Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it was not enough for the Liberals when they paid out $9 million in CERB payments to dead people last year. It has now been revealed that they have paid out $12 million in CERB to people abroad. Surely, even the government realizes it is the “C-E-R-B”, not the “oversea-E-R-B”. Will the minister, to apologize to Canadians for this waste of taxpayers' money, stand and commit to recoveri…
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Mr. Speaker, the government has again stiffed Canadian IT companies and awarded a sensitive tech contract to a foreign company. It is so sensitive, in fact, that it stated the work had to be done here in Ottawa using a government computer, yet the work is actually being done outside the country and certainly not on a secured government server. However, do not worry. For security, it told the compa…
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That is not at all the case, Mr. Speaker. The government, when queried, actually claimed the workers had to stay in the U.S. due to COVID restrictions, but during the first year of the pandemic, seven million people were able to cross the border into Canada. The Liberals famously even exempted wealthy, connected American CEOs from the border restrictions. Why would the Liberals give a pass to the …
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You are doing nothing.
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Two years ago.
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Madam Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague on his maiden speech. I hope we have a lot of opportunity in the future to hear him speak again and not be muzzled like the rest of his colleagues. A lot of the back-and-forth with my hon. colleague is good-natured, despite his rather dysfunctional relationship with the truth. This is a serious and non-partisan question for my colleague. There is …
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his passionate speech. It is very important for Canadians to understand the effects of the Liberal carbon tax on our farmers and on our cost of food. One of the things that we have been arguing about for years is that the government will say it is a levy and, therefore, it is not a tax. However, if we look at the OECD guidelines, a forced charg…
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Madam Speaker, my youngest son was born in the riding of my colleague for Parry Sound—Muskoka many years ago, and I always have fond memories of living there. I am very pleased to join the debate on Bill C-8 today. Technically, it is called “An Act to implement certain provisions of the economic and fiscal update”, but it is also known as, “What is another $7 billion between friends or between the…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my associate from Winnipeg North. In jest, he is not my friend but more of an associate. We in the Conservative Party have been asking for these rapid tests for close to two years, yet now the government is finally saying, “Oh, we'll get around to it, but you better give us the money.” It is not an issue of just spend, spend, spend or we are going to take the r…
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Madam Speaker, we have a philosophical difference. I do not believe that we should use taxpayers' money to subsidize wealthy people. As members of Parliament, I think we are in the top 4% or 5% of income level in Canada, and we should not be subsidizing members of Parliament to buy electric cars, period.
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for the question and for the rides from the airport. Yes, the more we subsidize it, the more it is just driving up the price. Demand will always expand to take up every free thing offered by the government. Further to the gentleman from the Bloc's question, study after study shows that the actual return on investment and the reduction of GHG with electri…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the outstanding community service of my friend, Linda Roussel. In 1992, Linda founded Kids on Track, a community organization in Edmonton West that provides hope, direction and ongoing support for children and their parents. Starting with just three families and 17 children at their first meeting, the program has grown to serve over 25,000 children over the years. …
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With regard to the Prime Minister’s pledge to lower oil and gas emissions: what is the projected loss of (i) jobs, (ii) federal tax revenue from the province of Alberta and the federal government for the year 2022 as a result of the pledge?
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With regard to the 4.7% rise in the Consumer Price Index over the last year and future inflation: (a) what are the government’s estimates on the added increase the rise has had on trucking costs; and (b) what are the government’s estimates and projections for the next 12 months on the increase in food prices as a result of the added trucking costs?
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With regard to the impact of inflation on the Market Basket Measure (MBM) and the poverty line: (a) what is the current, or latest, MBM for the reference family and various poverty lines in each of the MBM geographic areas in Alberta; (b) what was the “2018-base MBM” for the reference family and various poverty lines in each geographic area in (a); (c) what percentage of individuals living in each…
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With regard to the procurement of supplies related to the COVID-19 pandemic: (a) what is the number and percentage of contracts and the total amount and percentage of the total amount of all spending on supplies that went to organizations owned by (i) women, (ii) Indigenous people, (iii) people of colour, broken down by region; and (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by province or territory?
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Madam Speaker, it is mid-December and there are still no public accounts. There are disturbing stories that the Liberal government has actually reopened the audited public accounts and changed them for political gain. Earlier this week when we asked about this, the President of the Treasury Board refused to answer, so I will ask about it again. Did the government reopen the public accounts and alt…
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Madam Speaker, I wonder if it is normal to reopen the public accounts and doctor them. The public accounts are audited financial statements of the government, yet the Liberals are delaying the tabling of these accounts. We have out-of-control Liberal government spending, yet no accounting of over $600 billion of taxpayers' money. Why has the government not yet tabled the public accounts? Is it bec…
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Madam Speaker, I am quite stunned by the hypocrisy of the members opposite. They talk about how important it is to get this bill passed immediately, after playing political games by proroguing Parliament and then calling an early election. If they had not called an early election, we would have been here in mid-September and could have passed this bill then. However, they interrupted Parliament wi…
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Mr. Chair, could the President of the Treasury Board confirm that the bill is in its usual form?
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Madam Chair, have the comptroller general, deputy receiver general and the Auditor General signed off on the public accounts yet?
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Madam Chair, I congratulate my colleague on her appointment as President of the Treasury Board Six hundred billion dollars was spent, with little or no oversight from the government. The Public Accounts should have been released in October, but still nothing from the government. When will the Public Accounts be tabled?
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Madam Chair, have the public accounts been signed off yet by the comptroller general, deputy receiver general and the Auditor General?
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Madam Chair, is it true that the government has reopened the public accounts to make changes to them for political gain?
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Madam Chair, this is a very straightforward question and can be answered very simply with a yes or no. Is it true that the government has reopened the public accounts to make changes to them for political gain?
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Madam Chair, is it true that the public accounts were signed off on by the comptroller general, deputy receiver general and the Auditor General in the fall and then reopened to backload costs in order to make next year's budget numbers show a smaller deficit and a reduced debt-to-GDP ratio?
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Madam Chair, this is frightening. There is $600 billion in spending and the Liberals will not answer the simple question if the public accounts have been signed off on. Have the public accounts been reopened to have more money put in by this government?
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Madam Chair, will the President of the Treasury Board resign her position if it turns out she has misled the House on this issue of whether the government has reopened the public accounts to add in more costs for political gain?
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Madam Chair, the public accounts are normally tabled in this House in October. It is now mid-December. What is the government hiding? Why has it not tabled the public accounts yet?
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Madam Chair, the timeline is in October. I have an email from the executive assistant, Treasury Board Secretariat. It is a call letter telling the departments that the departmental results reports are due October 13 to Treasury Board with a date to publish and table in the House November 2. I know that the information has been loaded into the government's database and so it is ready to publish. Wh…
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Madam Chair, the question is about the departmental results reports. The TBS website states that the departmental results reports “inform parliamentarians and Canadians of the results achieved by government organizations for Canadians.” We have an internal email that the departmental results were finalized and submitted to government on November 2, but the government has not tabled them yet. Why i…
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Madam Chair, the departmental results reports are ready. From the government's own internal emails, they were ready November 2 and sent to the Treasury Board. The Information Commissioner, Caroline Maynard, has blamed the government's failure regarding the access to information system on the “culture of secrecy” that exists. What is the average number of days for completing an ATIP?
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Madam Chair, the minister has staff here right in front of her. I am sure they can look at that information and get back to us, and I will ask the question again. What is the legislated number of days allowed for answering an ATIP?
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Madam Chair, the legislation says 30 days. That is the law. The minister should know that. How many ATIPs are past the 30 days allowed by the legislation?
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Madam Chair, the minister's own departmental plan shows that the goal is to violate ATIP legislation 10% of the time for ATIP requests. Why is the government setting a goal for the legislation to be ignored for one out of every 10 ATIPs?
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Madam Chair, the Information Commissioner has stated that the disastrous ATIP mess long preceded COVID, so it is not an excuse. Will the minister commit to zero tolerance for not delivering on what is in the legislation regarding ATIPs?
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Madam Chair, the minister's own departmental plan, signed by the previous Treasury Board minister, sets a percentage for public service employees who indicate they have been a victim of harassment. The goal is to have 12%. The goal is one out of every eight people. Why is the goal not zero tolerance for harassment?
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Madam Chair, if we wish to avoid harassment, we do not set a goal that 12% of staff can be harassed. We set a goal for zero tolerance. How much is in the estimates to settle class action suits against the government from its employees for harassment issues?
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Madam Chair, I have read the estimates. There is a quarter of a billion dollars just for DND. Also, the government has not set zero tolerance as a goal. It has set 12% as a goal. Last night in her speech on the estimates, the Treasury Board president read right from the estimates documents that the estimates are seeking Parliament's approval for spending, yet the estimates contained $7.1 million f…
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Madam Chair, the estimates process is for Parliament to approve money before spending it, yet there is $7 million for an event that has already happened. Does the President of the Treasury Board approve of the process of bypassing Parliament to spend money before being approved?
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Madam Chair, the homeless rate in Edmonton is up 60% since the Liberals took over, yet Edmonton received just $15 million for the rapid housing initiative. How does it in any way make sense that Edmonton's homeless would get $15 million, but the government has $7 million for a book fair in Frankfurt?
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Madam Chair, my colleague would know that I do know this, and the government is giving only twice as much for 2,800 homeless people in Edmonton as it did for a book fair in Frankfurt. We have seen the government claw back GIS benefits from seniors who received COVID support. How much has been clawed back from the tens of billions given to profitable multinationals and hedge funds for the wage subs…
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Madam Chair, it is remarkable that the former Treasury Board president fails to answer that because in committee he told us that the tens of billions of dollars for the wage subsidies did not even go through the Treasury Board process before the money went out the door, which is how we saw it go to hedge funds and multinationals. They are going after seniors by clawing back the GIS. How much is ge…
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Madam Chair, significant new spending has to go through the Treasury Board process. In the Treasury Board estimates there is $82 million for a COVID policy for public service. TBS officials told us it was for rapid testing purchases and distribution. The Treasury Board website shows there are 3,400 unvaccinated employees seeking accommodation. That works out to about $24,000 per employee for rapid…
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Madam Chair, at $24,000 per employee, who is providing these rapid tests? Is it SNC-Lavalin?
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Madam Speaker, what a joy it is to be back in the House and be here for the rare occurrence of hearing the member for Winnipeg North speak. It happens about as often as a full eclipse of the sun. It is amazing. I am going to tell my grandkids that I was here to hear the member speak. It is actually disappointing that the Liberals have so many new members, yet time and again it is the same chap who…
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Madam Speaker, we need to do more. A lot of it is provincial jurisdiction. The member talks about funding, and I believe there is funding available. I looked at the wage subsidy, and the billions upon billions that were given to wealthy hedge fund managers and other corporations. That money could have fairly—
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Madam Speaker, I do not recall reading a single National Post or Globe article stating that the Conservative Party was pushing misinformation or using it for political divide against the Prime Minister. I just read verbatim from a National Post article. It is disgraceful that gentleman would misinterpret, purposely perhaps, my speech. Nowhere did I say that anything the Prime Minister did justifie…
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Madam Speaker, I am disappointed with that question. I have respect for some of the interventions my colleague has made today. We are talking about trying to bring Canadians together and not politicizing the issue, and that is what we are hearing with this question. Our party has been very clear that vaccines are the best way to get us out of this pandemic, not continuing to try to divide us polit…
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Madam Speaker, as this is my first speech in the 44th Parliament, I beg the House's indulgence to allow me a few minutes to thank some folks. First of all, I want to thank the good people of Edmonton West or, as I call it, “Edmonton West Edmonton Mall”, for sending me to this place for the third time. Each time I have been elected has been as special as the first, so I thank them very much. I am v…
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