Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, one of the things I would note is that in northern Alberta we have an ongoing revolving door of criminals who continue to get out on bail, so I put forward initiatives around human traffickers having reverse onus bail. This bill would continue to allow human traffickers to get house arrest for being convicted of human trafficking. In Alberta, our Alberta Law Enforcement Response Tea…
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Mr. Speaker, Iceland, Sweden, Ireland, France, the U.K., these are just a few of the countries that have dropped all of their mandates. However, the government, without any evidence, is continuing to bar Canadians from getting on airplanes to visit the loved ones they so want to see. It is spending $30 million to prevent Canadians from getting on airplanes. On what day will the minister allow peop…
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Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition on behalf of Canadians from across the country who want an end to all the COVID-19 mandates. The petitioners say that the Prime Minister has politicized the vaccines and insulted Canadians who disagree with him. Moreover, they are commenting about the fact that it is the sacred duty of the government to guard against discrimination and guarantee the freedoms…
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Mr. Speaker, the member, right off the top, mentioned build back better. I am wondering how long he has he been getting his talking points from the World Economic Forum.
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member for Edmonton Manning for sharing his time with me, and I also want to say hi to him from Yosef, who just cut my hair. I know they are good buddies, and I think they sing together, or something like that, so I just want to say hi to him from Yosef. I will say off the top that I will be voting in favour of Bill C-14. I want to make that clear to the member f…
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Mr. Speaker, I did note, right off the top of my speech, that I was supporting this bill. I even noted that I was doing that for the benefit of the member for Winnipeg North, so I am pleased that he listened to my speech. The other point I would make is that my point all around distances to Ottawa was not so much that we can change that but that this is a matter of fact. We cannot change the fact …
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for his question. That is indeed the case. I would just recognize that P.E.I., for example, negotiated its way into Confederation, as did B.C. That is not as much the case for Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, which were more creations of the federal government—
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Mr. Speaker, the reality is that the proportion was never part of the discussion. I do not ever remember hearing anything about the proportion. The other thing I would just note for the member is that northern Alberta has one of the largest French-speaking diasporas. It has been there since before Quebec was even founded. Since the 1700s, we have had Quebec communities in northern Alberta. These c…
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Mr. Speaker, once again the member has highlighted one of the things that are a matter of fact. The number of immigration queries that we have has no bearing on where we come from in the country. I would say that the government has totally mishandled the immigration file in this country, leading to the fact that my office has to deal with an inundation of immigration cases as likely the member's d…
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Madam Speaker, I know my hon. colleague has been an advocate here in this House. I want to mention that I come from a riding that represents over 100,000 square kilometres. Could the member consider that and think about what it is like to overlap with over 500 other elected representatives, whether they are MLAs, town councillors, county councillors or band councils? It is something. There is repr…
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Mr. Speaker, I have several petitions to present today. The first petition is from Canadians from across the country. The petitioners are concerned about the accessibility and impacts of violent and degrading sexually explicit material online and the impacts on public health, especially the well-being of women and girls. The petitioners recognize that we cannot say that we believe in preventing se…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I have to present is on behalf of Canadians who are concerned about charities that could be targeted based on their views and forced into a values test. The petitioners note that the Liberals have promised to deny charitable status to groups that they view as dishonest. The petitioners say that this could jeopardize the charitable status of hospitals, houses of worsh…
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The final petition I am presenting today, Mr. Speaker, is from Canadians from across the country who are opposed to and want an end to the COVID-19 mandates. The petitioners state that throughout the pandemic, truckers have served Canadians and are heroes but now are subject to vaccine mandates that are impacting the supply chain. The petitioners say the Prime Minister has politicized the vaccines…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Madam Speaker, this week I met Cayle. He is from B.C. and made a road trip to Ottawa to speak up for his rights. He cannot fly here because Canada is the only country in the world that bans unvaccinated citizens from travel. The Liberal ban on unvaccinated travel is especially egregious given that Canada is one of the largest countries in the world and Canadians rely on air travel far more for fam…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, on Wednesday, the Minister of Justice denied that Bill C-5 would allow human traffickers to serve their sentences at home. It is crazy. The minister does not even know his own bill. Human trafficking is a vicious crime and traffickers prey on the most vulnerable. In Canada, a lot of them are indigenous women and girls. Can the minister explain how giving sex traffickers house arrest…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I have to present is from constituents from the towns of Fox Creek and Swan Hills. These two towns are in northern Alberta. The petitioners say that rising heat costs and other expenses make life more expensive in northern Alberta. They also have to travel great distances to access grocery stores and shopping centres. The petitioners state that there is an arbitrary …
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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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Madam Speaker, I request a recorded division.
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Madam Speaker, does the hon. member think that the inflation we currently have is a problem?
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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 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, 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, 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, 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 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, 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 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 …
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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…
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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 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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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…
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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…
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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, 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…
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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…
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 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, 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, 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, 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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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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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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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, 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…
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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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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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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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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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