the Cabinet Committee on Operations was sidelined for so long. Maybe a properly functioning operations committee would have stopped your government’s WE scandal, because the COVID cabinet committee, then chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Freeland, approved that $900 million WE contract. Why is the Trudeau government so allergic to scrutiny at every level?
Thank you for your question. The government is not allergic to scrutiny. I think you misunderstand the function of the operations committee, and the government remained focused on addressing the pandemic for the benefit of Canadians throughout this entire period.
