Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, here is a fact. On April 28, the public safety minister said, “It is also a fact that we invoked the Emergencies Act only after police forces agreed.” We do not believe him, Canadians do not believe him and police forces do not believe him. They do not believe him, because this never happened. No police force ever asked for the Emergencies Act to be invoked. What has happened, and thi…
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Mr. Speaker, what is wrong is that the Liberals froze bank accounts, discarded our democracy and ignored our Charter of Rights, all predicated on a fabrication. Invoking the Emergencies Act was an unprecedented power grab, all based on misinformation. No police force ever asked for the Emergencies Act to be invoked. The fact is that the public safety minister has been caught misleading Parliament …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, thunderclouds rolled over the foothills of southern Alberta, bringing desperately needed rain for the grasslands of the foothills. It was a perfect backdrop for a celebration honouring a legendary cowboy. The stories of John Ware are almost too fantastic to believe. He would stop a steer head-on. He would lift small cows and he would break horses that others thought were unbreakable. …
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' front-of-pack warning labels on ground beef and pork, something no other country in the world is doing, put our food security and our vulnerable supply chain at risk. Grocery costs are up 10% and almost a quarter of Canadian families are skipping meals because they cannot afford food, but the Liberals want to put a $2-billion bureaucratic burden on a wholesome protein, m…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I really do appreciate the NDP dance on this issue. With their proposals to increase the carbon tax because it is not doing enough and needs to be higher, they should be celebrating really high gas prices, but now they are trying to dance around it because now the politics are against them. Canadians have to pay more than $2 a litre, likely in his riding, and they have to figure it …
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Madam Speaker, they were going to find those new resources only because of the tariff put on Russian fertilizer by the Liberal government. Again, we are not arguing that there should not be sanctions on Russia, but they should be sanctions that actually impact Russia and its economy. This tariff is only punishing Canadian farmers. If we have realized anything through COVID, it is that we must dive…
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Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Simcoe North. We are talking about an affordability crisis in the House today. I am very confident that I am not the only member of the House who is getting dozens and dozens of calls and emails every single day from constituents who are very concerned about their ability to put food on the table, put fuel in their cars, heat their hom…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to call into question my colleague's comments that the carbon tax is revenue-neutral. We know from the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report that this is not true, and I want to give the hon. member an example. Through Bill C-8, Canadian farmers are getting $1.70 for every $1,000 of eligible expenses as part of their carbon tax rebate. Some of them are paying more than $19,000 …
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Madam Speaker, I agree, but I think the part that we are missing here is that there is an assumption that Canadian producers are not doing everything they can to protect their land, their water, their soil and their livestock. They want to be as efficient as possible, because that is how they remain environmentally sustainable and socially sustainable, but the one critical point is to remain econo…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I want to make sure I have this right. First, the Liberals impose a tariff on fertilizer that only punishes Canadian farmers. Second, they ignore any plea for an exemption on the fertilizer purchased before March 2. Third, they are offering no compensation, meaning that higher taxes and input costs are crushing Canadian farm families. How many other G7 countries are enforcing a fertil…
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Mr. Speaker, please allow me to actually answer the question for the parliamentary secretary. The answer is zero. Canada is the only country punishing its farmers with a tariff on fertilizer. Our G7 allies are doing everything they possibly can to ensure that their farmers can increase their yields in a time of global food insecurity. Here, the Liberals are beating our farmers down with increased …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-275, An Act to amend the Health of Animals Act (biosecurity on farms). Mr. Speaker, I am introducing a bill as an amendment to the Health of Animals Act. This is very fitting with what we have seen across Canada with the spread of avian influenza, the possibility of diseases like African swine fever, and what we have gone through it in my riding with BSE. These …
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Mr. Speaker, I guess we now understand why the Liberals are refusing to answer questions on a fertilizer tariff. It is because they have no idea what we are talking about. In fact, stakeholders in meetings with ministers have been told that the Liberals had no idea that Canadian farmers actually purchased fertilizer from Russia. Now we are the only country in the world that has a tariff on fertili…
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Mr. Speaker, could the Prime Minister tell me if he is beginning consultations for a tariff on urea?
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, it has been more than two years since the start of the pandemic, but Canadians are still reporting high levels of anxiety and depression and are struggling with their mental health. More and more countries around the world are ending their vaccine mandates and travel restrictions and getting life back to normal, but here in Canada many Canadians are still faced with hardship and heart…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the Federal Ministerial Coordinating Committee on PEI Potatoes: (a) what are the (i) dates, (ii) locations, (iii) ministers in attendance, for each meeting of the committee which have occurred since January 26, 2022; and (b) what was accomplished, if anything, at each meeting in (a)?
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Mr. Speaker, I am sure all of us in the House are used to vigorous debate during question period, but there is a line that should not be crossed, especially when it comes to using unparliamentary language. The Prime Minister used an obscenity, and it was not “fuddle duddle”, in describing the official opposition. I would ask the Prime Minister to stand and apologize for that language.
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Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties. In the spirit of Mental Health Week and the incredible work of organizations like the Do More Agriculture Foundation and my colleague from Cariboo—Prince George, I think that if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the following motion, that, in the opinion of the House, the government update the mandate of Farm Credit Canada …
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, ciamar a tha sibh. May is Gaelic Nova Scotia Month, a time to celebrate Gaelic history, culture, language and contributions, not just in Nova Scotia but across Canada. Gaelic speakers were among the first explorers and settlers to our country. It was the mother tongue of Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. When the Scots first immigrated to Canada, Gaelic was the thi…
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Mr. Speaker, Canadian farmers are drowning as costs on feed, fuel and fertilizer skyrocket, but instead of resolving the problems that its own bad policies actually caused, the Liberal government is doubling down. It has increased the carbon tax, it is telling farmers that it will not process their income tax returns and it has hiked fertilizer prices. For weeks we have been asking the Liberals if…
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Mr. Speaker, thanks to failed Liberal policies like the carbon tax and trucking mandates, Canadian farmers are facing skyrocketing input costs on fuel, feed and fertilizer. The Liberals could offer relief. Instead, they are making it worse. The NDP-Liberal carbon tax coalition increased the tax on April 1 and still refuses to clarify its position on a 35% tariff on Russian fertilizer. Canadian far…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have failed on trade compensation for dairy, wine, spirits and beer producers and P.E.I. potato farmers. They continue to fail Canadian agriculture with a punishing carbon tax. Let us review. The Liberals said the carbon tax would reduce emissions. That is false as emissions have gone up. The Liberals said that the carbon tax would be revenue-neutral. It is shocking, but …
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Madam Speaker, I will not get into arguing with my colleague about which riding is nicer. He brings up a very good point. I always appreciate the opportunity to highlight that yes, in my riding, I am the heart of cattle country and Alberta beef. We also take a lot of pride in the fact that we are protecting one of the most endangered ecosystems on planet earth and that is Canada's grasslands. I kn…
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Mr. Speaker, innovative practices such as zero tillage, precision farming and 4R nutrient stewardship ensure that Canadian farmers lead the world in environmental sustainability. These practices should be celebrated, but instead the NDP-Liberal carbon tax coalition is punishing Canadian farmers, and the agriculture minister is complicit. Not only did she vote against exempting farm fuels from the …
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Mr. Speaker, what helps them afford new technologies and innovations is not crippling them with the carbon tax. Let us be clear. The Parliamentary Budget Officer said that not only does the carbon tax not reduce emissions—surprise, surprise—it is not revenue-neutral either. What is happening is the Liberal rebate will give farmers pennies on the dollar compared to what they pay. This is devastatin…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for talking about the impact that the bill will have on his constituents. I really appreciate him talking about the impact it will have on young Canadians and their ability to access some of the things they feel are important, like their first home. I am wondering if my colleague can expand on what he is hearing from his constituents and on the impact th…
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Madam Speaker, it is an honour always to rise in the House to speak on behalf of my constituents in Foothills and, in my role as shadow minister for agriculture and agri-food, to speak on behalf of farmers and farm families across Canada. We are talking about Bill C-8. There is one key element of Bill C-8 that I want to address today and discuss. That is the sharp contrast between what the Liberal…
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Madam Speaker, let us talk realities, as my colleague likes to say. The Parliamentary Budget Officer was very clear. The carbon tax is not revenue-neutral, as the Liberals claimed it was going to be. This is going to cost farmers. Most importantly, let us talk reality. The Parliamentary Budget Officer also said the carbon tax put forward by the Liberals does not reduce emissions. If we are going t…
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Madam Speaker, I do want to thank my colleagues from the NDP, the Bloc and the Green Party who are supporting our private member's bill in exempting the farm fuels from the carbon tax, because it is so important that farmers are able to keep that money in their pockets to reinvest in ways to be more efficient and more sustainable. I want to thank my colleagues around the House for supporting that …
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Madam Speaker, with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a global food crisis is emerging. Canadian farmers want to help, but Liberal policies, like a farm-killing carbon tax and trucking mandates, are handcuffing Canadian farmers, who are already facing skyrocketing input costs on things like fertilizer. A 35% tariff on purchases of fertilizer from Russia is going to hurt. As we get ready for the spring…
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Madam Speaker, when asked about the farm-killing carbon tax, the agriculture minister suggested practices that farmers have adopted for decades, like crop rotation. Is she serious? Clearly, the NDP-Liberal government does not understand Canada's role in food security and sustainability. Farmers do not need the agriculture minister robbing their bank accounts to be sustainable. They have been proud…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I am certainly thankful for this opportunity to speak up for Canadian farmers. I want to thank my colleague, the member for Huron—Bruce, for carrying this private member's bill, Bill C-234, which I am hoping we all will support today and moving forward. I want to build on what my colleague was speaking about in his presentation, but I want to change it a bit and focus my interventio…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the ongoing consultations by the Canada Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) about the regulations surrounding the maximum size of canned white potatoes: (a) what are the total resources, including labour, involved in the consultation; (b) what is the overall budget for the consultation; (c) what is the timeline for the consultation and subsequent decision; (d) how many CFIA inspectors are…
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Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal government will continue to fail Canadian farmers. They have lost markets and trade agreements, and they will continue to treat producers like a piggy bank with the farm-killing carbon tax that is devastating Canadian farmers. According to CFIB, Canadian farmers paid $14,000 a year in the first year of the carbon tax and $45,000 last year. It is devastating to Canadian…
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Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the third report of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, entitled “Supplementary Estimates (C), 2021-22”.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the Federal Ministerial Coordinating Committee on PEI Potatoes: (a) what is the exact mandate of the committee; (b) what specific goals or assignments have been issued to each minister on the committee, broken down by minister; (c) what is the time period provided related to each goal or assignment in (b); and (d) what are the (i) dates, (ii) locations, (iii) ministers in attendance…
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Mr. Speaker, Europe, Asia and Africa all rely on corn and wheat from Ukraine, the region's breadbasket. With Russia's invasion, a global food crisis is emerging. The United Nations has already warned of catastrophic hunger and hundreds of millions are facing famine. Canada can help. We have a crippled supply chain, punishing carbon taxes, a looming rail strike and PEI farmers are being forced to d…
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Mr. Speaker, the Emergencies Act is intended to be a last resort to deal with a clear, imminent threat. It is not a sledgehammer to deal with some future unknown crisis. There is no security threat. The streets are empty and the blockades are gone. There is no threat to our democracy. We are here in the House of Commons, with the world watching, about to have a critical vote. If there is no threat…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, my heart aches to be in the House speaking on this today, and I want to echo some words from my constituents. I know many of us in this room have had thousands of emails and phone calls from constituents. Here are just a couple of quotes from some of those emails and phone calls: “Never did I think I would see this in my country” and “I do not recognize our Canada right now. Our anthe…
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Mr. Speaker, I am glad the hon. member raised that. I know the Liberals want to paint every single Canadian with the same brush, or every single person who was a part of that. I will tell you that I was on the phone for hours on Monday, as were many of my colleagues, with the organizers of the Coutts protest. When they found out that a different group, a militant group, had made their way into the…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague is exactly right, which I think is the impetus of many of the speeches over this weekend and probably going into tomorrow. There are other tools that law enforcement has in their tool box that would have addressed all of this. It addressed the illegal blockades at the borders previous to the Emergencies Act, but certainly to that specific case two years ago. That was…
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Mr. Speaker, I love the fact that the NDP is trying to paint itself out of the corner it put itself in by supporting the Emergencies Act, when their party was founded on protecting the civil liberties of Canadians. Its members are going against the very foundation of their party by trying to make this whole issue about white supremacy. My constituents who live around Coutts and were down there are…
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Mr. Speaker, I am really happy with how the member asked that question. Does she think a few bad apples in a group speak for everyone? Is the constituent she met, which is her constituent, a racist, a misogynist, the fringe, unacceptable or taking up space? I would like to know what her perspective on her own constituent is.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, my colleague mentioned at the end that she is worried that this may set the bar low and that the precedent has now been set for when the Emergencies Act can be invoked. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is taking the federal government to court, stating, “the thresholds set out in the Emergencies Act, the legal requirements put in place to safeguard our democratic processes, ha…
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Madam Chair, I want to thank my colleague. As I have said, we have had lots of discussions about this, and I certainly appreciate his passion. However, many of the members in the House continue to mislead a bit on the comments by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, when they talk about their support for decriminalization. The one key to their statement was that they would support decrimi…
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Mr. Speaker, Canada's Prime Minister is pandering to politics by division, stoking anger and fear. The rhetoric he used towards those Canadians who support lifting the mandate adds fuel to the fire. These are not the actions of a Prime Minister. A senior member of the Liberal caucus has publicly criticized his tone, his language and his approach to the pandemic. Will the Prime Minister act like a …
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians, including a senior member of the Liberal caucus, are speaking loud and clear—
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Canadians, including senior members of the Liberal caucus, are speaking loud and clear. Canadians are looking for pandemic leadership. Canadians are standing up right now, grabbing this moment in our history, because they know there is something fundamentally wrong when a Prime Minister refuses to listen. Countries around the world are changing direction, but here in Canada our Prime Minister reso…
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Madam Chair, I will be splitting my time with the member for Kelowna—Lake Country. It is unfortunate that I have to get up once again to speak about the opioid crisis in Canada. Unfortunately, it seems we are doing this on a fairly regular basis. My colleagues will know that I am not necessarily one to stand up here and talk about statistics and that I try and focus on real stories and anecdotes, …
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Madam Chair, I appreciate that we have had discussions on this, but one thing is missing. I also appreciate what the member is trying to say. Some colleagues have brought up the Portugal model, for example, but the thing they forget to mention about Portugal, where drugs were decriminalized, is that it has invested substantially in treatment and recovery. The number of beds it has for treatment an…
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