RCMP say the document is already at the center of a debate that has brought government business to a halt in the House of Commons.
Speaker Greg Fergus ruled last week that the government “clearly did not fully comply” with an order from the House of Commons to produce documents related to a defunct foundation that was responsible for hundreds of dollars in funding. Since then, the ruling Liberal Party has been unable to advance any legislation. Millions of federal dollars will go towards green technology projects.
That House order said the documents should be forwarded to the RCMP to investigate potential criminality.
But RCMP Commissioner Mike Duhem told reporters Thursday that the Mounties already had the documents in question.
Asked about the debate in the House of Commons, Duhem said: “We have indeed received the document and the investigation is ongoing, so I will limit my comments to that.”
Duhem did not say whether the RCMP had received the documents pursuant to the original House order. CBC News has asked the RCMP if the force has received all the documents in question and for more information about the investigation.
RCMP Commissioner Mike Duhem said the RCMP had “received the document.” On Thursday, reporters told Duhem that they believed the House of Representatives was interfering with its police work after receiving documents from the House about a now-defunct foundation responsible for disbursing hundreds of millions of federal dollars to environmental technology projects. I asked if it was.
But the RCMP told MPs this summer that if the documents were obtained through a House of Commons operation, they would likely not be able to be used in an investigation.
The federal government scrapped the $1 billion Green Fund in June following a report by the Auditor General that found “serious deficiencies” in the handling of federal funds.
Auditor General Karen Horgan says Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) violated its conflict of interest policy 90 times, awarded $59 million to 10 ineligible projects, and frequently exaggerated the environmental benefits of projects. He said he is doing so.
Government business has been suspended indefinitely in the House of Commons, and opposition parties say it will remain so until the Liberals deliver documents relating to the government’s now-defunct Canada Sustainable Development Technology Program. The Powers Committee is involved in a bitter fight over the House’s agenda.
The Liberals have expressed concern that the House of Commons is interfering with police independence by providing documents to the RCMP.
Government House of Commons Leader Karina Gould called the request for documents an abuse of parliamentary power and said it tramples on Canadians’ constitutional rights.
“Let me be clear: This is an attempt by the Conservatives to mess up Parliament,” Gould said Thursday.
“Conservative MPs are here for their own political and personal ends and don’t care what they do to Canadians in the meantime. This is very concerning to all of us. That’s what you should do.”
Conservative House of Commons Leader Andrew Scheer disputed that claim. He said the Charter of Rights “exists to protect the people from the government. It is not there to protect the government from accountability from the people.”
”[The Liberals are] I’m willing to suspend Parliament rather than turn over this information to the RCMP for a potential criminal investigation,” Scheer told The Canadian Press on Thursday.
In last week’s ruling, Fergus said it was “unprecedented” for the House of Commons to require the government to produce documents for the purpose of providing them to a third party, in this case the RCMP.
Mr Fergus recommended that the matter be considered by the House of Commons Procedures Committee. Since then, lawmakers have been debating how to proceed. The matter has been ruled a matter of privilege and therefore takes precedence over all other business in the House of Commons until it is resolved.
