Colin Reynolds

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to start off by saying I will be sharing my time with the member for Richmond—Arthabaska. It is with great honour that I rise in the House to speak on behalf of the hard-working folks of Elmwood—Transcona. My speech today will centre on the spring economic statement, with a specific focus on the updates regarding trades and labour. Before becoming a member of Parliament, I worked as a construction electrician. My last day on a ladder was actually March 21, 2025, just two days before the election was called, and I am still the sitting vice-president of my local, IBEW Local 2085 in Winnipeg. When I reviewed the spring economic update, I was thankful to see some efforts that would benefit Red Seal tradespeople through a plan to recruit and train 80,000 to 100,000 new Red Seal skilled trade workers by 2030, with a 50% reduction in time. To do this, the Liberal government wants to give Red Seal tradespeople a national registered apprenticeship number. However, the major problem that would arise is that different jurisdictions have different rules in place that would need to be addressed before any interprovincial harmonization could take place. Furthermore, following the implementation of this plan, the Liberal government wants to have more training and exams be online, but as we learned during COVID, online training is not really effective for the trades. Trades training requires real-life scenarios and hands-on instruction. These critical classes must continue to be taught in person so apprentices can receive training in real-world environments and so they can become comfortable with the powerful equipment they will be operating. Right off the bat, the online testing plan and secure credentials would have adverse effects on trade workers who are trained under the current system. As I said, different jurisdictions have different certification processes and training requirements. According to the Liberal government, its goal is to build one Canadian economy instead of 13. The unintended consequence of this is that a national registered apprenticeship number would force a top-down standardized system that would not have automatic buy-in from the provinces. Extensive consultation would be required with all the provinces to get their buy-in on a national apprenticeship system. It is a bit of a “cart before the horse” thing. Furthermore, several active federal apprenticeship grants were shut down by the current Liberal government without justification. Just one year ago, in 2025, the apprenticeship incentive grant, the apprenticeship incentive grant for women, and the apprenticeship completion grant were all shut down. In addition, in 2024, the apprenticeship service program was shut down. All these programs, which were designed to support apprentices through their education, were very important to young Canadians looking to break into the trades. They were supports I relied on when I was an apprentice, yet they were all closed by the Liberal government. Now the Liberal government has decided to enact the build Canada apprenticeship service, with a new announcement of the same apprenticeship grant it cancelled just one year ago. The government is essentially trying to take credit for creating a program exactly the same as the one it shut down. While the Liberals are patting themselves on the back, many apprentices who relied on that funding left their journey in the Canadian trades because the government turned its back on them. The cuts undoubtedly had significant impacts on apprentices who were already in the training program. In a 2025 article, the Progressive Contractors Association of Canada pleaded for the government not to abandon apprenticeship supports, explaining that 70% of apprentices used the original apprenticeship incentive grant to cover the cost of training expenses such as tools, and 32% of apprentices used part of the grant for general living costs. We need to support Canadians who are eager to build. The last thing the Liberal government should be doing is turning its back on them. In 2024, I read a Global News article titled, “Manitoba stakeholders concerned as federal government tosses apprenticeship grants”. This article predicted the very concerns that trade workers had with the government's decision to cut the apprenticeship grants. Darryl Harrison, director of stakeholder engagement with the Winnipeg Construction Association, was interviewed in the same article and said, “the removal of this grant seems like a backward step to us.” Many apprentices counted on receiving the grant from the government and not needing to get a loan. Curtis Haines, an electrical apprentice at the time, stated that losing the apprenticeship incentive grant may have been a deal breaker for many of his peers and colleagues who had other financial responsibilities such as bills and young families. When I started in the electrical trade, I was a late bloomer in the trade, with small children. I needed every dollar of support I could get. Those grants helped me make ends meet, and many of my classmates at the time relied on those same supports. Another piece of worker policy in the spring economic update that I want to address is the Liberal government's promise to quicken the process of training new Red Seal skilled trade workers by 50%. Rushing the training of Red Seal trade workers can have negative impacts on their education, especially when it comes to their safety training. It is clear to me that the Liberals want to treat workers as inputs on a spreadsheet, to get workers certified as quickly as possible so they can get each unit under way, regardless of the risk. In reality, it is important for apprentices to have the quality education and training that prepares them for the job site. Job sites can often be a dangerous workplace. Another major issue that the spring economic update fails to mention is that there has not been any additional funding for seats in post-secondary institutions that provide training. For example, in Manitoba, Red River College Polytechnic, a post-secondary institution offering many skilled trades programs, has been forced to temporarily shut down certain programs because of inconsistent messaging around support from the federal government On top of program cancellations, post-secondary institutions have had to reduce seat capacity and cut the number of students accepted into the programs. Many instructors have been laid off due to course cancellations. Many programs have waiting lists but cannot expand capacity because the spring economic statement expanded funding to only a portion of the training journey of an apprentice. Red River College Polytechnic is hardly the only one. Many trades colleges across Canada have faced similar issues. The reality is that there seems to be a disconnect between what the Liberal government plans on doing and the situation we are currently facing on the ground. The Liberals are claiming that they want to add a significant number of new Red Seal trained trade workers, yet educational institutions no longer have the resources nor the capacity to welcome new students. The Liberals have no plan to address these shortages, and the longer they continue to ignore what is happening on the ground, the more unrealistic their targets will become. This sounds familiar. Their plan also fails to explain how they will make sure that skilled trade workers will continue having good-paying and reliable jobs available to them in Canada. In the spring economic update, the Liberal Party claims that, with the team Canada strong plan, they would be creating clear pathways for young Canadians to get into good jobs. They are quite sure that these job opportunities will arise, yet they are simply ignoring the fact that, according to StatsCan, there are 207,000 unemployed Canadians in the trades right now. How can Canadian workers have faith in the system when the system is not interested in looking out for them? The unfortunate reality is that after we worked with the Liberals to pass Bill C-5 nearly one year ago, giving them sweeping infrastructure powers with the development of the Major Projects Office, nothing has come of it. It is a shame that we are not building in this country. After 11 years of inaction, we have simply fallen behind globally. For people who are not familiar with the trades, I will explain that apprenticeship training can be broken down into two main sections: technical training in the classroom and field hours on the job site. Field hours are the most important part of any apprenticeship training in the trades, and without adequate field hours, an apprentice will not secure their Red Seal certification. Simply put, apprentices need jobs in order to continue building infrastructure in Canada. With the lack of jobs, apprentices are having greater difficulty completing their training. The Liberals can throw all the money at training and programs that they want to. However, if we want to truly support the workers of tomorrow, we need to get trades jobs flowing in Canada. The Liberals should be focusing on finding solutions to the problems they have ignored over the last decade. It is not enough to just encourage young Canadians who are looking to get into the trades as a possible future to get certified, only to find out that they will not be able to find job opportunities. The road back from this mess starts with support for trades colleges, certainty that apprentice funding remains constant, a clear promise to never cut trades funding again, and a push to get major projects going and to get jobs flowing back into Canada.

Mr. Speaker, these are all things that are going to be coming, maybe, one day in the future. The spring economic statement, we are debating today. We are talking about tradespeople today, and those tradespeople do not have jobs.

Mr. Speaker, it is a crucial part of trades training. As an apprentice, one gets about 300 hours in school and 1,800 hours per level in the field. Without jobs, people are not going to have the 1,800 hours, and they will never complete a Red Seal.

Mr. Speaker, in construction, the first thing businesses do when we enter a recession is stop building. They stop reinvesting, and when business investment declines, so does construction and, in turn, trades jobs, so this is definitely a big concern.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great privilege that I rise in the House to honour an exceptional member of the Elmwood—Transcona community, Leilani Esteban-Villarba. Leilani is the hard-working executive director of the Chalmers Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation. Through their efforts, she and her team lead practical and ground-level neighbourhood work to help support and uplift our community. Leilani and the CNRC have created vital non-profit programs and started key neighbourhood initiatives. Leilani's work is not abstract. She and her team are a direct solution to growing problems facing Canadian society. Her work is squarely focused on addressing the needs of our community, whether they are affordable groceries, access to housing, safer streets, or cleaner neighbourhoods. Because of the CNRC, Elmwood is stronger, safer and a better place to live. I thank Leilani for everything she and the CNRC do for our community.

Mr. Speaker, under the Liberal Prime Minister, Canada is the only G20 country to fall into a recession. There has been a lot of media attention on creative definitions to describe the Liberals' track record. One of my friends from out in the field, Mike, asked me to share his story with the House. He is a hard-working family man who, after working overtime, still did not have enough money to make ends meet. Can the Prime Minister please tell Mike the difference between a recession and a technical recession? Mike's grocery bill cannot tell the difference.

Mr. Speaker, while fuel prices are soaring, hard-working Canadians are struggling to make ends meet. We know we cannot opt out of global factors, but we can take measures domestically to help Canadians who are hurting. After weeks of pressure, the Liberals finally caved to our demands to remove taxes at the pump during these uncertain times. The half-measure will not deliver the results Canadians need. Canadians need practical and tangible solutions, not more recycled speeches and empty promises. We need to take action and Canadians need results. We need to build up our natural gas infrastructure and strengthen our leverage abroad while looking out for folks at home. Therefore, I call on the Liberals to remove all taxes at the pump for the rest of the year so Canadian families can keep more of their hard-earned money in their pockets.

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are hurting. The Prime Minister promised Canadians the best, yet our economy is performing among the worst. We have lost over 100,000 jobs in the first two months of this year, and our economy is beginning to shrink. If this is the result of global factors, as the Liberals claim, why is our economy performing so poorly compared to those of other G7 countries? Will the Prime Minister work with us to reverse the disastrous economic policies that have made it harder for Canadians to put food on the table?

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with my hon. colleague, the member for Richmond—Arthabaska. It is with great honour that I rise in the House today to speak to Bill C-15, the budget implementation act. The bill is massive, over 600 pages long, and I have even heard some of my colleagues across the aisle call it a big, beautiful bill. These large bills, known as omnibus bills, often carry a lot of the government's priorities in a single document, including things that make it virtually unsupportable. When in opposition, the Liberals condemned the practice of omnibus bills, only for them to put forward exactly the same thing. It is unfortunate that the Liberals talk out of both sides of their mouth. On one hand, the Liberals constantly criticized the Conservatives in the House for putting forward large bills, then on the other hand, they do exactly the same thing. Given the size of the bill, I find it shocking that it missed the mark on addressing so many key issues. One of the biggest issues affecting every Canadian, which I will be drawing attention to, is the cost of groceries. Not only does Bill C-15 not address the rising cost of food, but the out-of-control spending in this omnibus bill would actually make food inflation worse. Like so many Canadians struggling to make ends meet, I remember what life was like 10 years ago, before the Liberals took over. We had a prosperous economy that weathered the 2008 economic crisis, and a growing, stable middle class. At the time, I was working as a construction electrician, and my wife and I raised our three teenagers. If members have had the pleasure of feeding teenagers, they know that they can eat and that they eat a lot. I used to joke with my kids and tell them that I would be able to afford a brand new truck when they moved out with the money I would save from how much they ate. In those days, Canada was doing well. Wages were high and steadily increasing. The cost of living was manageable, and most Canadians could even brag that we had a higher standard of living than Americans did. Unfortunately, those days seem to be long in the rear-view mirror. We are now seeing headlines in The Globe and Mail such as “Out of nowhere, Canada became poorer than Alabama. How is that possible?” It is shocking to think about it in these terms, but after a decade of economic vandalism by the Liberal government, this is where we are at. Food banks in the country are seeing an unprecedented rise in usage. National food bank organizations, like Food Banks Canada, have sounded the alarm, highlighting that just last month there were 2.2 million food bank visits across Canada. That is double the monthly food bank usage recorded just six years ago. It is clear that the crisis in our food banks is only growing. Young families looking to make ends meet while also providing nutritious meals for their family are feeling squeezed by rising costs. Just since the last election, the price of produce like peppers and lettuce is up more than 40%. The price of beef is up more than 27%. The price of baby formula has risen 13%. Canadians cannot keep up, and the rampant spending found in government policies like those in Bill C-15 will only make matters worse. Back in the day, I used to enjoy working overtime because I knew that when I put in a little extra effort, it meant we would be able to afford something extra for our family, like a new TV, some furniture, a home renovation or just something nice that was outside the family budget. Now, after 10 years of the Liberal government's economic mismanagement, those days are gone. My friends in the trades tell me that they need to work overtime just to make ends meet. I cannot stress enough the word “need”. The fact that a good-paying construction job does not even give Canadian families enough money to make ends meet is a travesty, and the government should be ashamed that it has let the cost of living crisis get so out of control. A family's rent or mortgage used to be the biggest monthly expense, but now groceries are quickly becoming that. This is a direct result of Liberal deficit spending and debt accumulation driving down the value of our dollar and increasing the cost of literally everything Canadians buy. This is not a difficult concept to grasp: If a country owes more money, it prints more money, and when governments print more money, the dollar is worth less to investors. Government members will tell us that it is not our fault and that it is the result of global economic challenges, but 70% of all the food that Canadians consume comes from right here in Canada. That is not a global economic problem; it is a Liberal government policy problem. This is not to mention that other countries are weathering global economic challenges better than we are, rather than using them as an excuse to ignore rising costs. As I mentioned earlier, Canadians know what it was like when the economic crisis hit in 2008. Our government of the day did not make excuses. It took action, spurred the economy and came out of the crisis better than most. Last weekend, I was sitting down with an electrician friend of mine. He said to me that he was having trouble making ends meet. I was floored. He is well-established in our trade, has a good-paying job, is married with two kids and has been living in his home for five years. He shared with me that he remembers shopping with his wife when they first moved into their home. Back then, one could get a shopping cart full of groceries and feed a family of four for $250. The grocery store he went to used to offer a promotion that if someone spent $250 or more, they would get a free gift. He told me that many times when they were at the till after getting everything they needed to feed their family, his wife would have him run around to grab a couple more things so they could qualify for the free item. Their cart was full of good, healthy, nutritious food, including meat, vegetables and all the things a growing family needs, plus a few extra goodies they did not need but could afford. He says that now, after buying groceries and paying their utilities, there is no money left at the end of the month for savings, extras or even emergencies. This story is all too familiar for so many families in Canada today, but the reality is that it never used to be like this. People are working two or three jobs just to get by, and those who cannot make it are forced to food banks. The budget does not do anything to give hope to Canadians, and the massive spending will continue to increase food prices and push more Canadian families toward financial insecurity. We have the ability to feed Canadians good food at affordable prices. As I said, the vast majority of the food we consume is produced domestically and is not impacted by global economic instability, regardless of what the government claims. I know what I will hear from my colleagues across the aisle. They will argue that global factors are responsible for rising costs and that Bill C-19 would provide relief for Canadians. To some extent that is true, and that is why we are helping fast-track it. It would provide much-needed relief to Canadians who have gone through so much, but it is still a half measure. Canadians need more help, and the Liberals can start by lowering spending and reducing the burden of inflation on Canadians. When the government put forward both Bill C-15 and Bill C-19, it took one step forward and two steps back. Even my parents are struggling with the rising cost of food. A retired principal and a schoolteacher on a fixed pension, they are truly feeling the squeeze. The skyrocketing cost of food is quickly eroding their standard of living. They worked hard their whole life, educated the next generation and saved to set themselves up to enjoy retirement, only to have their standard of living taken away by the Liberal government's economic mismanagement. When the government spends during an inflation crisis, it adds fuel to the fire, and in turn, goods cost more. My parents, as well as many seniors, are having trouble keeping up with the rapidly rising cost of living, and that is taking away from their lifestyle that they worked so hard for their whole life. We owe it to the people who had a hand in building our great country to do right by them and keep our economy in check. At the end of the day, the reality is that empty promises and Liberal slogans will not put food on the table for struggling Canadian families. Life can be hard enough. The government should stop making it harder for working families, and instead give them a hand. Therefore, I am calling on the Liberals to do the right thing: Rein in their out-of-control spending and work to lower the inflationary burden on Canadian families.

Mr. Speaker, Conservatives have put forth many policy proposals on what would make food prices better. As my hon. colleague mentioned, the industrial carbon tax on farmers has a big effect on the cost of food and on the people who are producing the food right here in this country, such as cattle farmers. Why is the price of beef so high? It is because there is an industrial carbon tax. There is also the food packaging tax and the other Liberal hidden taxes. We have proposed that the Liberals remove them to bring down the cost of food, but obviously that is not in the budget and they are refusing to do that.

Mr. Speaker, I realize the hon. member across the aisle wants to talk about coffee, which really just feeds his narrative. Why do we not talk about beef? Beef is made right here in Canada, and it is 27% higher. Why does beef cost so much money? It is because of the industrial carbon tax and the packaging tax. We have beef right in Manitoba. Why does it cost so much?

Mr. Speaker, it is with great privilege that I rise in the House to honour an outstanding member of the Elmwood—Transcona community, Peter Martin. Peter Martin is a tireless advocate for military veterans and the Transcona community in Winnipeg. He is a Métis veteran of the Canadian Army, a member of the Last Post Fund, the missing marker program, and the organizer of wreaths for veterans at the Transcona Cemetery Field of Honour. Peter is also the Manitoba coordinator of the No Stone Left Alone ceremonies, which bring children and veterans together to place poppies on veterans' headstones. This program educates our youth about our military veterans and gives veterans the opportunity to share their stories with our local youth. I would like to tell Peter, from me personally and from the House, that I thank him for everything he does in service to our community and in service to our country. From the bottom of my heart, I thank him.

Mr. Speaker, Canadians expect us to work together to improve their lives. In that spirit, we worked with the Liberals to pass Bill C-5, giving the Prime Minister sweeping powers to get projects built faster. Despite the press releases and photo ops, nothing has been built. When we build, Canadians get jobs, our economy grows and life becomes more affordable. We have put forward a bill that would repeal regulations that block development, reward provinces that build, and protect Canadian innovation. Will the government work with us and pass a Canadian sovereignty act?

Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in the House and speak on behalf of the people of Elmwood—Transcona. The Liberal government's soft-on-crime ideology has failed. Since the Liberals took office, violent crime is up 54%, sexual assaults are up 75%, and extortion has skyrocketed an astounding 330%. In major Canadian cities like Brampton, Surrey, Vancouver and Calgary, crimes like extortion are out of control. Canadians want action, not more speeches and not more press releases. The Liberal government must immediately repeal its catch-and-release laws, Bill C–5 and Bill C–75, and put an end to the revolving-door justice system. It must also restore and strengthen mandatory jail time, so extortionists face real consequences for their crimes rather than a slap on the wrist. Conservatives have put forward a comprehensive plan to protect our communities. Last year, the member for Oxford introduced the jail not bail act, to reverse the disastrous Liberal bail policies created through Bill C–5 and Bill C–75, while the member for Edmonton Gateway introduced Bill C-381, the protection against extortion act, which the Liberals voted down, choosing to put criminals over communities. The Liberal bail reform bill, Bill C-14, does not remove the principle of restraint, which has caused the revolving-door criminal justice system. This falls short of the comprehensive bail reform that was promised to Canadians in the last election. Even so, we have offered to fast-track the bill so Canadians can get some much-needed relief. While all this is happening on our streets, the Liberals have chosen to spend $750 million to target law-abiding gun owners. They are continually choosing ideology over facts and political influence over public safety. Will the Liberal government actually take the concerns of our communities seriously and ensure that career criminals and repeat violent offenders get jail, not bail?

Mr. Speaker, I am a trained, vetted, tested and licensed gun owner. I am not a criminal. I have the great privilege, as many Canadians do, to purchase and use firearms safely and responsibly. To the community of hunters, sports shooters and indigenous communities, firearms are not just equipment or tools. They are a way of life. The Liberals have chosen to attack groups of law-abiding Canadians for no reason beyond ideology. The Liberals have completely dropped the ball on this file, so much so that the minister responsible for this failed buyback program was not even aware of what an RPAL was mere months ago. When will the Liberal government stop attacking law-abiding firearms owners and get serious about holding the real criminals accountable?

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are hungry. According to a Harvest Manitoba report, over 60,000 Manitobans are turning to food banks just to make ends meet. For many Canadians, there is just not enough paycheque at the end of each month to cover the basics. This is heartbreaking, and Parliament can do something about it. In the last election, the Prime Minister told Canadians to judge him based on “their experience at the grocery store”. When I speak to folks in my community about the cost of living crisis, what I hear are horror stories. Grocery prices have doubled over the last decade, and the reality is that “Canada's Food Price Report” for 2026 warns that things are only expected to get worse. This news should be a wake-up call for each and every member in the House. I call on the government to remove hidden taxes on food so Canadians can finally afford to bring home nutritious and affordable meals for their families.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister campaigned on the concerns of Canadians regarding the trade war with the United States. He even billed himself as a so-called master negotiator who would secure a deal with President Trump by July 21 of this year. When asked this past weekend about the progress of the trade negotiations, he replied, “Who cares?” Well, I care and the hard-working men and women of Elmwood—Transcona care. We have seen tons of good-paying Canadian jobs flee to the United States following Trump's tariff threats. Is the Prime Minister prepared to look workers in the eye and tell them he does not care about their livelihoods? Canadians deserve a more urgent approach at the negotiating table. I urge the Prime Minister to take these trade negotiations seriously and stand up for Canada. Conservatives stand ready to deal with President Trump and take the trade war seriously, because we do care about Canadians.