Government Orders
Madam Speaker, there is the industrial tax. Do members know it was the Province of Alberta, with a Progressive Conservative government, that first introduced an industrial tax in Canada?
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Madam Speaker, it was possibly the first jurisdiction in North America, I agree, and that was a Progressive Conservative government. Why did the Conservatives not get rid of it? In fact—
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Madam Speaker, that does not matter to the far-right Conservatives today, because all they want to do is fly up the flagpole some form of information, usually misleading, all in an attempt to try to agitate Canadians. Every member of the Liberal caucus is concerned about food inflation. We all are. That is why we have introduced Bill C-19, a bill that would provide grocery and essentials benefits:…
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Madam Speaker, there are a lot of good things in the budget. Let us talk about the national school food program, which feeds 400,000 children in Canada. It is a program that is needed, and the Prime Minister made it a permanent program in this budget. Where is that budget today? The Conservatives are filibustering the legislation. They talk about it. When it comes down to the reality, there are a …
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Madam Speaker, the good news is that with the groceries and essentials benefit, the biggest benefactors would be individuals on fixed incomes, and we are talking about a lot of seniors. They would benefit in a very big way from it. In regard to the OAS issue, the previous government had increased it by 10% for those 75 and over. The rationale was that there is a difference between 65 and 75 in ter…
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Madam Speaker, the Prime Minister, over the last number of months, has demonstrated very clearly to all Canadians that he wants to build a team Canada approach, bringing provinces together with indigenous communities, looking at ways we can build a stronger and healthier country and at the same time supporting Canadians where they are on the issue of affordability, like with the groceries and esse…
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Madam Speaker, I am not a farmer myself, but over the years, I have lived in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. I have visited many farms. I have talked to cattle producers, hog producers and chicken farmers. I have visited, driven on tractors and so forth. I understand the important role that our farmers play today, as does the Prime Minister. It is one of the reasons we were able to bridge the …
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Mr. Speaker, they say, “Hear, hear!” and they applaud. We also hear it from the leader of the Conservative Party, and we have witnessed first-hand the types of actions the Conservative Party would take if it were given the chance to govern. These are the far right Conservatives. Do not get them confused with progressive Conservatives. I feel for those Conservative members of Parliament who are so-…
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Mr. Speaker, when I look at this particular piece of legislation, I think it is important to emphasize the difference between the Bloc and the government of the day, the Liberal Party of Canada. We will find that every Liberal member of Parliament recognizes that one of the greatest assets that Canada has, when we talk about building Canada strong, is the diversity of Canada. It is the people of C…
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Mr. Speaker, in so many ways, the member is just wrong in many of his assertions. I would ultimately argue that the new Prime Minister and the government, in the last nine months since the last election, have put forward a substantial crime legislation agenda. We have witnessed, day after day from the Conservative Party, a filibuster of an important issue that Canadians want us to address. Bill C-…
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Mr. Speaker, it is really important for all members of all political parties to realize that when we talk about the issue of crime, the Prime Minister made a commitment to Canadians in an election platform, and we have substantial legislation before us. We can talk about Bill C-2, Bill C-9, Bill C-14 or Bill C-16, the debate that we are having today. Bill C-14 is bail reform legislation. Bill C-16…
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Mr. Speaker, I am encouraged, to a certain degree, because it takes a lot of bravery for the member to go against what his leader is saying. He believes that a safety valve is an effective tool. That is what he has said on the record. I can appreciate that his leader and the entire Conservative caucus disagree. On the issue of filibustering, let us be very clear that we would have bail legislation…
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Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the Minister of Finance can amplify why this legislation is so important. I know the feedback that I have received and the feedback from many of our colleagues is that affordability is an important issue. Canadians are genuinely concerned about grocery prices. Can the minister give a clear statement of why every member of the Conservative Party should be making it very cle…
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Mr. Speaker, many Ukrainian settlers came to Canada in order to escape the conflict and instability that has been caused by the illegal Russian invasion. Many of them have settled in rural communities and gained employment, become entrepreneurs and so forth. They are asking for Parliament to work with provincial jurisdictions, in particular in my case in the province of Manitoba, to respond, hopef…
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Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate many of the comments the member put on the record this afternoon. It pleases me, the degree to which we have wonderful support coming from the House on this particular piece of legislation and ultimately for seeing it go to committee. I understand that the Bloc, and I suspect the Conservatives, have genuine concerns in regard to the bill's ultimate implementation and mayb…
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Mr. Speaker, what we have before us in Bill C-19 is recognition of the importance of providing an increase in disposable income to support individuals in acquiring their groceries. This is the essence of the legislation. We are not talking about just this year. Over the next few years, Canadians will continue to receive that extra bump up from the grocery rebate. This is, again, to take into consi…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise to speak to Bill C-19. It was not that long ago, just back in April, when Canadians had a vote and elected the new Prime Minister of Canada, along with 70 new Liberal members of Parliament. Through that last election, a number of issues really came to the surface. The whole idea of building Canada strong, building healthier and stronger communities, is somethi…
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Mr. Speaker, he should be applauded for taking that action; I agree. Another action he took was to give a tax break, reducing taxes for 22 million Canadians. These are the types of initiatives that were taken shortly after the last election. We continue to look at ways we can support Canadians. When we take a look at the grocery prices as a whole, we see that Canada is doing relatively well compar…
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Mr. Speaker, I am at a condo on Metcalfe and Lisgar, and there is a Farm Boy nearby. Maybe the member and I could go there and buy some eggs, milk and bread. Then we could see if there is any tax on those three items or the groceries Canadians want to buy. This is an imaginary tax, and the Conservative Party is trying to give Canadians a false impression around it. The member knows full well that …
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Mr. Speaker, ultimately, I believe this is the most effective way for the government to support grocery relief for Canadians. For Canadians, including single parents, some with three children, and those on a fixed income, many of whom will be seniors, the most effective way of ultimately delivering and putting the money in the pockets of Canadians is done through exactly what Bill C-19 is doing. T…
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Mr. Speaker, the short answer is this. It is because the leader of the Conservative Party, which has really gone far right, I would ultimately argue, takes this “just get out of the way” attitude, as if government does not have any role to play in terms of assisting Canadians in any fashion whatsoever. We have seen that demonstrated day after day. I believe, from a national perspective, that the g…
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Mr. Speaker, the member talked about how they are going to get rid of this and they are going to get rid of that as the Conservative Party. We know and understand that the Conservative Party has a certain mentality. That mentality has been demonstrated yet again today, which is just to get out of the way and get the government to stop providing for Canadians. It appears as if the Conservatives are…
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Mr. Speaker, Bill C-19 is a piece of legislation that will at least be a sincere and genuine attempt by the government to provide assistance to individuals through a program that will see significant amounts of money helping with the issue of affordability of groceries. The Conservatives like to give this impression that Canada is broken. Today we have heard a lot about Canada having the worst inf…
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Mr. Speaker, at the end of the day, what we have witnessed from the Conservatives is their not responding to what Canadians are asking them to do, including Canadians in Conservative ridings. What we have witnessed over the last number of months is a Conservative Party that continues to want to filibuster. Interestingly enough, they finally say they are going to pass Bill C-14, the bail reform leg…
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Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear. I at one time asked if we could sit for a couple extra weeks until midnight, and the Conservatives said no. The Conservative Party of Canada is the reason we do not have bail reform or bail legislation today. Will the member apologize for misleading Canadians on that point?
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Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear. The Conservatives have not been supportive of getting legislation passed. I will give us the ideal example of Bill C-14. The Prime Minister and 70 new Liberal members were elected. The government said that bail reform legislation was critically important. We did the consultations, and the provinces, law enforcement and other stakeholders brought forward the legis…
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Mr. Speaker, we must recognize that Bill C-16 would actually reinstate mandatory minimums. It would put in a safety valve so that we would be charter-compliant. The Conservative member from Kamloops, who sits right in front of that member, has actually advocated in the past on the need for a safety valve. The Conservative Party, much like it is doing with Bill C-14, wants to continue to prevent th…
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Madam Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand at this time, please.
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Madam Speaker, I do not know if the member is aware, but Bill C-16 would reinstate mandatory minimums, which is something Canadians want to see. However, the Conservatives seem to want to oppose even that aspect of the legislation. They want to factor it out. Not only do they want to change the legislation, but they do not even want to see the legislation pass. Will the member make a personal comm…
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Madam Speaker, I believe that the member has it wrong. Bill C-16 would reinstate numerous mandatory minimum penalties, something Canadians want to see, yet the Conservatives are opposing it. We have a series of crime legislation. We can talk about Bill C-29, Bill C-9 and Bill C-14, which were popular pieces of bail reform legislation, or about the legislation we have today. The Conservative Party …
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Madam Speaker, I do appreciate many of the comments the member has put on the record. When I think of the legislation, Bill C-16, I think about how it is dealing with the issue of deepfakes and also in regard to elevating femicide to first-degree murder. I think we are in a good position to see the bill go to committee so there can be further discussion. Can the member provide any further thoughts…
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Madam Speaker, I disagree completely with the member opposite. In fact, if he were to give the bill a chance, he would see there is a reinstatement of mandatory minimums. I would highly recommend that he read of those that would be reinstated as a direct result of this legislation. What upsets me most about the Conservative Party of Canada today is that its members like to talk tough. They like to…
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Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to rise today to present a petition from people in Winnipeg North, in particular, who emphasize that Canada's Indo-Canadian community has grown and has a high interest in being able to travel to India. Petitioners are asking to increase the number of international flights that go directly from Canada, and in particular from Winnipeg, to Europe. Whether it is …
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Madam Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
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Madam Speaker, I ask that all notices of motions for the production of papers also be allowed to stand.
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Madam Speaker, when we look at Bill C-18, it is important we put it in the perspective of a commitment in an election platform the Liberal Party presented to Canadians. We have to take a look at the whole issue of the relationship between Canada and the U.S.A. and how critically important it is. Without abandoning our values, we need to look at ways we can increase export opportunities for busines…
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Mr. Speaker, I wanted to first provide a comment. It is important to note that the Bloc legislation that was being introduced was actually defeated by both the Liberals and the Conservatives, ultimately for good reason, and there was a good, healthy debate on that particular piece of legislation. I want to go back to the issue of agriculture. The Prime Minister was in China with a team of individu…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to change the topic but still deal with the issue of trade. I have become very much interested in where the Conservative Party lies. The Prime Minister went to China, along with the Premier of Saskatchewan and others. There has been a fairly well-established irritant in some trade dealing with, for example, canola, which is so critically important to the prairie provinces. I su…
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Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions amongst the parties and if you seek it, I believe you will find unanimous consent to put the question on Bill C-18 at second reading at this time.
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Mr. Speaker, I would request a recorded vote.
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Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I suspect if you were to canvass the house, you would find at this time unanimous consent to call it 5:30 p.m., so we could begin private members' hour.
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Madam Speaker, the member should look into it. The biggest devastation to ever take place in our manufacturing industry over the last number of generations was when Stephen Harper was the prime minister. I can be political too, but at the end of the day, when I look at Canada I see that it is a country we should all be very proud of—
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Madam Speaker, it is interesting. We need to realize that when the leader of the Conservative Party sat in the Conservative cabinet with Stephen Harper, they did not build even one inch of pipeline going to the west coast through B.C. They did not build one inch. That is the reality. They will say they built some pipelines that went down to the States. Yes, that is true. They did build some pipeli…
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Madam Speaker, one of the things that has been clearly amplified over the last number of months, and why Canada is being so well received by investors in foreign lands, is consistency. Investors do not want to see rules being changed. That is an important aspect, whether it concerns a private corporation or any other sort of investment firm looking to invest in Canada. Does the member realize that…
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Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to stand to speak on a Conservative opposition day, which is kind of a flashback to the last election. If we take the time to read the motion the Conservatives put forward, we cannot help but think of the last federal election. I will remind my friends across the way that the things the Conservatives are talking about are the things that they incorporated into their…
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Madam Speaker, the member across the way asks, “How is that going?” The Prime Minister continues to meet and have dialogue with the provinces. This has had a positive impact on Canadians and our economy. Building Canada strong means trying to get those national trade barriers taken down. The member across the aisle from Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman made reference to Crown Royal. There has been a bit …
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Madam Speaker, first of all, if the member was listening, he would know I talked about Crown Royal. I even referred to the member. He might want to do a retake on that. When the member was the parliamentary secretary to the minister of national defence, the GDP level of financing for the military was just below 1%, likely the lowest in the history of Canada. The new Prime Minister has already brou…
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Madam Speaker, it will be an interesting vote. I am going to vote against it. Most of the people in my riding voted against the Conservative Party and the political platform it presented in the last election. The government is on the right track. We are in fact building a stronger and healthier Canada. The proof is in the pudding; we have accomplished a great deal, and we continue to want to do mo…
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