Government Orders
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, 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…
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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…
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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 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…
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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…
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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…
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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.…
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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…
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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, 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, 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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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…
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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…
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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…
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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, 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, 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, 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…
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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…
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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, on the subject of enforcement and crime in this country, I want to highlight and get the member's thoughts on another act of vandalism that we saw in Edmonton against a church. This was St. Clare's Parish, with some very offensive graffiti sprayed on the church. Stained glass windows were broken. I know that in this member's own riding, there have been instances of attacks on churches…
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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, 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 …
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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.
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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, 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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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are focused on the past. It is a past when, objectively, housing prices were much lower and crime, rent and unemployment were lower. We think that noting the numbers from the past is important, but so is looking to the future and casting a vision that gives young people hope once again. The reality is that many young people are concerned about what their future will be li…
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Madam Speaker, during question period in the spring, I pointed out that the Liberal government had no plan when it came to the then already-metastasizing youth unemployment crisis. Things have continued to get worse and the government still has no plan. Youth unemployment, according to the latest StatsCan numbers, has jumped to 14.7%. We are now approaching half a million unemployed young people i…
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Madam Speaker, respectfully, the parliamentary secretary's response generally proved my point. She said there are changes in the workforce coming, and then she highlighted, as the government's response to those changes, the continuation of a program, the Canada summer jobs program, that has existed since the 1990s. I had barely been born when the program started. The continuation of a program that…
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Mr. Speaker, Liberal policies are causing a deepening youth unemployment crisis, leaving the next generation in an increasing state of desperation. Today's unemployment numbers show a further spike in youth unemployment, now up to 14.7%, which is approaching half a million unemployed Canadian youth. Youth unemployment was already at recession levels before these further increases. The Liberals pro…
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Mr. Speaker, only an out-of-touch Liberal would try to congratulate themselves when we have a significant increase in youth unemployment in this country. These are the facts: Over 17,000 young people in Ontario alone lost their jobs in the last month and overall unemployment remains at 17.1%. It continues to increase in major cities, including the city the parliamentary secretary is supposed to re…
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Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary said that these numbers might reflect young people leaving the workforce to go back to school. That suggests she does not actually understand how the unemployment rate is calculated, because the unemployment rate is the percentage of those in the workforce who are trying to work and are not able to. The unemployment rate has gone up. It is approaching 15%, …
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. During question period, the parliamentary secretary claimed that the jobs numbers were good news for young people. I would like to request the permission of the House to table the actual jobs report—
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Mr. Speaker, I have appreciated the opportunity to work with the member on the human resources committee, where we are studying the very serious issue of youth unemployment. As the member knows, the situation is quite bad with respect not just to youth unemployment but to unemployment in general. New job numbers are coming out tomorrow. Already we know that youth unemployment is at 14.5%. There wa…
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Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, we will see the latest job numbers from Statistics Canada. It is important to underline the magnitude of the challenge confronting people of all ages, but particularly young people. The unemployment rate has gone up to 7.1%. It has been continually increasing for years, ever since the end of COVID. Youth unemployment has hit 14.5%, which is already at recession levels. In ju…
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Mr. Speaker, I happen to agree with some of the things the parliamentary secretary said. The biggest problem is that the Liberals are not doing them. It was our party that proposed significant increases in investments in the skilled trades through union-based training. The government has consistently failed on that over the last 10 years. Let me give members some numbers. The youth unemployment ra…
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