Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, last week we honoured Canadians who had made spectacular contributions to Canada's cultural life, with the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards. Among the honourees was Calgary's own Jenny Belzberg, winner of the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts. Created in 1992 by the late governor general, along with his wife, Gerda Hnatyshyn, the award is giv…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I challenge my colleague on that hogwash. If he can name one instance in history when there has been a leader of the opposition who has had to be briefed on one of these matters in the background so he could do his job as the leader of His Majesty's loyal opposition in holding the government to account, I would ask him to present that to me now.
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Madam Speaker, first of all, my colleague, with whom I work closely on the immigration committee, talks about the importance of making sure democracy goes forward and that the foreign interference he has experienced, even in his riding, in the most egregious form does not continue across Canada. The NSICOP report, of course, indicated that is happening throughout the country. What was redacted in …
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my colleague whether the government has given any indication that it is willing to work with the other parties in the House of Commons on issues like this, particularly foreign affairs, and to provide more information to all Canadians, or whether it is a farce when our colleague opposite says we should be working together in this situation.
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Madam Speaker, my colleague gave a very good speech on what is happening here and how we have to address this, but he has one dichotomy in that speech, which is the role of His Majesty's loyal opposition in that, declaring that the leader of the Conservative Party should get that briefing. However, later in his speech, he talked about the parliamentary role that we have to play as His Majesty's lo…
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Madam Speaker, I really appreciated my colleague and friend's speech. I do agree that we need to make sure we are not escalating costs in this country. Those costs are being felt most at the grocery level by the consumer. One of the major impacts, of course, is inflation, and what is causing inflation is the Liberal government's overspending. Would my colleague join us in actually getting the gove…
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Madam Speaker, I know it is getting late and I know the member seems a little cranky at this hour. It has gotten a little testy, but I will challenge him on the veracity of everything he is saying here. When we come to Parliament, and I am not as long in the tooth in Parliament as he is, Canadians expect us to be able to work together and actually make legislation together. After everything I have…
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Mr. Speaker, one of the things that most Canadians recognize when they elect people to Parliament is that we come here to make laws. We come here to make laws between elections, and we participate in committees. I know that I have a lot of colleagues with relevant background who were at the committee and who did not feel like their considerations were actually dealt with during the legislative pro…
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Madam Speaker, first of all, there is some housekeeping. Of course, it is 11:05 p.m. on June 4, and we are here in the House debating a bill, but first of all, June 4 is a very important date in my household. June 4 is my anniversary with my wife of our marriage 13 years ago. Members who have met my wife know that I am a pretty lucky man, and I thank her for all the years and all the joy she has a…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague who gave the speech was supposed to respond to a question but asked a question instead. I will challenge him on that, because the real nature of asking a question is to get a response and an answer to the question asked. I will push back on his question about regional representation, because his government has been sorely lacking in getting input from the provinces in t…
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Madam Speaker, in my speech, I talked about accountability and responsibility. I can tell members there is no accountability in this budget to the Canadians who might be affected by the government's legislation. The government is going to increase taxation on Canadians, but it has not identified exactly who those Canadians are. All those Canadians are calling their financial advisers and their acc…
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Madam Speaker, Canadians have a vision of this Parliament being a place where they elect people from across the country, and they choose which candidate is going to represent them the best to go and sit in Parliament. Then it is our job to bring our skills together and actually build better legislation. I know a lot of it comes with bureaucracy, but I think we also have to use the skills we see in…
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Madam Speaker, I am always enlightened when I hear the member for Winnipeg North say those words on the floor of the House of Commons, because he must be the only member from his party who can actually address these things. We hear him many times over, and I thank him again for those comments. There is something my party and I are united on as far as what we oppose is concerned. We oppose these on…
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Mr. Speaker, I know when I hear somebody give an intervention in the House and they have already arrived at a conclusion, that they fill it with blanks as to how they got there. The fact is that the New Democratic Party is an ally to the Liberal Party here in the House of Commons and is not going to vote it out at this point in time. It is not going to do anything against the party that is its lif…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the superintendent of financial institutions released his annual risk outlook yesterday. It is now a warning from its own regulator for the Liberal-NDP government to heed. Canadian homeowners who renew their mortgages over the next two years could face a payment shock. The root cause of this spike in payments is the government's loose spending policies. Large deficits have driven infl…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, that is avoiding every touchpoint the member does not want to pay attention to, including from his own regulator. Let us look at the follow-on risks that OSFI identified: stress in the mortgage insurance industry, investment portfolio risk, asset management risk and insurance risk. All are rising. This house of cards does not end well. It is obvious to the regulator, and to all Canadi…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to government funding of non-governmental organizations or groups, from November 4, 2015, to present: (a) how much money has the government allocated to (i) Green Economy Canada, (ii) Alberta EcoTrust, (iii) Corporate Knights, (iv) Echo Foundation, (v) Eco Canada, (vi) Ivey Foundation, (vii) Resilient LLP, (viii) Canadian Climate Institute, (ix) Ecofiscal Commission; (b) for each entit…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, on April 22, John Adams, the President of Valour Canada, presented the annual General Sir Arthur Currie Award to one of Calgary's finest, George Brookman, often referred to as Mr. Calgary. There is much I can say about George and his contributions to Calgary and to Canada, but I would be here for quite a while. His recognition for this award is due to his role in steering events tha…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the speech from my colleague over there, but can he tell me how his government is getting control of the agenda? In the same week, we are addressing the fall economic statement, something that was delivered in the House six months ago, and we are also debating the budget implementation act for a budget that was delivered three weeks ago. Canadians are a little confused ab…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise today in the House of Commons and speak to this motion, the fall economic statement. I will note it is May 10 and we are debating the fall economic statement here in the House of Commons. Earlier this week, we debated the budget implementation act. Nothing shows the government's lack of control over an agenda more than debating the fall economic statement on M…
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Mr. Speaker, I am shocked. The member has called me and my party bad fiscal managers. I assure him that I was a money manager before I came to the House, yet I do not see any money managers over there. He is suggesting that I and other members of my party do not know how to do this, but I would strongly suggest that we have, personally, much better fiscal plans and much better economic plans than …
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Mr. Speaker, parts of my colleague's speech were spot-on. The amount of economic activity that is going to be engendered by the completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline is very significant for this country. It has been held up by this government's process for far too long, and we need to get past it. I thank the member for that acknowledgement here on the floor of the House of Commons. The member…
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Mr. Speaker, how does the member justify the use of manipulated statistics in order to get the numbers so he actually looks like he is performing?
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Madam Speaker, I know of the Business Council of Alberta, and I have questioned it on that very stat that the member and her colleagues have brought forward to this floor—
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are clear on the two most important economic issues we face, inflation and high interest rates. They understand that government deficits cause inflation. Runaway deficits cause runaway inflation. This year's deficit is expected to be $47 billion, $7 billion higher than forecast. To say this is a runaway is an understatement. The Bank of Canada's governor has been clear that …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is just throwing taxpayer money at a wall without any thought about execution, and it is making matters worse for Canadians. It is a whack-a-mole approach to economic policy. Obviously, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, Canadians cannot afford the Prime Minister, his excess spending or his corruption. Scotiabank says that rate cuts could be delaye…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this costly Liberal government, Canadians are suffering. The carbon tax has driven up the cost of everything, forcing millions of people to line up outside food banks. Families have to choose between heating their homes and feeding their families. The Prime Minister's own Parliamentary Budget Officer says the average Alberta family will pay $2,943 in carbon taxes.…
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Mr. Speaker, I heard the speech made by my colleague from Quebec. He was very interesting, and very passionate, but does he live in the real world? I am not certain. He said that the Conservatives took advantage of people's troubles. That is interesting. Could people's troubles be caused by the carbon tax itself? The cost of living is rising. Inflation is on the rise, too. Could the relationship b…
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Mr. Speaker, I have an important question for my Bloc Québécois colleague. According to her, the carbon tax should be $239 per tonne rather than $170. Did she take into account the implicit carbon tax created by the subsidies to battery plants? The Liberal government has given approximately $45 billion in subsidies to foreign companies so far. Does she agree with the figure given by the Quebec gov…
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Mr. Speaker, I am a member from Calgary, and I sit on the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. No motion was received on behalf of my party regarding the carbon tax. Could my colleague correct the record?
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Madam Chair, it is my sad honour to rise today in Canada's highest democratic institution to pay respects to a great man, the Right Hon. Brian Mulroney, Canada's 18th Prime Minister. A great man has passed. Time waits for no one. We honour him and reflect on his life and all that he has done. For many of his great accomplishments, we, a generation of Canadians, are the beneficiaries. First and for…
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Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order, the member across the way clearly misled the House on something my colleague said. I think it is incumbent upon you as Speaker to have him withdraw a comment that was a direct and absolute intentional misrepresentation of something one of my colleagues on this side of the House said. The member is known for that. You know he is known for that, and it is abo…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments made by my colleague from Quebec, but I have other comments and questions about other companies that received a lot of grants and contracts from the Liberal government during the pandemic. In my opinion and that of my colleagues, the Liberals hid behind the pandemic to hand out a lot of money to their friends. Is the member aware of the other contracts like t…
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Mr. Speaker, I have a question for my colleague from the Bloc Québécois. In her speech, our Liberal colleague talked about the contract awarded to GC Strategies, a company formed in 2015. We have heard that this company had a number of contracts with the Government of Canada before that. However, the company did not exist before 2015. What does that mean?
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No, it is not, Madam Speaker. It is a point of very significant relevance. The member is misleading the House and I would like a ruling on it, please.
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Mr. Speaker, I really appreciated my colleague's speech. Of the many speeches he has given in the House, that is the one I liked the most. I will even accept his criticism of previous governments, because Canadians want to see transparency in the way their dollars are spent, including with every government that sits in the House. However, I would ask the member about what happened during the pande…
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Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I do not know how to say this loud enough. The member is misleading the House. This company was created in 2015. Its incorporation date is 2015, shortly after the Liberal government was elected.
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Mr. Speaker, I heard my colleague make some quotes about $24,000 contracts and $100,000 contracts. This is a $20-million middleman contract. It is absurd and it was done with no accountability, no contracts and nothing of any sort to show what the money was for. It was a shovelling of taxpayer money into the pockets of a few chosen so-called IT consultants who are really just middlemen. It is some…
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Madam Speaker, the point is that the member is misleading the House. If the company did not exist before—
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, xin nián kuài lè. Tomorrow marks the official start of the lunar new year, the most important festival in Chinese and other Asian cultures. We kicked things off last weekend in Calgary's Chinatown, where I will be celebrating again tomorrow with my friends. For the next weeks, we will be entertained by the drums beating during the lion dance and swirling dragons weaving among us, whic…
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Mr. Speaker, I think it is pretty clear that the words the New Democrats are putting in here are a deflection to try to continue to cover up what the government is doing here, as they have finally become aware of it. We reject the amendment.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I have read the amendment the NDP is trying to put forward to a motion to make sure we address crime in this country. It seems to be putting the onus of the crimes onto the car companies and their workers. We reject that wholeheartedly. We ask the NDP to stop hiding behind the government and stop supporting it in everything it does. It is a preposterous amendment. We ask that—
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, in October of this past year, I asked the government about its selective reversal of the carbon tax for Atlantic Canadians who heat their homes with fuel oil. Incidentally, about 25% of Atlantic Canadians heat their homes with fuel oil, as opposed to 6% in the rest of the country and about 0% in my province of Alberta. However, there is no reduction offered elsewhere in Canada, just…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
You are making that up.
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, as I predicted, there were Liberal bromides in there by the dozen. I am not sure, but there was confusion in the talking points that came back at us here. However, we heard a whole bunch in there. We heard “climate change is real”. We heard “let the planet burn,” as she stated in her speech. I do not think anybody has ever said that. The question was about fairness of the applicabil…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, let me ask my colleague a question on words versus actions on this. I see a lot of paper and a lot of words, but as far as the actions and supporting Ukraine go, the government has been a day late and a dollar short almost every time. Will the member commit to actually supporting Ukraine, as he, his party and his government have not done in the past, including returning the turbine …
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, the government remains in denial that its punitive carbon tax causes inflation. Who says the carbon tax is inflationary? It is the Parliamentary Budget Officer; the Governor of the Bank of Canada; every farmer, manufacturer, producer, distributor and retailer in Canada; and Canadians who buy food. Maybe Canadians are just experiencing this differently. The Prime Minister is just not w…
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Madam Speaker, governments, like everything, like everybody, like every household, like every entity, need to balance their budgets. When governments get out of control and spend too much and rack up too much debt, it leads to too much interest. It leads to too much being paid for the cost of that interest, which comes out of the pockets of Canadians. This is excess funding. Governments have to ge…
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Madam Speaker, it is interesting because the oil industry gets next to nothing in subsidies. There are many other Canadian industries that receive far more in subsidies. The electric car industry gets $135 billion. Who is going to pay for this? The natural resources industry is paying for it for now. It is primarily the oil industry that is paying a lot in taxes and a lot in royalties to the gover…
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Madam Speaker, I do not know what economic data he is looking at. When I look at shrinking GDP in Canada, shrinking GDP per capita, shrinking GDP across the board, real GDP, I am saying that it is the worst in the world. It is the worst among our competitor countries. We actually are doing worse economically. We are trying to cover that up by bringing more people into Canada, which of course will …
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