Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, three years ago the finance minister promised Canadians he would stabilize food prices. Since then, lettuce is up nearly 40%, coffee 33%, beef 27%, baby formula 13% and canned vegetables almost 12%. Canada is leading the G7 in food inflation. It is now twice as high as when the Prime Minister took office and twice as high as it is in the United States. Canadians are making 2.2 million…
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to stand and present petition e-6777, created by Ms. Outwater, a resident in my neighbouring riding of Peterborough. All 1,767 of these signatories are concerned about the current system the Liberal government has created when it comes to how safe they feel on the streets of their community. People are concerned that there are repeat offenders continuing to get out on bai…
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Mr. Speaker, the Cowichan court ruling in the British Columbia Supreme Court is causing real damage in Richmond. Banks are pulling back, buyers are walking away, investment is on hold and families and businesses are being left in limbo. On October 23, the Richmond council urgently asked the Attorney General to protect private property rights. The Liberal government did not even bother to respond. …
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Mr. Speaker, we have 130 people out of work in Lindsay, Ontario. That combined with the latest HungerCount report shows that Canadians are struggling as they never have before. Food bank visits hit 2.2 million in March, nearly double prepandemic levels. One-third of clients are children. Almost one in five has a job but cannot make ends meet. The government continues to impose hidden taxes, includ…
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Mr. Speaker, for 10 years, the Liberals have promised their massive deficit will lead to more jobs and investment in Canada; it has not. Tomorrow, we will see another budget packed with more inflationary spending. The result is that Holsag Canada announced the closure of its Lindsay plant, putting 130 people out of work. After 10 years of the Liberal government, manufacturers are closing, costs ar…
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Mr. Speaker, auditors report that 130 valuable indigenous artworks have vanished from a federal collection overseen by the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations. Security was so weak that the theft went undetected. The department has no plan to recover the missing art, yet it continues to buy new pieces. The entire collection is worth over $14 million and includes cultural treasures. Could the mi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I want to address the faux outrage and pearl-clutching on the other side. For 10 years, we have listened to the government chew on the RCMP. Here is a headline quoting the public safety minister: “RCMP racism is ‘intolerable’”. The former prime minister called the RCMP a racist organization—
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I would like to table e-petition 6605, which was created by a constituent in my riding, Ms. Jo-Anne Green from Haliburton County. The 1,100 signatories would like to bring attention to the issue of indigenous identity fraud. They would like the government to take action to ensure that there is legislation addressing first nations, Métis and Inuit identity fraud with clear definitions,…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate what the member from British Columbia had to say. He did an amazing job pointing out some of the concerns we have with the piece of legislation. I do want to take issue with the member opposite, the member for Winnipeg North, who rose on his feet just a few minutes ago to talk about the treaties. He took issue with the number of the modern treaties signed by Stephen Harpe…
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Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, the new office, as it is written, would report to Parliament. It would report to the Senate and to Parliament, but it would report to the government first, and the minister would then decide when the report would get to the Speaker and then be released to Parliament. Parliament would not have the opportunity to dictate where the audits go and what needs to be studied o…
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Mr. Speaker, yes, the bill will get to committee. We will study it, and I am pretty sure there will be amendments proposed. We will see what gets passed and what does not. We look forward to that process. At the same time, however, we are in the chamber to debate, and the bill has been tabled. This is the first day it has been debated, so there are Conservatives members who want to speak to it.
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with what the member just said. It is about implementation, and his colleague from Jonquière brought up the exact same point I was trying to make. The Auditor General has a whole library of reports on where the government is failing on a whole range of points, whether it is related to weather, clean water or something else. It is already there. This goes back decades, for 150-…
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Mr. Speaker, what I have heard during the speeches is nothing new. The concern we have raised in the House specifically is that this piece of legislation would not give the new commissioner, whoever that person might be, the ability to hold government departments to account. We have a slew of reports from the Auditor General already pointing out the failings of governments over the past decades. W…
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Mr. Speaker, I also share the view my friend just mentioned. We are still not at the point that we are absolutely certain this would actually change anything. We would be creating a bureaucracy starting at about $2 million and change every single year for the next five years. When we compare it to other offices like it, we are in the tens of millions, so I do not accept that the cost would stay th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the member mentioned the independence of this commissioner, should the agency be created. I wish to point him to subclause 28(2), which examines how the commissioner, should the agency be formed, reports. His or her report would go to the minister first, then to the Speakers of both chambers, the Senate and the House. I question that chain of events. As the Auditor General does, this …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my friend for Skeena—Bulkley Valley raises a good point. It is exactly a fear that I share with the member, which is that if the office is created and there is another report, and another report after that a few years later, about where the government is failing on modern treaty implementation, will the government actually pay attention to that? Will the departments actually fix what …
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Mr. Speaker, yes, that is something I outlined in my speech: how Parliament would not have the oversight it should. We will look at that in committee and hopefully get some amendments.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, as I pointed out, the Auditor General has done many reports, and I would say the expertise was accepted at the time as an expert dive into the issues Canada is or is not living up to with modern treaty implementation, or with existing treaties and the lack of the implementation of those treaties. I mentioned reports from 2005, 2006, 2013 and 2016, plus 14 more, that talked about where…
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Mr. Speaker, I do support the fact that the government needs to live up to its modern treaty obligations. As I mentioned, the Harper government signed five in six years. I would also point out to the member opposite that between 2015 and 2017, on top of the Auditor General's reports, which I have mentioned a million times, several new federal offices and initiatives were created to work on land cl…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the work with my Bloc colleague on the indigenous and northern affairs committee. I understand why indigenous leaders are calling for the office of a modern treaty commissioner, because the government has been failing to implement existing treaties for decades. The government fails to implement its word on modern treaties. However, I will say again that the Auditor Genera…
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Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we support modern treaties, the path to self-government and the path to economic reconciliation, and we wish to work with communities that want to see that happen. We support those initiatives. However, the fact that the minister has to table a piece of legislation dealing with the modern treaty shows the failure of the government. In six years, Stephen Harp…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about a matter that goes beyond the very foundation of this country: the relationship between the Crown and indigenous peoples. That relationship is defined not only by our history, but by our honour. It is tested not by words or new offices, but by actions. It is measured not by the number of new bureaucracies we create, but by the commitments we fulfill and the…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the long and short of it is that over six years, the Harper government signed five modern treaties, and over 10 years, the Liberals have signed zero. I can understand why indigenous leaders are calling for this. It is because the government continues to fail. The member opposite talked about programs. The Auditor General addresses them, but nothing has been acted upon. What is differe…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, September 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Also known as Orange Shirt Day, we remember the indigenous children who were taken away through the residential school system, and we honour their families and communities that continue to feel the weight of that loss. Orange Shirt Day began with Phyllis Webstad in Williams Lake, British Columbia, which is also the hometow…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to spending on informatics services, in 2022-23, as listed in table 2 of the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report titled "Fiscal cost of task-based IT contracting": (a) what is the total amount spent on contracts for all departments, agencies and Crown corporations; and (b) what are the details of all such contracts, including, for each, (i) the amount, (ii) the vendor, (iii) the date…
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With regard to Sustainable Development Technology Canada: (a) what are the costs incurred by the (i) board of directors, (ii) executive team, since January 1, 2016, broken down by year and month; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by type of expense, including the amount spent on meeting spaces, travel claims, hospitality bills, honorariums, etc.; (c) what are the details of each travel expense incu…
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Mr. Speaker, Liberal consultants are getting millions in contracts without the required security clearances or experience. Worse, they do not even have to do any work. The Auditor General found evidence that nearly half of government contracts were paid out but not actually completed. While Liberal insiders get rich, Canadian families struggle to pay for food. In true Liberal fashion, of course, t…
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Mr. Speaker, it is clear the Prime Minister has the backs of Liberal insiders and backroom cronies, not hard-working Canadians. It is business as usual for the Prime Minister, who has no plans to cut the gravy train to Liberal consultants with no intention to actually complete work. While the RCMP investigates fraud on Canadians, those ministers responsible get a pat on the back, and they get prom…
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Mr. Speaker, from that answer, it is clear that the Liberals have abandoned all hope of keeping their $40-billion guardrail promise that was made to Canadians. While the unelected, unaccountable and phantom finance minister, carbon tax Carney, pulls the strings from the shadows, the Liberals are following their Prime Minister and the economy of Canada right off the fiscal cliff. Already, interest …
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has lost control of his spending and his cabinet. The PBO says that this year's budget deficit could be as high as $46 billion, smashing the $40-billion guardrail promised by the finance minister. Like so many ministers before her, the finance minister's time might be limited, simply for standing up to the Prime Minister and his radical agenda. Will the Prime Minist…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the words from the member opposite. We did have a good working relationship on Bill C-61. I thought there was a lot of good discussion as we moved through that piece of legislation. It was good to see the member come from a different committee and add a bit of a different perspective. That is always appreciated. In terms of his question, I think, overall, competitiveness …
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Mr. Speaker, I know the member opposite fairly well and I know he is a very smart individual. I remind him that the inflation that has taken hold in Canada is baked into the prices we are seeing now. It is not as if prices are actually going down. The prices of groceries are still absolutely insane, and we see that at the food banks, in record numbers. I do not think that is a measure of success t…
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Mr. Speaker, as the member for Carleton, our leader, said in July, the Conservative government, if given a chance to serve, would fully fund and implement Jordan's principle because indigenous children should have equal access to care and supports when they need it, where they need it, no matter where they live. That is something I agree with and I fully support our leader.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I always appreciate the opportunity to stand and speak to some of the ways the Liberal government is wasting taxpayers' money. One such instance is the green slush fund. Although we are debating the subamendment to the amendment today, I will quickly give a bit of history. I will talk about how we got here, where the Liberals went and continue to go wrong and how they are misspending …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I stand before the House to address an issue that undermines public trust and accountability, namely the member for Edmonton Centre's involvement with Global Health Imports, a company he co-owned and falsely presented as indigenous-owned to exploit government procurement programs designed to benefit indigenous communities. More troubling is that the Minister of Indigenous Services ign…
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Madam Speaker, my geographical neighbour and I share a bit of Lake Simcoe. He obviously has a bigger part of that magnificent piece of water than I do, and Brock township is mine. There was a Lake Simcoe cleanup fund that the Liberals cancelled and said they were going to bring back. How many years ago was that cancelled, and how many years have we been waiting for that promise to be implemented?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I wrote that down: “A multi-million dollar, self-serving” venture. I would argue that is exactly what the member for Edmonton Centre tried to do. The member for Edmonton Centre and the company he co-owned checked a box claiming to be wholly indigenous-owned, thereby bidding on a contract reserved for indigenous-owned businesses. The hypocrisy is unbelievable here. We have a minister…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from the Bloc across the way for the question and for his work on the indigenous and northern affairs committee. In short, yes it is. As the member correctly pointed out in his question, the Liberals tried to play games on the committee and tried to ensure that it was the new, interim minister for employment covering for the member for Edmonton Centre who was going…
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Madam Speaker, that came from the party that not once, not twice, but multiple times voted confidence in the government, prolonging the Liberal power grab that we continue to see. However, members need not worry. There will be another motion very soon. The member opposite does not need to worry. However, right now our focus is on getting to the bottom of what the member for Edmonton Centre may or …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, while the Liberals try to distract Canadians with tax tricks on Christmas treats and alcohol, more than one million Ontarians turn to the food bank to feed themselves. Food bank use has risen in eight of the nine years the NDP-Liberal government has been in power. In the last two years alone, food bank usage in Ontario has risen by 73%. What is worse is that almost 25% of those food b…
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Madam Speaker, today, I rise in the House of Commons to address a matter that has serious implications for public trust, accountability and the integrity of our democratic institutions. It is a matter that speaks to the very principles that Canadians hold dear, the principles of transparency, honesty and the fair application of our laws. This is an issue that is both deeply troubling and criticall…
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Mr. Speaker, reports continue to reveal one false statement after another about the employment minister's claim of indigenous heritage. The fact that he is still in cabinet has laid bare the reality that truth and reconciliation mean nothing to Liberals. We found out today that the company co-owned by the minister, GHI, is in fact greenlit to bid on government contracts. This is the same company t…
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Madam Speaker, I would not call indigenous entrepreneurship and the struggles indigenous people are having accessing government programs a game. I am simply reminding the government that indigenous peoples have long been excluded from key decision-making events. An indigenous procurement program, which is supposed to uplift and benefit indigenous businesses, is now being taken advantage of, or at …
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Madam Speaker, the member for Timmins—James Bay fails to recognize the fact that the chief and the band of Attawapiskat are asking for long-term funding commitments. I actually met with the chief of Attawapiskat not too long ago, and she was pointing out that with long-term predictable funding, they could use some of the programs like the First Nations Financial Management Board, the First Nations…
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Madam Speaker, I do agree that the Indian Act is a horrible piece of legislation, and I think we need to find ways to free up indigenous communities or first nations communities from the Indian Act. I have talked about access to capital and getting the Ottawa-knows-best attitude out of the way so indigenous people can thrive and prosper without asking for money back, in some cases from Ottawa, mon…
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Madam Speaker, I move that the second report of the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs, presented on Monday, April 25, 2022, be concurred in. I thank the member for Sarnia—Lambton for being the seconder on this motion, as well as the member for Battle River—Crowfoot who was right there. This is an important issue. The second report of Standing Committee on Indigenous and Norther…
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Madam Speaker, as I stated, several witnesses to this study identified several critical barriers to indigenous economic independence and development. We are talking about the issues of limited access to capital, inadequate infrastructure and, in some cases, lack of capacity. Of course, we go on to say that many indigenous communities are already working on their own solutions to these issues and t…
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Madam Speaker, after nine years, the NDP-Liberals are not worth the cost or the corruption. Yesterday we learned that Global Health Imports, a company co-owned by the employment minister, bid on federal contracts while claiming to be wholly indigenous-owned. However, the minister has so far refused to present documents supporting his company's statement. No wonder GHI has at least eight criminal c…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, today is Indigenous Veterans Day, a time set aside to remember and recognize the often overlooked stories of indigenous veterans who answered the call of duty with unwavering courage and dedication. Indigenous people in Canada have served in every conflict, from the First World War to the present day. Many indigenous men and women stepped forward, often in the face of discrimination…
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Madam Speaker, the company that the employment minister co-owned checked the box claiming to be indigenous-owned. If so, that is fraud. That is the point of the whole thing. It is amazing. Not only that, but the Liberals circumvent the regular procurement process. They have no shame. They would rather push down indigenous-owned businesses in order to secure contracts and enrich themselves. If the …
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