QUESTION PERIOD — Natural Resources
Disclosure of Information
February 26, 2020
Honourable senators, that is the problem: When business leaders start to say that there’s zero chance of having economic success in your country, we should look in the mirror and figure out what we need to do.
Government leader, my question is in regard to last week. The Minister of Natural Resources stood in the other place to explain the tabling of false information in a written answer to an Order Paper question. His department had initially claimed it had not granted any contracts to Pembina Institute, an anti-oil sands environmental group, which among other things, had advocated against Teck’s recently cancelled Frontier mine. In fact, seven contracts totalling almost $183,000 had been granted by Natural Resources Canada to this group. These contracts were awarded over a number of years, from February 2017 to October 2019. And we wonder, Senator Gold, why business leaders are having difficulty placing faith in your government.
Senator Gold, why did Natural Resources Canada hide this information from Parliament? And why, when it was accused of hiding this information, did the ministry and the minister double down, deny and mislead the other place?
Thank you for your question. I’m afraid that I don’t have the information to be able to answer your question as to the motivation for the actions that you are alleging. I will certainly make inquiries and report to the chamber.
Government leader, that’s precisely why sage representatives of the government should be sitting around the cabinet table making sure that wise decisions are being taken.
Colleagues, we know there is a lack of transparency. There is a pattern of this government not being transparent to Parliament. As I mentioned earlier this month, this government is hiding the details of a writeoff of a loan to a company worth almost 200 million in taxpayer dollars. And as Senator Frum raised recently, Minister Marc Miller has not disclosed the list of donations and donors from an event he held in New York last year.
Senator Gold, where is the openness and transparency that this government promised Canadians in 2015, and why do we always have a government that says one thing but clearly always does another?
Thank you for your question, Senator Housakos. Once again, I’m driven to say respectfully that the premise of your question is not well founded.
It’s the position of this government that it continues to make efforts to increase transparency and accountability in government. In the last Parliament, we participated in and, indeed, played an important role in improving access to information legislation, which took a major step forward in enhancing transparency and accountability to Canadians.
With regard to your reference to Senator Frum’s question, I am advised that all aspects of the law were faithfully adhered to, and any insinuation, implication or suspicions otherwise with regard to Minister Miller are wholly and utterly unfounded.
