Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am glad to have an illustration of what I mentioned in my speech. This is the Liberals doing the “It does not do anything, therefore there is no point in opposing it” argument, to which I would ask, “Then what is the harm in leaving it in?” I absolutely believe in the rights enumerated in our charter. I only wish the Liberal government had the same view. If it did, it would not be a…
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Mr. Speaker, I am so glad to have been ready and willing to rise on this adjournment proceeding on behalf of the good people of Elgin—St. Thomas—London South. The question on which I am following up is one that has become even more timely since I asked the original question of the government in question period, although if we look at the response, we realize that question period is not an appropri…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent to share my time with my hon. colleague from Brantford—Brant South—Six Nations.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The parliamentary secretary may not recall them, but I actually have the minister's comments. Can I get unanimous consent to table them?
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Mr. Speaker, I have answered this question from the Bloc members so many times. I wish they would listen to my response. The case of Adil Charkaoui was a failing in political leadership and prosecutorial discretion. The religious defence was never cited by prosecutors as being a rationale for not charging Charkaoui, and more importantly, the religious defence does not apply to any Criminal Code of…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree wholeheartedly with those fundamental freedoms. I just do not believe the government is being authentic in its desire to protect them. The parliamentary secretary wanted to weave a narrative in talking about the use of the Emergencies Act involving COVID measures and the nature of the convoy, but I would note that even if all of that were accepted in the same way by everyone, …
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Mr. Speaker, when I came to this House, I made a commitment to work to make Canada a freer place. I wish it were not the case, but today I have to make good on that pledge. I will be voting against Bill C-9. This is not a surprise to people who have been following the discussions we have been having over the last few months. Instead of focusing on the fact that we are not complying with what the L…
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Mr. Speaker, no community in this country will be protected from hate with legislation that threatens to imprison them for deeply and sincerely held religious beliefs, but that is precisely what Bill C-9 would do. This is a bill the Liberals are forcing to a vote today despite the cries of millions of Canadians from multiple faiths and civil society groups that this bill would violate their civil …
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Mr. Speaker, the short answer to that is no. I would actually point out that the member for Mount Royal was urged by former Liberal member of Parliament Irwin Cotler to consider leaving the Liberal Party because of anti-Semitism in the Liberal Party. If he wants to talk about inaction, he needs to look around at his colleagues. The Liberal government has no moral high ground to be the arbiters of …
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Mr. Speaker, I am glad the Liberals are getting their money's worth with their media bailout, but that does not eliminate the many concerns that Canadians have raised across this country. The Liberals say, when these civil liberties concerns are put at their feet, to just trust them that they will not violate charter rights, because the charter protects those rights. However, last week, that very …
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Mr. Speaker, I think there should be unanimous consent, but in the absence of that, we would request a recorded division.
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois and the Liberals continue to misrepresent what happened in the Adil Charkaoui case. This man should be charged, because inciting violence is already illegal. Threatening violence is already illegal. I cannot say this clearly enough: Neither of those offences is subject to the religious defence. That is a bald-faced misrepresentation of the law. By the way, the prose…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to quote the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture: “Clearly, there are situations in [religious] texts where statements are hateful.” Prosecutors should be able to “press charges”. I fail to see where the misinformation is, when a Liberal cabinet minister is on record wanting people criminally charged for quoting scriptures he disapproves of.
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Mr. Speaker, I had the chance to be in the member's beautiful province speaking about Bill C-9 with people from across Manitoba. One thing that was so clear there is that these are people who are very motivated by their faith, their religious traditions and their religious beliefs. They understand their faith to be, in totality, about a message of love. Their concern is not that they want a licens…
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Mr. Speaker, this has been a challenging issue, to say the least. We heard from the Liberal government as to what it claims Bill C-9 is and what it would do. Then we read the bill and looked at what the Liberals are doing and how they feel about people of faith in this country. I think about the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and comments he has shared in the House, in which he said ver…
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Mr. Speaker, as it has been said in the House by a number of us, the volume of emails and phone calls we have been receiving from people urging us to oppose Bill C-9 is astronomical. I have one in front of me from a man named Brandon. He said removing the religious defence creates serious concerns for Canadians of any and all faiths and religions who believe the freedom to teach and practise their…
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Mr. Speaker, there is a pastor in my riding named Al Stone, who is actually in Ottawa this week for the National Prayer Breakfast. Pastor Stone wrote a very heartfelt letter about Bill C-9. He said that in his decades in the church, he has never heard a preacher read from the books, even the ones that the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture said were hateful, and do so from a place of hate. …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee for his fantastic speech and for hosting an amazing town hall in Vernon, which I had the great privilege of presiding over with him. Over 600 people from B.C.'s beautiful Okanagan came out, because they reject what the Liberals are trying to do with Bill C-9. The member had, rather infamously now, spoken about how a few Liberals ha…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from just down Highway 401, not just for his question but also for his service, and I thank other law enforcement members in this country who have been very clear that the support they seek from members of Parliament is not the right to go in and arrest people for preaching religious texts. They want us to get serious about fixing Liberal bail. What is interesting…
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Mr. Speaker, once again I rise to present a petition on behalf of the folks of Elgin, St. Thomas and London, as well as people across the country, who are calling on the Liberal government to withdraw the divisive and toxic Bill C-9, which takes aim at religious freedom and freedom of expression. The petitioners continue to be concerned with comments made by the Minister of Canadian Identity and C…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member, who is the chair of the justice committee, for his speech, although I note that when he talks about the hours of debate on Bill C-9, he misses the fact that we have had no opportunity to hear witnesses on the removal of the religious defence, because it was snuck in as an amendment thanks to an agreement between the Liberal and Bloc members. Once again, we have a L…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to rise on behalf of concerned Canadians in my riding of Elgin—St. Thomas—London South and across the country who are registering their incredible frustration and concern with Liberal Bill C-9 and its erosion of freedom of expression and freedom of religion, specifically with the Liberal-Bloc amendment to remove long-standing protections for religious speech. Petitio…
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Mr. Speaker, let me say perfectly clearly what Conservatives have said since the very beginning of the Bill C-9 discussion, which is that we stand united against hate. However, we cannot protect any community from hate with legislation that infringes on their rights. That is why Bill C-9 has been denounced in whole or in part by 350 Muslim organizations this morning, by the Rabbinical Council of T…
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice continues to misrepresent what has happened. The Liberal government was not elected with a mandate to remove long-standing protections for religious speech. When facing the millions of Canadians affected by this and their concerns, the minister said he would consult and listen to those over the winter break. When coming back, the only response he has had is to …
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Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, there may have been some background noise, but I believe the member said that the Conservatives are divided. Unlike the Liberals, we all stand for free speech.
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Madam Speaker, to respond, I would like to share a quote that I did not have time to include in my speech. It is from John Stuart Mill in On Liberty, who writes, “If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.” We a…
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Madam Speaker, I will choose to appreciate and thank my colleague for her compliment. The challenge is that, while we have had some time at committee to look at Bill C-9, the most contentious part of it, which is the removal of the religious defence, had no witness testimony and no opportunity to freely discuss it with the people who would be most affected. It is in that spirit that even our effor…
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Madam Speaker, not only do I not oppose it, but I am also very proud that it is already illegal, and nothing in Bill C-9 would change that. Perhaps the member should spend less time talking and more time reading the legislation he talks about.
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Madam Speaker, I must commend the Bloc Québécois for so successfully enlisting the Liberal government in its assault on religious freedom in this country. I know the Bloc has long tried to do what Bill C-9 would do. Good on the Bloc for getting the Liberals on board. My colleague from the Bloc Québécois has once again misrepresented the facts of the Adil Charkaoui case to justify removing the reli…
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Madam Speaker, I noticed in the earlier intervention by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada that there was a lot of historical revisionism on what actually happened at the justice committee, specifically regarding the Bloc's amendment to remove the long-standing protections for religious speech. She indicated that there had been robust debate and t…
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Madam Speaker, it is a privilege, as always, to rise on behalf of the people of Elgin—St. Thomas—London South. I said in my maiden speech in this chamber that I came to Ottawa with the goal of making Canada a freer place. Indeed, one of the motivations I had for getting into politics was seeing our fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of expression, under threat. This has been done largely …
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Madam Speaker, I appreciated the parliamentary secretary's reminiscing about political parties of yore, and I wonder where the Liberals who used to stand up for free speech are. The parliamentary secretary claimed that Canadians gave the Liberals a mandate for this legislation. Where did they ever say to Canadians that they would be removing long-standing protections for religious speech? Earlier …
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Madam Speaker, the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture said before the justice committee that there is “clear hatred” in some verses of the Bible and Torah, and that quoting these scriptures should invite “discretion for prosecutors to press charges”. Does the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice agree or disagree?
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Madam Speaker, I particularly appreciated my colleague's observation on the omnibus nature of this bill. We saw that the Liberals concealed some measures in Bill C‑15 that were not in the budget. One example is the regulatory sandbox. That would have allowed cabinet ministers to exempt companies or individuals from almost any federal law or regulation in Canada. I am thankful that we were able to …
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Mr. Speaker, there was an old improv game on Whose Line Is It Anyway? where a question was answered with a question. I was hoping my question would be met with an answer. I am sitting here in opposition. The member opposite is part of the government. They are the ones who have to meet this problem with a solution. As Conservatives, we will continue to put forward more solutions in hopes they will …
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I am sorry, but that was incredibly unparliamentary and disrespectful language that a great many Canadians would be incredibly offended was uttered in the House. I would ask the member to apologize and withdraw that comment.
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague spoke about the investments, as he calls them, that the Liberal government has put into health care. There is a Somali woman who was in a polygamous marriage and lied to get into Canada. She won another chance to stay. There is Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, a father who, along with his son, was granted refugee status. They will stand trial on terrorism charges for an a…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise to follow up on a question I asked in the House a few short weeks ago about an issue that has become a massive one, not just across the country, but in particular in the communities I represent across Elgin County, St. Thomas and London South, and that is the issue of food affordability. This is a global issue, when we talk about inflation, but it is one that has a disproportio…
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Mr. Speaker, a British Columbia school board trustee was fined $750,000 for the egregious crime of saying there are two genders. These are the same kangaroo courts that the Liberals' online harms act would empower. It is the same regulation of emotion that Liberal Bill C-9 would supercharge. The Liberals claim they will uphold freedom of expression, but they still have not said whether they will a…
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Mr. Speaker, I am used to a lot in the member's diatribes, but I know that he accuses anyone who does not support government mandates on vehicle purchases of being far right. How far left does one have to be to think that government involvement and intervention is the only way industry can operate in Canada?
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Mr. Speaker, the dream of home ownership is now a fantasy for more and more young Canadians, of whom 93% are saying that they are concerned about the state of housing. Nearly half of them believe they will have to leave their own communities because they cannot afford to live there. The government's own housing agency says homebuilding will drop over the next three years and prices will go up even…
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Mr. Speaker, the only things the Liberals are building are false hope and bureaucracy. Liberal house flippers and penthouse dwellers profit while young Canadians pay the price. On this side of the House, we listen to the experts. The London Home Builders' Association told me this week that builders have to spend tens of thousands of dollars per home just on red tape and regulations. Every dollar s…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise with tremendous pride to celebrate two remarkable athletes from my riding who are carrying our proud Canadian flag on the world stage. This year, our Olympic and Paralympic hockey teams will feature two hometown heroes whose talent and determination embody the very best of Elgin County and of Canada. From Rodney, the great Bo Horvat will don the maple leaf with our Olympic team…
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Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise on behalf of Canadians, including those in my own constituency, who are alarmed by what the Liberal government would do through Bill C-9. They are concerned that in spite of claims that Bill C-9 would protect communities from hate, in actuality it would expose faith communities to harm from the government for daring to express their faith and to quote religious text…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always good to see my hon. colleague, who is my riding neighbour. She mentioned in her remarks that the Liberal government, as an affordability measure, removed the consumer carbon tax. However, in a previous speech in the House, she said, “The central plank of our climate plan, the federal carbon pricing system, is giving Canadian households more money back in climate action in…
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour, as always, to rise on behalf of the people of Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, all of whom have seen first-hand the rise in crime that has taken place over the last 10 years, aggravated largely by Liberal reforms to bail and Liberal reforms to criminal justice that have made it easier for repeat, often violent, offenders to be out on the streets. This is why I spent muc…
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Mr. Speaker, I did not know there was a secretary of state for revisionism, but here we are. From the party of the charter that was just found a couple of weeks ago by the Federal Court of Appeal to have trampled on the civil liberties of Canadians, I find that a little rich. When the parliamentary secretary dismisses the concerns about Bill C-9's attack on religious freedoms, she is actually sayi…
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Madam Speaker, I am proud to present a petition on behalf of Canadians concerned over Bill C-9. Canadians believe that the state has no business involving itself in matters related to sacred texts or religious teachings and that freedom of expression and freedom of religion are fundamental rights that must be safeguarded.
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Mr. Speaker, the Federal Court of Appeal has once again affirmed that the Liberal government broke the most supreme law in this country, which is the Constitution, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, when it wrongly used the Emergencies Act. It also ruled that the government violated the charter rights of Canadians by freezing the bank accounts of political protesters and limiting the legal right …
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