John Williamson

Mr. Speaker, under this Liberal Prime Minister, Canada is the only G20 nation in recession. Every country faces tariffs and rising energy prices, but these Liberals keep making the same mistakes. Their deficit spending and net-zero regulations kill jobs and make everything more expensive. For Carol in my riding, it means she can no longer afford to drive to and from work each day. For Jackie, it means working full-time as a senior citizen. I want the Prime Minister to tell Jackie and Carol whether they are struggling every day because Canada is in a recession or because it is just a technical recession and no big deal.

Mr. Speaker, the Supreme Court is considering whether to hear a New Brunswick land claim case involving private property across half the province. Supporters of the claim openly argue that aboriginal title should apply to private land. They believe that government should use expropriation powers to transfer it. The Liberals directed government lawyers to not defend private property rights in the Cowichan Tribes case in British Columbia. Will the Prime Minister reverse this directive or will he abandon his responsibility to defend the rights of property owners on Canada's west and east coasts?

However, Mr. Speaker, Canadians are demanding clarity from the government on its legal strategy and that the government stand up and defend private property, but the Liberals are putting private property rights at risk in Canada. In 2019, the Liberal government removed arguments to support fee simple private property rights in the Cowichan case. We cannot blame government lawyers for following ministerial directives. The federal government must ensure fee simple property ownership takes priority in legal cases. Will the Prime Minister protect private property rights in all future negotiations and legal cases with first nations, yes or no?

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 13th report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, in relation to the motion adopted Wednesday, April 22, 2026, entitled, “Report on International Student Program Reforms, of the 2026 Spring Reports of the Auditor General of Canada”. This new audit request by the public accounts committee to the Office of the Auditor General calls for a continued look at Canada's broken immigration system, particularly at screening and at fraudulent activities. Canadians want to find solutions to our immigration system and find out what steps must be taken to do just that. We have discovered that the failures identified by the Auditor General run deep and that they run deep through several departments that are not working together. We urge the Auditor General to take up this audit and report back to Parliament as soon as possible.

Mr. Speaker, I think your ruling was wise. As you said, I did not use the term “intentionally”. We could tell from the member's slack-jawed face when I said we built four pipelines that he has spent too much time reading false Liberal talking points. The Enbridge Alberta Clipper was built over 1,600 kilometres. The TransCanada Keystone was built over 1,200 kilometres. There is also Enbridge Line 9B reversal and Kinder Morgan's Anchor Loop: 1.2 million barrels a day as a result of these pipelines. I worked in the Harper government to build energy east, which the Liberal government killed with regulations after TransCanada spent $1 billion. What position would Canada be in today if we had energy east and the other LNG and oil pipelines that the government killed?

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present in both official languages the following two reports of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. I am presenting the 10th report, entitled “National Trade Corridors Fund - Transport Canada”, and the 11th report, entitled “Main Estimates 2026-27: Vote 1 under Office of the Auditor General”. Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the Committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to each of these two reports. I also have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 12th report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts in relation to a motion adopted on Monday, April 20, regarding section 13 of the Auditor General Act. Everyone agrees that the Auditor General and her team should have access to the information they need to do their job. However, certain federal entities under the scope of her audits were withholding information due to access to information disputes. While her office ultimately obtained the requested information, this process consumed significant time and resources that could have been better spent delivering audits to Parliament and services to Canada. The committee is therefore reporting to the House on the need to modernize section 13 of the Auditor General Act and will be writing to the Treasury Board Secretariat requesting a written response to this matter within 90 days.

Mr. Speaker, back home in New Brunswick, families pay 32¢ more per litre for gasoline than drivers in neighbouring Maine pay. The price difference is not because of global markets. Pumps on both sides of the Maine-New Brunswick border get their supply from the Saint John refinery. The difference is that, because of Liberal tax increases. Canadians can no longer afford to buy the things that we make here in Canada because of high energy taxes. Will the Liberals listen to Conservatives and cut gas prices by 25¢ a litre by eliminating all federal gas taxes?

Mr. Speaker, the United States never had a carbon tax that the government implemented. The Liberals drove up energy taxes for 10 years and when Canadians were screaming in pain, they cut them. They still will not go all the way and reduce the federal gas tax, the industrial carbon tax and the clean fuel standard that keep prices sky-high. When will the government act, cut the taxes and give Canadians the break they need and deserve?

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the ninth report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts in relation to Bill C-230, an act to amend the Financial Administration Act and to make consequential amendments to other acts, with respect to the debt forgiveness registry. The committee has studied the bill and is reporting it back to the House of Commons, with amendments.

Mr. Speaker, criminals are not afraid of this government, but law-abiding Canadians are. Lawful firearms owners are not the cause of crime. Confiscating legally purchased and heavily regulated property will not stop criminals, it will not stop smuggling and it will not stop gang violence. The public safety minister confirmed this week that the Liberals will confiscate legally owned property without fair and due compensation. The minister also said the Liberal gun grab will not be optional for police forces. How many tax dollars will be wasted searching the homes of over 2.3 million law-abiding Canadians? Disarming Canadians and diverting police to the gun grab during a crime wave will not make anyone in Canada safer. Criminals are let off, taxpayers pay the price and law-abiding Canadians are punished. This is what happens when blind ideology replaces good old Canadian common sense.

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. The committee requests that the government establish a public and independent inquiry into cost overruns on information technology contracts, including the Phoenix pay system, ArriveCAN and the benefits delivery modernization program. I would note that the motion was adopted unanimously by the public accounts committee.

Mr. Speaker, another federal wharf in my riding has been condemned. Many others in New Brunswick need urgent repairs. Federal wharves are the lifeblood of coastal communities, but they are being neglected by the Liberals. Just as inland economies rely on highways and airports to get products to market, Atlantic Canada relies on wharves to export high-quality seafood to the rest of Canada and around the world. In the last election, the Prime Minister promised an extra $250 million for federal wharves, but the budget did not include a nickel. Is this another Liberal broken promise?

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the following three reports. The fifth report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts is entitled “Follow-up Study of Gender Based Plus Analysis in the Government of Canada”. The sixth report is entitled “Arctic Waters Surveillance”, and the seventh report is entitled “Delivering Canada's Future Fighter Jet Capability.” Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to each of these reports.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition from Canadians who are concerned about the amendments to Bill C-9 that would put religious leaders and people of faith at risk of political persecution. Petitioners note that this amendment would make it possible for a religious leader to be jailed for expressing beliefs in religious texts. A member of the government even shared this view, stating that there are passages in the Bible that were “clear hatred” and that there “should perhaps be discretion for prosecutors to press charges.” The petitioners call on the government to repeal this amendment and to protect freedom of religion for Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, costs keep going up, but Liberals keep doing the same thing. This year in New Brunswick, families will spend $1,000 more on grocery bills than last year. With 70% of food produced domestically, this is a made-in-Canada problem caused by the Liberals. Food is expensive because Canadian taxes on farming, trucking and packaging keep going up. It is all paid by Canadian consumers, and rising taxes on energy means more pain is on the way. Experts are clear that punishing regulations, inflationary spending and the Liberal industrial carbon tax are the cause. How expensive does food have to get before the Liberals do something?

Mr. Speaker, in the last year alone, the price of groceries has gone way up again. Families are spending over $1,000 more on groceries today than just a year ago. The Liberals say it is not their fault, but that is not true. Canada has the highest food inflation in all the G7. Why are Canada's food prices so high? It is because the Liberals put a tax on food packaging, they put taxes on the farmers and the truckers who deliver our food to grocery stores, and they will not increase competition in grocery chains. Will the Liberals back our Conservative plan for food affordability, which would let Canadians keep more of their hard-earned dollars, or will Liberals keep inflating food prices with ever-higher taxes?

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, two reports from the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. The third report is entitled “Connectivity in Rural and Remote Areas”, and the fourth report is entitled “Forests and Climate Change”. Mr. Speaker, I believe, with your consent, we will hear next from the hon. member for Calgary Midnapore, who will table a dissenting report from the Conservative Party of Canada. Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to each of these two reports.

Madam Speaker, there are two whoppers I want to address that the member spoke to. The first was his idea that prices are high because prices are set abroad and we have nothing to do with that. Of course, under this government, our foreign exchange rate, the value of the Canadian dollar, has plummeted, which is why foreign goods have gone up so much. That is why it costs so much to live in this country and why families and businesses feel poor today. The dollar is down because investment is down, because of this government's policy. For 10 years, the Liberals put in place tax-and-spend policies that have led to that outcome; that is on the government. Second, the member mentioned that the war in Ukraine drove up prices. I live in a border community. Today, if I go to the state of Maine to buy a litre of gasoline, it is 30¢ to 40¢ cheaper in Maine than it is in New Brunswick. That is not because of the war in Ukraine. All that gasoline comes from the refinery in Saint John, it is priced in U.S. dollars on both sides, and so it is because of tax. While getting rid of the consumer carbon tax helped, all the other taxes and regulations from this government are driving up energy, and that is why the government is going to find itself in the same position in a few years. High energy prices—

Madam Speaker, I have a question for the hon. member in response to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, who, in responding to my last question, presumed that when Stephen Harper was in office, the tax differential on gasoline between Maine and New Brunswick was the same. It was not. He was wrong to presume. He should check his facts and get the story straight. It was half the amount. Under the current government, the carbon tax regulations and levies have gone up. My other colleague, my colleague from Saint John, knows this well. Could the member please inform the House what the impact of taxes is on goods? When we tax something, what happens? Does the price go up? Does that explain that big yawning differential in gas prices?