Parliamentary Speeches

Statements by Members

Mr. Speaker, what is in a name? Let us ask the provincial Liberal parties. We would think that having the same party name as the federal governing party would be an advantage, but clearly it is not. Provincial Liberals, suffering from the brand damage that the Prime Minister is doing, are barge polling away from the PM's party name. The Saskatchewan Liberal Party had a long history in my province.…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, related to your ruling, I want to indicate that, of course, Conservatives will respect your ruling and we hope the Liberals will too. On February 2, the Liberal Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario posted on Twitter a day-in-the-life video, which includes footage of members sitting in the House during question period. I will be happy to…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I want to add my voice to the government House leader's comments, in the spirit of recognition of events that are being acknowledged in the upcoming weeks. The Standing Orders make reference to Easter, but it is also the time for Passover for our Jewish friends and fellow Canadians. Many members will be invited to wonderful Vaisakhi events and many Iftar dinners as well during the hol…

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, I would ask you to call Notice of Motion for the Production of Papers No. P-13.

Routine Proceedings

With regard to audits conducted by the Canada Revenue Agency, broken down by each of the last five tax years: (a) how many individuals and couples were chosen for personal income tax audits, broken down by each tax bracket; and (b) what percentage of the total number of personal income tax filers in each bracket do the numbers in (a) represent?

Private Members' Business

Mr. Speaker, I just want to add to the point of order that was raised by the hon. member for Winnipeg Centre, who took issue with the use of the word “savage”. I want to provide some context. On October 30, 2020, the member herself used that word in her intervention. On December 7, 2018, in Hansard, the NDP member for North Island—Powell River used that word as well. The Chair did not have any pro…

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I want to beg your indulgence, because I know there is normally not debate on motions. I just want to make sure something is very clear, because this morning I raised a point of order on the admissibility of the motion, and Conservatives will agree to this motion as long as the Chair views it as the scheduling of debate and as long as it will in no way prej…

Mr. Speaker, I am rising on a point of order this morning respecting the government's Motion No. 2 concerning the Senate amendments to Bill C-11. In my view, the notice of motion engages the rule of anticipation and cannot be proposed to the House later today. Normally such a point of order should be raised when the motion is actually proposed to the House, but given that it is listed on the Proje…

Routine Proceedings

With regard to government expenditures on appearance fees, speaking fees, hosting fees, or other similar type of fees, since January 1, 2019, broken down by department, agency, Crown corporation or other government entity: what are the details of all such expenditures, including, for each, the (i) date of the event, (ii) description of the role (keynote speaker, master of ceremony, etc.), (iii) na…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, as I was saying, if the NPD members had not turned their phones on silent and stopped reading their emails as we were trying to work with them to get their support, and if they had said, “Yes, we are going to support your motion and we are going to tell our coalition partners that we are going to support your motion”, we could have had all of this taken care of on the weekend and we…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, if we just replay what happened on Monday, if the NDP had just indicated that it was going to support our motion right from the beginning, the Prime Minister would have realized it was inevitable and we could have addressed—

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in this place to represent the interests of the good people of Regina—Qu'Appelle and represent my caucus as the opposition House leader. We need to frame what is going on here because what we saw over the last few weeks was a despicable display at committee, a mockery of the parliamentary process. We found out that the Prime Minister has known for year…

Routine Proceedings

On a point of order, I have a quick question, Mr. Speaker. It has been a while since I occupied the Speaker's chair and oversaw the House administration. I know that the hon. member had a “check for context” label attached to his last week. Does Hansard do that when an hon. member misleads the House?

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague was very active in politics. I think he joined the House in 2006, but of course he would have been watching all that unfold in 2004. Finally, at the right time, the leader of the NDP at the time suddenly realized that he could not keep propping up a government that was under that kind of scandal and with that cloud hanging over it, which ultimately worked out for t…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, why did it take the leader of the NDP two weeks to decide that he was going to do the right thing and ensure that the Prime Minister's chief of staff testified? If the hon. member wants to talk about why this or that happened, why does it always take so much public pressure to get the NDP to do the right thing? That is what the Canadians who used to vote for the New Democrats want t…

Government Orders

moved: That, given that, (i) the Liberal government is increasing taxes on beer, wine and spirits by 6.3% on April 1, 2023, (ii) this is the largest tax increase on alcohol in the last 40 years, (iii) the heads of eight different unions representing brewery workers across the country, who are nervous about their jobs, have written to the Minister of Finance calling for a freeze to the April 1, 202…

Government Orders

I'm here to ask you a question.

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I heard the hon. member just lamenting the fact that he did not have the opportunity to ask me a question, so I am happy to stand here now and give him the opportunity to at least answer a question, which is something that his leader never does, so maybe he will break that mould. It is a bit ironic after the many, many weeks at committee when Liberal MPs embarrassed themselves and dem…

Private Members' Business

Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure for me to rise in support of this excellent piece of legislation from my colleague from Essex, which is a great part of Canada. The good people of southwestern Ontario have gotten behind this hon. member, and our leader, the new leader of the Conservative Party, visited that part of the world. There are lots of skilled trades workers in southwestern Ontario, and…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague can read the motion, look at the terms within it and decide for himself whether he thinks it is worthy of support. I hope he does support it. It is easy to call for things. We can walk outside in the foyer and we can call for whatever we like, but tomorrow there will be a vote, and that member and his caucus will have to show action. The difference between being th…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, that is a very good question. It is the question that all Canadians are asking themselves at this time. What is going on? Why is the Prime Minister so afraid to launch a public inquiry? When there is nothing to hide, it is very easy to provide documents to be reviewed because there is nothing to fear. Given that the Prime Minister is going to such great lengths to block the committe…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, it is the Prime Minister who has done such a disservice to the former governor general. That is who should be apologizing to Canadians for dragging David Johnston into this. The fact of the matter is that David Johnston sits on the board of the Trudeau foundation. This is the very foundation that is at the hub of allegations of money flowing from the Communist regime into Canada. Do…

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, it is an honour to follow my esteemed colleague from St. Albert—Edmonton, who has really been leading the charge along with several colleagues trying to shine a light on what the Liberals are trying to hide. One thing we know by now is that it must be really bad because the Prime Minister has gone to such great lengths to keep the truth from coming out. One does not go to such great…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the traditional Thursday question, where the government House leader updates the House as to the business for the rest of this week and for the week after next. Next week, of course, is a constituency work week, and I would like to wish all Canadians of Irish heritage, and those who enjoy being Irish for the day, a happy Saint Patrick's Day, which will take place o…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, eight years of inflationary deficits fuelled by Liberal waste and corruption have caused an incredible hardship for our Canadians. To fight that Liberal inflation, the Bank of Canada has massively hiked interest rates. Higher interest rates mean higher mortgage payments, meaning people have to pay more to the bank just to live in the house they already own. In fact, the average mortga…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals would love to fool us into thinking all that spending actually went to Canadians, but in fact they were stopping and helping their friends and insiders all along the way. That Liberal law-breaking means that while Canadians are struggling, Liberal insiders have never had it so good. While 20% of Canadians are skipping meals, the trade minister gave a $23,000 contract to h…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals gave wage subsidies to profitable businesses which turned around and gave their CEOs bonuses. They let fraudsters and scam artists keep the CERB money that they stole. Now the Liberals have been found guilty of breaking ethics laws six times. The Prime Minister's own law-breaking is so bad that the Ethics Commission has had to call him out, saying he did not think anybody…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the government House leader could update members as to the business for the rest of this week. Also, as members of Parliament go off and enjoy Family Day in many parts of the country with their loved ones, as well as get back to work in their constituencies, could the government House leader update the House as to what we can expect with respect to legislation when we retu…

Oral Questions

Madam Speaker, the worst part about the Liberals' carbon tax is that they try to dress it up as an environment plan, but it is not working. They have not hit a single target. The Liberal plan was to drive up the cost of everything and hope that greenhouse gas emissions fell as a result. I can report to the minister that the first part of that plan, making everything more expensive, they nailed tha…

Oral Questions

Madam Speaker, eight years of Liberal deficits, waste and corruption have driven inflation to record highs, and nowhere is that more obvious than in the grocery aisle. The Prime Minister likes to try to blame everyone else, but even the Liberals are now admitting that inflation is caused by domestic factors. One of those factors is the carbon tax. It makes everything farmers use to grow their crop…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, Thursday is the day when the government informs the House as to the business for the coming days. I want to note, in particular, the need to address Bill C-39, which has only been tabled very recently, despite the fact that the government had years knowing about a deadline to protect vulnerable Canadians as it relates to the medical assistance in dying regime. There is a deadline loom…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I rise today for the traditional Thursday question, where the government has the opportunity to inform the House as to the legislation that we will be debating in the days ahead. I do note that, after the House leaders' meeting, there were some conversations about a very important piece of legislation, Bill C-39. Conservatives feel very—

Private Members' Business

Mr. Speaker, I am rising today on a question of privilege concerning the interpretation services provided to this morning's meeting of the official opposition caucus. To be clear, these were issues with the technical arrangements provided by the House of Commons administration, not the quality of the work provided by our great and hard-working interpreters. Caucus meetings play a very special role…

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order, I appreciate my hon. colleague raising this matter. Of course, the official opposition has many concerns with the bill, both with respect to its substance and its procedural aspects. My understanding is that this point was raised at committee. The Liberal chair of the committee ruled the point of order out of order and allowed the committee to continue to p…

Routine Proceedings

Madam Speaker, I do not want to sound too repetitive, but we are going to be thanking many of the same people. I, too, want to add my voice, on behalf of my colleagues, to wish everyone a merry Christmas around the parliamentary precinct. It has been a tumultuous few years. The House has seen a lot and has had to grapple with a lot of challenges over the last few years. We are always served with s…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister spent so much money that he actually ran out of people to borrow it from, so he had the Bank of Canada create a complex scheme to pour billions of dollars into the accounts of wealthy financial institutions. As the bank raises interest rates to fight the inflation the government caused, the Bank of Canada is actually losing money. For the first time in Canadian hist…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, what the parliamentary secretary is not telling us is that 40% of all that new spending had nothing to do with the pandemic. The Auditor General has now told us that over $30 billion was wasted. That is what is causing inflation. The government's answer is to pour more inflationary gasoline on the raging fire. It is already taking a big bite out of Canadian households. As interest rat…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations among the House leaders, and I hope you will find unanimous consent for the following motion: Whereas, protesters in China who are fighting for basic human rights and freedoms have been using an Airdrop feature on iPhones to avoid government censors, and Whereas, Apple has announced its decision to disable that feature solely for phones in China, and Wher…

Routine Proceedings

With regard to the government's plan to reduce emissions arising from fertilizer application by 30 percent and its impact on Farm Credit Canada (FCC): (a) will FCC be lowering the amount of credit available to farmers whose projected yields will decrease as a result of using less fertilizer; (b) which crop yields does FCC predict will drop the most as a result of the government's plan; (c) broken …

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Rural Economic Development invited any member or any Canadian to give her information about the firearms that would be banned thanks to the government's amendment to Bill C-21. She must not realize the long list of hunting rifles and shotguns that are contained in the amendment. I am taking her up on her invitation. I seek unanimous consent to table the list of hunting…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, a colleague voted by the app, encountered some technical difficulties and could not log on in time to switch his vote. I am wondering if the House would allow, as we have done in the past for other members, for the hon. member for Foothills to change his vote. His intention was to vote in favour. If the House would grant consent for that change, this would be a unanimous vote in favou…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I shudder to think what would happen if the Thursday question was not asked. I have taken the advice the Speaker has given me and the government House leader over the past couple of weeks, so I have a more focused Thursday question. I wonder if the government House leader can inform the House as to the business of the House for this week and next week? While I am on my feet, I was won…

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I am rising on a point of order. Hope springs eternal, and maybe while the government House leader was answering my question, he reflected on the benefit of all members having this information right now, because oftentimes the answers to questions indicate some confusion on the government side as to the hunting rifles that would be banned in the bill. Do I have unanimous consent—

Oral Questions

Yes, Mr. Speaker, it is the best part of Thursday. It is the Thursday question. I just want to ask the government House leader if he can inform the members as to the business for the rest of this week and for next week as well. I would like to take the opportunity to make a couple of suggestions for government business. We had the Bank of Canada governor admit at committee that deficits fuel infla…

Private Members' Business

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we trust our excellent table officers. We have clerks at the table, vote-callers and the Speaker in the chair observing things. As much as the help from the hon. member for Kingston and the Islands may be appreciated by members on the other side of House, we do not believe that anybody at the table in the House of Commons needs help from him.

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I am rising to add to this morning's point of order raised by the NDP House leader concerning the application of Standing Order 69.1 to Bill C-27. In general, we have reviewed the hon. member's submissions and concur with them. That said, there are a couple of additional citations I want to put before the Chair for your consideration. I will not repeat the arguments, because you alrea…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the real question is when the Liberals will have an environment plan, because they have not hit a single target they have set for themselves. That is not our opinion; that is the finding of their own departmental reports, and it was the Parliamentary Budget Officer, whom the Prime Minister appointed, who came to the conclusion that the vast majority of Canadians pay more in the carbon…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, their entire premise is based on falsehoods. The Liberals said the carbon tax would reduce emissions. They have gone up. The Liberals said it would be revenue neutral. Canadians pay more in carbon tax than they get back. The Liberals said the carbon tax would never go up. They plan to triple it. Now, just in time for Canada Day, on a day when Canadians are supposed to come together an…

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, I rise with respect to the Thursday question, where I get to ask the government House leader about the business of the House. Given the news that Canada has come in 58 out of 63 countries, falling behind countries like China and Indonesia, as it relates to its action on reducing global emissions, and since it is clear now that the government's carbon tax is not lowering emissions, wil…

Government Orders

Who is saying this?