Routine Proceedings
With regard to Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and Canadians detained or incarcerated abroad: (a) how many Canadians were arrested or detained in 2021, on charges GAC considered to be politically motivated, frivolous, or otherwise illegitimate; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by country of arrest or detainment; (c) how many Canadians are currently detained or incarcerated on charges GAC considers to …
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Mr. Speaker, house arrest for human trafficking is what the minister is proposing with this particular bill. In what world does he think that house arrest is appropriate for human trafficking? Human traffickers often operate from their house. This would do nothing to intimidate them or remove the issue from our streets here in Canada. The other question I have is, how in the world did he get the N…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I have to present, and this will be the last one today, is on behalf of Canadians who are concerned that certain charities could be targeted based on their views. The petitioners call on MPs to ensure that charitable status is not subject to a litmus test or a values test. They are calling on the government to ensure that those who have charitable status maintain t…
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Madam Speaker, I too am going to present a petition in support of Bill S-223. This bill seeks to combat forced organ harvesting and trafficking, and would make it a criminal offence for a person to go abroad. This bill has been introduced in some form over the last 13 years, and the petitioners are hoping that the current Parliament is the particular Parliament that gets it passed. Petitioners sig…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I have to present is from people from across the country who are concerned about the conscience rights of physicians. They are calling on Parliament to pass legislation that would make it a criminal offence to coerce, intimidate or use any form of pressure to force physicians, health care workers or health care institutions to become parties to assisted suicide or …
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I have to present is from folks from Fox Creek and Swan Hills, two towns in northern Alberta. The petitioners say that the rising cost of heating their homes and other expenses, and the vast distances they must travel, are making life more expensive. They are calling on the government to recognize the fact that they live in northern Canada. They are currently 12 ki…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I have to present is from Canadians from across the country. The petitioners are concerned with the accessibility of violent and degrading sexually explicit material and its impacts on public health, especially on the well-being of women and girls. They recognize that we cannot say we believe in preventing sexual violence toward women while allowing pornography com…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I have to present today is from folks from across Canada. They are concerned about their charitable status being revoked and their views being forced into a values test. The petitioners note that the Liberals have promised to deny charitable status to groups with views they call dishonest. This would jeopardize the charitable status of hospitals, houses of worship,…
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Mr. Speaker, I have a number of petitions to present this morning. The first petition I have is from folks concerned about the expansion of physician-assisted dying here in Canada. They recognize that folks with mental illness should not be eligible for physician-assisted dying, and they are concerned also around the conscience rights of physicians who have to participate in this. There are over 2…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I have to present is on behalf of Canadians who are concerned about ALS treatments. The petitioners note that ALS currently has no cure and a diagnosis with the disease leads to an expected life span of two to five years. ALS impacts not only just the only one diagnosed but also their family and friends. The petitioners are calling for the expedition of some ALS tr…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is unfortunate that I did not get my point across as well as I had hoped I had. My point was that when there is wild inflation, people do not think about the long-term effects of their spending, so if we can bring inflation down, people will start to invest their money in longer-term things. We need to invest in and think about climate change and the environment in the long term.…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for his question. He obviously did listen to my speech, and I appreciate that. On the housing aspect, I am very much in agreement that there is a need for more supply. I have driven across this country several times to drive here to Ottawa, and there is an immense amount of lakefront property in this country that is undeveloped. I would recommend th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I do not think the hon. member understood my speech, because the point I made was that when the entire world is suffering from inflation, there is no standing-still point, no reference point. When all of the world is experiencing inflation, we have a hard time judging what our inflation actually is. There are some really exciting things happening around the world, particularly with …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we are talking about Bill C-8. It is the fiscal and economic update, and I will be spending my time, as many of my colleagues have been, talking about inflation. Inflation is probably the greatest challenge our country is facing at this moment in time, due in no small part to the fact that the government has basically written itself a cheque for $400 billion. It then brought that ch…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the last petition I am presenting today is from Canadians from across the country who are concerned about the access of children on the Internet. They are calling on the government to implement age verification software and calling on folks who host images on the Internet to ensure that underage folks are not being depicted in those videos and that underage folks are not gaining acc…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I have is from folks from Fox Creek and Swan Hills in northern Alberta. These two remote communities in northern Alberta fall just below the line to get the northern living allowance tax benefits. They currently do not get any of the northern living allowance tax benefits, but they are only 12 kilometres short of the arbitrary line and they are distinctly remote co…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, in Canada and around the world, governments have ended their vaccine mandates and restrictions. Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nova Scotia have all ended their vaccine passport systems. However this government is doubling down and spending $30 million for domestic travel vaccine passports in the next two years. Since the provinces have already dropped these passports, will the Min…
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Mr. Speaker, I have a petition on behalf of Canadians from across the country who want an end to all COVID-19 mandates. The petitioners state that throughout the pandemic, truckers have served Canada and are heroes but are now impacted by a vaccine mandate that is impacting the supply chain. They say that the Prime Minister has politicized vaccines and insulted Canadians who have disagreed with hi…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I have is from Canadians across the country who are organized to defend the not-for-profit sector. The petitioners are concerned about vulnerable Canadians who are not adequately protected on social media platforms and from online potential exploitation. The petitioners are calling for the verification of age on the Internet to prevent exploitation. They are calling …
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Mr. Speaker, I have a few petitions to present today. The first one is signed by Canadians from across the country who are seeking to end the mandates of vaccines, as vaccines should never be used as a political tool to wedge, stigmatize or divide Canadians. The petitioners say they are opposed to the mandates and that no one should have to decide between the jab and their job. The petitioners are…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise to present this petition from Canadians across Canada who are opposed to and want an end to the discriminatory practice of gender-selective abortion. These petitioners recognize that Canadians are opposed to this and think that it should be illegal. The petitioners note that several organizations around the world have recognized the damaging impacts of the absence of girls and …
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Mr. Speaker, the last petition I have to present today speaks directly to Bill C-230, protection of freedom of conscience act, which was introduced by the member for Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek. This petition comes from Canadians who are concerned about doctors and health care professionals who might be coerced to engage or support euthanasia or MAID. They want conscience rights and second opinions …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech, although I am definitely at odds with his conclusions. Given the fact that there is an immense amount of tax already on gasoline, would it not make sense to just remove the GST for the folks who do not have an electric car or for those who have to drive great distances? The member mentioned that he took his electric car to Ottawa. I have drive…
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Mr. Speaker, my next petition is from people from across Alberta. These petitioners note that Alberta is the single largest per-capita contributor to the federal equalization program, contributing over $600 billion since the 1960s. They comment that the current equalization formula was set when Alberta had record growth. Since then, we have experienced job losses and high unemployment. Bill C-69 a…
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With regard to the Vaccine Injury Support Program funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada: (a) what is the budget for the program; (b) how much is being paid to Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Consulting Incorporated to administer the program; (c) what is the criteria for determining if an applicant will be eligible to receive funding under the program and how much funding will be provided; (d)…
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With regard to government measures to address systemic racism in Canada, since January 1, 2016: (a) has the government conducted research to identify and quantify the specific barriers preventing Black, Indigenous, and other minority communities from receiving equal access to financial services; (b) what were the dates and parameters of the research referred to in (a) and what were the institution…
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With regard to expenditures by the government on data and telecommunication services related to mobile devices, such as smartphones or tablets, and broken down by month, since January 1, 2020: (a) what are the total expenditures; (b) how many devices' services are being paid for; (c) how much of the expenditures in (a) are related to roaming or similar charges, such as usage while travelling; and …
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Mr. Speaker, I have a number of petitions to present today. The first petition is from Canadians from across the country. They are concerned about the revocation of charitable status from pro-life organizations. They are calling on the House of Commons to do all that it can to prevent, block, organize against and vote against any effort by the government to revoke the charitable status of pro-life…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I have is signed by Canadians across the country who are concerned about vulnerable Canadians who are not adequately protected on social media platforms from potential exploitation. They are concerned about people being bullied, blackmailed and harassed. The petitioners are calling for meaningful age verification that can determine the age and identity of users. They…
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Mr. Speaker, my next petition is from Canadians from across the country and particularly from Fox Creek and Swan Hills. These are some remote communities located in northern Alberta. They have extended travel times and more expensive heating costs than other communities do. The residents of Fox Creek and Swan Hills have to travel great distances to access groceries and shopping centres. They are n…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, just again on that point around algorithmic transparency and the manipulation of algorithms, the bill specifically says that the government cannot regulate the algorithms, but what happens in practice is that the regulations for Canadian content will effectively manipulate the algorithm. If the government can say a certain percentage of one's content must be Canadian content and it …
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Madam Speaker, to continue on with my speech, the online streaming bill, Bill C-11—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I did note that there was a new minister on this particular bill and I am—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I want to rise and give my voice to this debate today. I want to note off the top that I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Saskatoon—Grasswood, a long-time member here. I have served with him for as long as I have been elected, and I want to thank him for all the work that he does. Today, I will be speaking to Bill C-11, and I want to bring to the attention of the Hou…
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Madam Speaker, I apologize for doing what I did indirectly that I am not allowed to do directly. I am sorry about that. This bill continues to be an assault on freedom. There is no doubt about that. I gave a speech on Bill C-10 in the last Parliament, and the bill made significant reference to the fact that there was going to be algorithmic transparency. That is something I was in favour of. Algor…
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Madam Speaker, I would say that it takes about $20,000, in terms of equipment, to get set up. Yes, it is a hundred per cent much more difficult to get on the radio. However, the equipment is readily available. If someone has the $20,000, they can have the equipment up and running overnight. However, what someone cannot get is the licence to start broadcasting overnight. That takes several months, …
Read full speech →Orders Of The Day
Madam Speaker, in the spring of 2020, we saw rail blockades across the country. At that point, when Quebec was running out of propane and people were unable to heat their own homes across the country, there was no mention of the invocation of the Emergencies Act. What we did see in that case was an army of cabinet ministers going out across the country speaking to whomever they could in order to r…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, February 22 is Canada's National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, thanks to the hard work of the all-party parliamentary group to end human trafficking and modern-day slavery. Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery that turns people into objects to be used and exploited. It is profitable, it is vicious and it is growing. It is happening right here in our own country and aro…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has called Canadians names. He has called them misogynists and racists, and asked if we are actually going to tolerate these people. I am just wondering what the member's comments would be around the Prime Minister's actions in this. We saw, with the rail blockades in 2020, half of cabinet running around the country talking to everybody to try to resolve the situati…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, it is surprising to me. I suppose, since I come from Alberta, downtown Ottawa jobs being more important to the Liberals should not surprise me. However, when jobs in Alberta were being threatened by a rail blockade two years back, there was no mention of the Emergencies Act at that point in time. There was no mention of it. It was business as usual with the government trying to reso…
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Madam Speaker, I reject the underlying premise of the entire question. I have a question back to her. Does whatever is happening in Canada rise to the level of needing the Emergencies Act implemented across Canada? It was not used in the spring of 2020 when rail lines were shut down for 18 days and Quebec ran out of propane. It was not used due to the damage that is currently happening at Coastal …
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Madam Speaker, I must admit it is hard to follow the member for Battle River—Crowfoot's passionate speech. Nonetheless, here we are tonight debating, after it was implemented without a vote in the House of Commons, the Emergencies Act. I want to take us back about two years. I remember distinctly the talk was about whether the vaccines would be mandatory. There was a study several years ago at the…
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Madam Chair, fundamentally, this entire situation started when the government put a mandate on truckers to be vaccinated in order to cross the border. The mandates are fundamental to the entire situation we are dealing with today. I will make no apologies for bringing that up.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, in the first part of the member's speech, I heard his concerns about heated rhetoric and things like that. I am wondering if he can comment on the Prime Minister's comments yesterday regarding one of my Jewish colleague's questions.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition from Canadians from across the country who are opposed to and want to end the COVID-19 mandates. The petitioners state that throughout the pandemic, truckers have served Canadians and they are heroes, but now they are being subjected to a vaccine mandate, impacting the supply chain. They say the Prime Minister has politicized the vaccine and insulted Canadia…
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Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from citizens from across Canada. These Canadians are seeking to end the mandates, as they say the mandates have caused division across Canada. The petitioners are standing in solidarity with RCMP officers, border security officers, postal workers and truckers as they fight mandates. The petitioners say they are opposed to COVID vaccines and want to ensure that peopl…
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Mr. Speaker, in the spirit of being concise, I rise today to present a petition that supports the health and safety of Canadian firearms owners. The petitioners recognize the importance of owning firearms, and they are concerned about the impact of hearing loss caused by the damaging noise levels of firearms and the need for noise reduction. The petitioners acknowledge that sound moderators are th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is always an honour to rise and ask the member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley a question, as I have family from that part of the world. Earlier my colleague was talking about pipelines, another transportation method in Canada, and the retort was about renewable energy. In Alberta, we do all of the things. We do renewable energy, traditional energy and all of these things. The lack of …
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Madam Speaker, back home people say, “Be quiet around your phone. China might be listening”, but it turns out that our own government happens to be listening. I am just wondering this. What does the member have to say about the fact that, right here at home, we have to be worried about how our data is being used by our own government?
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