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 …
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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, 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, 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, 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, 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 …
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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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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 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, 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, 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, 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, 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…
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, 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…
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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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Mr. Speaker, on behalf of His Majesty's loyal opposition and the Conservative Party of Canada, I appreciate the opportunity to say a few words in celebration of the remarkable life and achievements of a true champion of justice and reconciliation, the Hon. Murray Sinclair. As a distinguished lawyer, senator and the first indigenous person to serve as chief justice of the Manitoba Court of Queen's …
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Mr. Speaker, today it was revealed that a company co-owned by the employment minister bid on federal contracts while claiming that it was indigenous owned. The company, Global Health Imports, has two shareholders. It would perhaps be three if we counted the other Randy. However, according to the Assembly of First Nations, the Liberals' indigenous procurement program is being abused by shell compan…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the words from the member for Saskatoon—Grasswood. I want to add my voice to those who have already mentioned how great it is to listen to him speak. I think this was one of his best speeches yet. The member listed a number of scandals. It was a very long and exhaustive list. We just received news today that the employment minister co-owned a company, with a partner and…
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Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the NDP-Liberals are not worth the misery. Every month in Ontario, three-quarters of a million people must rely on food banks to get by. That is up nearly 10% over last year. Worse, monthly visits by Ontario's children are up almost 117% since 2019. Despite these record numbers of children relying on these food banks, the NDP-Liberals continue to increase the carbon …
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Mr. Speaker, after nine years, indigenous people and families living in rural and remote Ontario know the NDP-Liberals are not worth the cost. The impact of the carbon tax on the cost of groceries is a real issue for those trying to make ends meet and feed their families. HungerCount 2024 reports there were over two million visits to food banks across Canada in March of last year. That is up 90% s…
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Madam Speaker, that is a very important question. That is the great mystery we are here to solve: Why do the government members continue to refuse to produce these unredacted documents? It certainly gives the impression that there is something to hide. In my speech, I outlined some pretty questionable acts. One involved the former minister, who did not like what the current chair was saying public…
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Madam Speaker, I do trust the RCMP. I outlined in my speech that I trust the Auditor General and the RCMP; I trust those institutions. What I do not trust is the Liberal government. The RCMP cannot ask for documents if it does not know they exist. That is why we, as parliamentarians, have voted to produce the documents, unredacted, so that the RCMP can see everything that is available. This can po…
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Madam Speaker, as I mentioned in my speech, our job as legislators, elected by our constituents, is to question the government, to keep an eye on the government, the executive branch, and what it does. Parliament, therefore, does have the power to demand certain documents. That is what the democratically elected representatives here voted for. The government continues to obstruct that. As I mentio…
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak today in this very interesting discussion we are having. For those just joining us or those watching on social media, I will give a bit of background before I really get into things. On June 10, the House of Commons adopted a motion demanding the production of various documents related to Sustainable Development Technology Canada. I will refer t…
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Madam Speaker, I think that is easy. It will be when the government produces the documents.
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Madam Speaker, actually, my friend brings up a very good point. It also highlights exactly how the Liberals tend to deal with pretty much everything. It is basically to deny. They say something is not happening, then they say that maybe it is happening a little, but we should not look that way. Then it is happening, but they are not going to deal with it or will try to memory-hole it somehow. With…
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Madam Speaker, I honestly believe that the Liberals have destroyed the trust after nine years in power. How many scandals have we gone through? How many conflicts of interest? How many investigations by the Ethics Commissioner? I think Canadians deserve good government. They are not getting it from that side of the House. Let us call a carbon tax election and find out what Canadians have to say.
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, each year, two students from each of the seven secondary schools in my riding are selected to participate in a program called the “Capital Experience”. It was started 19 years ago by my predecessor, Barry Devolin. During the past three days in Ottawa, they have learned about the various career opportunities that await them. I would like to introduce this year's participants: Calvin Sm…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberals, taxes are up, costs are up, crime is up and time is up. The Liberals once again find themselves mired in corruption and controversy, as witness after witness has testified that the Prime Minister and his ministers stood idly by while billions were stolen by businesses falsely claiming to be indigenous-owned. The Assembly of First Nations has testi…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to stand on behalf of residents of the Bolsover area in Ontario, who would like to present this petition about their concerns with Parks Canada in terms of the bridge owned by the Trent-Severn Waterway. This bridge has been out for well over three years, probably going past four now, and there is still no word on what the Trent-Severn Waterway, through Parks Canada, would…
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Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberals, taxes are up, costs are up, crime is up and time is up. Drug addiction and crime have been running rampant under the government. As a direct result of failed drug policies and the legalization experiment, overdoses have become the leading cause of death for children in British Columbia. In fact, numerous first nations in B.C. are in a state of eme…
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Mr. Speaker, the answer is clear to Canadians: End the NDP-Liberal government's failed hard-drug experiment and save lives. Rather than stemming the tide of overdose deaths, the Prime Minister's radical experiment has flooded our communities with dangerous opioids. It is even worse in B.C.'s first nations communities, where people are dying at six times the national rate. When will the NDP-Liberal…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, the work we in the opposition have been doing with indigenous communities and leaders shows our commitment to listening to voices on the ground level and reducing and hopefully eliminating this “Ottawa knows best” approach. We have already announced a number of policies that will take control of communities away from Ottawa through a resource charge, which will allow communities to …
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, the crux of my speech was about how we need to level the playing field between indigenous police services and non-indigenous police services. During my speech, I mentioned the disparities in wages, benefits and training. Those are all pretty important things when talking about policing, and not only with recruitment but with retention. I mentioned the funding model and that many of …
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With regard to performance audits or similar types of assessments related to passport processing times, which were ongoing or have been conducted since May 1, 2022: what are the details of each audit or assessment, including, for each, the (i) start and end dates of the time period audited or assessed, (ii) summary and scope of the audit or assessment, (iii) findings, (iv) recommended changes to i…
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With regard to government expenditures on gala, concert or sporting event tickets, since January 1, 2023: what was the (i) date, (ii) location, (iii) total cost, (iv) cost per ticket, (v) number of tickets, (vi) title of the persons using the tickets, (vii) name or title of the event for which tickets were purchased by, or billed to, any department, agency, Crown corporation, or other government e…
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Madam Speaker, as I rise to speak at this emergency debate, I would like to take a moment to recognize the six indigenous people who lost their lives on whom this debate centres, specifically Steven Dedam, Danny Knife, Hoss Lightning, Jack Piche, Tammy Bateman and Jason West, and to acknowledge the trauma and loss that their families, friends and communities are suffering at this time. Indigenous …
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Madam Speaker, I will try to answer as much of the member's question as I can. I wrote down notes. Hopefully I have it all. As the critic for Crown-indigenous relations and indigenous services for the opposition, it is part of my job, my mandate, to develop policy that will be put into our next election platform. I note that some of the things I mentioned today were from previous policy documents …
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Mr. Speaker, I will give a good, positive example from what the province of Alberta is doing, because it often leads the way when dealing with indigenous communities. We can look at what the Siksika are doing. They are working to build their own justice system. In fact, I believe construction on a new courthouse has already started where they will be able to implement their own restorative justice…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, Food Banks Canada released a report saying that, under the Liberal government, Canadians are living in poverty. The rate has risen from one in 10 to now one in four, which is nearly six million more Canadians than reflected in Stats Canada's most recent poverty rate data. If one is indigenous, it is worse still, with one in three living in poverty. According to the MDI, a poverty metr…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, we do not need to go far to find the wasteful spending in the current government. The list goes on. It will not take much to figure it out. I have a lot of respect for my friend as well. Yes, those jobs did leave in the 2000s. Guess who was in charge in the province of Ontario. It was the Liberal Party of Ontario. The Liberals cannot say the jobs left under Harper but forget who was…
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to stand today to speak to Bill C-69, the budget implementation act. As we have heard in the debate going on tonight regarding the bill, there are a number of concerns on this side of the House, specifically the government's new spending ideas: $61 billion in new spending. We do this when we are having and dealing with a very real inflation crisis that i…
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Madam Speaker, likewise, I do respect the member, but he also forgets we were in a global economic crisis, and countries all around the world agreed that they would deficit-spend on infrastructure. It was agreed that the taps would open but eventually would close, and that is where the Liberals forget that the story continues. One has to turn off the taps in order to maintain financial strength. T…
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Madam Speaker, the Harper government started the mechanism that allowed the jobs to be created. The government of the day, when it came in, just benefited from them. What did the government do at the time? It raised taxes. It slowed down the economy. Now what do we have? We have misery. We have tent cities. We have food bank usage that is the highest it has ever been. How can that be a mark for su…
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moved: Motion No. 28 That Bill C-69 be amended by deleting Clause 108. Motion No. 29 That Bill C-69 be amended by deleting Clause 109. Motion No. 30 That Bill C-69 be amended by deleting Clause 110. Motion No. 31 That Bill C-69 be amended by deleting Clause 111. Motion No. 32 That Bill C-69 be amended by deleting Clause 147. Motion No. 33 That Bill C-69 be amended by deleting Clause 148. Motion No…
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Mr. Speaker, the latest number from Stats Canada shows that, under the Liberal government, Canadians have seen one of the steepest falls in living standards in our country's history. This means that our quality of life has now dropped to the same level it was eight years ago, while the unemployment rate is up from last year. After nine years of the Liberal government, Canadians are worse off. They…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are ruining the economy. Production of made-in-Canada goods and services has declined for the fourth straight quarter; the latest drop was by 0.7% in the first three months of this year. Canada remains last of 37 market-based countries that have not recovered from before the pandemic. In fact, Canada underperforms the American economy by the widest margin since 1965; sadl…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Madam Speaker, it is a sad reality that almost daily my office is approached by someone who just cannot catch a break in navigating through the cost of living crisis. Renate from Beaverton, a senior who suffers from severe allergies, has been stuck in an unsuitable unit for years because rental rates are far too expensive. Meghan from Kawartha Lakes, a farmer, business owner and mother, is faced w…
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