Michael Cooper
St. Albert—Sturgeon River, Alberta · Conservative · Canada
“Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a supplementary report on behalf of the Conservative members of the committee. The Conservatives would have liked to see additional recommendations with a view toward strengthening the integrity of our elections, including an amendment to the Canada Elections Act to require electors residing abroad to provid…”
“Mr. Speaker, it has been two years since legislation was passed to establish a foreign influence registry. Two years later, the Liberals have missed every deadline to get the registry up and running. On what date will the foreign influence registry finally be fully operational?”
“Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak on Bill C-25 , an act to amend the Canada Elections Act, at the third reading stage. As I noted in my speech during the second reading debate, there are a number of measures in this bill that would strengthen the Canada Elections Act, which Conservatives welcome.”
“(2235) I have to say that, ironically, to the degree that third parties would be captured by the general rule versus third parties that would not and would be captured by the exception, or could take advantage of the exception, I expect that in general it would be the smaller, grassroots-oriented third parties that would be subject to the…”
“This is much like how, as a general rule, third parties would be required to use and be limited to contributions from individual Canadians. That is all very good. That is in the bill, and we support that.”
“to eight registered third parties that were involved in, effectively, campaigning against the then Harper Conservative government and various Conservative candidates.”
The complete record
Every one of 343 lines we hold for Michael Cooper, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 7 of 7.
“Here we have GC Strategies getting paid millions of dollars, being awarded contracts, and when it comes to value for money, government departments took GC Strategies at its word that it was providing services at or below market rates. One cannot make this stuff up, but it is par for the course after 10 years of the Liberals' overseeing procurement and government contracting. Then there was the finding of the Auditor General that, in 33% of the contracts, departments could not demonstrate that contract resources had experience or qualifications to complete the work. I guess it is not a surprise, though, given that everything involving GC Strategies involves no work, with $20 million for arrive scam and millions more on the non-arrive scam contracts.”
“One example is the total absence or near total absence of oversight when it comes to seeing value for money with respect to at least non-competitive contracts, of which millions went out the door to GC Strategies, based upon the sample. With respect to those non-competitive contracts, the Auditor General found that, in 95% of the cases, government departments could not establish evidence of value for money. In fully 82% of the contracts, departments could not provide any evidence that fees charged did not exceed market rates. In 13% of the contracts, there was evidence, but guess what the evidence was. It was an attestation from the supplier, GC Strategies.”
“(1610) The Auditor General's findings in respect of these contracts was that there was “little to no evidence...that deliverables were received", so there we have arrive scam 2.0: no controls, no oversight, and millions upon millions of hard-earned taxpayer dollars improperly going out the door under the watch of the Liberals, and they have the audacity today to stand in this place and wash their hands clean of any responsibility. It is an absolute disgrace. There is no doubt that is the most damning aspect of the Auditor General's findings; what could be worse than getting paid and doing no work, to the tune of millions of dollars? However, I do want to note that there were other damning findings in the report.”
“The Auditor General went back to 2015, basically when the Liberal government came to office. That is when GC Strategies started getting contracts, 106 in total, the value of which was $94.7 million, and $64.5 million was ultimately paid out. The Auditor General put aside the four arrive scam contracts because they had already been audited, and she looked at the 102 remaining contracts. She took a sample of 35 of those contracts across 21 federal departments and organizations, and what she found was that of the 35 sampled non-arrive scam contracts, 46% involved contracts in which there was no proof of work.”
“The only thing GC Strategies is capable of is bidding for government contracts, getting the contracts, fleecing the taxpayer with 15% and 30% commissions and then subcontracting out the work. It is a firm that is under RCMP investigation, as we speak, for fraud in relation to contracts with the Government of Canada. As alarming and outrageous as it is, GC Strategies walked away with $20 million in taxpayer money for arrive scam. We learned on Tuesday that this only scratches the surface, because on Tuesday, the Auditor General issued another report, another audit, with respect to contracts involving GC Strategies and the Government of Canada. What the Auditor General found was that GC Strategies received millions more taxpayer dollars for no work. Let us look at some of the particulars of the findings of the Auditor General.”
“For example, the Auditor General found that there was a glaring disregard for basic management and contracting practices. So bad were things, that the Auditor General indicated she had never seen poorer record-keeping in all of her years undertaking audits. As bad as that is, arguably what is worse is what the procurement ombudsman found: that 76% of contractors involved in arrive scam did no work; no work was done, but yet money went out the door. At the centre of arrive scam is the now infamous firm GC Strategies, the largest contractor. GC Strategies is a two-person basement firm that did no work, that offered no services, that has no expertise, and yet walked away like a bandit with $20 million of taxpayer money.”
“Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak to our Conservative motion calling on the Liberal government to get taxpayers their money back in the face of the latest chapter in the ArriveCAN, better known as arrive scam, saga. Arrive scam is emblematic of widespread corruption, mismanagement, abuse and incompetence that defines 10 years of the Liberals. Arrive scam involves an app that did not work. It was supposed to cost $80,000. It turns out it cost taxpayers $60 million, 750 times greater than the initial projected cost, all, again, for an app that did not work. There is well-documented evidence that throughout the development of the app, there was widespread misconduct and mismanagement across multiple government departments and agencies.”
“Mr. Speaker, we have heard government members say again and again today that they are not responsible. It is true the Liberal government is not a responsible government, but the buck ultimately stops with ministers in the government. It is called ministerial responsibility. Instead, the Liberals, even though they have been in office for 10 years and millions went out the door to GC Strategies under their watch, throw the public service under the bus and then wash their hands clean. I would be interested in what the member has to say to that.”
“Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General found no proof of work for a staggering 46% of contracts awarded to GC Strategies, and yet the Liberals consistently authorized payment. Millions of taxpayer dollars went improperly out the door without any meaningful oversight, so who on the other side of the aisle is going to stand up, take responsibility and get taxpayers their money back?”
“Mr. Speaker, the Liberals handed 20 million taxpayer dollars to GC Strategies for its arrive scam. This is for a company that did no work, whose office was raided by the RCMP and that is implicated in fraud. Today we learned from the Auditor General that millions of dollars more went to GC Strategies without any proof that work was done. This is absolutely outrageous. When can taxpayers expect a refund?”
“Madam Speaker, we saw half a trillion dollars of new spending without a budget. The Prime Minister speaks about new fiscal discipline, except that over the next four years, the plan is to borrow more and run even bigger deficits than Justin Trudeau's government planned to do. It seems to me that we have a continuation of the same costly policies of spending and borrowing that so greatly contributed to the cost of living crisis that Canadians now face. Would the member agree?”
“Madam Speaker, the bottom line is that the Prime Minister 's commitment to increase the industrial carbon tax not only would undermine Canada's competitiveness, but the costs borne would be passed on to consumers. Canadians would in fact be paying more, not less, as a result of the Prime Minister's industrial carbon tax hike.”
“Madam Speaker, I take the hon. member's point that it would have been more appropriate to have provided those amendments in the form of a separate piece of legislation. With regard to the substance of part 4, the amendments to the Canada Elections Act, I do support those amendments: to have a uniform system in place with respect to privacy laws falling exclusively under federal jurisdiction, as they pertain to federal political parties.”
“Madam Speaker, it demonstrates that the Prime Minister represents a continuation of the same, with the current government, because that has been one of the defining features of the Liberals: to pad the pockets of their friends and of Liberal insiders. We saw that with McKinsey. We saw it with the $400-million green slush fund that seized Parliament last fall, and we see the same with this budget.”
“Madam Speaker, what Conservatives support is real tax relief for Canadians, which would be to abolish, axe completely, the entire carbon tax. That would mean a real middle-class tax cut, not a tax cut that results in savings that work out to roughly a coffee per week, and it would include a real cut in terms of GST on new homes, not the watered-down version copied and pasted from our Conservative platform. Yes, we support relief for Canadians. They need it now, but this bill falls short.”
“We are two weeks into the current Parliament, and the Liberals are already breaking key election commitments. So small, by the way, is the so-called middle-class tax cut that the savings that Canadians would realize would barely be enough to pay for a cup of coffee each week. It is hardly a middle-class tax cut; it is really nothing more than a gimmick. I would note that less than a cup of coffee a week is really next to nothing in the face of the average Canadian family's now paying $10,000 more in taxes than when the Liberals came to office. There are some half measures in the bill that we can support, but that is the best that can be said of the bill, which is half measures, an admission of failure and an admission of guilt for the past 10 years of the Liberals' carbon tax policy.”
“We have a Prime Minister who wraps himself in the Canadian flag, claiming to be a great champion of the Canadian economy and Canadian workers, and here he is hitting key sectors over the head with a carbon tax hike on top of U.S. tariffs. The Prime Minister's policy, combined with U.S. tariffs, threatens to drive entire sectors, such as steel, aluminum and other heavy industrial sectors, out of Canada, and that will cost Canadian jobs. This is why Conservatives are calling on the Liberals to axe the tax on everything, for everyone, for good, including the industrial carbon tax. Speaking of half measures, there is also the Liberals' so-called middle class tax cut. It is literally half measures insofar as it is half of the tax cut that the Liberals promised in the recent election campaign.”
“This is an admission by the Prime Minister that he got it wrong all along and that the central, key policy of the past 10 years of the Liberals was a complete failure. While it is an admission of failure by the Liberals, we say it is also half measures to repeal the consumer carbon tax. It is our position that the Liberals should repeal the industrial carbon tax. The Prime Minister 's policy is to maintain that punitive tax and to continue to increase that tax year after year until 2030. It is a tax that undermines Canada's competitiveness. It is a tax that disadvantages key sectors of the economy at a time when sectors of the economy are grappling with 25% and 50% U.S. tariffs, tariffs that the U.S. ambassador said today are likely to remain in place for the foreseeable future.”
“This represents an admission of guilt on the part of the Liberals that for years they were misleading Canadians about the carbon tax and that Conservatives were right all along that the carbon tax was fuelling inflation and increasing the cost of everything, contributing to the cost of living crisis. (1305) I have to say, with respect to the Prime Minister , that he likes to portray himself as someone who is very different from Justin Trudeau, but the Prime Minister was one of the architects of the carbon tax as an adviser to Justin Trudeau. The Prime Minister said that it was absolutely the right policy, and not only that but also that it represented a model for the world to follow. Now he has done a complete 180.”
“The Liberals said that the carbon tax was absolutely essential and that it was the best policy tool available to combat climate change, which they purport to be the biggest crisis of our lifetime. It is not only that, however; the Liberals also said that Canadians were actually better off paying the carbon tax. Why is that? It is because the Liberals claimed that Canadians received more money back in the way of rebates than they paid in the carbon tax. If that were true, then why would the Liberals be repealing that very carbon tax as part of their so-called making life more affordable for Canadians act? The Liberals cannot have it both ways. Either Canadians were better off, or they were worse off, because of the carbon tax.”
“It is also a government that has managed to spend tens of billions of dollars building bureaucracy instead of the homes that Canadians need, completely failing to address the supply shortage within the housing market. In the face of that disastrous record, here we are debating what the Liberals are selling as the solution to the cost of living crisis they bear so much responsibility for creating. The best that can be said of the bill is that it is an admission of failure on the part of the Liberals, combined with a series of half measures. Take the carbon tax as an admission of failure. The bill would repeal the consumer carbon tax. If there is one policy that has been the legacy of the government over the past 10 years, it has arguably been the carbon tax.”
“In the face of this cost of living crisis, the Liberals act as though they were mere bystanders, but the fact of the matter is that a big part of the reason we are facing this cost of living crisis is the failed and costly policies of the Liberals over the past 10 years. Let us look at the record. The government has presided over a firehose of reckless spending and money printing that has fuelled inflation. It is no accident that quite recently, inflation hit a 40-year high. It is a government that pummelled everyday Canadians with a punitive carbon tax that increased the cost of everything, including essentials such as food, fuel and home heating. It is a government that year after year increased payroll taxes and other taxes, and imposed costly new regulations.”
“Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Langley Township—Fraser Heights . I rise to speak to Bill C-4 , the Liberals' so-called making life more affordable for Canadians act. After 10 years of the Liberals, Canadians are facing an unprecedented cost of living crisis. In the 10 years that the Liberals have been in power, housing costs have doubled, rent has doubled, mortgage costs have more than doubled and food prices have skyrocketed. Indeed, the recently released “Canada Food Price Report 2025” reveals that the average Canadian family will pay $800 more in groceries this year compared to last year; this is as a record two million Canadians per month are lined up at the food bank and more than half of Canadians are $200 or less away from insolvency.”
“Madam Speaker, under the Liberals, Canada has become a playground for foreign interference. For years, CSIS, national security experts and diaspora groups have been calling on the Liberals to establish a foreign influence registry to counter foreign interference. Only after the Liberals got caught turning a blind eye to Beijing's interference in our democracy did they finally introduce legislation to establish a registry. It has been a year since the legislation passed. Where is the registry? There is no office established, no commissioner appointed, and no timeline provided. After years of opposing and obstructing a registry, the Liberals' latest tactic appears to be one of endless delay. This is completely inexcusable. It is time for the Liberals to finally take foreign interference seriously and get the registry up and running now.”
“Mr. Speaker, that was a complete non-answer. The Prime Minister has a history with tax havens and has not denied that he is currently using them. Instead of clearing the air, the Prime Minister is hiding behind a loophole in Canada's ethics laws and refusing to answer all questions about his financial interests. In the face of that, what conclusion can be drawn other than that Mr. Elbows Up himself is using offshore tax havens to avoid paying taxes in Canada?”
“Then again, this is the same Prime Minister who, as recently as the fall, led the charge to relocate Brookfield's headquarters out of Canada to New York City, but I digress. Canadians deserve to know if their Prime Minister is using offshore tax havens to avoid paying taxes in Canada. Instead of being transparent, the Prime Minister continues to take advantage of a loophole in Canada's ethics laws by hiding his assets from Canadians. Why? It really does beg the question, what is it that the Prime Minister does not want Canadians to know about his financial interests? There is, frankly, a lot of smoke here. I invite the government to finally clear the air. Does the Prime Minister have any financial holdings hidden away in offshore tax havens, yes or no?”
“Mr. Speaker, I rise to follow up on a very straightforward question I posed to the government House leader last week in question period. I asked if the Prime Minister has any financial holdings hidden away in offshore tax havens. It is a straightforward question, which the government House leader very conveniently refused to answer. It is a question the Prime Minister has repeatedly refused to answer. The Prime Minister has refused to come clean. He is a Prime Minister with a history with tax havens. When the Prime Minister was chair of Brookfield, Brookfield registered $30 billion of investment funds in offshore tax havens in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. Why? It was all so the Prime Minister's company could avoid paying taxes in Canada. So much for elbows up.”
“Mr. Speaker, there is more work for the federal government to do with respect to coordination and firefighter recruitment and retention. There are measures the government could take by adopting the proposed bill put forward by the hon. member and recommended by the finance committee, and that is to expand the volunteer firefighter tax credit from $3,000 to $10,000. The Parliamentary Budget Officer—”
“Mr. Speaker, I would note, since the member was to some degree alluding to climate change, that a recent IPCC climate report assigned only medium confidence to the idea that climate change has increased fire weather in some parts of the earth.”
“Mr. Speaker, the simple answer is no. Resources are lacking. Equipment is lacking. What we have seen with the government is that there are a lot of empty words. The Liberal Party across the way committed to a half-billion-dollar investment to recruit and train new firefighters and to acquire much-needed equipment, including helicopters and fire bombers, but three and a half years later, the government has failed to deliver, as wildfires have been raging out of control not just this year but also in other recent years.”
“Mr. Speaker, it is very disappointing that the minister has decided to play politics with wildfires, but it is part of the pattern with the government to cite climate change as the basis for every wildfire. Yes, climate change is a factor, but there are many other factors, including the bad forest management policies of the government, as well as human activity, among other factors.”
“There are issues with respect to equipment and coordination, and we have seen from the government a misguided and ideological approach in its opposition to preventative measures, such as prescribed burns, which resulted in the tinderbox that was Jasper National Park, and that led to a fire that was likely preventable. Certainly, a fire of that scale was preventable. It would not have happened but for the mismanagement and incompetence of the government. When it comes to fire prevention and preparedness, the government has a lot of work to do.”
“I pledge to those impacted residents that I will do everything I can, working with my provincial and municipal colleagues, to ensure that they receive the support and resources they need and deserve as they begin the process of rebuilding. With respect to the wildfires that are raging, out of control, across Canada, and in the face of recent disasters, including the Jasper wildfire, all of these things ought to constitute a five-alarm wake-up call for the government. The fact is that we have seen a deterioration in fire and emergency services across Canada. There are real issues with respect to personnel and resources.”
“As a result of all of those efforts, the fire, after nearly a month, was finally contained as of May 30, and lives, livestock, residents and businesses have been saved. Although catastrophe was averted, make no mistake about it, the impact of this wildfire on residents in eastern Sturgeon County has been devastating. In these days, there are residents who are literally sifting through the ashes. People lost their homes. They have lost livestock and pets. Valuable property was damaged and destroyed, and treasured recreation areas were lost. While the wildfire has been contained, for those who have been impacted, the road to rebuilding has just begun.”
“(2315) In that regard, I wish to join the mayor of Sturgeon County, Alanna Hnatiw, in thanking the Sturgeon County Emergency Services team; the provincial wildfire resource branch; the provincial ministries of forestry, transportation and parks; the RCMP; many community members; and the neighbouring counties of Parkland, Lamont, Strathcona and Fort Hills, for their efforts in combatting the fire, as well as lending resources, personnel and equipment. I would also like to acknowledge the Sturgeon Regional Emergency Management Partnership, which includes Sturgeon County, as well as the towns of Morinville, Redwater, Gibbons, Bon Accord and Legal, for its vital emergency response coordination efforts.”
“More than 70 homes were evacuated, and the situation on the ground was very dangerous and very volatile. Indeed, there was the real risk of catastrophe, with the fire being proximate to Alberta's industrial heartland, which is the largest hydrocarbon processing area in the country. There was a real risk that the fire would spread to the town of Redwater, a community of 2,100 residents. In the face of this very serious situation, what we saw in the way of the response to the wildfire were acts of courage from residents, leadership from local officials from the province, and neighbours and communities coming together to lend a helping hand.”
“I would also like to extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to all the firefighters, first responders, members of the Canadian Armed Forces, members of law enforcement, volunteers, and members of communities who are stepping up and working tirelessly in often very difficult and dangerous environments to save lives, to save property and infrastructure and to assist impacted communities. Let me say that this has been a devastating wildfire season, and it has been felt in my riding of St. Albert—Sturgeon River. On May 3, a fire was ignited in the Redwater Provincial Recreation Area in Sturgeon County due to an apparent mechanical or electric failure of an all-terrain vehicle. Due to dry and windy conditions, the fire quickly spread, engulfing more than 3,200 hectares.”
“Albert—Sturgeon River that I will do everything I can to be a strong and effective voice on their behalf in the House of Commons. The wildfire situation across Canada, particularly in western Canada, is dangerous. It is very serious. We have seen more than a million and a half hectares burn. We have seen tens of thousands of people evacuated. Homes and property have been damaged and destroyed. Entire communities are at risk. The intensity of the fires is so strong that the smoke can be felt and has impacted places as far away as the United Kingdom and Florida. I want to join colleagues in expressing my sympathy and concern for the thousands upon thousands of Canadians who are impacted by these wildfires.”
“Mr. Speaker, I rise to participate in this very important emergency debate, but before I address the urgent matter at hand, as this is the first time I have had the opportunity to speak in this new Parliament, I want to thank the residents of St. Albert—Sturgeon River for placing their trust and confidence in me. I would also like to thank all the many dedicated volunteers who worked so hard on my campaign and indeed all the volunteers who worked on all the campaigns in my riding. Volunteers play such an integral role in the service of our democracy. In this Parliament, I look forward to continuing to represent the city of St. Albert and the many communities I now have the privilege of representing in this newly drawn riding. I pledge to the residents of St.”
“Mr. Speaker, I would note that when it comes to fire and emergency services, we have seen a significant deterioration across Canada in recent years. The Liberal Party pledged in 2021 to allocate half a billion dollars to train and recruit 1,000 new firefighters and acquire new equipment, including helicopters and water bombers. Thus far, that money has not gone out the door. The government has failed to meet the commitment that it made, nearly three and a half years later. Would the hon. member agree that when it comes to this matter, the government has a lot of work to do?”
“Mr. Speaker, I want to welcome the hon. member to this House. We have seen mixed messages from the Prime Minister and from the government when it comes to getting resource projects and pipelines built. During the election campaign, the Prime Minister's mantra was “build, baby, build”. He even invoked using emergency powers to get pipelines built, but then backtracked by endorsing the “no pipelines” bill, Bill C-69 , as well as the production cap. We have seen the Minister of Natural Resources repeatedly say that the government would now support getting pipelines built only where there is a so-called consensus. Could the hon. member elaborate on what that might look like?”
“Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has been anything but transparent, hiding behind a loophole in Canada's ethics laws to hide his assets from Canadians. It really begs the question “Why?” Is it because Mr. Elbows Up himself is dodging paying taxes?”
“Mr. Speaker, when the Prime Minister was the chair of Brookfield, Brookfield registered $30 billion of investment funds in offshore tax havens in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, all to avoid paying taxes in Canada. Now the Prime Minister refuses to come clean and disclose his assets to Canadians. Canadians deserve to know. Does the Prime Minister have any financial holdings hidden away in offshore tax havens, yes or no?”