QUESTION PERIOD — Finance
Canada Emergency Business Account
December 15, 2023
My question for the government leader also has to do with the Canada Emergency Business Account, or CEBA, loans program for small businesses. In an article this morning in The Globe and Mail, Accenture told the reporter to ask the government for more information about the contracts. However, in the same article, Minister Chrystia Freeland’s office washed its hands of this matter, saying it wasn’t involved and refusing to provide further information.
Leader, this is one of the largest contracts the Government of Canada has ever signed with external consultants, worth at least $208 million in taxpayers’ money. Where is the accountability for the CEBA loans program?
As I have said on many occasions, the CEBA loans program was an important element to help Canadians get through the crisis, which we did. In that regard, the follow-up and review are being done appropriately and seriously to make sure that we have a full understanding and analysis of all that happened with respect to the program — which we knew was rushed, by design, to benefit Canadians. That is what is in play.
In terms of accountability, it seems there is none under the Trudeau government. Leader, when did Minister Chrystia Freeland and Minister Mary Ng become aware that CEBA work was being done in Brazil? Did they just find out through The Globe and Mail, or did they always know?
How is your government safeguarding the financial information of Canadian small businesses with respect to the CEBA work being outsourced to Brazil?
I’m not aware of the details that you ask for in your question. I have every confidence that the government is addressing this matter properly and in accordance with the terms of the contracts that they awarded.
