Conservatives come to AG's defence after Liberal minister suggests benefit report was politically influenced
Conservatives come to AG's defence after Liberal minister suggests benefit report was politically influenced
National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier is facing calls from Conservatives to apologize for suggesting that Tuesday's auditor general report indicating that billions of dollars in COVID-19 benefits went to those who were ineligible was influenced by political pressure.
On Tuesday, auditor general Karen Hogan tabled a report raising alarms that, of the $211 billion the federal government sent out to Canadians and companies during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, at least $4.6 billion in overpayments went to those who were ineligible, and another $27.4 billion merited further investigation.
While Hogan concluded that overall the federal government effectively delivered the emergency aid and staved off further economic harm, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and Employment and Social Development Canada are "falling short" and running out of time when it comes to following through on verifying recipients' eligibility and trying to claw back funds.
Facing multiple questions on the audit's findings during question period on Tuesday, Lebouthillier — the minister responsible for the CRA — said that the federal revenue agency doesn't agree with some of the audit's findings.
Taking issue specifically with how Hogan calculated eligibility for the wage subsidy program and flagged that $15.5 billion paid out may have gone to ineligible employers, Lebouthillier said the auditor general's figure was "exaggerated."
"This is not the auditor general's fault," the minister said in French. "We all know that she was pressured by the opposition to produce this report. Political games notwithstanding, let us not forget that the wage subsidy saved the economy."
This prompted the Conservatives to pivot their line of questioning. Seizing on her remark, the Official Opposition came to Hogan's defence, demanding that the minister apologize rather than continuing to pepper the Liberals with questions about what they plan to do to recoup the benefit money, some of which the Conservatives supported being sent to Canadians amid the global health crisis.
"The auditor general is an incredibly critical part of our democracy. When an individual calls the auditor general's integrity into question, which happened just now in the House, it is an attack on our democracy," said Conservative MP Philip Lawrence. "Will the minister apologize?"
On it went, first with the minister stating that she wouldn't apologize, then with her doubling down with her "pressured" line.
In another question, Conservative MP Luc Berthold pointed out that it was Parliament, not the opposition, that asked the auditor general to dive into the federal government's pandemic spending, the latest in a series of COVID-19-focused performance reports in line with Hogan’s mandate as an officer of Parliament.
"However, today in the House, the minister of national revenue had the nerve to hide her incompetence at managing the crisis by throwing accusations at the auditor general of Canada and questioning her integrity. There is just one thing left for the minister to do, and that is to stand up and apologize to the House," he said.
To this, the minister replied that she had "total confidence" in the auditor general and that Hogan has her "utmost respect," but she did not apologize.
The parliamentary drama poured over into a House of Commons Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday afternoon, where Hogan was asked to respond to Lebouthillier's question period comments.
Hogan told the committee that she stood by her findings, and pointed out the legislation that implemented the program with rapid payouts and limited pre-payment verification, included a requirement for her office to conduct an audit after the fact.
"Our audit work is very rigorous," Hogan said. "We based our work on really the limited information that was available at the Canada Revenue Agency, because very little was collected on application. We could only look at what information was available, and we believe that we looked at the best information available and came to the best conclusions."
On her way into a Liberal caucus meeting on Wednesday morning, Lebouthillier was asked to explain her comments.
In French she said that while she doesn’t necessarily agree with the figures put forward in the COVID-19 benefit report, she has enormous respect for the auditor general and for the independence of her office. The minister did not apologize for suggesting Hogan’s work was politically motivated.
The minister faced a few more questions on the matter during question period on Wednesday. Following this, the House of Commons—on the prompting of Bloc Quebecois MP Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagne—made the point of reaffirming its “full trust in the auditor general and the importance of her independent work.”
Unanimously agreeing to the Bloc motion, MPs agreed that the information the office provides to parliamentarians is of “quality.”
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