Chris d'Entremont

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to recognize the career of Colonel Luc Vachon as he prepares to retire from the Canadian Armed Forces, after 33 years of loyal, dedicated service to Canada. Throughout his career in the Royal Canadian Air Force, Colonel Vachon served with professionalism, integrity and distinction in a wide range of operational staff and command appointments, contributing to Canada's commitments both at home and abroad. As commander of 14 Wing Greenwood, he demonstrated exceptional leadership and a deep commitment to the military members, civilian employees and families who served at one of Canada's most important air wings. I enjoyed working alongside him on projects that have benefited the military members and civilians in our region. His dedication has earned him immense respect in our community. On behalf of the residents of Acadie—Annapolis and all Canadians, I want to thank Colonel Luc Vachon for his remarkable service to our country and wish him every success and happiness in his retirement.

Mr. Speaker, my riding is proudly home to the largest lobster fishery in Canada, which creates thousands of good-paying jobs throughout Acadie—Annapolis. Our harvesters need safe and secure small craft harbours in order for their product to make it to markets. Can the Minister of Fisheries tell me how the spring economic update will affect seafood producers?

Mr. Speaker, supporting our military with our plan to rebuild, rearm and reinvest in our Canadian Armed Forces is a priority for our new government. Our riding is home to CFB Greenwood, the largest air base in the east coast. Federal investments will support paid infrastructure, RPAS drones and building 208 new housing units. As we strengthen our armed forces, could the Minister of National Defence outline the measures that our government is taking to support CAF members and families based across Canada?

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to represent Acadie—Annapolis, a predominantly rural riding in Nova Scotia that I have always called home. I recognize the value of small and medium-sized businesses, whether it is engaging with business owners or supporting them in my daily life. However, we know that rural business owners often struggle with less access to financing, smaller markets, a tighter pool of workers and longer supply chains. To the minister responsible for ACOA, how is the Government of Canada supporting small and medium-sized businesses in Acadie—Annapolis and in Atlantic Canada?

Mr. Speaker, on February 23, at the southwest African Heritage Month gala, it was an honour to present the Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation to my friend Eric “Chuck” Smith. I have known Chuck for over 30 years. His service, leadership and vision have left a lasting mark on Yarmouth and far beyond. He embodies the very spirit of community. As a talented basketball coach, he gave time freely, helping young people build confidence, discipline and teamwork, and as a member of the board of the Nova Scotia Black cultural society, he advocates for the education, preservation and recognition of Black history and culture in our province. Chuck worked tirelessly to install a monument honouring the men of the First World War's segregated No. 2 Construction Battalion in the town of Yarmouth, where many of the soldiers were from. Through his leadership, passion and persistence, that vision became reality. Chuck's hard work ensured that the men of the No. 2 Construction Battalion are recognized. I thank Chuck for his commitment to honouring those who came before us.

Mr. Speaker, it has now been 100 days since the launch of Build Canada Homes, and we are now seeing real momentum on the ground. Projects are moving faster, partnerships are coming together and communities in my riding are seeing concrete progress on affordable housing. Can the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure tell us what has been achieved in the 100 days of Build Canada Homes and how this initiative is helping Nova Scotians and Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, the minister responsible for ACOA knows well that fisheries, forestry and agriculture remain at the heart of Nova Scotia's economy. When the Atlantic economic panel was announced two weeks ago, were representatives from these sectors included? Can the minister tell us how he plans to ensure that these important industries will have a way to contribute to the panel's work?

Madam Speaker, last Thursday, the very best of Yarmouth businesses were recognized at the 18th annual Yarmouth Business Awards, hosted by the Yarmouth and Area Chamber of Commerce at the Mariners Centre in my riding of Acadie—Annapolis. It was an inspiring evening that celebrated our region's most dedicated entrepreneurs and community leaders. They are people whose hard work, creativity and determination continue to drive our economy and strengthen our community. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the 13 award recipients and all of the nominees. Their achievements inspire our community and reflect the resilience, innovation and pride that define the spirit of Yarmouth. I give special congratulations to the D'Eon Oyster Company, a family-owned business that earned not one, but two awards this year: the export achievement award and the people's choice award. Its remarkable success not only showcases the world-class quality of our seafood industry, but proves how a business built on local roots, hard work and family dedication can achieve international recognition.

Madam Speaker, I present a petition today signed by 518 people about Kejimkujik National Park. Apparently, beginning this year, firewood will no longer be provided for backcountry campsites in Kejimkujik National Park. As we all know, campfires are an essential part of the camping experience, and many back country campers, including kayakers, hikers and canoeists, will face significant logistical challenges in expecting them to bring sufficient firewood for a multi-day trip. What will happen is that many campers will resort to foraging wood from the forest and cause unnecessary harm to the local ecosystem. The signatories are asking Parks Canada to reconsider the decision to not provide firewood to the back country of Kejimkujik National Park.

Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I rise today to pay tribute to my dear friend, a proud Cape Bretoner and a true servant of the people, Alfie MacLeod. Alfie was more than a colleague in public life. He was a man of deep conviction, boundless compassion and unmistakable wit. A long-serving MLA and Speaker of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, Alfie dedicated his life to the people of Cape Breton, always putting community first. He was first elected in 1995, returned in 2006 and served until 2019. As Speaker from 2007 to 2009, Alfie brought fairness, humour and dignity to the role, but it was outside the chamber, at fire halls, church basements and charity auctions, where Alfie’s love for his community truly shone. Alfie faced his battle with cancer the same way he lived his life: with courage, resilience and a twinkle in his eye. He was a family man, a friend to many and a fierce advocate for Cape Breton. My wife Anne and I offer our deepest condolences to his wife Shirley, their children Daniel, Jessica and Sandra, and his grandchildren. Alfie’s legacy will live on in the lives he touched and the community he so dearly loved. I bid rest well to my friend. He deserves it.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Swift Current—Grasslands—Kindersley for sharing his time. It has been three years since I have had the opportunity to speak to an opposition day motion in the House, because of my previous duties as a chair occupant. First, let me say how proud I am to stand here today to represent the magnificent riding of Acadie—Annapolis. I thank my constituents for their continued support. My campaign team and volunteers are the best. It is thanks to them that we have succeeded three times since 2019. I thank my family: my wife, Anne, and my sons, André and Alec, for their unwavering support through my political career. Of course, I thank my mom and dad, who are probably watching tonight, for all their support. I thank my awesome staff in the Yarmouth office, Joellen and Krista; Agnes, who was in my Kingston office; Esther, who is there now; and my two staffers here on the Hill, Isabelle and Mikhail, who are phenomenal and make our office rock. I want to thank volunteers. As members know, in southwest Nova Scotia, in my riding of Acadie—Annapolis, we have had a pretty bad fire season. We had the largest fire ever in Nova Scotia this year. I want to thank the volunteers, the municipality of Annapolis, the Province of Nova Scotia, the firefighters and the first responders for all their awesome work on the Long Lake wildfires complex; almost 8,500 hectares burned, 20 houses were lost and folks in West Dalhousie were out of their home for over 40 days. They got back just a few days ago. Can anyone imagine losing their house or being out of their house for over 40 days? On behalf of everyone here in the House of Commons, I want to wish them well and let them know that we are thinking about them and hopefully helping them as time goes on as the province finally figures out exactly what it is going to be asking of the federal government when the time comes. On another note, I want to thank everyone for their well wishes for a speedy recovery from my broken collar bone. I unfortunately relearned something very important from elementary school, the first law of inertia: that an object will continue in motion with the same speed and the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced external force. I was the object, and the bike path was the unbalanced external force. I want to thank everyone who wished me a speedy recovery. Now let us get into why we are here today. I want to speak in support of the Conservative motion, because Canadians are hurting. Families are being forced to cut deeply into their grocery budget just to get by, and frankly, that makes me a little bit angry and a little bit sad. Canada is a wealthy country, but under the current Liberal government's mismanagement, taxpayers are feeling the pinch and their hard-earned money is being wasted. In southwest Nova Scotia, where I have lived my entire life, people work hard. They want to own a home, feed their children and provide a good education for them, and maybe take a vacation every once in a while. However, since 2015, everything has changed. Since I was first elected here in 2019, the cost of living has skyrocketed. Even then, families in West Nova, as it was called at the time but is now Acadie—Annapolis, were struggling. We warned that the Liberals' out-of-control spending and massive deficits were irresponsible, but of course they did not listen. Now, after six months under a new Prime Minister, who promised financial discipline, Canadians are still waiting. He said that he would be judged by the costs at the grocery store. Well, Canadians are judging him, and they are not impressed. Instead of delivering relief, the government delayed its budget. We are still waiting for a budget; we have not seen one in a year and a half because the Prime Minister is projecting a deficit of over $92 billion. That is a monstrous, irresponsible burden on future generations. We will hear, I am sure, maybe in the questions, that they are talking about a “generational investment”, but really it is a generational debt that my kids, their kids and their kids' kids are going to have to try to pay in one way or another, one that causes inflation and extra costs to future generations. While the government boasts about withdrawing the carbon tax, it left in place the industrial carbon price on fertilizers and farm equipment. That is not relief; that is just politics. The result is that food inflation is 70% higher than the Bank of Canada forecast. Since the Liberals came to power, food prices have risen by 40%. We have heard it many times here today. It is deliberate, and it is unacceptable. It is inhumane for a G7 country. We are a rich country. We are a food basket of a country. We can produce all the food for many people in the world, and we can barely feed ourselves, for some reason. People find themselves pinched. They are having to make tough decisions on whether to feed their children, heat their homes or buy the things that school requires, and then get their kids into sports, if they are lucky. Unfortunately, the food basket is far too expensive. In my riding, food banks are overwhelmed, and I am sure food banks across Nova Scotia are experiencing the same thing. Food bank usage is up 142% across Canada. While the government claims to be putting money back into taxpayers' pockets, it continues to take it away through many other means. Low-income Canadians spend more of their income on essentials such as food and rent, yet these items are the fastest rising in price. Where is the relief? In my province of Nova Scotia, the situation is dire. In 2023, 28.9% of the population faced food insecurity. In 2024, that rose to 29.3%. It did not get better; it got worse. There are 71,000 children living in food insecure households. Feed Nova Scotia, which supports many of the food banks across Nova Scotia, supports 23,000 people monthly. That is a 52% increase since 2022. These numbers are heartbreaking. They demand action. We must protect our food sovereignty. It is difficult in Nova Scotia. Lots of things can be produced in the Annapolis Valley, up near Truro and into Cape Breton, but a fair amount of stuff has to be trucked in from other parts of the country. We need to support the farmers we have. We need to support farmers across Canada. We need to support our producers, and we need to support truckers so product gets to our grocery stores. Once again, it is the taxpayer who ends up paying. It is the people going to the store who are finding all of these things to be far more expensive and, most times, out of reach when they need them. I would be remiss if I did not bring up the challenges that face the main economic driver in my riding. That is the fishery and, more specifically, the lobster fishery. Last season was a tough one. A number of new entrants did not make it because of the expense of everything. Some of it revolves around tariffs, but some of it revolves around input cost and taxes. I could spend a couple of hours on how fishers feel that the government is doing its best to make sure that the whole fishery fails. Rather than the fishery being treated like the safe and healthy food source that it is, it is being squeezed by competing federal initiatives that do not take into consideration coastal communities, which are a long way from a lot of the services in urban areas, but that are providing safe food products for consumption. When we add up all of those things, and it is not unlike what farmers are telling us, it is very difficult to make ends meet. This Conservative motion calls on the government to eliminate the carbon tax on fertilizer and farm equipment. It is not just policy, it is survival. We need affordable food. We need responsible governance. We need to stop taxing the grocery basket. We need to do everything within our powers as legislators here in the House of Commons to ease the burden that Nova Scotians and Canadians are seeing at the grocery store. What has been happening is absolutely the opposite. I urge members to vote with us. Let us work together. We hear a lot of that here in the House of Commons, especially from the government side, where members say that we should just work with them. A number of suggestions have come from the opposition side, whether from the Conservatives, the Bloc or other opposition members, for finding ways to work with the government, but the government continues to close its ears and not listen to the good ideas that come from opposition members. Let us work together for Canadians, our economy and our future.

Mr. Speaker, quite honestly, in the Annapolis Valley, we are having a tremendous drought problem, and we need to be resilient to those things, which will continue to happen over the next number of years. We need to have adaptation programs to be able to support farmers in growing the products that we need for our grocery shelves. The second thing that I would suggest to the hon. member, as we put good ideas on the table, is climate resilience at our wharves. We know that food products coming from the sea are extremely important. We have wharves that are being abandoned because the boats cannot tie to them, so we need to have an infrastructure program that would recognize the impacts of climate change and make infrastructure stronger and more efficient for future use.

Mr. Speaker, the challenge that all governments face is to provide a bit of certainty when it comes to the economy, along with sensible budgets that are presented on time and respond to needs. However, they have to avoid spending all the money on all sorts of less important projects. The government cannot solve all the problems of all people. I hope to see a balanced budget. That will not be the case this fall, but I would like to see a budget containing sound economic decisions in the spring.

Mr. Speaker, I am glad the hon. member asked that question because, while the school food program is needed in some communities, what has happened in Nova Scotia is a bit of a shame because, when the province takes a hold of things, it tries to standardize those things across the country. I look to a nice elementary school in Cornwallis. There was a community group that was providing meals to students. The provincial program came in, kicked out all of those volunteers, who had been doing such a great job, and half the kids are putting it in the garbage. Providing that centralized system does not provide meals to all children. What we should be doing is helping their parents and helping our communities get fresh food into their bellies, because it is more important that children eat at home than all this crazy stuff that they are doing in the schools.

With regard to the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and its funding allocations since January 1, 2020: (a) how much funding has been distributed by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, broken down by federal riding and year; and (b) what projects received funding, broken down by federal riding, year, recipient organization, project description, and amount?

With regard to the entry of internationally trained healthcare professionals into Canada: (a) what is the number of (i) physicians, (ii) nurses, (iii) other healthcare workers, who have entered Canada each year since 2016 under the Express Entry system, disaggregated by occupation and province of destination; (b) what is the number of (i) physicians, (ii) nurses, (iii) other healthcare workers,who have entered Canada in each year since 2016 through a Provincial Nominee Program, disaggregated by occupation and province; and (c) what is the number of (i) physicians, (ii) nurses, (iii) other healthcare workers, who have been granted a Labour Market Impact Assessment-based work permit in each year since 2016, broken down by occupation and province of employment?

Mr. Speaker, the economy of Acadie—Annapolis in rural Nova Scotia relies heavily on a strong lobster fishery, yet this past season, it went from bad to worse. According to a Global News report on May 2, some harvesters in southwest Nova Scotia had to give up on their season because they could not fish profitably. There were no lobsters and no price, and this is unacceptable. Will the Minister of Fisheries finally listen to commercial fishers, where her predecessors failed to act, to take unregulated and unreported fishing seriously and implement immediate measures to protect our lobster stocks before it is too late?

Mr. Speaker, it is an incredible honour for me to rise today in the 45th Parliament as the elected member for the extraordinary riding of Acadie—Annapolis. I want to sincerely thank the residents of Acadie—Annapolis for once again placing their trust in me to be their voice in Ottawa. This past week has been very difficult for me personally and for my family. In the span of just a few days, I have had to say goodbye to three people who were incredibly close to my heart. My beloved mother-in-law, Ella Muise, was a woman of grace, care and warmth whose gentle spirit touched everyone she met. She was an important part of my life for over 40 years. My wife, Anne, will dearly miss her mamme, and my two boys, their beloved grand-mère. Braden Muise, my cousin's son, only 18, full of potential, was tragically taken too soon. He will be missed dearly by his friends and family. There was also Blair Boudreau, a pillar in our Acadian community, a proud passionate and tireless defender of our language, culture and history. He leaves a deep and lasting legacy. Let their memories be eternal, and may we honour them by living with the same love, strength and purpose that they brought to this world. May they rest in peace.