Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I, along with a number of my colleagues, came to this place in 2019 and have gone through three elections. The member opposite just said the Liberals were elected and, yes, they were elected, in a minority Parliament. I have experienced nothing but seven years of minority Parliament until, of course, a few weeks ago. Now I am experiencing a majority government for the first time in …
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Mr. Speaker, a few minutes ago, the Minister of Justice referenced the procedural tools of the trade that are used. He decried the Conservative Party's use of the tools in the past and justified the use of the tools in this present hour. How is the Conservative Party's use of procedural tools equivalent when comparing what is being done to stifle debate at the health committee by going in camera o…
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Mr. Speaker, the member just responded to my colleague and said, “I believe the things I say.” She also concluded her speech with, “Our new government is on the right track.” I want to read a quote from March 10 of this year: “Mr. Speaker, the motion we are going to vote on today is another example of the government's overreach and tyranny and of how it always wants to shut down debate, especially…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour and a privilege to bring the voices of Chatham-Kent—Leamington to the chamber. I come today representing, especially, both the people of Ukrainian ethnicity and those of Ukrainian heritage. There is actually a difference, and I am going to come back to that in a moment. Of course, we are talking today about Bill S-210, about designating September as Ukrainian he…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, Canada is the only G20 country in a recession, under the Liberal Prime Minister. Farmers warn that food security begins with protecting valuable farmland, yet the Liberals continue to advance the $90-billion Alto rail project, despite concerns about its impact on more than 5,500 farms. While $2.5 million in bonuses has already been paid before a single inch of track has been laid, C…
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Mr. Speaker, our “missing middle” processors have been missing. Finally, we are seeing some action, but Canada's productivity crisis did not start this year. Weak investment did not start this year. Declining competitiveness did not start this year. These are the consequences of a decade of bad Liberal policy choices. As Sylvain Charlebois recently stated: “The greatest threat to Canada's food eco…
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Mr. Speaker, under this Liberal Prime Minister, Canada is the only G20 country to fall into a recession. While Canadians can delay buying a home or a car, which also hurts our economy, they cannot stop buying food. Families are stretching every dollar at the grocery store, restaurant demand is weakening and our agri-food sectors are facing exploding input costs. Experts have warned that Canada's f…
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Mr. Speaker, while I was not personally involved, I would like to note the co-operation between our side of the House and the Bloc in getting amendments in based on the witness testimony. As I have been following the debate today, the question I keep asking myself is this: Why? Why are the victims being ignored? Why is all the testimony being ignored, along with the amendments that the committee w…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister went to the Canadian people and said that he was going to move at speeds unseen in generations. We thought that was for major projects, and that is not what we have seen. Now what we are seeing is speeds moving and steamrolling over committees and over the co-operative work of this House. Is that what the Prime Minister meant by moving at speeds unseen in generation…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague across the way has, at times, criticized me in this chamber for not lauding the government's efforts at supporting industries in my riding, and so I want to congratulate the government for hitting a single when it extended accelerated depreciation to the greenhouse industry. However, with the new-found majority the Liberals are proposing to find at committees, would …
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Mr. Speaker, there is an expression that describes Canadian election outcomes: The people are always right. What did the people of Canada collectively decide as the outcome of the last election?
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Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the chief government whip for representing the largest riding in Canada by population. I am not sure if he is aware of that. The member cited a number of examples of precedents of floor crossing. However, he acknowledged that it is unprecedented that we now have a majority government by a combination of by-elections and floor crossings. Obviously, the by-electio…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not speak French, but I am learning French on Duolingo every day. Today, I reached a 1,068-day streak. One would think I would know, or I should know, more French by now. The hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands referenced early in her speech that the fact that we are turning the House from a minority to a majority is an unprecedented scenario. Would she acknowledge that this is …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, at least the minister addressed my question. The response we just heard, actually, is typical and it exemplifies the government's approach to agriculture. I recently participated in a poll from a national polling firm, answering the question of how I felt the government values agriculture and the agri-food sector. Here is how I responded. The sector provides $150 billion in GDP. It is…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to bring the voices of Chatham-Kent—Leamington to this chamber, and this evening I am pleased to have the opportunity to follow up on a question to the Minister of Agriculture from March 13, when I probed why the government is closing ag research stations. Over 20 ag organizations have written in to the AGRI committee in response to our study examining these cl…
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Mr. Speaker, a previous colleague of ours shared the metaphor that one cannot be the problem and the solution at the same time. I wonder if my hon. colleague could respond to the following metaphor with respect to the government actually behaving itself if this legislation were to pass. A previous assistant deputy minister once said to me that a hog can never slaughter itself.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague gave an excellent speech. In interventions from the government side, we have heard that we should be confident that the government intends to do the right thing going forward. I want to ask my hon. colleague what level of confidence he has, given that the Prime Minister committed to having a free trade agreement with our cousins to the south, and to building things at unh…
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Mr. Speaker, manufacturers like mould-makers, steel fabricators and aluminum extruders are at risk because this Prime Minister failed them. He promised a U.S. trade deal last July, but a year later, the tariffs have more than doubled. With respect to machinery parts, manufacturing materials, steel and aluminum, tariffs are way up. These Canadian companies and jobs are at risk, while lower-cost cou…
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Mr. Speaker, these Liberals are going to have to pick a lane. On the one hand, they claim that a hidden industrial carbon tax buried in the food supply chain does not affect the price of groceries. On the other hand, they offer temporary half measures of relief for Canadians from rising fuel prices, acknowledging the hidden costs, the excise taxes and fuel prices, and are still pocketing the highe…
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Mr. Speaker, 74% of Canadians report that rising gas and food prices are killing their household budgets. While the Liberals claim they care about affordability, food banks are literally removing meat from their shelves, because it is too expensive to stock. Now, add the fuel surcharges being introduced by some food suppliers on deliveries to grocery stores. Does the Prime Minister truly believe t…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to stand up for sectors of the Chatham-Kent—Leamington economy that are vital to all of Canada: the steel, aluminum and mould-making industries. These sectors support over 100,000 Canadian jobs and form the backbone of the infrastructure we rely on every day, such as bridges, hospitals, vehicle parts and transit systems, yet today they are under immediate threat. After a …
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Mr. Speaker, the member for Winnipeg North seemed to be lamenting, in his extensive speech, that the Conservatives were not automatically co-operating. He went on to list a number of bills that, as my colleague from Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola said, faced scrutiny in the House, which I believe is our job. What the member neglected to mention is the fact that Bill C-5 was passed in five parliamentary …
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Mr. Speaker, building on the Bloc question, given the history of overreach by the Liberal government, where does my colleague's confidence come from that the Liberals will hold their tendencies in check at committee and actually be open to reasonable amendments so that the privacy of our citizens is properly protected?
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Mr. Speaker, our farmers and fishermen are being punished with unreliable fertilizer supplies and a rising fuel tax to 17¢ that is driving up the cost of everything. Instead of supporting them, the Liberals have shuttered agricultural research stations and fuelled the G7's worst food inflation. It is outrageous that while he plays economist, one in five Canadians over 50 is now trapped in poverty,…
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Mr. Speaker, let me tell members what 15 national agriculture organizations wrote to the committee. They wrote that closing agricultural research centres will undermine research that they say is fundamental to keeping food affordable. At the same time, the Liberal government is pushing ahead with its fuel tax, which is rising from 7¢ to 17¢ per litre, while also raising the carbon taxes on steel, …
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Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to bring the voices of Chatham-Kent—Leamington to this chamber. Tonight I also bring the voices of millions of Canadians who are watching the House with a growing sense of alarm. We are debating Bill C-9, which is a piece of legislation that represents a radical assault on the fundamental freedoms of speech and religion in this country, but which the Liberal gov…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to pick up on the last point my colleague across the way made. He said there were Muslims who support the bill and Muslims who do not, Christians who support it and Christians who do not, and members of the Jewish community who support it and members who do not. Would the member acknowledge that the members on this side of the House offered to split the bill into those areas th…
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Mr. Speaker, I have a couple of questions. Early in his speech, the member rightly referenced, right from our motion, that the interim program cost $211 million, and he said early on that it has gone up a bit. Now, he did come back to the numbers. It is now $896 million. Would he define “up a bit” as quadrupling in four years? The second question is regarding “interim”. Could the member define int…
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Mr. Speaker, in her intervention, my colleague stated some projections, and if I caught them, she said that the projected global EV sales would go to 40% globally and the plan was to have them go to 90% by 2040. What happened to projections? We had an EV mandate that I am sure also came along with projections. Obviously, that failed. They did not come about. Where is the confidence that these proj…
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Mr. Speaker, the member opposite went to great lengths to proclaim that the subsidy will flow to the consumers or the buyers of EVs. Is it her contention that the sellers of EVs sold in Canada will not incorporate that subsidy into their selling price?
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I am trying to listen to my colleague, but I am having great difficulty being able to hear him because of the noise in the chamber.
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, today is Canada's 10th Agriculture Day, recognizing farmers and agri-food workers. While this should be a day of celebration, the government has instead allowed Canada to lead the G7 in food inflation. This is not a failure of Canada's farmers or our agricultural sector; it is the result of short-sighted government policies. Rather than cutting costs where they actually matter, the go…
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Mr. Speaker, my question is actually along the same lines as my colleague from the Bloc's. In her speech, the member referenced lessons learned from the past, and that a consultation is part of the expropriation process. However, I read and hear, right in my office, about the farmland potentially being expropriated in Clearview Township for DND's project. Consultations occurred, but they were righ…
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Mr. Speaker, on February 4, my parents, Abe and Susan Epp, will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary. The world has changed in extraordinary ways since 1961. Humanity has landed on the moon and has survived the Cold War, Canada adopted its flag, and global adoption of the Internet and mobile phones has transformed how people connect, work and understand the world. Daily life today would be nea…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The member for Winnipeg North in his intervention described himself as only partially biased. He is clearly misleading the House, and I am wondering if you could address—
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, the member for Lac-Saint-Jean, for all the work he does on behalf of persecuted peoples from around the world with his work at the immigration committee, the public safety committee and other venues in this place. His knowledge of the bill and his effort is obviously evident from his speech. Bill C-12 arises from an original bill, Bill C-2, which was tabl…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, as the MP for Chatham-Kent—Leamington, a riding on the shores of Lake Erie, I know how vital the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence waterways are to the economy, culture and identity of Canada and North America. My communities see every day how these waters sustain jobs, transportation, fisheries and recreation. The stewardship of this shared ecosystem is also a remarkable example of the qu…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, this is a short question. The member opposite listed a number of groups that supported Bill C-9. Does that same list she recited in her speech support the amendment that was just proposed?
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Madam Speaker, in her speech, the member characterized this as a Conservative budget. While there were elements of it lifted from our election campaign, and I want to thank the government for including some of those measures, I will agree with her in that we both opposed the budget but, obviously, for varying reasons. What makes this not a Conservative budget is the fact that there is a $78.3-bill…
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Mr. Speaker, I too rise and bring forward the voices of Canadians who call on the government to present stronger measures in response to the Chinese Communist Party's engaged campaign for 26 years against the Falun Gong. Falun Gong practitioners have endured severe human rights abuses, mass arbitrary detentions, torture, killings and organ harvesting. These Canadians call on the Chinese regime to …
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciated my hon. colleague's perspective as he identified the mismatch between what Bill C-15, the implementation bill of the budget, tries to do and the reality of the economy we are facing right now. He is not alone. Would he comment on the fact that the PBO has identified only a 7.5% likelihood that the government is going to hit its massive $78.3-billion deficit? Could it als…
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Mr. Speaker, I bring the voices of Canadians who bring the following. The Chinese Communist Party has engaged in a 26-year campaign of eradication against Falun Gong practitioners, who have suffered human rights abuses including mass arbitrary detentions. They have not only suffered that within China but have also been subjected to transnational repression, including bomb threats and shooting thre…
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Madam Speaker, it is always an honour to bring the voices of Chatham-Kent—Leamington to this chamber. Today, I rise to speak to the federal budget that was tabled on October 35. I realize there is no such date in our calendar, but perhaps there is one in the Liberal calendar, where deadlines are flexible and keeping promises is optional. I was looking for one thing in this budget: hope. I was look…
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Madam Speaker, the member for Winnipeg North has again illustrated that math is not the government's strong suit. The last time I checked, the Liberals are not a majority in the House. They have not shown any willingness to work with the opposition, none at all. As I said in my speech, they need to make the hard decisions, prioritize and not add further debt for ourselves now, for our children and…
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Madam Speaker, there are certain things that the Liberals are spending more and more on, with higher rates of inflation, and things that they are committing to less and less. The point that I want to highlight is actually a point that was brought up by the Parliamentary Budget Officer. Irrespective of the numbers that the government put in the budget, he is saying that there is about a 7.5% likeli…
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Mr. Speaker, I guess it became the obligation in the mind of the government after the last election. The member is absolutely right. It is the role of government to seek to maintain its own survival by working with the opposition. If they choose not to—
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, the long-awaited federal budget was tabled, and while a new Liberal leader was supposed to mean a new direction, this budget proves it is the same government with the same wasteful spending and the same pain for Canadians. Families are cutting back on groceries, young people cannot afford homes and retirees are watching their savings shrink. Under the new Liberal leader, nothing has c…
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Mr. Speaker, the government is the most expensive in Canadian history. Every dollar the Prime Minister spends comes out of the pocket of Canadians, and the more they spend, the more things cost. The Liberals just had a chance to lower food prices by scrapping the industrial carbon tax. Instead, they chose to make food more expensive by hiking the industrial carbon tax, which makes food, fuel and f…
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Mr. Speaker, the following is not imaginary: The food professor said, “The gap between wholesale prices in Canada versus the U.S., food wholesale prices, has [widened], and...one factor driving that is the [industrial] carbon tax.”
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Go ahead, mock. Mr. Speaker, Canada is the only G7 country that has had four consecutive months of food inflation increases. Farmers, manufacturers and builders across the country are paying more for fertilizer, steel and concrete, costs that end up on Canadians' plates. While other G7 countries are lowering costs, the Prime Minister is ignoring the experts, increasing the carbon tax and making fo…
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