Tories Say ‘Wasteful Spending’ Contributed to Cost-of-Living Crisis After Auditor General Issues Reports

Conservative member of Parliament Jasraj Singh Hallan, second from right, joins fellow Conservative member's of Parliament for a press conference in response to the Auditor General report in Ottawa on Dec. 6, 2022. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

Conservative MPs reacted to the auditor general releasing reports about government programs during the pandemic on Dec. 6 and said the “wasteful spending” contributed to the cost-of-living crisis.

“The Conservatives are calling on the Liberals to present a plan that shows that they’re going to take this report seriously, and put in the controls that the auditor general is also calling for,” said Tory finance critic Jasraj Singh Hallan during a press conference in Ottawa.

Auditor General Karen Hogan tabled two reports in the House of Commons on the issues of vaccine management and pandemic subsidies.

Hogan found that 32.5 million doses of COVID-19 injections could go to waste if they’re not used or donated before the end of the year.

She also found that $4.6 billion in pandemic subsidies were made to ineligible individuals with another $27.4 billion needing further investigation.

Hallan called this “wasteful spending” which has led to the current bout of high inflation.

“This is another example of that inflationary waste that is forcing more and more Canadians into food banks,” he said.

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said in late November that if the government had injected less money into the economy during the pandemic the inflation would not be as high.

Hallan spoke alongside fellow MPs Adam Chambers, Tracy Gray, Pierre Paul-Hus, Stephen Ellis, and Kelly Block.

They were asked what their party proposes to deal with the mishandled funds but they did not commit to any actions, instead saying they will wait to see what the Liberal government plans to do.

“I think it’s incumbent upon the government to bring forward a plan to say, ‘look, here’s how we prioritize, we have limited resources, here’s what we are planning to do in a fully transparent way.’ We can obviously then judge the government on its plan to pursue individuals who received ineligible payments,” said Chambers.

The auditor general notes the government limited pre-payment controls to help provide the financial support as quickly as possible, but she says the follow-up verification has been inadequate.

There is also a closing window to recoup the funds, with the time frame to verify the eligibility of a recipient being 36 months for most COVID-19 programs for individuals.

“The Canada Revenue Agency and Employment and Social Development Canada need to act now to expand their post-payment verification plans to include all recipients identified as being at risk of being ineligible for benefits, then the department and agency need to carry out their plans and recover COVID-19 benefit amounts owed,” Hogan said in a statement.

Minister of Employment Carla Qualtrough addressed the auditor general report on Dec. 6 and defended the subsidies provided during the pandemic.

She said the billions provided had “kept the economy afloat at a time of unprecedented risk.”

Qualtrough said the verification process of recipients is ongoing and that 1.8 million overpayment notices have been sent to individuals.

“We have a strong plan to conduct post-payment verification and we are carrying out this work methodically,” she said, noting that $1.3 billion has been recovered so far.

Peter Wilson contributed to this report.