Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, our most important job is probably our first job, because it starts us on the road to our career, but after 10 years of Liberal failures, that road is blocked for one in seven Canadian young people. This is already an unemployment crisis, with 100,000 more job losses coming. Rather than address this crisis, the Liberals continue to waste billions on consultants, a $6-billion increase.…
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Mr. Speaker, the minister has sat around the cabinet table for more than 10 years, and unemployment is steadily going up. It is actually at the highest point it has been in 10 years, outside of the COVID period. We have an unemployment crisis, and the Liberals are making things worse with another outrageous spending bill. The Prime Minister wants to spend even more than Justin Trudeau. How can the…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, we hear a lot of this talking point about the strongest economy in the G7. The reality is that youth unemployment of over 14% is really killing opportunities for young people. We are headed into a summer without summer jobs for so many. The lack of private sector job growth is killing opportunity for the next generation. In that context, why can the government not offer a budget that …
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to thank the member for her powerful words about anti-Semitism. My grandmother was a Holocaust survivor. I remember hearing, when I was growing up, some of the stories she would share with us about her experiences. It is very dark to see some of the things that have happened in this country and other western countries around the world. I did want to ask the member…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, if you will indulge me, as this is my first time rising in this place, I want to congratulate you on your election and thank the people of my community for their trust. I am limiting myself to one petition today, which is on behalf of Canada's strong Cypriot community. The community has brought this petition to the attention of the House noting that the Turkish military invasion of Cy…
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table a petition on behalf of Canadians who are outraged by the government's attack on natural health products. They call on the House to pass the excellent private member's bill from my colleague the member for Red Deer—Lacombe.
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Mr. Speaker, I wonder whether you could just clarify the rules around members of Parliament, in particular members of the Liberal caucus, signing their own petitions.
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Mr. Speaker, by popular demand, I will limit myself to just one petition today. This petition is from people in the Canadian Lebanese community who are very concerned about the impact of Hezbollah's actions on the people of Lebanon. They note how the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which was started by Hezbollah, has had terrible consequences for the Lebanese people. They note that Hezbolla…
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Mr. Speaker, on that same point of order, may I ask for consent to extend the time available by five minutes so more members could table their petitions?
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With regard to Canada’s relationship with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): (a) what are the complete details of all development assistance spending intended to have an impact in the DRC over the last two years, including, for each spending item, the (i) amount spent, (ii) recipient and any additional delivery partners, (iii) allocation timeline, (iv) amount spent on each item; (b) what …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise today, and always, to address the House. I want to start by drilling down on the concept of common sense. Members in the House, and those who follow the debates elsewhere, will know that Conservatives speak a lot about the concept of common sense. We have been highlighting the importance of restoring common sense in government decision-making. I have observed …
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Mr. Speaker, we have seen the radical experiments of the government on crime, and that is why Conservatives are championing common-sense proposals to stop the crime. We will axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. These common-sense principles respond to the radical experimentation of the government. I hope that is helpful for members of the government in understanding the…
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Mr. Speaker, let us all have a bit of a chuckle about what just happened. The member said, ”I want an answer to this question, but spare me the answer that I expect you to give.” I might as well just sit down, but maybe I will just give him that answer again so that he understands. Maybe after a few times he will actually learn something. This is common sense, so it is good for the member to hear …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, it is very clear the difference between an across-the-board, permanent tax cut and the temporary tax trick proposed by the NDP-Liberal government. We permanently reduced the GST from 7% to 6% to 5%. We did so while balancing the budget. Of course, there were timely temporary deficits during the global financial crisis and we brought the country back to a balanced budget. It was a prud…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member from the NDP wishes to hold me accountable for decisions of the Mulroney government. I was born in 1987. Respectfully, I know he is a bit older than me and he has been in this place for a long time, but I do not know that I am necessarily well positioned to defend all the decisions of the Mulroney government at that time. I will say that, over the course of almost 150 …
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Mr. Speaker, it is a great question from my colleague. I do not think there is enough time in most of our lives, actually, to lay out all the waste that has happened. However, I have the honour of serving on the government operations committee, and I will just highlight a few things that we have been able to identify there in terms of government waste. While the size of the public service has grow…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I am speaking tonight about the Liberals' indigenous procurement scandal. We need to be very clear about what indigenous leaders have repeatedly told us at the various committees that have been studying this: that abuses of indigenous procurement under the Liberal government have become systemic. The Assembly of First Nations said “the majority” of those who benefit from these procu…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, it is sad to see the government now taking this posture. In fact, it was earlier this week that the Minister of Indigenous Services seemed to be making some progress in admitting that there was a serious problem. Even more information came out that, frankly, I suspect the Minister of Indigenous Services was aware of months ago. She has said that there is now going to be an investiga…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, while Conservatives are focused on axing the tax, building the homes, fixing the budget and stopping the crime, Liberals are trying to distract with their temporary tax trick. The member has a background of immense experience in supporting small business owners and understanding legal technicalities that impact businesses. One thing we have been hearing about is the administrative and…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I move that the third report of the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs, presented on Monday, June 13, 2022, be concurred in. I will be sharing my time. Christmas is approaching, and I want to wish colleagues a merry Christmas as they begin their preparations. As I have been reflecting on the Christmas story, it seems closer to home than ever. We have a distant, un…
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Madam Speaker, that reminds me that I want to recognize the very good work being done by Mr. Guglielmin, who I know is a strong advocate for responsible housing policy in the area of Vaughan—Woodbridge. The focus of Conservatives is on delivering results for Canadians, and our housing policy would hold us to that standard of delivering results. It would also hold our municipal partners to the expe…
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Madam Speaker, quite obviously, anyone listening will note the way the member created a question by creating a premise and then asking why that premise was true, rather than asking whether the premise was true. Let us go back to what we are actually talking about today, which is the proposals we have put forward for strong action by the government around the construction of new homes. I talked abo…
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Madam Speaker, why is it important to look at the results? The last nine years provide us with some good evidence of what happens when there is a government that is focused on trying to signal concern about certain issues but is not actually concerned about the results. As I mentioned, I have been doing a lot of work on the issue of abuses in the area of indigenous procurement. It is a situation w…
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Madam Speaker, I think we should be committed to the idea of actually working with and listening to indigenous leaders. It has been clear in some of the work we have been doing at the government operations committee and elsewhere that too often the Liberal government claims to be concerned about reconciliation but is not actually listening to what indigenous leaders and indigenous people are sayin…
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With regard to the Framework for Cooperation on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism between Canada and India, signed by the current government: (a) is the framework still in effect; (b) has any information been shared between the law enforcement or security agencies of Canada and India since June 18, 2023; and (c) was any information shared at any time between the law enforcement or securit…
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With regard to Canada’s relationship with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): (a) what are the complete details of all development assistance spending intended to have an impact in the DRC over the last two years, including, for each spending item, the (i) amount spent, (ii) recipient and any additional delivery partners, (iii) allocation timeline, (iv) amount spent on each item; (b) what …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the government's Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business, since November 4, 2015, and broken down by department or agency which participates in the strategy: (a) what individuals are responsible for reviewing adherence to Indigenous procurement requirements, specifically broken down by who is responsible for enforcing adherence to the (i) rules regarding proper identification o…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, you have referenced convention of the House. Could you cite any precedent? I have been a member for a long time; I follow the procedure, and I am not aware of a single case in which a member who had a question of privilege, especially one with the urgent nature of that being raised, was told to wait. If there is a convention of the House I am not familiar with, I wonder if you could…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, my conscience was prodded by the intervention from the member for Northumberland—Peterborough South. I may too have at some point used the term Maserati Marxist to refer—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I apologize for the technical issues. I want to follow up on the point of order from the member for Manicouagan. Members are presumed to be hon. members when they hear something and when they raise something. It is not the tradition of the House to say that we need to wait for the video evidence. If two members contradict each other, that is another matter. The member for Manicouagan …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to Canada-Sudan relations: (a) what are the complete details of development assistance dollars spent with the intention of having an impact in Sudan over the last two years, including, for each spending item, the (i) amount spent, (ii) recipient and any additional delivery partners, (iii) allocation timeline, (iv) amount spent on each item; (b) what are the complete details of developm…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, this is a very significant issue. I think many, if not most, members of Parliament have lost family members to cancer, of one kind or another. It is a little disappointing to see the amount of time Liberals have devoted in their speeches to partisan talking points about concurrence and aspects of the business of the House. There is a lot of time to discuss those issues and the appropr…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I want to ask this member about the rural top-up. I think it is a subject he is familiar with. In all seriousness, it is a great tribute to a member when as soon as we see that member, we know what issue he is going to mention. He has been such a dogged, effective advocate for his riding on the issue of the rural top-up. For those who have maybe been living under a rock for the last…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I have breaking news. Tomorrow morning, at the indigenous affairs committee, at 8:15 a.m., the member for Edmonton Centre, the former Liberal minister, not the other Randy, but the member for Edmonton Centre, is going to be coming to committee. I cannot guarantee he will answer questions, but he will respond to questions from Conservative members about the Liberals' indigenous procu…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, we still have not gotten any response from the Liberals about the rampant abuse that has taken place. The most we have heard is them trying to deny the testimony of indigenous leaders. It is like they were not there. Previously, we pasted together their denials with the actual statements of multiple indigenous leaders. If the Liberals are really committed to this reconciliation conc…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, my colleague from Peace River—Westlock had so many petitions, I was afraid I would not get a chance, but here we go. I have a few petitions to present to the House today. The first raises concern about the government's extreme euthanasia agenda, already the most liberal regime in the world. We see continuing proposals for further radical expansion, including one that draws the ire o…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition is regarding human rights in Russia. Some aspects of this petition are a little dated, but it raises concern about the serious domestic repression in Russia, including violence and other measures targeting those who are advocating for freedom and democracy within Russia. We have seen, while Russia has been invading Ukraine, an escalating repression of democracy act…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition I am presenting is in support of Bill S-210, a bill that seeks to bring about meaningful age verification for those accessing sexually explicit material online. Bill S-210 had the unanimous support of the Senate and the support of a majority of the House at second reading. The petitioners note that a significant portion of the sexually explicit material accessed on…
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Madam Speaker, the next petition highlights the horrific ongoing persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in the People's Republic of China. Falun Gong practitioners practise a spiritual discipline that emphasizes meditation and moral teachings based on the virtues of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance, yet they have faced horrific violent repression by the government. That repression goes back…
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Madam Speaker, I suspect this will be my final petition because of time. This petition draws the attention of the House to human rights abuses in Eritrea, as well as actions of the Eritrean government that constitute foreign interference. Eritrea has been called the “North Korea of Africa”. There is a complete lack of basic political freedoms, and many have gone into exile. However, many of those …
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Mr. Speaker, I have a number of petitions to present to the House today. The first petition responds to concerns that have been raised by many people in the Eritrean Canadian community about ongoing human rights abuses in Eritrea, as well as foreign interference emanating from Eritrea. Petitioners want to draw the attention of the House to the fact that Eritrea has been ruled by a brutal authorita…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition is an issue of concern to many Canadians who file their taxes and would like to have more flexibility in how they do so. Nobody likes filing their taxes, but petitioners in this case are frustrated by the fact that paper filing is being discouraged. Petitioners note that Canadians need to file their taxes regardless of their level of connectivity. They are frustrated…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition is regarding the Liberals' so-called feminist international assistance policy. Petitioners note that the Muskoka initiative, launched by the previous Conservative government, involved historic investments in the well-being of women and girls around the world and that the initiative emphasized value for money and ensured that investments were made in priorities identi…
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition raises concern about the very radical and extreme agenda of the government and of some of the people who have testified in support of it on the issue of euthanasia. Canada already has the most liberal euthanasia regime in the world, which is being used as a cautionary tale in debates around the world on this very issue. This particular petition highlights with grave …
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Mr. Speaker, the next petition highlights the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in the People's Republic of China and shares some of the history of that persecution. Petitioners call for stronger steps by the Government of Canada and Parliament to combat the ongoing, now 25-year-long, persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, who simply wish to exercise their religious freedom and to practice…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, last week I, along with other Conservatives, called on the government and the Prime Minister, to remove the Minister of Employment, the member for Edmonton Centre, from the Liberal cabinet, and that actually happened. On Wednesday, this Liberal minister left cabinet, and he did so under a major cloud of concern about various corrupt activities. Most acutely, it was revelations that …
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Mr. Speaker, I move that the 37th report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, presented on Friday, March 22, be concurred in. I will be sharing my time. I think colleagues know about my general fondness for poetry, so as I move this motion with respect to Liberal corruption and double-dipping, I thought I might elevate the conversation by briefly reflecting in verse on last week's events:…
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Mr. Speaker, this motion is about policies that allow outsourcing to people who are inside the house. It obviously does not make sense to allow outsourcing to people who are already inside the house. It sounds to me like the NDP members are saying that they would oppose any instance whatsoever of the government using outside contractors. We have said that there has been a significant growth in spe…
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Mr. Speaker, the member suggests I may have the record for moving the most reports for concurrence of any member. I want to thank him very much for those kind words. It is very gracious of him to acknowledge my work in that regard. I am very proud of having had the opportunity to put important motions on substantive policy issues before the House. In this particular case, I spent my entire speech …
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate working with my colleague from the Bloc on the various issues of Liberal scandal. I want to ask the member specifically about the company owned by the member for Edmonton Centre, who is still a member of the Liberal caucus. This company continues to be eligible for bids on government contracts. It has committed indigenous identity fraud, falsely claiming to be indigenous-…
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