How did the Trudeau Liberals turn $80,000 into $60 million？
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Summary
Stephanie Cusey, the Shadow Minister for the Treasury Board and a member of Parliament, joins us to talk about the Arrival Can, or Arrive Scam, as it is also known, and why some people got rich on your money.
Transcript
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Hello and welcome once again to The Blueprints. This is Canada's Conservative Podcast. I'm your
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host, Jamie Schmael, Member of Parliament for Halliburton Corps with the likes Brock with new
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content for you every single Tuesday, 1 30 p.m. Eastern Time. We ask that you like, comment,
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subscribe and share this program because on this show, in just a moment, we are going to be talking
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about the Arrive Can or Arrive Scam, as it's also known because some people got rich on your money.
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To talk about this and much, much more, we have Stephanie Cusey, the Member of Parliament for
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Calgary-Mindipour, also the Shadow Minister for the Treasury Board. Thanks for coming back on.
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Thank you so much, Jamie, for having me. It's always a pleasure to be here at this fine
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institution of conservatism, The Blueprint. I appreciate you saying that. Now,
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unfortunately, it's not under good circumstances because we are looking at a massive scam to the
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Canadian public. Obviously, the Arrive Can app that nobody seemed to want, nobody seemed to ask
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for. That cost $54 million. But it was later shown that a bunch of tech companies, two in particular,
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did it over the weekend for a cost of $80,000 roughly each. So a huge amount of money is being
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looked at right now. Maybe you can update us because the committee did work last week. It was a
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constituency week. They spent a few days last week going through the Arrive Can scandal that seems
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to have been unwrapping in front of us that the media barely covered. So maybe you can tell us a
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bit about it. Yeah, I can't even make this stuff up. Like they say, the truth is stranger than fiction.
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Yeah. And we definitely see it with the Arrive Scam app. This is an app that was created by two
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individuals. Actually, it wasn't even created by, it was this whole thing was run by two guys in their
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basements. That's exactly it. Contractors, subcontractors. And that's another big piece of
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this is that subcontractors aren't even covered by oversight of the government. So we don't even
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really know what those subcontractors did, how this got done. But you're right, this is an app that
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over a weekend, a group of university students, I believe, was able to create for $80,000. The original
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cost of this was supposed to be less than $20 million. The next number that we got was $54
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million. We thought, this is crazy. It gets worse than that. Last week, when we had the Auditor
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General release her report, it's now closer to $60 million. And they think that it could be even
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more than that, because they're not certain about all of the documentation that was submitted. There
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were just so many discrepancies with the documentation. So this now is an app that has
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cost the taxpayers in excess of $60 million. An app, like you said, that nobody wanted.
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It didn't even work correctly. It didn't even work correctly. Like it put people in quarantine that
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didn't deserve to be there. 10,000 Canadians were sent to quarantine unnecessarily as a result of this
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arrived scam app. And you know, we have yet in our testimony, the ability to find someone who
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actually thinks that this was not only procured, procured and built in a responsible manner for
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Canadians. Everyone we're getting in front of us at committee is telling us that this was a complete
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debacle. It was not done well. As I said, the Auditor General gave a report last week, close to $60
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million. Of that $12 million, they don't even know if it went to the arrive can app. Originally,
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we thought that GC Strategies was getting $11 million and turned out to be $19 million. Now we know
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they've had a quarter of a billion dollars of work with this liberal government, with this Trudeau
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government. Can you imagine, Jamie, you and a friend splitting a quarter of a billion dollars for
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doing nothing in your basement together? That is the story of the arrive can app. But there's more,
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but there's more. How can there be much more? This is like, it's, I can't make this, this, this,
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I always say it's like I'm on the lifetime network, Jamie. It's, it's that bad. We have, uh,
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credibility of, uh, credible, um, stories of documents being destroyed by the chief information
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officer who was overseeing arrive can app. We have, uh, discrepancy as to who made the final decision
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of the arrive can app. And then we have the implication of a, a small, uh, IT firm based out
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of Montreal that tells us that, uh, arrive can goes much deeper than just the CBSA that they have,
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um, they have, uh, interface not only with the department of justice, but with levels as high as
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the deputy prime minister. So this is all intermingled with each other, uh, arrive can,
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and it's just, it's unbelievable that, uh, this app, which could have been made for $80,000 is now
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up to the price of a minimum of $60 million. But worse than that, it points to the complete
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incompetence of this government. If this is happening with a single app, Jamie, this is absolutely
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happening all across government. We have no doubts about that. And as well, it also speaks to something
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that our, our official opposition, the conservatives have done a very good job of shining a light on.
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And that is the excessive contracting by this Trudeau government, up 60% since prime minister
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Trudeau got into office rather than relying on our internal capabilities of the public service,
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their specialties. And it's just, it's astounding to me the way that this is out of control in terms
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of the costing, the way procurement has not been followed. We have the procurement ombudsman in
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three weeks ago. He, he was not pleased with a single thing that he saw about this arrive can app.
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He, he said in no uncertain terms that procurement standards, the ones that exist, and certainly we've
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learned from this, that there have to be changes that have to be made, but the ones that exist,
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they were not held to the standard as well with arrive can. So we have the auditor general,
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the procurement ombudsman, um, uh, all of these individuals saying that, and the, the, as well,
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the information, um, commissioner who was here on Tuesday, not, not a single person saying that
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this was a good app. This was value for money for Canadians. Canadians were had on this app. And
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like I said, the thing most concerning to me is it speaks to the incompetence of this government
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and possibly even the, the bad intention of this government that they didn't, um, that they,
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they didn't make an effort earlier on when they saw the train going off the tracks to try and do
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something. And their deputy ministers didn't either. We've seen that time and time again when deputy
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heads have come and testified in front of the committee. So it is a crazy story. And I just,
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I really hope that Canadians are following along with, uh, with us at committee and with our social
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media to, to even have an understanding of how incompetent and unethical this government is.
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Well, this lack of respect for Canadians, obviously the government doesn't have a cent that it must
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tax, borrow or print a combination thereof can actually debauch the economy of their currency as
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well. Um, at the same time, this is a massive pattern of this government that they don't really
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seem to care. Look at the weed charity scandal. Right. Right. Got money. Oh, we got caught. We had to pull
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some back. We'll do this. Uh, Frank Bayless, the former legal MP who got a contract to make,
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I believe it was ventilators that never actually stopped the fight into the government. Like all
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these contracts being made, all this money going out, very little accountability coming back.
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And at the end of the day, we're paying for it in the form of this inflationary crisis that
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Canadians are dealing with. No, you're absolutely correct. And I mean, to add to that with the green
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slush fund, um, you know, last year, my focus was really on McKinsey in terms of once again,
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showing how much control outside consultants have on the work of the government. And as I said,
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currently we have a 60% increase with this Trudeau government, um, in, in outside consulting. So
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it, I think it even raises concerns for Canadians, not only in regards to the value for money,
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which clearly was not received for this arrive can app, but also who are, who is making these
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decisions are, you know, ministers are supposed to have oversight of their departments. And it's
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just, it's so clear that, uh, ministers were not being, um, responsible for this project as well as so
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many other projects below them and are, I think, receiving, receiving advice and receiving perhaps
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even influence from those who aren't from elected office, these outside consultants, but that's
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what this... Somebody's making money. Somebody's making money. How could you, as someone working
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in the department or someone who has to sign off on this, this program, look at the cost and say,
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you know what, that's 50 million, 54, 60. That seems a bit high for an app. Like how many companies in
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the private sector would pay this kind of money for an app? I doubt there would be as many apps as there
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are now if it costs that much. Yeah. I'm, you, you raise a really good point. And that's one thing
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that the auditor general said in her report is that she, the paperwork was so bad. The paper trail was
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so bad. She couldn't even determine if, uh, there was work that was paid for that wasn't even completed
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that as a result of the, the task authorities that were without complete documentation. Uh, it just,
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it shows that processes aren't being done properly under this government, that this high level of,
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uh, of incompetence. So, you know, it is a very big concern. Uh, and as I said, what bothers me the
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most is that this is $54 million, now $60 million, as I said, at a minimum in a time where we just found
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out there was a $23.6 billion deficit, uh, between April and December. Like if, if this is happening
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with, with this one project that we've been able to shine a light on for Canadians, then how do we
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know that that other $23.6 billion isn't being spent in the same, uh, carefree way without oversight,
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without regard for policy, without regard for, I'm praying that we do that.
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They didn't realize that, right? They create a crisis and they try to come in to be the heroes
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that got us out of the crisis. Right. Me, leadership is avoiding the crisis in the first place. Right.
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Exactly. That's exactly it. And you raise a very important point. The auditor general was very clear
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in her remarks. She said the pandemic, a crisis situation, any crisis situation cannot be used as
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an excuse for this disregard for this value of money. That's it. That's always be a crisis, right?
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If you can just speed by the, the bump, the speed bumps, the guardrails, speed by the, because
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there'll be a crisis. There'll always be a crisis. Yeah. Somewhere there will be a crisis. They'll
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make it up. Yeah. No, you're, you're absolutely correct about that. Um, but it's just, it's,
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it's incredible the level of, of, um, even criminality that, that we have seen. This GC strategies,
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they actually testified in committee that they, uh, created identity theft on the resumes. They
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actually forged the resumes so that they would be accepted for these projects. Like that's astounding.
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Can you imagine that, uh, just falsifying your resume in an effort to, to, to get a job? And
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I wasn't suits based on this entire premise. I'm just saying like this, no serious. This is the
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stuff of network shows that, that we're talking about here. Uh, there are, there are real life in
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real life in Canada. That's right. Um, collusion. When we had two of the sub tractors in that work
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with GC strategies, um, Dalyon and Karatics, one of our members just wasn't even able to determine
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what one of the organizations actually did with the project. They weren't able to clarify
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in their statement, the role, like the work that they actually got done, despite the member asking over
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and over, what do you do? What do you do? This, this was a very popular. We know what they did.
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They submitted an invoice. That's right. That's exactly what they did. They submitted invoices.
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Yeah, that's, that's exactly it. And as well for, uh, I mean, the insider goings ons, um, we,
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we've just seen incredible things, um, discussed within the committee about, uh, chalets,
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cabins, whiskey tastings, whiskey tastings. For bureaucrats, I believe. Yeah, that's right.
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That's right. For senior bureaucrats in an effort to, to influence them, to woo them. That's right.
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That's right. So, I mean, it is just like this, this is a scandal that has a, it's interesting because
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it has a little bit of everything. It has the collusion. It has the, um, identity theft. It has
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the price gouging. It has all of these things. And it's almost like a microcosm of how government
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is being run in the Trudeau era, to use a popular term, era.
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S.S. 11, we, the F-35s, on and on. Well, let's quickly go, we got a quick click here from
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committee last week. Andrew Scheer, who is, uh, in committee, uh, uh, asking a few questions. The
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Liberals decide to call the Auditor General's report, uh, a bit of a lie. So let's play cup
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one. So far, the Auditor General has concluded that it is at least $60 million in costs attributed
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to that. And that's based on what she can find.
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A point of order, uh, Mr. Uh, Mr. Chair. Um, yes, uh, Mr. Kusmer-Chuck.
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Yes, I, I would appreciate it if, uh, if my honorable colleague would ground his statement
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in fact, uh, not, uh, fiction. Thank you. We'll go back to Mr. Chair, please.
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Yeah, I'll just let the record show that the, uh, Liberal MPs are now calling the findings
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of the Auditor General fiction, so. And this is what we've seen time and time again from
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this Liberal government, along with their NDP dance partner, the NDP Liberal Coalition,
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um, is an obstruction of the truth, an obstruction of trying to get the answers.
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And we've seen this with documentation. We, we asked so many times in the McKinsey study
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to get the full documentation and the NDP kept obstructing the committee from obtaining
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the documentation. And we're seeing the Liberals here trying to do the same again. Uh, we just
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passed a motion today in Government Operations Committee around the COVID, uh, alert, um, a subject
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very much similar to a Rive scam, given that it was in the pandemic time, the same timing.
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And again, the Liberals were trying to amend the motion again and again in an effort to try and
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hide the truth. We're seeing an obstruction of witnesses. They, they don't want people to come
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in and tell the truth. They don't want the truth to find, to be found out by Canadians or by the
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committee because it fundamentally, all it does is points back again and again to the incompetence of
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this government and frankly, even the criminality of, of some of its members. And we're sure that
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this goes all the way to the top based upon the, the testimony that we have received from,
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from witnesses. So like I said, the truth is stranger than fiction and a Rive scam has, has something for
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everyone. If you like drama, it has some of that. If you like mystery, it has some of that. Uh, if,
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if, if, if you like, uh, debauchery, it has that with the whiskey, whiskey tasting, it has, it has
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all of that. But what's most concerning is that this is just a snapshot, just a, a single project,
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a moment, uh, a balance sheet, if you will, of what is going on in the Trudeau government. And it is
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so much wider than this, Jamie. Now the NDP are supposed to be in opposition. Unfortunately,
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they have a supply and confidence agreement, but I can, I can see why they are trying to keep this
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under wraps because the more of this debacle of a government is allowed to continue, the more the
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NDP where all of this corruption, all of this incompetence. And so by them, you know, suppressing
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documents, suppressing witness investigations, uh, it, it, it keeps them alive, so to speak,
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because there is no way I could imagine, uh, working class NDP supporters agree with what's
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going on right now. No, I couldn't agree with you more. And in fact, right after this,
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I'll be going into the House of Commons to make a statement on a Rive scam. And that's a point that
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I raise in my statement is that the NDP actually voted for this. They actually voted for the funding
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to have a Rive scam. So, I mean, they talk out of both sides of their mouth. They, they say that
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they want to hold this, this, uh, government to account sometimes. And that was, you know, we hear it,
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we hear it when we're in there, but the truth is, no, they are working hand in hand with the liberals
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to, to waste taxpayers' money, to, um, achieve nothing for Canadians. They can say whatever they
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want. This scandal proves otherwise. We are almost out of time. That means the guests have the final
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word. The floor is yours. I just want to say that, uh, I would encourage any Canadians who are out there
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to follow the Rive scam scandal because it really is a microcosm, uh, a moment, a snapshot of how
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everything bad with this Trudeau government, um, with the incompetence, uh, with the, um, unethical
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aspect of how they conduct themselves. I really think it's important for Canadians to take a look
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at a Rive scam and think about their money being used for such an app. Stephanie Cusey,
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member of parliament for Calgary, Mindapore, also the critic for the treasury board. We appreciate
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your time. We appreciate your words. We appreciate yours as well. Please like comment, subscribe,
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and share this program. If you haven't heard this message, this story, what is going on with the
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Rive scan in the mainstream media? This is a way to get that out to ears that might not have heard.
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