Who Got Rich — And Why Won’t the Government Answer?
In Question Period, I pressed the government to answer a simple question: who benefited from a $200‑million spaceport deal funded by Canadian taxpayers. Instead of providing answers, we saw a pattern emerge. The CEO of the company dismissed legitimate concerns as a “clueless meme,” and the government has previously referred to similar questions as “stupid.” When questions about how hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent are met with insults rather than transparency, it raises serious concerns about accountability.
Parliament exists to hold government to account, especially when public money is involved. Canadians have every right to ask who benefited from this deal, why key details were not openly disclosed, and why insiders appeared to profit following the announcement. Dismissing those questions does not make them go away — it only reinforces the need for answers. Canadians deserve clarity, respect, and transparency when it comes to decisions of this scale, and I will continue pressing until we get them.
Background
- In March 2026, the Department of National Defence announced $200 million over 10 years to lease a space-launch pad at a Canadian-owned spaceport in Nova Scotia operated by Maritime Launch Services. The agreement requires initial operational capability to be delivered by the end of 2026, with 90% of funds spent in Canada. The agreement is backdated to April 1, 2025.
- The spaceport sits on Nova Scotia Crown land under a lease effective 2022, with an initial 20-year term at an annual rent of $13,500 — a nominal amount relative to the $200 million contract.
- While 2017 projections targeted eight launches per year by 2022, MLS has conducted two launches to date.
- The July 2023 launch was a student-built rocket, while the November 2025 launch was MLS’s first commercial suborbital test.
- Neither launch crossed the Kármán line (~100 km), the conventional boundary of space.
- According to the Halifax Examiner, freedom of information request revealed that MLS CEO Steve Matier was rebuked by Nova Scotia officials for “releasing false information to the press, repeatedly delayed scheduled requirement submissions”, and “complained about correspondence appearing in FOIPOP requests.”
- According to Halifax Examiner, former Nova Scotia Premier McNeil wrote a letter of support for MLS even before the project was submitted for environmental assessment. McNeil was named to the MLS Advisory Board in 2023, after announcing his resignation in 2021.
- The Liberal government is wasting $200 million to lease a gravel parking lot from a private company, Maritime Launch Services, for 10 years, on a crown land lease.
- Despite years of promises, recent reporting shows the site still consists primarily of a gravel road and small concrete launch pad.
- Only the government could spend $200 million to rent land that is already owned by the taxpayer! They are renting crown land for $20 million a year, when they could have purchased similar land for just $2.5 million.
- Liberal insiders benefit:
- The site is in a Liberal riding,
- The Justice Minister’s former staffer was a lobbyist for the project; and,
- The former Liberal premier of Nova Scotia sits on the advisory board.
- When pressed by MP Ho, the president of the Canadian Space Agency said she wasn’t consulted about the choice of the site.
- Minister MacKinnon proudly announced that with the $200 million Canada can “now launch rockets from home”. If that’s true, when will the first successful space launch be?
- Conservatives are demanding full transparency and the release of all documents behind the decision to award $200 million to Maritime Launch Services.
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