Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the number one issue I sensed at the door in the last federal election was the issue of Trump, tariffs and trade. People were genuinely concerned in regard to Canada's economy and the impact the issue was going to have. The Prime Minister made a commitment to Canadians to look at ways in which we can expand trade opportunities beyond the Canada-U.S.A. border. We will be patient, and w…
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Mr. Speaker, my friend made reference to the Canada Infrastructure Bank. I love the contrast between the Liberals and the Conservatives on that particular institution. The member said it is a valuable part of investing in Canada. In fact, in British Columbia, there are at least a half dozen multi-million dollar megaprojects that are taking place in B.C. through the Canada Infrastructure Bank. The …
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Mr. Speaker, here is a flashback. When Stephen Harper became the prime minister, he inherited a multi-billion dollar surplus and turned it into a multi-billion dollar deficit in virtually one year. That is the reality. The highest deficit, when we factor in inflation, was when the leader of the Conservative Party sat in the Conservative caucus with Stephen Harper. Instead of trying to look at issu…
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Mr. Speaker, the member made reference to nuclear energy. One of the new major project is about the advancement of nuclear energy. We have a Prime Minister who in the last number of months has brought together industry, provinces and territories, all for the advancement of major projects that are going to create opportunities for Canadians in every region. Will the member at the very least support…
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Mr. Speaker, during the last election, I am sure the member for Carleton heard at the doors, as I did, a great deal of genuine concern about the Canada-U.S.A. agreement. We talked about two things during the election and coming out of the election. One is that we need to be able to expand our trading opportunities beyond the Canada-U.S.A. border, and the second is that, especially after the electi…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the fine work that my colleague and friend does. I want him to provide his thoughts on the Prime Minister talking about building Canada strong and making Canada the strongest of the G7 countries. What does that mean for him and his constituency?
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Mr. Speaker, what is unbelievable is the attitude the Conservative Party has with respect to not wanting to invest in Canadians and indeed in Canada. The member made reference in his speech to DND and military spending. Does he not realize that the leader of the Conservative Party sat around a caucus that left it at 1% of GDP? This budget would have 2%. How dare the member have any gumption at all…
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Mr. Speaker, I am going to assure the member opposite that every member of the Liberal caucus is listening to Canadians. That is why we have substantial legislation before the House. Unfortunately, the Conservatives continue to filibuster, preventing good legislation from ultimately passing. We have a Prime Minister who is travelling the world to secure future markets for our businesses and Canadi…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it is truly amazing. The Conservatives need to refocus their questions. Quite frankly, when it comes to trade and building Canada strong, we have to look at exports that go beyond the United States. Whether it is with Indonesia, Korea, the Philippines or the United Arab Emirates, the Prime Minister is working hard for Canadians every day to expand trade opportunities. That will mean h…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it is amazing to hear the Conservatives talk about pipelines. In 10 long years, how much pipeline did the Conservatives actually built to the tidewater, to the ocean? It was zero: not one inch of pipeline. Talk is cheap, but we have a Prime Minister and a Liberal government pushing growth for our clean energy and energy in general. I think it is time the Conservatives come on board an…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(a), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to nine petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is with pleasure that I table a petition today signed by many residents of Winnipeg North. What they are looking for is more international flights going out of the Winnipeg international airport over to Europe, ideally to India. Whether it is through members of the House or the Winnipeg Airports Authority, they want to see those flights enhanced.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, if the government's responses to Questions Nos. 409, 410, 411, 412, 413, 414, 415, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421 and 422 could be made orders for return, these returns would be tabled in an electronic format immediately.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all remaining questions be allowed to stand.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that when I listened to Premier Doug Ford, a Conservative, he in essence said that we should pass the budget. He was pleased that it actually passed, because he believes that we need a team Canada approach. The Prime Minister is out and about securing more markets for Canadians. Exports are very important; we are a trading nation. We make up 0.5% of the world's popul…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, I would emphasize the sympathy that I think all members have for victims of this nature and their families. It is something we should all take very seriously, and I will expand on that shortly. I am interested in the member opposite's thoughts in regard to judicial independence. Does he believe that judges do not take into consideration that someone is withholding …
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak to Bill C-236. I believe, at the end of the day, that all members of the House, and I would like to think all parliamentarians, can sympathize with the family members of victims in the situations being portrayed here this afternoon. I suspect there are a number of very high-profile situations people can really relate to. The member himself, in introducing the legislati…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(a), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 12 petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the member spent some time talking about trade. It is absolutely critical that we do spend time talking about trade. In terms of the United States being our number one trading partner, we made a commitment to diversify our trade and to look at doubling exports in the next 10 years beyond the United States. This is one reason that, virtually for the first time in history, we have a Pri…
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Mr. Speaker, that is a lot to take in. It is interesting; the member said that Stephen Harper was the greatest prime minister Canada has ever had. Wow.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the member made that bold statement, but I remind her that it was Stephen Harper who actually appointed the current Prime Minister to be the governor of the Bank of Canada. Having said that, I can assure the member opposite that she is in some wonderland to think that Stephen Harper would be in the top 20 of prime ministers. Let me amplify that by saying that the current Prime Ministe…
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Mr. Speaker, I am encouraged, in a sense, that the Conservatives realized they needed to move an amendment at this stage. We can compare that to the budget, where the leader of the official opposition forgot to move an amendment. At least they got their timing right for this particular amendment, but I disagree with the amendment. There is no surprise there. My friend across the way and I had a wo…
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Mr. Speaker, I wonder if my friend can help me better understand the Bloc's position. The Bloc party ultimately voted against the budget, which would provide so much with respect to benefits, building a stronger Canadian economy and much that is of great substance to the benefit of the Province of Quebec. The Bloc Québécois talked a great deal about the arts program, CBC/Radio-Canada. Surely to go…
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Mr. Speaker, I disagree wholeheartedly with many of the statements the member across the way put on the record. One thing I would note, as the member made reference to the ties between Bill C-15 and Bill C-5, is the port of Montreal. There are significant major project investments there. It employs literally tens of thousands of people, both directly and indirectly. If we factor in the rest of Can…
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Mr. Speaker, listening to the member for Cardigan talk about Prince Edward Island, members can tell that he is a very strong advocate, particularly for the eastern side. He made reference to the SeaRoots Alliance, which is a very strong organization from what I understand. It caters to a lot of people. I wonder if he could share what budget 2025 does for the island, particularly for the SeaRoots A…
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Mr. Speaker, this afternoon I am hoping to be able to address what I believe are three or four really important issues. The first is the issue of health care. I believe that the Prime Minister's and the government's commitment to health care meets the needs Canadians have from their federal government. There are things within the budget that show we understand and appreciate, as a national governm…
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Mr. Speaker, in the last few seconds of my speech, I did have the chance to bring it up, and I am more than happy to reinforce it. In terms of the deficit, we have the second-lowest deficit of the G7 countries, which include Japan, France, Germany, Italy, the U.K. and the U.S.A. With respect to the debt-to-GDP ratio, we have the lowest. At the end of the day, we have a AAA credit rating. We are on…
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Mr. Speaker, that is why I asked the Bloc member the question I did earlier. When we really stop and think about it, the Bloc members talk a great deal about the arts community and how distinct the province of Quebec is. With regard to support for the arts community and what the commitment of the Liberal Party and the Prime Minister has been toward the development and promotion of the arts communi…
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Mr. Speaker, I think that when we look at building Canada strong and what it has to offer, we see that we are talking about energy, streets, bridges, hospitals and community centres. The government recognizes that to have healthy Canadian infrastructure, we have to be prepared to invest in it. By doing that, we are creating opportunities to enhance trade and so forth.
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Mr. Speaker, in my previous answer I provided what I believe are sound numbers, which say very clearly what Canada's deficit and debt situation is compared to the other G7 countries in the world, which are the most influential or powerful countries. Canada is positioned quite well on the debt issue. We are number one in the G7 and number two in the deficit situation. We actually have a AAA credit …
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Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe the member said the previous prime minister “lost his job”. It was the leader of the Conservative Party who lost his job. Do members remember there was a by-election during the summer? Let me give a quote from the IMF, a world organization of over 175 countries: Both Germany and Canada recognize that in this very testing time, they need to use their fiscal space.... I…
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Mr. Speaker, let us talk a little about hypocrisy. When the Leader of the Conservative Party sat around the Conservative government caucus back in the day, they actually had a deficit that was larger, when inflation is factored in, than the deficit that is here today. That is the reality of the 2009 budget, when his leader sat around the government caucus table. Oh, how things have changed now tha…
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Mr. Speaker, it is truly amazing, in terms of how the member reflects. The Conservatives also campaigned on the carbon tax. All he has to do is just reflect on Erin O'Toole. Having said that, I am wondering if the member could provide a clear answer as to why the Conservative Party of Canada does not support investing in Canadians, investing in Canada's infrastructure or promoting external trade b…
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Mr. Speaker, it is apparently very clear: The Conservative Party and the Leader of the Conservative Party truly do not understand what it means to invest in Canada and invest in Canadians. The Conservatives want to get rid of the Canada Infrastructure Bank. They call it a failure. They would get rid of it. They have no concept. Did they know the Infrastructure Bank is responsible for literally ten…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I think this is really important, because the member does owe an apology, not to the House of Commons but to Canadians. The member said there are “older people who cannot pay the rent or the electricity—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the member made reference to Canada and the whole deficit and debt situation. It is important to recognize that when we look at G7 countries, we are number one on debt. We are number two, I believe, on the deficit situation. We have a AAA credit rating. In fact, if we compared Canada's deficit this year to the deficit in 2009, when the member's leader sat in the Conservative caucus, a…
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Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent for the following motion. I move: That, pursuant to subsection 24(1) of the Building Canada Act and section 62 of the Emergencies Act, a special joint committee of the Senate and of the House of Commons be appointed to review the Governor in Council's and the Minister's exercise of their powers and performance of their duties and functions under the Building C…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague has often made reference to what our caucus talks a great deal about: how we are going to move forward to build Canada strong. We talk about building the strongest economy in the G7. That is important to all members of the Liberal caucus, and it is being spearheaded by the Prime Minister. It is one of the reasons he is aggressively pursuing trade that goes beyond Canada-U…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise and speak to a very important piece of legislation, a legislation we had a great deal of discussion on following the federal election in April. The Prime Minister and the Liberal caucus are committed to building the strongest economy in the G7. This is something we have talked a great deal about, but more important than talking about it, the government has und…
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Mr. Speaker, the point is that the opportunities are there, and I would hope the Conservative Party recognizes the value of the initiatives we are taking. I believe that last summer, the Conservatives might have even voted in favour of Bill C-4. Now things have changed. Their leader has gotten elected here, so that might have changed the dynamics somewhat, but the point is that at least in princip…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(a), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to four petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, oh, what games the member is up to. I will tell her directly that the food program exists. Children are being fed. Contrary to the Conservative Party, the Government of Canada supports the children of Canada. This is incorporated into the budget, and I sure wish the members opposite understood the program, supported the program and abandoned the leader of the Conservative Party's appr…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, if the government's responses to Questions Nos. 396, 397, 398, 399, 400, 401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407 and 408 could be made orders for returns, these returns would be tabled in electronic format immediately.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
[For text of questions and responses, see Written Questions website]
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I would ask that the remaining questions be allowed to stand.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I ask that all notices of motions for the production of papers be allowed to stand.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, as clarification for my colleague across the way, the Conservative Party's position on the national food program is to get rid of it. It does not even recognize its existence. That is the reality of the Conservative Party's position. If I am wrong, I look to the House leadership to come forward. I would remind my friend across the way that some of his colleagues have called the progra…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I, for one, am very grateful for our new Prime Minister and the way he determined that we can, in fact, get rid of the carbon tax. That is what Bill C-4 would do. I am very grateful that he has also recognized through this legislation that a direct tax break for all Canadians is needed. Obviously, that includes a break on income taxes, which are paid in every region of the country by …
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Mr. Speaker, look at the cost of living issue and think about the programs incorporated within the budget, such as the national food program that we have discussed, the pharmacare program, the dental care program, the child care program and the Canada child benefit program. All of these, collectively, are there to support children and others because of the cost of living issue, and other issues. B…
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