Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, in one of his first comments as Premier of the Northwest Territories, R.J. Simpson simply said yesterday that a carbon tax “doesn't work” for Northwest Territories. He said, “a complete exemption for the territory is what we would hope for because, like I said before, the costs are already high—higher costs are not the solution up here.” Will the Prime Minister do the right thing this…
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Mr. Speaker, that answer throws the current Premier of the Northwest Territories completely under the bus. The Prime Minister unfairly gives a tax exemption to certain Canadians and not others. His environment minister has doubled down recently and said he is going to give that exemption to some, but not others. Liberal hot air will not keep Northwest Territories residents warm this Christmas. Wil…
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Madam Speaker, the member well knows we are not supposed to point out absence or presence in the House of Commons.
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Madam Speaker, to finish my point of order, if we were able to reflect on who was or was not here, we could easily reflect on that party, the NDP, whose members were not here either, or members of the Liberal Party as well.
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Mr. Speaker, the member for Kingston and the Islands just threatened this side. I do not know if that is common practice to do that or allowed in the House, but I wish he would retract it and apologize.
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Mr. Speaker, sadly, empty words from those Liberals will not fill empty stomachs in Nunavut. Kyra Kilabuk, an Inuit woman, shares photos of current food prices in Nunavut on her social media. A can of Campbell's potato soup is $11. A medium box of Cheerios is $17. A small package of ham is $18. After eight years, Nunavut knows the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. When will the Prime Minister …
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Madam Speaker, there has been a lot of conjecture back and forth this afternoon about things that were said on that side, and he straying into that territory again of getting into conspiracy theories and tinfoil hat commentary. This is about Arctic sovereignty and security. There are some in this place who actually want to get to that conversation and that debate. I wish the member would get back …
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Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity to bring forward to the House a petition from the many citizens of the riding of Skeena—Bulkley Valley, including the communities of Smithers, Terrace and Kitimat. Sadly, their member of Parliament was not interested in bringing forward the petition, which supports law-abiding firearm owners. Petitioners draw to the attention of the House Commons that…
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Madam Speaker, the question I have to ask tonight, based on the report, and we are going to talk about the defence report in a few moments, is: has the Prime Minister compromised Canada in the Arctic? How bad is it? We have heard from my colleague, the critic for defence. He did a great job going through some of the shortfalls of what really is not in the north and what needs to be in the north. T…
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Madam Speaker, I have made my views very clear about NATO and NORAD tonight. The member has heard our views from this side about NORAD and the need to modernize in order to protect our northern front. It is unequivocal that it needs to happen. The former defence minister made the announcement of modernizing NORAD. I think it was $4.95 billion at the time. I applauded her for making that announceme…
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Madam Speaker, I must say I do not know. We talked to Canadian Rangers who go out with their own snowmobile equipment and their own gear, which gets damaged and takes months to get repaired. These are snowmobiles they use for their sustenance to go get caribou and the like. It is a sad story we have heard many times. I have been up there many times and spoken directly with Rangers, as well as some…
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Madam Speaker, the article I quoted before was “CSIS warning Inuit leaders about covert foreign investment in Arctic, documents show". What can we do about it? There is a lot we can do about it. Again, the example I think about is one of those sad things I had to announce when I was up in Yellowknife speaking. A company the Prime Minister was at, the one rare earth minerals project he cut the ribb…
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With regard to government subsidies for diesel-based electricity generation in the North: how much does the government pay annually to (i) Nunavut, (iii) the Northwest Territories, (iii) Yukon, to subsidize the cost of diesel and the purchase or rental and maintenance of diesel generators?
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate the opportunity to talk about a bill from a senator who has become a great friend. The senator is from Nunavut, with a lot of deep history in Nunavut and Northwest Territories even before the boundaries had been reformed. Many call this the “use it or lose it bill”, but I think it should be called the “connecting Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Yukon and northern C…
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Madam Speaker, Sarah, a mother of four from Whitehorse, told me yesterday how expensive life has gotten because of the carbon tax. Sarah spent $240 to fill up her truck last Friday. That tank of gas will only last her one week of going back and forth to work, along with some kids' activities. That is $1,000 a month. Sarah also said that her food bill is up 30%, and she is now being forced to spend…
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Madam Speaker, the economic development we hope to see with this bill is through the prevention of foreign interference from really taking hold. I have a quote with respect to another security issue, which states, “Russia is a persistent proximate threat to North America. And we know that China has growing capabilities and ambitions. I don't think the status quo is going to keep us safe”. I do not…
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, that desperate Prime Minister, in total free fall, finally admitted that his carbon tax is punishing Canadians. The Prime Minister also announced in his re-election platform that to vote Liberal in Yukon would mean quadrupling the carbon tax on home heating. This weekend, the minister from Newfoundland admitted the exemption did not apply to all Canadians across the…
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Madam Speaker, the answer to the member's question is that I am not sure. The NDP-Liberal government, after eight years, makes a lot of promises. To use NORAD as an example, we have seen billions of dollars promised, but the last count I have is that about $45 million has been spent. The government is great at photo ops and talking about getting things done, but delivery is a problem. Where has it…
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Madam Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to speak about Bill C-34 today. It has been said before that weak leaders create hard times. The bill is meant to deal with foreign interference and the lack of infrastructure. I am going to speak specifically about that lack of infrastructure in the north. Point (b) in the summary says that the bill is meant to “authorize the Minister of Industry, …
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Madam Speaker, I would go back to what I started off with saying, which is that the NDP is really the no development party. I will quote an MLA from Nunavut, who said, “if adopted, [the member for Nunavut's] plan would impede the growth of mining in the territory and make it harder to increase Inuit employment in the mines.” What the member for Nunavut is doing is preventing this infrastructure in…
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Mr. Speaker, Mark is a local grocery store owner in Dawson City. He has seen his already high shipping costs get slapped with a 94% fuel surcharge because of the current Prime Minister's carbon tax. A dozen eggs is eight dollars, a pound of butter is nine dollars and a kilogram of cheese is $30. Yukoners know they simply cannot afford the Prime Minister any longer. Will the NDP-Liberal government …
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Mr. Speaker, despite the Prime Minister's fancy photo ops yesterday, Yukoners are facing a cold winter. They will have to decide between keeping their kids warm and keeping them fed. The carbon tax is causing transportation costs to double and food prices to skyrocket. Instead of making it better for struggling Yukoners, the NDP-Liberal government is making it worse. After eight years, the Prime M…
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Mr. Speaker, we would like a recorded vote.
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, carbon tax is causing the affordability issue in Yukon. First, the NDP-Liberal government wanted to triple the carbon tax. Then they said that it was not enough and brought in a second carbon tax. Both of these carbon taxes will increase 14¢ to 61¢ a litre, all supported by the Liberal MP for Yukon. Now his NDP-Liberal government will quadruple the carbon tax. This is from Yukon Party…
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the member's comments, but I want to ask her a question. I represent, through my portfolio, the territories. One thing I will be speaking about in the House is the lack of housing in Nunavut specifically. Per-unit costs have risen to $1.1 million because of inflation and carbon taxes. That is why no units were built this year, because it is simply too expensive, as the …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, after eight years, Nunavut residents cannot trust the Prime Minister on housing. At a campaign stop in Iqaluit in the last election he promised, “We're going to try and maximize what we can do in the next construction season.” The sad reality is that housing projects last year were cancelled or delayed due to the rising costs from the Prime Minister's rising inflation and carbon taxes…
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Madam Speaker, in the comments from the member of the NDP, she has called what we are doing today criminal and what is happening in this chamber wrong. We are acting as an opposition party in the House of Commons. The NDP, on the other hand, is completely supporting this Liberal agenda and pretending to criticize it. I would ask her this. When is she finally going to take a true NDP position and b…
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Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to stand today to offer this petition that really adds protection against political discrimination. It is based on a private member's bill from my colleague from Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan. Petitioners call upon the House of Commons to support Bill C-257, which would ban discrimination on the basis of political belief or activity. This is especially important in Can…
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Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that the former party that used to represent labour, the NDP, no longer does. There is some laughter over there, but all the members need to do is talk to people in Skeena—Bulkley Valley, on the island and in the ridings they represent. I guess they are in for a rude awakening next election. It is interesting that the workers at the Ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupe…
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Mr. Speaker, families in Nunavut are waking up to a financial nightmare. The Prime Minister's out-of-control spending is causing inflation, and mortgage rates are skyrocketing. An average mortgage payment for a home in Iqaluit went from $3,100 in 2016 to a whopping $4,667 today. That is a $1,500-per-month rise in the last seven years. Sadly, many families in Nunavut are going to lose their homes. …
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With regard to the Translation Bureau: (a) how many translators are assigned to (i) reports and other documents for committees of the House of Commons, (ii) other parliamentary assignments, (iii) other assignments; (b) what turnaround times are required and estimated for translating the items referred to in (a)(i), (i) in each fiscal year since 2016-17, (ii) for the remainder of the current fiscal…
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Madam Speaker, there has been a changeover in Speakers, and the previous Speaker has seen them acting like this for a couple of hours now. Considering the financial situation we have in our country, we are talking about a very important issue with the budget, as well as the impacts to regular Canadians and the possible defaults that could happen to thousands of Canadians. That is what our leader i…
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Madam Speaker, I am a former teacher and I have four kids, and I would be absolutely embarrassed if my kids were acting like that, and they never would. I think that is the point I want to make. My kids know better about how to act in this place than members of Parliament across the way. I would expect respect for our leader, who is making a great speech tonight about an issue that is very importa…
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Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order, I would recommend that, if there is any investigation that really needs to be done, they should ask the same special rapporteur to investigate.
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Mr. Speaker, mothers in the north are having to make very difficult decisions because of the Prime Minister's first carbon tax, and now it is even worse with the new carbon tax 2.0. This is from Northwest Territories MLA Jackie Jacobson: “we're really hurting.... Single mothers are having to choose to buy Pampers or pay their cell bill, or pay their power bill, or pay to buy food, and people are g…
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Madam Speaker, it was interesting to hear my NDP colleague across the way. This is from a party that just had a motion this week to talk about foreign interference, that it was going to tackle it, and then, within hours, it had backed down and said that that it was not going to pull the government down, it is not that serious and it is still going to support the government. The question is about t…
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Madam Speaker, I want to turn my question back toward the opposition motion. It comes from the NDP, which might give the impression its members have found some courage to oppose this particular government. I would like to ask the member a simple question. Does he believe that this new-found courage will continue? We expect them to stand with us and oppose and bring down an absolutely corrupt gover…
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Madam Speaker, my thanks to the NDP for finally standing up like an opposition party and acting like an opposition party in the House. Bravo. I know it has been our party that has stood against the idea of a special rapporteur all along. It has been the Conservative Party that has really been the only party that has tried to bring the government down because of its corruption and many other issues…
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Madam Speaker, I just feel it is important to correct the record. It is actually the Conservatives who won—
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Madam Speaker, it is in regard to my vote. I was torn, as I wanted to vote for both members, and in my ignorance I voted for both members. I felt loyal to both of them, but when push comes to shove, I will vote for the member for Battle River—Crowfoot.
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Mr. Speaker, we originally talked about supporting the bill. We are absolutely for the environment. We are conservationists at heart across the way in the opposition here. However, one thing we are deeply worried about is the government's over-regulation. I come from northern B.C., where oil and gas is a big part of what we can give the world in terms of reducing pollution. I was also just up in Y…
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Madam Chair, it is $500,000, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. By the way, when the member gets up and does a point of order, it is code that the minister needs to read some of his notes. That is why he does it. What is the average home price in Iqaluit, Nunavut?
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Madam Chair, the question remains. Will the minister answer it?
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Madam Speaker, I always find it interesting to hear the NDP chastising the opposition on how the opposition should function. Actually, it was the government saying that we should be doing something different, and then it was the NDP actually supporting the government. Some things are mixed up. The only party in the House that understands its role right now is the Conservative Party in opposition. …
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Madam Chair, it is an honour to be here tonight. My question for the minister is this: Is Canada in a housing crisis?
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Madam Chair, the answer is yes. Maclean's says, “[The housing minister] has a plan to solve Canada’s housing crisis”, so that is a yes. What is the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Victoria?
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Madam Chair, he is to answer the questions and not offer them. It is $2,000 per month. What is the average home price in the Yukon?
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Madam Chair, for anybody watching, whenever the minister does not answer a question, he means he does not know. What is the average home price in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories?
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Madam Chair, according to the Nunatsiaq News, it is $706,950 for an average house. That is incredible. What is the definition of “core housing need” according to the minister's own department?
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Madam Chair, that was an easy one. It means when a household cannot afford suitable and adequate housing in their community. This leads to my next question: What is the core housing need in the Yukon?
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