Parliamentary Speeches

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the government House leader for his words. It is a pleasure, some days, to work with him. It has truly been a privilege to serve our constituents in this place, each and every day. To begin with, Mr. Speaker, thank you for your dedication to this institution, but more importantly to Canadians. You have served in your role very well and with dignity, and you have brought esteem to the chair, and so I want to thank you for that. We thank the clerks and the House officers for their dedication and commitment to this institution as well. They serve us in this place, but really they are serving Canadians. As they preserve this institution and the democracy that Canadians depend on, we thank them for that. To all the long-suffering House of Commons staff, we thank them for their dedication as they deal with members of Parliament who work long and sometimes unexpected hours. We are thankful for their flexibility and dedication to their posts and to Canadians as well. To our pages, this will be our last opportunity to thank them, as they will be heading out. We want to wish them many blessings in their years ahead. We have seen the character and the dignity that they have demonstrated in this past year. We want to thank them for their service to us and to Canadians. We wish them well as they head out. We know that Canada has a bright future when we see young people who look exactly like them. To the interpreters, we could not do this without them. We have a difficult time understanding each other at the best of times, never mind when we are speaking different languages. We thank our interpreters for continuing to translate our words, so that we might understand each other and understand Canadians from coast to coast. To my colleagues across party lines, I want to thank them for their commitment to this country. Specifically to my colleagues on this side of the House, I serve as the whip and they have to put up with me, so I want to thank them for their commitment, not just to our team but to the constituents they represent. Every day, they come to this House to fight for the freedom and opportunity of generations to come. My colleagues do not show up here because of personal ambitions, but because they truly want to serve Canadians. Every day, in every way, they fight for a more affordable Canada and a Canada that will remain the freest place in the world. I want to thank each and every one of them for their steadfast commitment to Canadians. As we continue to focus on Canadians, we are stronger as a team, and I thank them for that. On behalf of my colleagues, I want to express our thanks to our staff who work in our offices, both here on Parliament Hill and in our constituencies, for their dedication to the folks we represent. We thank them for their service. Finally, we could not do any of this without our families. Our families, our children and our spouses, stay at home and make massive sacrifices so that we can serve Canadians and be in this place. On behalf of myself and on behalf of my colleagues, I want to thank our families at home.

Mr. Speaker, I would ask that the minister now table those documents in the House. When we look at the video screen, what we see is a Conservative member of Parliament's head shot, including personal information details about that individual, not only their contact information but what appears to be personal information about the member. I believe that the minister has a collection of these with different members of Parliament's personal information that is now being broadcast on television. I would ask that she now table her question period binder.

Mr. Speaker, I believe the minister has just agreed to table those documents here in the House. I believe that is what the minister said. She is standing. She has the documents there. They have the personal information of many members of Parliament on this side of the House. This is a breach, I believe, of the privacy of those members. She is now leaving the chamber with that document in her hands. I would ask, Mr. Speaker, that you collect those documents—

Mr. Speaker, I was mesmerized by the speech my colleague just gave. It is remarkable the lengths to which the Liberals will go to get their hands on power. That has been the Liberal story through all of history. I will give the Liberals credit for one thing: their ability to seize power and take credit for doing absolutely nothing. They are truly masters of illusion. Never has a government been given so much credit for doing so little. As a matter of fact, I would suggest that doing little might be an improvement over what the government has done, in some cases causing Canadians to fall backwards. The current Prime Minister ran the last election on grand promises. I think we can all recall the grand promises to reverse the Trudeau era and bring back prosperity and hope to Canadians. He went to great lengths to explain how he would reverse the policies of his predecessor, saying that the Liberal Party of the past was no more and that he would be coming in with a new vision for Canada. He said that he would reverse the anti-development Trudeau era and that he would build new infrastructure in this country to get more product to new markets, specifically saying that he would approve and build pipelines and infrastructure in our ports to ensure that we could get our products to places that had never seen Canadian product. He said, “We will need to do things previously thought impossible at speeds we haven't seen in generations.” He went on to promise that he was going to make life affordable and bring down the price of groceries and homes. He asked to be judged by the prices on grocery-store shelves, that he would get a deal done with Trump and that he would negotiate a win on trade by July 21. I will point out that the year that he made that promise was for July 21, 2025, nearly a year ago. He said that he would get new trade agreements done and would diversify our trading relationships. Now, a year later, absolutely nothing has been done. There are no new pipelines, no new infrastructure that has even been proposed and every one of Trudeau's anti-development laws are still in place. Unfortunately, he has made it worse. He has layered on additional red tape and more bureaucratic hurdles. When we look at where we are today compared to where we were even a year ago, we have to compare ourselves to our international partners. When we look at the G7, we rank the worst in household debt, food inflation and housing costs. Canada currently has the only shrinking economy and the second worst unemployment rate in the G7. With this motion the Prime Minister currently has before the House, the Liberals are taking the unprecedented move to rig the government in their favour and ensure that all of this accountability that Canadians deserve would be wiped away. They know they have failed to fulfill the promises that they made to Canadians, and they know that by rigging committees and ensuring that they have the majority on committees, all these uncomfortable questions would disappear. It is a clear effort by the Liberals to stack the deck. I want to explain the egregious nature of this stacking of the deck. I think it is important for Canadians to understand the real assault on the democratic rights of Canadians that is currently being undertaken. In the last election, the Liberals won the election by 43.76%, and that translated into 49.27% of the seats in the House of Commons, which was already overrepresented vis-à-vis what the Canadian people had voted for, but that is how our system works. After the floor crossings, the Liberals now have 51.4% of the seats. Again, let us remember that this is the first time in Canadian history where a Prime Minister gave favours to individuals to cross the floor, moving them from a minority government to a majority government. The Liberals now have 51.4% of the seats in the House of Commons, but Motion No. 9 would give them 58% of the seats on committees. Canadians have been told that committees are where the real work of the House of Commons happens. They are where we dig deep, get to the nuts and bolts, and pull back the curtain to discover what is actually happening. Obviously, in this chamber, it is oftentimes dramatic speeches and a fair bit of cut and thrust, but at committees, that is where there is the opportunity for parliamentarians, on behalf of our constituents, to drill down to find out what is happening. However, through the unprecedented measure the Liberals are now undertaking, the Liberals would go from having won just under 44% of the popular vote to getting 58% of the seats on committees, where the real work of Parliament happens. To give a little context, due to five members of the House of Commons crossing the floor, the Liberals now believe they are entitled to 52 new positions for Liberals on the House of Commons Standing Committees. The media has taken notice. I will read into the record what Andrew Coyne had to say about the Prime Minister. He said, “This is a government and a Prime Minister with an autocratic streak a mile wide.” Althia Raj, who was also quoted on CBC, said, “This Prime Minister definitely has an authoritarian streak.” Even the media on CBC is responding in complete disgust and disbelief that the Prime Minister would undertake this. At a time when Canadians desperately need more accountability in the House of Commons, the Liberals would remove that accountability through this motion. When we look back at previous scandals of Justin Trudeau, we saw the WE Charity scandal entirely exposed because of the work of the committees. The SNC-Lavalin affair was a scandal that demonstrated just how much the then prime minister Justin Trudeau was trying to manipulate a court process, which was completely exposed because of the work of a standing committee. The green slush fund scandal was completely exposed because of the work of a standing committee. The arrive scam scandal was exposed because of the work that was done at committee. This is what the Liberals currently want to stop, because before our committees right now, we have Liberals who will not let witnesses stay at committee when it comes to witnesses such as Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, who has been the whistle-blower on the working conditions for the Chinese manufacturers of the Chinese EVs that the government wants to import to Canada. The ethics committee is currently being filibustered by the Liberals to make sure that issues before that committee will never see the light of day. We are currently also seeing the Liberals filibustering at the fisheries and oceans committee to ensure that those scandals never see the light of day. We are also currently witnessing a filibuster at the health committee, where Liberals will not allow the PrescribeIT scandal to come to the light of day. At transport, the Liberals are filibustering a Bloc motion, supported by the Conservatives, to force the Liberals to produce documentation. The human resources committee is currently being filibustered by the Liberals. The Liberals are doing all of this, including this motion, to ensure that these scandals never see the light of day. We will continue to oppose and fight this.

Mr. Speaker, did members notice something? The member did not mention one of the scandals. He says there are hundreds, but he could not name one. I will tell members about one. The Liberals howled for days to force a minister to resign from the House of Commons because, on one of her expense accounts, there was a $16 glass of orange juice. That is what the Liberals howled at for weeks. That minister resigned because there was an expense for $16 of orange juice. We have $500,000 catering bills for the Prime Minister on his private jet. The Liberals have nothing to teach us about honour. They only have—

Mr. Speaker, it is clear what is happening. The Liberals, having won a minority, want the power of a majority. There have been floor crossings that bring them over the technical definition of a majority, but now they are demanding 58%, nearly 60%, of the seats on standing committees. Currently, most committees are seized by Liberal filibuster. Effectively, that means that, if the Liberal members keep talking, the chair cannot move to a vote for the issues that are before those committees. That means that nothing will happen until such time as the Liberals can force this motion through the House of Commons, giving them the effective majority on every single committee. Obviously, the purpose of this entire process is to ensure that nothing happens at those committees that the Liberals do not agree to, specifically transparency.

Mr. Speaker, we cannot control what is happening abroad, but we can fix things here at home. The majority of Canadians now report that they are worse off today than when the Prime Minister took office, and they are right. Under his leadership, Canada now has the worst food price inflation and the only shrinking economy in the G7. The Liberal Prime Minister was warned that imposing his industrial carbon tax and adding a fuel standard tax that is now at 7¢ a litre and that he is raising to 17¢ a litre would drive up prices, but he did it anyway. Canadians cannot afford this. When will the Prime Minister remove his inflationary taxes so Canadians can afford to eat?

Mr. Speaker, if someone believes that answer, I have an oceanfront property I will sell them in Alberta. Everyone knows that when the government charges higher fuel and carbon taxes on fertilizer, fuel and equipment for farmers, food processors and truckers, it drives up the cost of food. It is going to get worse as long as the Liberals keep on hiking these taxes. Canada now has the highest food price inflation and the worst shrinking economy in the G7, and it has gotten worse since the Prime Minister took office. We cannot control what is happening abroad, but we can fix things here at home. Why will the Liberals not reverse their taxes so Canadians can afford to eat?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised us affordable groceries, but he has given us the highest food inflation in the G7. He promised to spend less, yet the deficit is now double and Canadians are now paying more in interest than for health care. He promised homes people could afford, but the prices have never been worse. RBC is now reporting that it is the hardest on young Canadians, who say at the end of the month that there is nothing left to save. When will the Prime Minister reverse his Liberal inflationary spending, so young Canadians can finally save for a home in this country again?

Mr. Speaker, just listen to the minister and his high-flying friends. They think everything is great, but we know that inflation is good news for the wealthy and for the bankers. I can tell them that young Canadians are being the hardest hit by this inflation. TransUnion is reporting that Canadians have now taken on a record-breaking $2.6 trillion in household debt. This debt is attached to mortgages. Canadians are breaking the bank just to keep a roof over their head. When will the Liberal Prime Minister end his inflationary spending?

Mr. Speaker, as it is customary in the House that every Thursday we ask the question as to what the government has planned for next week, I will ask that, with the understanding that next week members of Parliament will be returning to their homes to meet with their constituents. We have a break week. During question period today, we had an admission from the agriculture minister, an embarrassing admission, that unfortunately he is going to break his promise to the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta. For the benefit of the House and for the benefit of farmers in Saskatchewan and Alberta who are desperately in need of a pest control management emergency solution, specifically the allowance of strychnine to be used in emergency situations, I wonder if the House leader of the Liberals will commit to working with us over this next week. I know the member for Foothills has committed to work throughout the week to draft legislation that would allow the minister to not have to break his promise to farmers in Alberta and Saskatchewan. In the coming week, would the House leader commit to working with the official opposition to draft legislation that we can work expeditiously to pass in the week we return, to allow for farmers to use strychnine in certain circumstances in Alberta and Saskatchewan to ensure that a huge economic emergency does not develop over the Prairies, as we have seen over other springs in previous years?

Mr. Speaker, I am wondering if the Liberals have decided to allow for Bill C-14 to pass. We have, on 17 occasions over the last number of hours, asked for the Liberals to expedite Bill C-14 and to allow for consideration of the bill. The Liberals continue to obstruct this bill, putting forward limitations on religious freedom in Bill C-9. Conservatives will continue to oppose those measures but would like to ensure the safety and security of all Canadians by providing what we believe is a counterfeit version of what Canadians are demanding in terms of fixing Liberal bail. We believe that the provisions would at least provide some level of protection. Will the House leader give us an update as to when that might happen? While I am on my feet, it is now the Christmas season, and this may be my last opportunity to stand in the House to thank all members for their dedication and support to their constituents. As they return home, we hope they will have a safe holiday season. I want to thank the pages, who have dedicated hours to the House and to our service. We want to thank the table officers, the interpreters and all staff who support us, both here in the administration and in the House, as well as in our Hill and constituency offices. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Merry Christmas to you.

Mr. Speaker, before the Prime Minister was elected, he said that half of all oil reserves should stay in the ground, but two weeks ago, when signing an MOU in the province of Alberta, he said that he is now supportive of a proposal to build an oil pipeline between Alberta and a northern British Columbia port. Now that he has returned to Ottawa, he is telling his “keep it in the ground” caucus not to worry, because this project is never going to get built. The Prime Minister has become a master at telling one group of people one thing and another group of people the complete opposite. Today in the House, Liberals are going to have an opportunity to finally tell Canadians where they actually stand. Will they vote “yes” to the very words the Prime Minister wrote in the MOU to support a pipeline, or are they going to vote “no” and clearly reject a proposal to build a pipeline that would finally cut Canadian dependence on the United States? Canadian voters and investors are watching. What is it going to be? It is simple: Do Liberals support this pipeline or not?

Madam Speaker, the hon. member said, “Prove it.” He is heckling. I can tell him to look at the Stellantis contract. Was there a protection for Canadians as the Liberals dished out billions of dollars to their corporate friends? Absolutely not. Look at the Algoma deal. There were 1,000 layoffs this past week, and hundreds of millions of dollars handed over to the company with no guarantee for the 1,000 people who lost their jobs. What we see under the Liberal Party again—

Madam Speaker, my colleague points out, exactly, the hypocrisy of the party that claims to believe in transparency. I remember a time when the members talked about sunlight being the best disinfectant, yet what we are seeing is a government clouded by more secrecy than we have ever seen with any government before. They are not trying to rectify this as they are being called out for being secretive. They are included in this very bill we are debating before the House right now. Division 5 of part 5 clearly articulates the ability of ministers to, in the darkness of night, sign provisions to give out exemptions from federal law to their buddies. This is not democratic, and there will be no oversight for these provisions. There will be no accountability. It will be done. Canadians will have to pay for it.

Madam Speaker, my friend articulated the Prime Minister's failure to get a deal with the Americans. Obviously, the Prime Minister made a promise to get a trade deal with the Americans by July. He has failed to do that. He has done a whole bunch of things to try to now get that deal, but he continues to fail after having promised Canadians he would get it done. When it comes to the media, one of the greatest injustices to Canadian democracy is not allowing the media to see what these ministers might sign off on. If they employ—