Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I am going to give the member another chance to really answer my question, which is about the recommendation and “developing a strategy for critical infrastructure investments and protecting Canadian interests from malign foreign actors” and whether the committee had additional information on that. With respect to people, I just want to re-emphasize the importance of our rangers and…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I will ask again the question that our Liberal colleague asked, because the NDP member did not answer it: Would the bill interfere with a teacher's right to self-defence? The Liberal member indicated that teachers groups have raised the fact that there are situations in which kids can sometimes get a little violent, for a number of reasons. Would the bill interfere with a teacher's ri…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, obviously, this is a very important topic that we are debating tonight. The member made a number of key observations. I thank her for her commitment on the committee. Recommendation 5, in particular, talks about the risks from malign foreign actors, specifically in the Arctic. It can address the challenges as the Arctic opens up more. That scares me more than almost anything. I am l…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I will stay relevant to the topic at hand tonight. The member said he did not feel that the Arctic sovereignty was that important. I think he should have listened to the NDP member who spoke just before him. She actually spoke on November 3 and got very upset at the complaints that were coming from the House. I am sure she will have an opportunity to speak. I remember the member ver…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, on a point of order, I am wondering about the relevance of the member's speech. The report is about Arctic sovereignty, and he is talking about procedural processes in the House of Commons.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague is a huge advocate for and defender of our military personnel and Ukraine. He mentioned drones; in particular, he mentioned the delay by the government of our medium-altitude drones. They have been delayed, it could argue, for a good reason, if it is to ensure that the development for Arctic capability is there. I am a bit surprised, considering that this is someth…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, recommendation 15 talks about the need to increase primary reserve capability in all three territories in order to upkeep our Arctic sovereignty and defence. In 2013, there was the master implementation directive to actually get a number of reserve units up from an infrastructure and equipment standpoint. When I talk to former colleagues of mine in the reserves, they tell me that th…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, what really scares me about the Arctic is not the territorial threat. It is not the threat from Russia or China coming across the Arctic Circle or coming into our north. It is actually about their investments and takeover of our natural resources or critical minerals. What more does this member think needs to be done, as outlined I believe in recommendation 18 of the report, to actu…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I just have a couple of quick comments and then a question for the member. Early in his speech, the member asked about the last time Conservatives voted in support of a Liberal bill. We did that yesterday, not even 24 hours ago. The second thing is that I just want to thank the member for putting on the record that every member of Parliament should have as many interventions in the …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would just like my colleague to elaborate a little bit on the challenges that passengers have been having, maybe from her riding. The Canadian Transportation Agency has a backlog of over 60,000 complaints. I know I have had people in my riding complain. I would just like to give her the opportunity to expand on what she is hearing in her riding of Calgary.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my colleague for bringing the motion forward. I would argue that other than the affordability crisis that we are dealing with in this country right now, the government's priority always has to be the defence and security of its citizens. We obviously have a weakness when it comes to what we need to do to improve things in the Arctic. I am looking forward to reading t…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, this week, I introduced my first bill, Bill C-358, here in the House of Commons. This bill would remove the GST from the Liberal carbon tax. Simply put, it would remove the tax from the tax. After eight years of the Liberal government, more and more Canadians are struggling to survive due to the rising costs of everyday goods. The Liberal carbon tax has yet to achieve a single emissio…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-358, an act to amend the Excise Tax Act (carbon pollution pricing). Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to introduce my first private member's bill today. This bill, an act to amend the Excise Tax Act, is quite simple in its objective. This is to remove the GST from the carbon tax. Removing a tax from a tax is just common sense. While many Canadians would prefer to ax…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, this past summer, there was some real talent on the baseball diamonds in Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound. Two softball teams from my home town in Tara, Ontario, were crowned Canadian champions. The under-17 Tara Twins took the Canadian Fast Pitch Championship tournament in Fredericton, New Brunswick by storm, winning the gold medal against the Plattsville Lightning. The under-15 Tara Longhorn…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise for the first time in this session of Parliament to speak to Bill C-56, an act to amend the Excise Tax Act and the Competition Act. The lack of affordable housing has been top of mind in my riding of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound as home and rental prices have continued to increase over the last eight years. To give members some data, in 2015, when the current govern…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am not going to get into the specifics of our plan. Our job right now is to criticize. Maybe that is even too harsh of a word. I would like to say that we will hold the government to account to ensure the legislation it is putting forward is the best possible for all Canadians. If the member is concerned about provincial politics, I encourage her to resign as a federal member of P…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I apologize to my colleague for not breaking out the French today, but I want to try to get a serious reply back to his question. We absolutely believe in the Constitution, but as I said in my speech, the challenge we have with housing is that it transcends all levels of government. It requires everybody to work collaboratively and co-operatively together. If he actually reads what …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am not shocked that the member for Winnipeg North is disappointed; I am frequently disappointed in a lot of the stuff that comes from that side of the aisle as well. I am not shocked by his comments. My point back would be that I believe every MP in the House should have the right to speak to every piece of legislation, because a lot of MPs do not have the opportunity to speak as …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the government halting activity with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB): (a) was an initial risk analysis of the organization completed prior to Canada partaking in the activities of the bank pertaining to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence, and, if so, what were the findings; (b) were concerns regarding CCP infiltration or control within the bank raised from Canad…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I talked about that in my speech. I said that I am actually personally open to exceptions, such as babies being born, illness, death, etc. However, my point is the accountability aspect. That is what bothers me. It is about ministers of the Crown and parliamentary secretaries being here, being present and being able to be held to account, because they are the ones who have that priv…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, “Let me put it this way: If you don't want to work in Ottawa during the Parliamentary sessions—don’t run to be an MP. A hybrid Parliament made sense during Covid but it should never be permanent. I strongly oppose govt's move to make it permanent.” Those are not my words. Those are the words of the Hon. Wayne Easter, the former Liberal minister and MP for Malpeque for almost 28 year…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we are elected to be here and to be the voice of the people in Ottawa, not the voice of Ottawa back in our constituencies. I feel that our job is to listen. That is why we have constituency weeks. I actually think we should sit longer. We sit less than most Parliaments in western democracies in the world do. We should not be breaking next week. We should be going into July; we shoul…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, a number of members and our House leader, as well as the member for Perth—Wellington, highlighted that this is really the purpose of our amendment to the motion. I think that is technically what we are supposed to be debating right now. It is about saying that we should keep this in place. There are parts that we do not like, but we can accept that. However, let us not make it perma…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for providing me the opportunity today to do something that I have no problem doing, and that is bashing the Taliban. I have zero time for the Taliban regime. For those who may not be aware and might be listening today, I had the privilege to serve this country in uniform and spent 14 months of my life in Afghanistan. I will offer what I have offered before. The…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I talked about that at length. That is the challenge. The Afghans do not treat women and girls to the same level as everybody else. They literally will put controls in place. We have seen in the last year alone, that they took away the right for elementary-school-aged girls to go to school and, as we just saw the last six months, all university education opportunities for women to b…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the short answer is: absolutely. I do not think it should be about numbers. I spoke about how we are focused on the wrong things. What I am scared of is that the government turns around, hits that cap, that quota of 40,000 Afghans, and then it shuts it off. In the end, we need to get those Afghans who are at the greatest risk, those who helped Canada, who helped the west and who are…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I totally agree. That is the challenge. To be frank, and I have said this in the House before, I was split on Bill C-41, because I know that some of the money is going to end up in the Taliban's hands. It is the nature of the beast. The world is a complicated place and that is why I actually have concerns with it. I know I disagree with some of my colleagues who have been working on…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I rise on the same point of order. That has been done. The interpreters do have a copy of the amendment the hon. House leader of the opposition is speaking to.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I apologize for not trying to use a bit of my French tonight. It is getting late, and I do not want to butcher it too much. I have more of a comment than a question, because the member really emphasized the impact on the interpreters, and therefore, the impact on committees. I just want to share that it is bigger than even the committees. I have the privilege to sit on the National …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I first want to thank my hon. colleague for recognizing the efforts made by the Bagotville military base to help during this crisis. I have a question for him. Can the federal government do something else to help his region?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my first question for the minister is one that I have been trying to get answered for a while now. It is about giving an update to Canadians on the Liberal government's commitment to plant two-billion-trees. How many have been planted to date? Second, could I get the minister's commitment to help make the program more efficient? It is very bureaucratic. I know conservation groups and …
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise today to recognize some well-deserving students from Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound who earned the right to participate in the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Edmonton just a few weeks ago. Nearly 400 student finalists from across the country took part in this national science fair, where they vied for over $2 million in scholarships and prizes. The six students from Bluewate…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, that was a very interesting comment. We have to give credit to la belle province for being a leader in Canada when it comes to day care. I do not disagree with the member. This is primarily a provincial jurisdiction issue. I would say the challenge with the agreements put in place by the federal government with the provinces and territories really comes down to the idea that it is alm…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, as always, it is an honour to rise here to represent the great people of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound and speak to a very important bill. My first question is this: Why are we debating this today? I remind all MPs that funding agreements are already in place and have been signed by all provinces and territories. The money is already flowing, and I would argue, there is a multitude of other h…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, to be honest, I am still kind of on the fence. I opened my speech stating that I do not even understand why we are debating this. The agreements are already in place and the money is already flowing to the provinces and territories, and the Liberals have put time allocation on this bill. There is no reason to use time allocation and limit a bill that we should be getting right. I will…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the member brought up the issue of planting trees, so I would like him to clarify this for the House and for Canada. Under the two billion trees program the Liberals have promised, how many of those two billion trees have been planted? Specifically, in my riding, I have been trying to get any organization to qualify for this bureaucratic process that is filled with red tape. I have …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I will ask the parliamentary secretary the exact same question I asked the parliamentary secretary sitting beside him just a little while ago in the debate, which he did not answer. How many trees have been planted by the Liberal government under its promised two billion tree program? Once we get that number, could the parliamentary secretary explain why the program is so bureaucrat…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, absolutely I will contribute. In fact, I will give a little history lesson for the member and for everybody here. Assault weapons have been banned in Canada since January 1, 1978. As somebody who has carried assault weapons in the theatre of war, I know there is not a single firearm out of the 1,500, now 2,000, firearms that have been prohibited through the May 1 OIC, and subsequently…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am going to try to be positive with the member first before I am a bit more on the pointed side. Even though I am not a permanent member of the committee, I have been sitting in at public safety quite a bit. He is greatly missed. He is much preferred on that committee than his current NDP colleague, the member for New Westminster—Burnaby, because he does have a lot of common sense…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am always grateful to be here speaking in the House on behalf of the constituents of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, but more importantly, for all the law-abiding firearms owners out there right across the country, particularly veterans, those in the military, those in law enforcement, sport shooters and even those in our parliamentary protective services. I am disappointed to be once again …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, look, I will not argue. My amendment is a very good amendment, and I do appreciate the support we got. In fact, as I said in my speech, the NDP amendment to remove the airsoft portion was a good amendment too. However, the best amendment would have been to get rid of the handgun freeze in the first place. Then I would not have needed my amendment, because that is what created the prob…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the member sharing some tragic stories that he personally experienced or of people he knew. I have a question, though. Could he point out anything in Bill C-21 that would have actually helped to prevent the specific tragedies he experienced? Second, I would like his feedback on the red flag portions of Bill C-21, because we heard at committee, during the debate, review …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for sharing his stories. I have good news for him: He can get some practice in on June 6 at the parliamentary outdoor caucus. If he knows any kayakers who want to come out, he should bring them with him. Why does he think the Liberal government continues to target law-abiding firearms owners? The government had its May 1 prohibition in 2020, its initi…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CIDC) insurance amount of $100,000: (a) since November 4, 2015, have there been any (i) meetings, (ii) reports, (iii) policy briefs, (iv) recommendations proposed, for raising the insurable amount, and, if so, what are the details of each, including the date and summary; (b) through what processes is the CDIC insurable amount determined; and…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the granting of government security clearances since 2016, broken down by year: (a) how many individuals (i) applied for, (ii) were denied (not as a result of retirement or resignation), security clearances; (b) of the denials in (a), how many were due to the individual spying or otherwise acting on behalf of a foreign government; and (c) what is the breakdown of (a) and (b) by depa…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to British pensioners living in Canada and impacted by the United Kingdom’s (UK) frozen pensions policy, under which the UK government does not index pensions: (a) have any ministers raised this issue with British officials since November 4, 2015, and, if so, for each instance, what were the (i) date, (ii) context, (iii) UK government's commitments to act, if any; and (b) for all insta…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member for addressing the problem with the Liberals putting us in this position. We are now debating and rushing through a very important bill that would impact over two million law-abiding firearms owners. It just drives me nuts that we have to rush this debate through because of the Liberals' inadequacies in bringing it forward in a timely fashion. The member d…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I want to allow the NDP House leader to build upon this. I think he even asked the same question during question period today. It is about this lack of information being shared with all parliamentarians, including senators, especially considering this is something that was in the NSICOP 2019 annual report as a recommendation to the government: to regularly brief, at the appropriate le…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I will definitely give the parliamentary secretary a chance to follow up in his remaining minute to really address the issue. I would like him, as well as the government, to acknowledge the terrible impact the strike has had in general, and on the lack of services to Canadians over the last number of months or years in some cases. Also, I would ask for his advice with respect to wha…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am here to follow up on a question I asked the government last week that is tied to a number of issues. It was tied mainly to the ongoing strike, but highlighted a key concern that I and many Canadians have right across this country in a number of areas. The current government has increased the public service by, I believe, 53% over the last few years, to the tune of over $21 bill…
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