Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I am aware of the special order. I just want the record to show that we are considering Bill C-21 at report stage without the constitutional requirement of quorum. I point out that the special order under which we are operating also provides for third reading to be—
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Madam Speaker, I just noticed that there is a list of rural NDP ridings here, and this member is not on that list. He obviously has an urban riding. I just wonder how much he consulted with his colleagues and all the rural ridings the NDP members actually represent and how much they listened to them. By the sounds of it and by the support of the bill, I would think he did not listen to them at all…
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Madam Speaker, that is the problem. It is not false. I wish the member would understand the impact this has.
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Madam Speaker, the problem with the bill is that it is fundamentally flawed. With all due respect to my colleague, I do not think anybody really appreciates the impact this is having on rural Canada and the way of life or the way we live in rural Canada. I cannot imagine trying to defend my livestock. When I farmed, I had cattle, and there are coyotes that come around. When the mother cow is havin…
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Madam Speaker, we are debating Bill C-21, and I do not think the member really understands the impact this bill has on rural Canada and the way of life in Canada. This afternoon, they just thought of a new bill, and he asks what I think of the idea. Judging by past representation of the government, I have absolute apprehension when it comes to commenting on anything that I have not even had a chan…
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Madam Speaker, I just want to get some things straightened out. The member talked about there being no definition of clean air or clean water in this legislation; it is sort of open to interpretation. Running with the track record of the government for the last eight years, the government has actually made more red tape and made things more confusing to anybody who really wanted to do something be…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the people of Swan River, Manitoba, to present a petition on the rising rate of crime. The people of Swan River are demanding that the Liberal government repeal its soft-on-crime policies that have fuelled a surge in crime throughout the rural community. The crime severity index in the rural town of 4,000 has increased by over 50% from just five years ago. What was…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, my question to the Liberals is regarding their failed, ineffective and ever-increasing carbon tax. The Liberals have misled Canadians on their carbon tax, not once, not twice, but many times. Government members must be held accountable for their misleading carbon tax claims, and they must answer to the Canadians they are supposed to represent. Let us take a walk down memory lane. Fi…
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Madam Speaker, the government again did not answer my question. I find it interesting that the Liberal platform was to tax hospitals in the form of a carbon tax to heat themselves. That is an outstanding type of platform. Maybe the member should run on it again and call this the actual carbon tax that it is, but I digress. I guess Canadian hospitals, municipalities and universities will never know…
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Madam Speaker, the member mentioned the suggestion of arm's length and, in developing this committee around legislation, appointing someone who is at arm's length. In the member's opinion, what is the definition of arm's length in developing the bill? Would that include someone from the Trudeau Foundation? Would it include some sister-in-law from somewhere? What is the actual definition of arm's l…
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are struggling. The carbon tax is going up, which means the cost of gas is going up, the cost of groceries is going up and the cost of home heating is going up. One in five Canadians are now skipping meals and Canadians cannot afford a place to live because rent has doubled under the current Prime Minister. The Prime Minister does not care. Private jets and expensive hotel r…
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Mr. Speaker, Swan River used to be a town where you could raise a family, enjoy retirement and operate a business, but today Swan River is unrecognizable. It is unrecognizable because, after eight years of the government's catch-and-release policies, crime is out of control. The crime severity index in this rural town of 4,000 is six times the national average and over 50% higher than just five ye…
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moved that the bill be read the third time and passed. Madam Speaker, it is a good day for Canadians because they are one step closer to knowing what Internet service they are actually paying for. We all know the story, especially for those who live in rural Canada. Canadians across this country buy expensive Internet services only to realize that they do not receive the speeds that were advertise…
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Mr. Speaker, the Internet is a reality of modern-day life, but as I said in my speech, can anyone imagine that 50% of first nations are still not covered? They still have no access to Internet. Despite all the billions of dollars that have been spent and all the toil that has gone on across government departments, they are still not connected, never mind the millions of rural homes that are not co…
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Mr. Speaker, one thing this bill talks about is creating a process where industry and consumers can actually sit down and talk about what their needs are and how they can help each other get connected. That is the part of this bill that I am the most proud of. It is so important, as is setting reasonable expectations for the kind of service people are buying. This bill would help that conversation…
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Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded division.
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moved that the bill be concurred in.
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Madam Speaker, I would ask that this carry on division.
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Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to thank everyone who has supported Bill C-288. I want to thank Canadians who demanded this bill, particularly the rural Canadians, who understand the frustration of paying for Internet that fails to live up to advertised speeds, but Bill C-288 would not only impact rural Canadians; it would impact all Canadians who buy Internet service. I thank my Conservative coll…
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Mr. Speaker, this is a great question. This is why this bill actually started. We realized that Canadian consumers were actually being sold, by Internet service providers, a false bill of goods, and it was legal. That had to change. How would we even know what we are buying? Like I said in my speech, I cannot imagine someone saying they can pay for up to these theoretical speeds, if they want to b…
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Madam Speaker, the Liberals are tripling their carbon tax, and tonight at midnight they will carry out their plan by raising the carbon tax again. Gas is going up, home heating is going up and groceries are going up. Gladys emailed me the other day saying that she cannot afford this tax hike. She said, “We cannot afford more useless taxes.” Will the Liberals stand up for Canadians like Gladys and …
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Madam Speaker, if we want to talk about the bill in particular, let us get to what we are supposed to be debating tonight. On Bill C-10, there was a portion in there that had an exemption for programs and that users could upload on social media. In other words, there was an exemption for user-generated content. I do not know if the member is actually familiar with that term. In Bill C-11, they put…
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Mr. Speaker, again, this is the problem, which is that they are not listening to those witnesses. How many of those—
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Can I answer the question, Mr. Speaker?
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Mr. Speaker, this is the frustrating thing about this bill: No one is listening to the witnesses who gave testimony. If there were 80 of them, how many said that this is a rock-solid bill and we should approve it? Why would the government not then bring it forward for unanimous consent? This bill doing is dividing Canada, not bringing us together.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-11. Nearly one year ago, I spoke to Bill C-11 in the House of Commons, and I expressed my opposition to the bill, a bill that would regulate the Internet. I have said it before and I will say it again: The Internet is supposed to be open and free. It is supposed to be open and free to create one's content and choose what one reads, free from government …
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You can listen to this if you want to.
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Mr. Speaker, if the people across the way want to listen, here is the quote from Michael Geist. He said, “To be clear, the risk with these rules is not that the government will restrict the ability for Canadians to speak, but rather that the bill could impact their ability to be heard.” That is the fundamental problem with this. He then continues: In other words, the CRTC will not be positioned to…
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Mr. Speaker, that is the fundamental flaw with this whole legislation and the attitude of the government to the Internet and its approach to the Internet. It has a complete disregard for what Canadians are telling it. Experts, industry people and content developers are all telling it to at least look at the amendments and fix the legislation. Will it? No, it will not, and that is why we are here.
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Mr. Speaker, can one imagine any more government, especially when the Liberals are in power? As was commented earlier tonight, we have a passport system that is backed up and not working. We have an immigration system that has two million people waiting to get approved. This is just a mess. They have basically broken everything, so why not break the Internet as well?
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Mr. Speaker, I do not know specifically about that group, but I know rural Canadians, especially in places that are sparsely populated and have a lack of connectivity services, will be severely impacted by this. They have very little opportunity to speak, and they should be able to speak as freely and as often as they want to. These regulations will complicate that whole process, so I would encour…
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Mr. Speaker, it is very important. The key takeaway is that this type of legislation is long overdue. That is why it is so important to get the amendments right and get this bill to committee as quickly as possible so we can all work on it. Let the experts review it and let the members get at it, but also let the industry get at it so we can come up with really good legislation to benefit all Cana…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on Bill C-26, an act respecting cybersecurity, amending the Telecommunications Act and making consequential amendments to other acts. Cybersecurity is of the utmost importance to Canadians, and I am glad to see the topic debated in the House today. Bill C-26 would amend the Telecommunications Act. I should note that any time the Telecommunications Act is changed,…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, on April 1, the Liberal government will raise the tax on beer, wine and spirits once again. It is the biggest tax hike on alcohol in 40 years, and that means Canadian breweries, vineyards and distilleries will pay the price. It also proves that the Prime Minister has no shame in fuelling the affordability crisis he created. Thankfully, Conservatives are fighting to turn hurt into hope…
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With regard to the statement in the government response to Order Paper question Q-965 that “93.5% of Canadians have access to high-speed Internet, or are targeted to receive access through program commitments”: (a) what is the breakdown of the percentage of Canadians who (i) currently have access to high-speed internet, (ii) do not currently have access, but are targeted to received access through…
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With regard to the connectivity (i.e. internet, cellular, broadband, etc.) funding announced by the government since November 2015, broken down by year: (a) how much money has been announced for connectivity under the (i) CRTC Broadband Fund, (ii) Strategic Innovation Fund, (iii) Universal Broadband Fund, (iv) Connect to Innovate program, (v) First Nation Infrastructure Fund, (vi) Canada Infrastru…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of Canadian citizens to call on the House of Commons to pass Bill C-288. Many Canadians purchase costly Internet services only to realize that they do not actually receive the quality and speed they expected. Advertised theoretical speeds and performance metrics for Internet services do not always reflect the actual Internet quality delivered to consumers. Bill …
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Mr. Speaker, it is quite troubling to hear that when the U.S. identifies national security risks, it shuts them down, and our Liberal government does absolutely nothing about it. I wonder if the member can comment on what kind of signal this Liberal dithering sends to investors and to our allies, as far as addressing national security risks goes.
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Mr. Speaker, I am just looking for a comment from the member. Why should we believe the Liberals would even use these new powers, after eight years of inability to recognize national security risks?
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the cost of food production in Canada is soaring because of the government's failed carbon tax. A family farm is now expected to pay $150,000 in carbon tax every single year. Families will pay over $16,000 a year in groceries. It is no surprise that Canadians are visiting food banks at record rates: The Prime Minister has failed the producers who put food on the tab…
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Madam Speaker, can the member expand on what the government's delays in taking action mean to our trading partners? What signal does this send to our partners in fighting these type of regimes?
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Madam Speaker, I rise to present a petition on behalf of the good people of Winnipegosis, who are forced to drive 40 minutes to pick up their mail after Canada Post closed its local post office multiple times. These rural residents are feeling punished for simply living in rural Canada. These valid concerns are amplified for seniors, persons with disabilities and those who do not have the ability …
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With regard to the government’s $2.75 billion Universal Broadband Fund: (a) how much of the $2.75 billion has actually been delivered to date; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by Rapid Response Stream fundings versus core fund; (c) of the Rapid Response Stream funding delivered to date, what is the breakdown by province or territory; (d) of the core funding delivered to date, what is the breakdown…
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With regard to the government’s spectrum licensing, broken down by designated tier: (a) how many spectrum licenses are currently unused; (b) how many license holders have (i) failed to meet the deployment requirement, (ii) deployed less than 50 percent of their spectrum license; (iii) deployed less than 75 percent of their spectrum license, (iv) deployed less than 100 percent of their spectrum lic…
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With regard to the Climate Action Incentive Fund (CAIF), broken down by province: how much money was returned through the CAIF’s Municipalities, Universities, Schools and Hospitals Retrofit stream, broken down by (i) municipality, (ii) university, (iii) school, (iv) hospital?
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With regard to the Climate Action Incentive Fund (CAIF), broken down by province: how much money was returned through the CAIF’s Municipalities, Universities, Schools and Hospitals Retrofit stream, in (i) 2019, (ii) 2020, (iii) 2021, (iv) 2022?
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to stand in Canada’s Parliament and congratulate Dr. Bittoo Malik on being named one of Canada’s top 100 most powerful women by the Women’s Executive Network. Dr. Malik specializes in diagnostic radiology at Manitoba’s Dauphin Regional Health Centre and has dedicated her professional career to helping those in her community and across Canada. She has worked to a…
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Madam Speaker, I am looking at Bill C-18, which is what we are reviewing today. One of the more shocking and troubling things about the bill is the government knows full well that this is not going to the people who need the money the most. In doing research for this speech, it came up over and over again that it was not going to my local news media. It was not targeted to them at all. Here we hav…
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Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-18. The Internet is supposed to be a place where anyone, regardless of their wealth, status or background, can express themselves in a place free from excessive restrictions and regulations. The Internet was designed to be open and free. It was supposed to be a place where one could contribute on one’s terms, where a business can grow on its terms, wh…
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Madam Speaker, I want to bring attention to something from Michael Geist's testimony in front of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage on September 23. I would encourage the member to go back and review this testimony. He talked about government overreach. He talked about several troubling aspects of this bill when it comes to constitutional obligations and CUSMA challenges …
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