Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

DAN ALBAS – Liberal government has spent approximately $240 billion on pandemic programs and services -- over $6,300 for every Canadian

 


One of the roles of the official Opposition is to hold the Government to account on where your tax dollars are spent.

Historically journalists have also been part of this process and more recently, at least in Ottawa, also the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

Since mid-March, when the pandemic began, and up until the end of November, the Federal Government has spent approximately $240 billion on various (COVID-19) pandemic programs and services.

For some context, on that works out to over $6,300 for every Canadian.

This raises the obvious question as to where that money has gone.

Recently Canada’s former Parliamentary Budget Officer was quoted as saying, after looking at the Trudeau Liberals latest fiscal update:

It's impossible to read. I have done this for years and I can't even follow the money,"

As Parliamentarians in the official Opposition, we have experienced similar frustrations trying to get more detailed financial information from the Finance Minister, thus far without much success.

Fortunately, the investigative journalists at CBC have also been looking at this topic and have made some important progress.

The large numbers have been well known as they are publicly available.

The $240 billion breaks down into three categories:

·         $105.6 billion was spent on programs for individuals,

·         $16.1 billion on supports for government related programs

·         and finally, $ 118.3 billion on programs for businesses.

It is this last category, and attempting to identify exactly where these business supports have gone, that has raised many concerns.

CBC has used corporate filing information to track down over 400 companies that have received financial assistance from the federal government.

The Financial Post has taken this investigation further and identified, to date, 68 publicly traded companies that received this taxpayer financial assistance in the form of wage subsidies and at the same time paid out shareholder dividends.

In other cases, executive bonus money has been reported to have been paid out as well as stock buy back programs have been used.

The Liberal Government has been clear that the wage subsidy program is to be used to pay workers, not to pay for dividends or executive bonuses.


However, at the same time the Liberal Government is refusing to disclose what other companies accessed these funds.

Were it not for investigative journalism, the public would be unaware of these 68 companies that have been identified to date.

My Question This Week:

Given the Liberals refusal to disclose this information, should it be a requirement for a company applying for taxpayer assistance programs to be publicly listed as a recipient of this funding?

I can be reached at:
Email: Dan.Albas@parl.gc.ca
Toll Free: 1 (800) 665-8711


Dan Albas ... is the Member of Parliament for the riding of Central Okanagan Similkameen Nicola. This riding includes the communities of Kelowna (specific boundaries), West Kelowna, Peachland, Summerland, Keremeos, Princeton, Merritt and Logan Lake.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

PEATS: I am writing with a critical concern regarding the imminent closure of the Eljen Medical Clinic, a vital healthcare facility in our community

The following is a copy of a letter sent to me, which was sent to BC’s Minister of Health Adrian Dix. It is with regards to the impending closure of the Eljen Medical Clinic in Dawson Creek.   Dear Minister,   I am writing to you today with a critical concern regarding the imminent closure of the Eljen Medical Clinic, a vital healthcare facility in our community. The closure, scheduled for the summer of 2024, is a result of the utterly burdensome terms and conditions imposed by the bureaucratic Northern Health. As a result, Dawson Creek stands to lose four doctors who have made this city their home, and who wish to continue serving the people of our community.   The impending closure of the Eljen Medical Clinic is a significant blow to our city. Not only will it result in the loss of highly qualified and dedicated healthcare professionals, but it will also deprive thousands of Dawson Creek residents of access to their primary physicians. At a time when healthcare se

Selina Robinson: "You broke my heart . . ." (The Real Story)

The mildly Zionist, innocuously leftish and now ousted advanced education minister’s letter to her New Democratic Party caucus colleagues, explaining why she has resigned the caucus to sit as an independent. The letter is an historic document, an artifact of the disgraceful cultural moment we’re living through. It’s important. It’s also a scorcher. It’s gathering a heck of a lot of attention . I’m printing it in full here. I’ve been insisting that what happened to Robinson is a much bigger deal and a completely different story than the one we’d all been led to believe. The necessary background: My piece in the National Post: The despicable untruths behind Selina Robinson's political lynching . More importantly , a Real Story investigation: The Problem With The Selina Robinson Story. . . It wasn't true. What follows is the story of what really happened. Let’s just get into it. Apart from punctuation and spelling I replicate the letter faithfully, with some further comm

Long-time former BC Liberal supporter says, I am definitely not hanging in there with BC United

                              BC United leader Kevin Falcon I recently asked a political acquaintance of mine, about their current involvement with BC United.   I was much surprised with the response given the BC Liberals had been the recipient of a lot of their time and energy in the past. By request, their comments are posted anonymously : I am definitely not hanging in there with BC United. Kevin’s poor judgement in ousting John Rustad from Caucus, and then publicly humiliating him, might be the most inept thing I have seen in BC politics ... and I’ve been involved in BC politics for a number of years! I still think the impetus was John‘s involvement in the Ellis Ross leadership campaign for the BC Liberal Party, and how successful and respected (despite not winning) it was. I am uncertain about the tenor of the current Conservative movement in North America. The once proud Republican Party in the United States has allowed itself to be led by a person who is morally, intell

Labels

Show more