Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, respectfully, I have a follow-up to my previous question. What the member said about the rules of the House is not correct. Members are able to propose private members' bills that spend money; they simply need a royal recommendation, which is the support of cabinet, in order to proceed. The member could have proposed legislation to do this. It might have required a royal recommendatio…
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Mr. Speaker, I find it interesting. We have the opportunity, with slots for private members' bills, to put forward a bill or a motion. The member has chosen to put forward a motion, not a bill, and the motion is asking the government to consider amending the Income Tax Act. I just want to ask the member, if he has specific recommendations with respect to a program, why he did not just put forward …
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Mr. Speaker, I have a number of petitions to present to the House today. The first petition deals with the issue of youth unemployment. I want to thank the petitioners for taking the initiative to get this important issue of youth unemployment before the House. The petitioners observe that youth unemployment is alarmingly high across Canada, leaving many young Canadians unable to secure stable, fu…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, tonight I am following up on a question I raised previously about the ongoing youth unemployment crisis in this country. Youth unemployment is persistently high, still well over 14%, more than a full percentage point higher than it was a year ago. Over 440,000 young Canadians between 15 and 25 are currently unemployed. In this context, Conservatives put forward our Conservative yout…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition that I would like to present to the House is in response to the ongoing illegal genocidal invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the Putin regime. The petitioners highlight a number of aspects of this invasion. This petition was prepared a little while ago, so there have been further developments beyond what is in the petition, but the asks are very clear and very present…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague spent a lot of time talking about the Canada summer jobs program. As she knows, this is not a new program. It has in fact existed in this country since I was a very small child, which was a long time ago. However, what is new with the program is that the Liberals have established a very short duration for the jobs; the average is eight weeks, so effectively there are no…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am tabling highlights concerns from the disability community about euthanasia, or medical assistance in dying. The petitioners raise concerns about how making euthanasia available to people with disabilities, the only group of people who can access medical assistance in dying when they are not dying, devalues their lives and negatively impacts their experiences in …
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Mr. Speaker, the final petition I am tabling today highlights challenges faced by Ukrainian refugees here in Canada who, overwhelmingly, are working, contributing to Canadian society and, as the war continues, face uncertainty around their status here. Petitioners from my province of Alberta are calling on the federal government to create a clear path to permanent residency for those who are here …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I wonder if you could clarify the rules around a question, 30 seconds in duration, that begins with a preamble that may seem unrelated to government business but that concludes on a matter that is related to government business. In the past, members have been able to finish—
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the comments of the parliamentary secretary, in particular on skilled trades, are completely disconnected from the provisions in the budget that her government just put forward. She said some nice things about the skilled trades in her comments, and I agree with the nice things she said about the skilled trades. However, I am trying to square her professions of connection there with t…
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Mr. Speaker, I am surprised and disappointed by that question, because after last week, I was sure I convinced the member to see the light and join us in defending everyday Canadians, standing up for fiscal responsibility and fighting back against the pernicious profession prejudice that characterizes this budget. I am happy to try again to help the member see reason. I look forward to the fight o…
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Mr. Speaker, I will certainly examine the Bloc's bill on this issue. Obviously, this is a new proposal, but I agree that the government has not done what it takes to put an end to forced labour. I, too, have a lot of objections to the Prime Minister's change in rhetoric on the Chinese government. If the government has decided to stop presenting ideas to put an end to forced labour, it may be becau…
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Mr. Speaker, when the budget was initially tabled, Canadians rightly were focused on the big picture: the fact that the government's fiscal plan fudges the numbers and still contains the largest deficit in this nation's history outside the COVID period. Taxpayers have spent more and gotten less in the last 10 years under the Liberals, and that is not changing under the Prime Minister, who is runni…
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Mr. Speaker, that excellent question gives me an opportunity to salute the important work the Parliamentary Budget Officer is doing. He has illustrated how the government has been fudging the numbers. Sadly, when one fudges around, one is going to find out. There are going to be negative consequences from the fudging of numbers. The Parliamentary Budget Officer is now being targeted by the governm…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, Canada faces an ongoing youth unemployment crisis. The youth unemployment rate is over 14%, which is more than a full point higher than where we were a year ago. According to the latest job numbers, more than 440,000 young people between the ages of 15 and 24 are unemployed. This continues to be a very bad situation for youth unemployment. Over 14% unemployment for young people is a b…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I rise on the same point of order. The member is conflating two very different cases. The Chairs have ruled in the past about equating members' positions with those of violent authoritarian regimes or suggesting they are acting as agents of violent authoritarian regimes. That is clearly very different from saying that something a member does not like may suggest other things about the…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions to present today. First, I rise to present the following petition. The petitioners state that it is unacceptable for Canadians to choose medical assistance in dying due to a lack of available services or treatments. This is not a real choice. They point out that allowing MAID for people with disabilities or chronic non-terminal illnesses devalues their lives. It…
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Mr. Speaker, the second petition I am tabling today has been brought to me by members of the Ukrainian community. They highlight that more than 200,000 Ukrainians have found safe haven in Canada since 2022. While the cost of living is affecting Canadians across the country, it is also deeply challenging for newcomers. Many face emotional and financial pressures, including the high costs of importi…
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Mr. Speaker, the third and final petition I am tabling today raises concern about recommendation 430 in the finance committee's pre-budget report. This recommendation calls for the stripping of charitable status from all houses of worship from all faith communities. Petitioners are deeply concerned about this proposal, and although this was not contained in this particular budget, the government h…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister proposed the worst budget deficit in history outside of the COVID period. Every dollar he spends costs Canadians in taxes and through inflation. More spending by government means more sacrifices for Canadians, with more than one in four Canadians now living in financially insecure households. Will the Prime Minister at least consider reducing his deficits to levels …
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Mr. Speaker, I know it is difficult for some members of the Liberal caucus to understand, but parents would actually prefer to be able to afford to buy food themselves for their kids. They used to be able to before the Liberals took office. The latest numbers today show that more than one in four people in Canada is living in a financially insecure household. That is the legacy of that party. It w…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, a lot of what the member said really had nothing to do with the question that was asked. I have highlighted our Conservative youth jobs plan, a constructive proposal around unleashing the economy, fixing immigration, fixing training and building homes where the jobs are, and I highlighted that this budget simply has no jobs plan. We would have liked to see the Liberals adopt our plan.…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I was profoundly disappointed this week to see that the Liberals' budget contains absolutely no jobs plan. The situation right now is very dire as it relates to unemployment, particularly unemployment for youth. As members know by now, as I have said it many times, we are in a situation where youth unemployment is at 14.7%, approaching 15%. Close to half a million young people between…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, members have raised the issue of the regional differences in unemployment, with regions of high unemployment and low unemployment. That is why our plan includes measures to make it easier for employers to provide employer housing, make it easier to build homes where the jobs are and make it easier for young people who are living in regions of high unemployment to move to regions of …
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Mr. Speaker, very simply, the parliamentary secretary began her speech by saying that the Liberals' plan is working. Objectively, it is not. Youth unemployment numbers continue to go up, and members who disagree should simply access the Statistics Canada reports, which show the numbers going up. The member can identify the continuing existence of programs that have existed since the 1990s, such as…
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Madam Speaker, Liberals get really frustrated, it seems, when Conservatives raise the link between the Liberals' immigration failures and unemployment. We have highlighted a number of areas of failure that contribute to youth unemployment: their failures on the economy, on training and in many other areas, but I think Canadians and young people I talk to in urban centres, from diverse backgrounds,…
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Madam Speaker, as I said earlier, I am hearing from young people that many of them feel they are worse off than their parents' generation were in this country, especially after 10 years of the Liberals. We see continuing policies that limit economic growth and that have messed up our immigration system; we see misalignments in training and other areas. That is why we need jobs, homes and hope for …
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Madam Speaker, I move that the first report of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities presented on Monday, September 22, be concurred in. This afternoon we are seized with debate on the first report of the human resources committee, a report that unanimously expresses the committee's alarm about the catastrophic youth em…
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Madam Speaker, that was a uniquely ridiculous question, even from a Liberal member. I have never talked down Canada. I am proud to live in this country and fight for this country. I am fighting for this country for my children and grandchildren, and all of our children. However, we have to recognize the reality of what the member's government has done to this country over the last 10 years. The re…
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Madam Speaker, the implications of artificial intelligence demand careful consideration. That being said, the unemployment rate in Canada is much higher than unemployment rates in other countries facing the same realities created by the development of artificial intelligence. We are in a similar situation in the technology field. The unemployment rate is much higher. The problem here stems from th…
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Madam Speaker, the employment rate is the percentage of young people in total who are employed. It is different from the unemployment rate, which measures the percentage of young people in the workforce who are not working. We are seeing historic lows in the employment rate. The percentage of young people in the 15 to 24 age bracket who are working is at its lowest level in more than 25 years. Thi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to address the House today with respect to Bill C-3 to highlight some of the real problems with the government's approach to immigration. We have seen, over the last 10 years, the profound failures of the government's approach to immigration. Rather than confront those failures, the government is proposing legislation that would further weaken our immigrat…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, very respectfully to my hon. friend, I will say that we need to measure the performance of the government by the results. The appeal of the parliamentary secretary, ministers and others is to say we should look at all the things they are trying to do, but I think the government will be judged by the results in the aggregate. Here is the reality: After the government has blocked natura…
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Mr. Speaker, that is the kind of gross misstatement of our position that members have come to expect from the member for Winnipeg North. We are going to be debating against each other in Winnipeg on November 12. The member has committed to booking the hall and picking me up at the airport, so I am looking forward to that. We will continue this conversation. I will pick up on one thing the member s…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, this evening we are discussing the jobs crisis facing Canadian young people. Conservatives have been sounding the alarm about this jobs crisis ever since the last election and, in fact, in many ways before that. The crisis has continued to get worse. Over the last three years since we came out of the pandemic, unemployment numbers have continued to go up, especially for young people, …
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Mr. Speaker, I agree that this is an important and legitimate question. Do I know the answer? No, because it is obviously the government's job to answer that question. They decided to introduce this bill. They should therefore be able to answer reasonable questions. How many people will be affected by these changes? What impact will this have on employment or on the health care system? There are o…
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Mr. Speaker, that is a very important question. I think that ministers have to be able to answer reasonable questions about the effects of their bill. This is not an opposition bill we are talking about; it is a choice made by the government. It chose this path even though it had a number of other options in the field of immigration and citizenship. However, the government is unable to answer basi…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the next petition I would like to table highlights and raises concern about human rights abuses in North Korea. The petitioners identify a number of aspects of this worsening human rights situation: the prioritization of food distribution to those considered useful to the existing regime; the vast security apparatus that suppresses dissent through coercion, surveillance, fear and puni…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, under the Liberals, food prices have gone bananas. They are so bad that one in five food bank users works full time. Even people working full time cannot afford to eat in Canada. Now food banks are feeling the crunch, jammed with 2.2 million visits in a single month, and the Liberals think Canada is ripe for more inflationary spending, which is rubbing salt on the wounds. When will Li…
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Mr. Speaker, if members want more petitions, please ask, but the final petition I will table this evening deals with the issue of euthanasia. The petitioners are concerned in particular about the adverse effects of the current euthanasia regime on people with disabilities. They note that allowing so-called medical assistance in dying for those with disabilities or chronic illness devalues their li…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals love to talk about political food programs instead of affordable food. That was the question. Before Liberal inflationary spending and hidden food taxes, Canadians could actually afford to feed themselves. Parents do not want the state parenting their children for them. Parents want the government to eliminate food taxes and stop inflationary spending so they can afford t…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not normally plan my date schedule on the floor of the House of Commons, but since the member for Winnipeg North is so eager, this seems the right time to invite all members to join us in Winnipeg during the November break week. I will fly to Winnipeg. Wednesday, November 12 would probably be a good day. It is the day after Remembrance Day, so it is not going to conflict with any…
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Mr. Speaker, the member mentioned some important issues. Of course, if the Liberals were serious about getting real bail reform through this House, they would have supported our motion, which advanced the jail not bail legislation of the hon. member for Oxford. Sadly, they do not support real bail reform, which is why they did not support our efforts to move it forward. They are the ones obstructi…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to table a petition on a very sombre subject, which is the ongoing youth unemployment crisis. Youth unemployment is approaching 15%. More than 460,000 young people aged 15 to 24 are out of work. The petitioners highlight that youth unemployment is alarmingly high across Canada. They note that the current situation leaves many Canadians in these critical fo…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I do not quite follow the question. I will continue to tell the truth, as I always have in the House, which is to articulate the specific numbers around youth unemployment and crime, to call on the government to make changes that recognize the challenges their policies have created and to make things better.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, respectfully, that nonsense answer obviously had nothing to do with the question. When we are talking about youth unemployment, I think it is time for the Liberals to sacrifice their tired talking points and actually get serious about addressing the problem. Last week, we introduced the Conservative youth jobs plan to unleash the economy, fix immigration, fix training and build homes …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to join the debate on Bill C-12. Yesterday, the Prime Minister spoke to young people. This might have been an opportunity for him to apologize for the 10 years of Liberal failures that have led to historically high unemployment for young people. We are now at a point where the employment rate for young people is the worst it has been in over 25 years. Yout…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister told young Canadians that there would be more sacrifices in their future. Young people are already facing a bleak future because of Liberal policies exploding housing and food prices and historic highs in unemployment. Past generations sacrificed to make life better for their children, but now young people are being told to sacrifice their future because of elite Li…
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Mr. Speaker, it is very simple. I will encourage the member to consult the labour force survey, which comes out every month from Statistics Canada and reveals the state of the job numbers. He may not like spending changes or decisions made by the previous government, but objectively, young people were better off, our streets were safer, crime rates were lower, housing prices and rent were way lowe…
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Mr. Speaker, I know that my colleagues are going to study the specific provisions of this bill in committee. We will have the opportunity to listen to witnesses and expert analysis, and I know that we will be able to respond based on this expertise and propose ideas following the discussions.
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