Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I do not know how I will top the remarks and wonderful intervention by the member for Calgary Confederation. We are in trouble as a country. It is very serious. We are a country in decline, but listening to the government, it is as if Canadians have never had it so good. The Liberals say things like that we have the lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio in the developed world, or that we have …
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Mr. Speaker, we should make sure all Canadians, corporate or individual, pay the taxes they owe, no question. We should make sure that people pay the taxes they owe before we think about increasing taxes on everyone else.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the government's early learning and child care plan: (a) what is the breakdown in the number of affordable (i) spaces, (ii) daycares or similar facilities, that have been created or signed into the program, broken down by each federal riding; and (b) if a breakdown of (a) by federal riding is not available, what is the breakdown by municipality or metropolitan region?
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With regard to the statement by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Commissioner, Bob Hamilton, at the House of Commons Standing Committee of Public Accounts on January 26, 2023, that it "wouldn't be worth the effort" to fully review $15.5 billion in potentially ineligible Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) payments: (a) did the Minister of National Revenue sign off or agree with this decision and, …
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With regard to the government's response to Order Paper question Q-908 and the statement that approximately $320 million had been spent on integrity activities associated with various COVID-19 relief programs, as of March 31, 2022, and that approximately $556 million is estimated to be spent from fiscal year 2022-23 through 2025-26 on integrity activities associated with various COVID-19 relief pr…
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Mr. Speaker, less than one year ago, the Deputy Prime Minister stood in the House and said, “We are absolutely determined that our debt-to-GDP ratio must continue to decline and our deficits must continue to be reduced.... This is our fiscal anchor. This is a line we will not cross.” That is a promise made and a promise broken. The big spending budget yesterday would add $4,300 a year of spending …
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Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister also said, “The pandemic debt we incurred to keep Canadians safe and solvent must [and will] be paid down.” Even just a few months ago, the Deputy Prime Minister said that the budget would be balanced. That is another promise made and another promise broken. Now the government is adding $4,300 in new spending and debt for every household in Canada, and there …
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With regard to phone lines paid for by the government, broken down by cellular line versus traditional landline, for each part of the question: (a) how many phone lines was the government paying for as of January 1, 2023; (b) how many of the phone lines are dormant; (c) how many of the phone lines are active but have not been used or have not had any activity in the last year; (d) how many of the …
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Prime Minister's high-spending government, it has little choice left but to raise taxes on hard-working Canadians. That is right. If Canadians want to numb the pain of higher inflation and a slowing economy with their favourite beer, spirit or wine, they have to dig deeper into their pockets. The excise tax on alcohol is going up over 6.3%, costing consumers a…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to be here again with you today to talk about a very important issue. I want to thank all members who participated in this debate, whether they agree with this piece of legislation or not, but in particular my friends from the Bloc, who spoke in favour of this piece of legislation, which I think is very important. I would like to touch on a few things for members to…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, on April 1, the government is increasing the excise tax on alcohol, beer, spirits and wine by over 6%. As if inflation is not hurting Canadians enough, now they have to dig deeper in their pockets to enjoy their favourite libation. It is expected that this would cost taxpayers, Canadians, consumers and businesses $125 million more next year. It is enough to drive one to drink. The exc…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise in this House to talk about a very important issue. Today we are talking about investment, national defence and security. The world is a far different place today than it was even a year ago, and there has been a concerted effort by hostile foreign powers to undermine western democracies, undermine our national security, undermine our economic interests…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), broken down by year since 2018: (a) how many commercial (i) trains, (ii) train cars, crossed into Canada, in total, broken down by point of entry for each year since 2018; (b) how many of the (i) trains, (ii) train cars, in (a) were physically inspected by the CBSA; (c) how many of the inspected (i) trains, (ii) train cars, contained illegal…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we did support the government with the GST supplement, which is actually running out now. What we did not support was distributing dental and rental benefits by a process that is being called into question by the Parliamentary Budget Officer and the Auditor General, who says it increases the risk of fraud. If we listen to everybody else, the government says …
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Mr. Speaker, one year ago, a Liberal MP said, “It’s time to stop dividing Canadians”. What has happened in the last year? Canadians are more divided than ever. Inflation is at a 40-year high, 50% of Canadians are cutting on groceries, rent is up and mortgage costs are up, except we cannot question these issues or we would be called unpatriotic by the government. Canadians are struggling, and the P…
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Mr. Speaker, that is an absolutely excellent question. I see that there are expanded powers for two ministers. I trust at least one of them. However, the Governor in Council provides a more fulsome review. Maybe even an external body that is removed from politics would be the right way to go. As I have said, we never know whom we will end up having as a minister, and I think we should take a bit m…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague may be happily surprised to hear Zellers is returning in a few locations. That may be some welcome news. In any event, the world is different today. Geopolitics changes over time and regimes change. That is why we need principles under which to look at all transactions. I agree about entities that are controlled by or influenced by a foreign power, for example, whether it…
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Mr. Speaker, I have very much enjoyed getting to work with the member on the finance committee. He brings many insightful comments forward. Of course, we think the thresholds the government is currently using to review transactions are likely too low. I would refer the government to recommendations from the previous industry committee. The member rightly recognizes that there are likely more trans…
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Madam Speaker, I will consider any recommendation that sees the energy bills of Canadians reduced. In addition, if the member wants to talk about profiteering corporations, I am not sure how a windfall tax is going to lower inflation for Canadians. However, I do support reviews by the Competition Tribunal and other independent officers as to whether there is unnecessary profiteering or price gougi…
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Madam Speaker, if Conservatives were in power, one of the things we have consistently said we would do is to reduce energy bills by cutting the carbon tax, or we could take the suggestion of the NDP and reduce the GST on energy bills. However, we would also reduce government spending. We are spending $15 billion a year, every year, on high-priced consultants to do things that the civil service cou…
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Madam Speaker, I will resist the temptation to quote Nickelback, but if the hon. member listened to the speech, I had recognized that there are two causes of inflation. One is demand and the other is supply, both of them cause inflation in this country. More recently, economists, former Liberals and Bank of Canada governors are suggesting that the causes of inflation are more domestic than they ar…
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure in this place. Today, I want to talk about inflation and spending. I have been here for just over a year. I have driven all over Ottawa, and I still cannot find the money tree that the government seems to have in its backyard, which it finds to spend on just about everything. Let us find out why spending matters. It drives inflation. There are two kinds of in…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise today to present a petition sponsored by The Canadian Federation of University Women's chapter in Orillia. It relates to a very important issue: domestic partner violence. Four in 10 women and one third of men have experienced some form of intimate partner violence. In fact, in 2018, 44% of women, or about 6.2 million women aged 15 and over, reported experienc…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the government now believes that it no longer needs the Auditor General's advice. The Auditor General identified $27 billion of COVID support payments that should be investigated, except that the CRA says that it is not worth the effort to review those payments. The Parliamentary Budget Officer is now ringing the alarm bells saying that he, too, is concerned that th…
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Mr. Speaker, with respect to Chinese state-owned enterprises, could the member reflect on the threshold he believes might be reasonable? I believe the last committee in the previous Parliament indicated that a much lower threshold, maybe even zero, should be considered.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of fiscal mismanagement, the Liberal government is not even hiding it anymore. It has now decided it no longer needs to accept the advice of the Auditor General, who says $27 billion in COVID support payments need to be investigated. Instead, the CRA says it is not worth the effort. Will the government take the advice of the independent Auditor General, or does it be…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), broken down by year since 2018: (a) how many commercial (i) trains, (ii) train cars, crossed into Canada, in total, broken down by point of entry for each year since 2018; (b) how many of the (i) trains, (ii) train cars, in (a) were physically inspected by the CBSA; (c) how many of the inspected (i) trains, (ii) train cars, contained illegal…
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With regard to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy: (a) how many complaints did the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) receive concerning recipients misusing the subsidy; (b) of the complaints in (a), how many did CRA investigate; (c) what were the findings of the investigations in (b); and (d) how many fines have been issued to recipients who misused the subsidy?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, before I start, I would like to ask for unanimous consent to split my time.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the wonderful member for Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner. It is always a pleasure to rise in this chamber to speak to legislation. Today, we are talking about Bill S-8 to ensure that foreign nationals who are subject to economic sanctions are not able to enter our country. Since we are also talking about human rights, I did want to take a moment to addres…
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Mr. Speaker, as was mentioned previously, the bill was passed in the Senate in the spring and has been sitting all fall waiting to be dealt with in this chamber. Now it is a couple of days before we rise for the winter holidays and we have been asked to fast-track it. The Conservatives hope it gets to committee quickly, but, at the same time, it has been sitting throughout the fall waiting for som…
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Mr. Speaker, no, I do not think so.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the measures in Bill C-21, An Act to amend certain Acts and to make certain consequential amendments (firearms), to increase the maximum penalties from 10 to 14 years imprisonment for certain firearms related offences: (a) how many people have been convicted of each of the related offences since January 1, 2016, broken down by year and offence; and (b) of those convicted in (a), how…
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With regard to income tax and the Canada Revenue Agency, broken down by year since 2016: (a) what is the total number of people who filed income tax returns, broken down by income tax bracket; and (b) what was the total amount of revenue collected, from personal income tax, broken down by tax bracket and tax return filed?
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With regard to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA): what is the total number of employees or full-time equivalents in each (i) division, (ii) enforcement area of the CRA, broken down by year since 2016?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the problem is that the Auditor General said very clearly the postpayment verification process is anything but rigorous. The problem is that taxpayers are now on the hook for these billions of dollars they may never receive back. This is the same failed process the government is relying upon when distributing its new dental and rental benefits. Will the government admit it had no cont…
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Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General stated that the process the government relied on to distribute COVID benefits led to $4.6 billion in overpayments to ineligible individuals, and at least another $27 billion that needs to be investigated. How much of this $32 billion can taxpayers expect to recover? How much money is the government going to spend in administrative costs to recover money for taxpaye…
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Madam Speaker, the government's key piece it likes to talk about in the economic statement is the interest relief for students going to school. The question is fairly simple. How many more students will get to access post-secondary education from this government change than otherwise would be the case? The government does not have an answer. It is giving a windfall to the students who are already …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the Shared Equity Mortgage Providers (SEMP) Fund: (a) how much of the $100 million fund has been distributed to date; (b) how many applications for the SEMP Fund have been (i) received, (ii) approved, (iii) denied, (iv) received, but a decision is still pending; (c) how many new home units receiving SEMP funding (i) have been completed, (ii) are currently under construction; and (d)…
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians should judge a government by what it does, not what it says. What the government does is spend, spend, spend. Spending is up 30% versus pre-COVID levels and Canadians are paying the price. Inflation is at a 40-year high level. Next year, we are going to spend almost as much on servicing the debt as we do on health care transfers to the provinces. Canadians cannot afford much…
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Mr. Speaker, I am seeking unanimous consent to split my time.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I have only been here for a year, but I have been driving all over the city and I still cannot find the money tree. I do not know where it is, but the government spent $100 billion of added debt before COVID and spent $500 billion of debt during COVID. Forty per cent of the money spent during COVID was not even related to the pandemic. That is not from us. That is from the independent…
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Mr. Speaker, we do not have a student debt problem in this country. About 65% of the working-age population have post-secondary education. It is wrong to ask 100% of the working-age population to subsidize that 65%. The government should have taken the same amount of money or half the amount of money and put it toward grants for low-income students who are not otherwise able to attend post-seconda…
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Mr. Speaker, yes, sometimes inflationary readings indicate economic uncertainty. The government's own numbers were projecting 3.1% growth next year, and now it is projecting only 0.7% growth. There are economic challenges on the horizon. The government wants to talk about making the EI system better. We abandoned the EI system during COVID because it was inadequate. I would ask the government wher…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not believe that growing the size of the government is going to fix the inflation problem. I support the NDP opposition day motion, which called for a study on greedflation with respect to grocery stores. I hope we do not prejudge the end of that study. I am looking forward to that study being done, as well as the one by the Competition Bureau. It is very important work. Any comp…
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Mr. Speaker, it is Halloween and Canadians are spooked. They are spooked by having to pay 28% more for costumes and candy and spooked by the government's indifference about the inflation crisis, which the Liberals just wave away as being globally brought into this country. The central bank governor has said inflation is now more of a homegrown problem and Mark Carney, the former central bank gover…
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Mr. Speaker, interest rates are up again, and the Bank of Canada says more raises are coming. Now the bank says that inflation reflects Canadian domestic factors, not the global factors the government keeps blaming. The government said interest rates will remain low, and then it went on a spending spree. It said it was irresponsible not to spend. It said there would be no inflation and then it sai…
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Mr. Speaker, for seven years the government's mantra has been spend, spend, spend. It added $100 billion in debt before COVID and $500 billion of debt during COVID. It told us not to worry. The Deputy Prime Minister said just over one year ago, “In today's low interest rate environment, not only can we afford these investments, it would be short-sighted of us not to make them.” However, now, in a …
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Mr. Speaker, even the Parliamentary Budget Officer said half of the COVID spending was not even spent on COVID. The government said interest rates would remain low. It said there would be no inflation and then it said inflation would be temporary. Now inflation is out of control and the government is going to spend more on interest on the debt than we do on national defence. The government's plan …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are bracing for a difficult period ahead. Winter is coming. Warnings about a slower economy and inflation resulting in higher food and energy prices are enough to increase the anxiety of all Canadian families. On this side of the House, the Leader of the Opposition warned the government how drastically increasing the money supply could lead to inflation. Even a few months ag…
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