Aid going to ‘fraudsters’ and ‘criminals,’ Scheer claims

Taxpayers deserve to know where money is spent, says Tory leader

OTTAWA— Federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is accusing the Liberal government of allowing “fraudsters” and “criminals” to abuse federal aid meant to support unemployed Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The outgoing opposition leader is once again calling on the Liberals to hold more frequent meetings in the House of Commons as COVID-19 continues to spread.

Scheer suggested the current arrangement — two virtual meetings and one in-person session each week — is not sufficient for the opposition to hold the government to account.

“Taxpayers deserve to know how the government is spending their money,” Scheer told reporters at a news conference in Ottawa on Tuesday.

“Especially since we recently learned that Justin Trudeau is allowing the (Canada Emergency Response Benefit) to be paid out to fraudsters each month. That money should be going to help Canadians who are legitimately struggling, not criminals and the people who are intentionally gaming the system.”

Scheer was referring to recent reports by the National Post and CBC that suggested bureaucrats were being asked to ignore potentially fraudulent claims for the emergency benefit, which provides $500 a week to Canadians unable to work while the economy remains in shutdown.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has stood by the decision to move the money out quickly during the crisis, even at the risk that some would try to take advantage of the situation. The Liberal government has repeatedly said it will attempt to recoup improperly claimed benefits after the immediate crisis passes.

“The choice we made was to get the money out to people immediately when they needed it so we could do the social (distancing), so we could stay home the way we needed to and make sure that the fraudsters get caught as we move forward,” Trudeau recently told reporters.

A spokesperson for Scheer said the Conservatives don’t buy that argument, and held the Liberals could have processed millions of claims while investigating the “red-flagged cases.”

Scheer has been focused on securing a return for in-person House of Commons meetings for weeks, arguing the Liberals’ emergency efforts to manage the COVID-19 outbreak have been improved by opposition scrutiny.

But Trudeau noted Tuesday the twice-weekly virtual sittings allow MPs who represent communities far from Ottawa to participate in the debate.

Inviting a select group of MPs for more in-person meetings could mean “many MPs from further parts of the country … will be unable or unwilling to come to Ottawa,” Trudeau suggested.

While sources have told the Star the Conservative caucus is largely on board with Scheer’s overall position, his focus on the number of meetings of the House of Commons — in the middle of a global public health crisis and economic collapse — has led to some grumblings about the official opposition’s priorities.

And, in an interview with CTV’s Evan Solomon, Scheer revealed he did not follow through with renouncing his American citizenship — something the Conservative leader promised to do during the election campaign.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Scheer said his promise to Canadians that he’d renounce his dual citizenship was contingent on him becoming prime minister.

Responding to the CTV interview, Jenni Byrne, a former senior Conservative adviser who now runs her own consulting firm, and one of Scheer’s most vocal critics, said caucus should remove him and install an interim leader.

“(Scheer) continues to show why he wasn’t ready to be prime minister and why he shouldn’t be the official leader of the opposition. The Conservative caucus needs to do now what they didn’t do in December, and put an interim leader in for three months,” Byrne posted on Twitter.

Scheer rebuffed the idea he should step down, and suggested caucus had given him a vote of confidence to remain at the helm in the lead up to the party’s Aug. 21 leadership vote.