Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, fatal overdoses from opioids and other illicit drugs are now the leading cause in the deaths of children aged 10 to 18 years. We are talking about children's deaths here, so the NDP members can heckle me all they want. It is actually the NDP that should be ashamed, because these kids had their whole lives ahead of them. This costly coal…
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Today, I rise for one special person. I would like to recognize my mother's birthday. Obviously, without her sacrifice and my father's sacrifice, I would not be here. My family came from southern Italy, as did that of the hon. member opposite who gave the speech. The government said that interest r…
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Mr. Speaker, there are only 736 dangerous offenders currently in custody, or were in custody, in 2022. These are the worst of the worst offenders, people like Paul Bernardo, pedophiles and repeat rapists. The most violent of records get this designation. In Canada, federal penitentiaries with minimum-security designations generally do not have fences. People can just walk away, yet 57 of these dan…
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Mr. Speaker, the minister can tell that to the hundreds of victims of those 57 dangerous offenders in minimum security, especially at time when violent and sexual crimes against children are up 126%. The government is asleep at the switch when it comes to housing, asleep at the switch when it comes to inflation, asleep at the switch when it comes to crime. Now it is asleep at the switch when it co…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people from Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, and I listened with great interest to the minister's speech. He spoke about sexual crimes. One thing I have noticed here is that a number of sentences have been struck down for sexual offences, as they have been for firearms, yet the government has legislated when it came to firearms but not to sex…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, first, I have a special message for someone important in my life. To my daughter, I say happy birthday. I love her, and my life got a thousand times better the day she was born. However, I worry about my daughter's safety: After eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, crime is up nearly 40%. Gang-related murders are up 108%. Worst of all, sex crimes against children are up 126%. De…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. My colleague from Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke just asked a question expressing, as I understand it, that as this bill is before us, we should really get it moving. I am paraphrasing quite a bit here. Another colleague, though, who just spoke to this bill, asked how we got to this point where we have 38 d…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I almost feel like I am talking to my child when I talk about this. They say, “Dad, I didn't do my homework. It's an hour before bedtime and I have two hours of homework to do. Can I stay up a little later?” I sit there and think, “Why did they not prepare?” Obviously it is of critical importance that we address this. In respect of my colleague's…
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Mr. Speaker, I gave the minister two chances and he talked about dangerous outcomes. Do members know what I call a dangerous outcome? I am going to look right at him and say that a dangerous outcome is the potential for somebody to abuse a child, significantly at that. There was actually a case that was overturned on appeal of an eight-year-old abused by their own parent. It was overturned on appe…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people from Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Before I begin, I want to recognize that my wife's nephew, Dustin Rise Dempsey, passed away this week. Obviously, this is quite unfortunate. He was quite young. He leaves behind his father, Raeo, who is my wife's brother, and his mother, Vivian. My condolences go out to the whole family. May perpet…
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. One thing my colleague has highlighted is the vast nature of the problem we are dealing with when it comes to crime. Whether it be Bill C-5 or Bill C-75 in the former Parliament, the Liberals have really made a mess of the situation. When I think of Bill C-5 and other ways the Liberals have dropped…
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Madam Speaker, any time that we can tighten up bail, this is something we need to look at in this House. Clearly, Canadians of all political stripes of all occupations and socio-economic statuses are telling us and begging for us to do this. Therefore, when my colleague asks why we should be doing this, that is the reason. It is also the reason I brought forward Bill C-274 and Bill C-313, which I …
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Obviously, this bill will be passing with unanimous consent; we did say that, but I would like to get my hon. colleague's thoughts on something. Yes, we did pass this with unanimous consent, but I feel as though Conservatives were ready to do that from the get-go. However, it took the Liberal gover…
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Madam Speaker, in response, I do not believe that my hon. colleague who mentioned this was providing any sort of evidentiary basis or any sort of statistics to prove that. Whether something is trivialized is obviously in the eye of the beholder. My point was that, when we talk about different things, it is my view that these types of offences can become very serious. We are not talking about deali…
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I will be splitting my time with the member for Langley—Aldergrove. Before I begin, I want to recognize one of the people in my community of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. That would be one Ethan Katzberg, whom I met about a year ago. Over the summer, Mr. Katzberg became the world champion in the hamme…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people from Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. We talk about reverse onuses and the member mentioned perhaps we should be looking at different things and different private members' bills if they are not in this legislation. The issue of firearms and repeat firearms offenders is one of significant concern. Does he agree that those who have repea…
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Madam Speaker, I not only want to get this bill done, but I also want to get this bill right. There are a number of people who have things to say on this bill, and I am not going to tell them to be quiet. It is time for us to debate this bill. If the Liberals wanted it passed so quickly, why did they wait 246 days for it to come? They waited that long, and now they want us to pass it expeditiously…
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With regard to Corrections Services Canada: (a) how many dangerous offenders are currently housed in (i) minimum, (ii) medium, security prisons; and (b) how many offenders convicted of multiple murders are currently in medium security prisons?
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. One of the things my hon. colleague highlighted is the fact that what we are dealing with is really a small piece of the overall crime pie. The pie itself, and the difficulty that we are in, really lies with the Liberal Party, whether it be Bill C-75 from the last Parliament, Bill C-21 or Bill C-5.…
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Before I begin, I just want to recognize a constituent who passed away, Ms. Anna Russo. I know that she leaves behind a daughter, Pina Russo. Her daughter Susie Russo, who was beloved in the Italian community, predeceased her. I send my condolences to the family. My question to my hon. colleague is…
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Mr. Speaker, I understand where the member is coming from. I also understand where the RCMP is coming from; they are expected to do more with less, each and every day. When it comes to fraud, there are limited resources. We are finding there are limited resources for the RCMP, period. The Liberal government is running a $60-billion deficit, yet when it comes to the enforcement of crime, whether it…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. It seems as though we were supposed to be debating Bill C-18, which is legislation that deals with online news. It is interesting that, in this House, Liberals have accused Conservatives of playing partisan games, then half an hour before the debate on that bill begins they tell us we will be debatin…
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. My colleague spoke with a great deal of knowledge on this point. I can see he represents his constituents well for a relatively young MP, compared with people in mid-life like me; I am at the tender age of almost 45 now. I said I was 44 the other day, and I heard about it. Money laundering has had …
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Mr. Speaker, the member raises an excellent point. Why are we rushing this through? This is important legislation. Everybody around here says that this is important legislation, and when legislation is important, so is debate. We should not be settling for an okay bill or a good bill; we should be pursuing excellence for the people of Canada.
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Mr. Speaker, this is not something I turned my mind to when I was preparing this speech, so I appreciate the fact that the member raised it. This is another piece of the puzzle. When we talk about connecting the dots for proving an offence, it would seem that we would have to connect dots in order to prove who owns what when it comes to sanctions. Perhaps that would be another by-product of this l…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to exemptions given by the government to certain ski resort areas related to the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act: (a) why was the area around Whistler Blackcomb allowed to be exempted from the act; (b) why was the area around Sun Peaks not exempted; and (c) which ski resorts or surrounding communities requested an exemption and (i) received it, …
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I am rising to deal with the question of privilege response that was given by my—
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are at it again, trying to silence those who disagree. Because I clapped in support of a public inquiry, the Attorney General sent an email from his official account. The email outlined that he was the Minister of Justice and Attorney General. It clearly threatened my legal reputation and my professional future. However, we as Conservatives will not be silenced. Does the …
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Mr. Speaker, the member for Kingston and the Islands just said something unparliamentary to me about having a thin skin and about being offended given what the Minister of Justice did, which was to threaten my professional future and threaten my legal reputation. This is not funny. He should be apologizing and withdrawing that comment forthwith.
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
That is fair enough, Mr. Speaker. I want to address what the member for Winnipeg North said in his response, because in my view, he blatantly misstated things and, frankly, should be withdrawing some of his comments. I do not have an exact quote here, but the member said the question that I applauded to, asked by the member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, was basically a sul…
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Mr. Speaker, when I raised my question of privilege, the Minister of Justice had not gone to the media, and the member for Winnipeg North had not spoken. This is not about impugning somebody's reputation in the legal community. It is about impugning their reputation in the Italian community. A member's privilege is fettered when they are intimidated from speaking based on something like clapping. …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, ordinarily I often start my speeches with it is a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. However, I am not going to say that today, because this is not something I relish, frankly, having to rise on a question of privilege. I am rising on a question of privilege concerning an effort by the Attorney General of Canada to retaliate against me, in my eyes,…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I listened to the member for Timmins—James Bay ask the Deputy Prime Minister about the need to pass this legislation urgently because of wildfires. I will remind the member, and I will also remind the Deputy Prime Minister, who referenced that question, that when I was knocking on doors during the 20…
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people from Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Before I get going, I want to give a quick shout-out to my nephew, who had his 21st birthday yesterday, Noah Bradley. My colleague from the Bloc spoke about finding consensus. I would like to hear her opinion on whether the way to finding consensus is through cutting debate, as the Liberals have …
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With regard to stakeholder consultations on bail reform conducted by the Minister of Justice or the Department of Justice since October 1, 2022: (a) how many stakeholders have been consulted; and (b) what are the details of each consultation, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) location, (iii) groups and individuals consulted, (iv) names or titles of those who conducted the consultation, (v) s…
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Before I begin my question, I just want to recognize the birth of one of our newest constituents. Her name is Léonie Angelina Potestio, daughter to Camille Cook and Oliver Potestio. I want to welcome her to this world here, a few days ago. My hon. colleague talked about human rights and the importa…
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Madam Speaker, I apologize for interrupting my hon. colleague, but I do not believe we have English translation at this time.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I spent most of my adult life working in the criminal justice system and I can say, unequivocally, that I have never seen bail in such a precarious state. After eight years of the Liberal government, violent crime is up 32%. The wheels really started to fall off with the passing of Bill C-75 and now the Liberals have tabled amendments to bail that, in my reading, would not have applie…
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It is called your backyard.
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Mr. Speaker, I would say that the member did misstate. I will invite him, with my last 15 seconds, to apologize. Here is what he said: “The member for Wellington—Halton Hills has known for two years”. Let us see what the member for Wellington—Halton Hills said this morning. I am holding up a press conference here. The briefing was general in nature and did not contain any specific threats concerni…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. It is also always a pleasure and an honour to speak in the House, although today I feel dismayed that I am having to give this speech. Obviously, people on this side of the House are quite angry. We are angry with what we have learned about the member for Wellington—Halton Hills and what he has been …
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Mr. Speaker, I do not know what is not clear for the government. It seems to me that it is abundantly clear that there is a problem. There is such a problem and this government has governed by obfuscation. That is part of the problem. It would rather that we not know, and I bring this up again, that it said it will govern by transparency. The parliamentary secretary said that they have been clear …
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. There are really two tones that I have heard in my time in the House. One tone seeks to get to the bottom of this and have a legitimate inquiry. The other is what I would call a quarrelsome, pugnacious and victim-blaming tone coming from the other side with respect to the member for Wellington—Halt…
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Madam Speaker, I apologize that I cannot answer fully in French. When it comes to housing, this is what I would say. I have done a fair amount of digging when it comes to my home riding of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Within my home riding, I have talked to people, even developers, who will say that one of the biggest impediments to developing land is municipal issues and provincial and federal regu…
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Madam Speaker, the point I was trying to make was not that we are spending too much on health care. The point I was trying to make is that health care is one of the most pivotal needs in this country. Health care, housing and cost of living are what my constituents are telling me about. What I was trying to draw to the attention of the House and my hon. colleague is the fact that we are now spendi…
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I did a brief video with the member for Cumberland—Colchester, who was a physician in his previous career, recognizing National Physicians' Day. However, my sister told me it is also National Principal's Day, so I am going to give her a shout-out. My sister Rosie Caputo gets a shout-out for being a…
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Madam Speaker, I am tying it in. For my colleague from Timmins—James Bay, this is very important, and the way I opened up my speech was to discuss the $13.5 million that was budgeted. Perhaps that was not enough. Why are we actually here dealing with this today? With all due respect, when the budget does talk about $50 million, at foreign interference, everything encompassed in that, including wha…
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Madam Speaker, the reality is this. When we talk about standards and something that is foreign interference, that strikes at the heart of democracy in this place, the fact of the matter is that if somebody has committed an offence, if somebody has laid a charge, due process will allow it to happen. If we want to talk about due process, let us talk about due process. Let us talk about a public inqu…
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Where were you for Alberta workers?
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