Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, issues related to our seniors are, of course, very important in my riding. I imagine it is the same thing in my colleague's riding. When it comes to seniors between the ages of 65 and 74, we promised to increase the guaranteed income supplement. We understand the importance of this program, particularly for low-income seniors in this category. I agree it is important that we support o…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague is truly a champion for farmers and producers, both in the House of Commons and in her riding. The government has put a concrete measure in place by enhancing risk management programs. The compensation rate for the AgriStability program has been increased from 80% to 90%. Other reference margin limits have also been eliminated. We have a concrete plan and we have implemen…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question. Our government's position is crystal clear: We will continue to take economic interests and the importance of climate competitiveness into consideration. Our Prime Minister thoroughly understands the importance of addressing the challenges raised by climate change and the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. That said, the world …
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Mr. Speaker, our government believes that there is an important role for foreign direct investment in this country. We want to deploy Canadian capital for projects, and we want to support Canadian companies. However, there is capital that is global that wants to invest in Canada, support Canadian workers and provide Canadian energy to the world. I would remind the hon. member that when we look at …
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Mr. Speaker, I would agree with the member for Winnipeg North. The Prime Minister has said this himself. He is a pragmatic individual. He is putting forward a pragmatic government that is looking to balance those two really important metrics. I highlighted, and I think I have made the case to the House and to my hon. colleagues, that there is now an economic imperative. There always is, but it is …
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Mr. Speaker, I would say to Belinda that this is exactly why we introduced a middle-income tax cut in the last session of Parliament to help support 22 million Canadians. That is why we have removed GST on purpose-built homes in the country. That is why we are advancing major national projects that we think are going to stimulate the economy. I will correct the hon. member. I was always proud to r…
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Mr. Speaker, I am deeply proud of the men and women who work in Canada's offshore energy sector in Newfoundland and Labrador and, of course, all across this country. I will remind the hon. member that under the Harper government, it was a 900-day process to actually get a regulatory review and approval. The Liberal government moved it to 90 days. I am happy to actually put on the record here in th…
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Mr. Speaker, I would also like to wish my colleague's constituent a happy birthday. Our government is focused on two priorities: advancing projects in the best interests of the country while ensuring that we continue to fight climate change—
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Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to join today's opposition day debate. This is a really important topic about how we can drive national projects of importance forward while also maintaining a climate competitiveness lens to what we do. I look forward to getting into that, but I know you will permit me about 60 seconds to mention something. Members will notice that today I am wearing an Acadia Unive…
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Mr. Speaker, the member mentioned that the member for Oxford will be introducing Conservative legislation with respect to criminal law reform. The motion today references the “three strikes and you're out” policy of the Conservative Party, which is being put forward by the member for Battle River—Crowfoot. Why is it that this provision does not exist in the legislation from the member for Oxford? …
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Mr. Speaker, I will say a few things. First, I would push back on the idea that there is no judicial independence in this country. Yes, prime ministers and, ultimately, ministers of justice make appointment decisions, and it is a political representative who makes those decisions. However, this is not a politicized process in Canada. This is something we should take deeply personally. It is someth…
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Mr. Speaker, it is important that, yes, we bring the emotion of our constituents to this place. We have to be able to tell stories about the experiences on the ground, but we also have to stay rooted in statistics and facts. If we get beyond that, where do we go? Where does the debate go? It becomes tribalism. In our province, and my position is very clear, our government is going to be introducin…
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Mr. Speaker, it is important to recognize that this is a new government under the leadership of a new Prime Minister. This was a strong platform commitment that the Liberal Party committed to tackling. Our Prime Minister has said before that he is a pragmatic leader. If he identifies issues in society in Canada, we are going to be able to go out and tackle them. This has clearly become an issue th…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome the hon. member for Battle River—Crowfoot back to this place. The member started his speech by talking about the importance of agriculture and the ranching community in Alberta and across the Prairies. To him, I say that he has an ally here in me and this government in supporting agriculture. I am glad to hear that he will be a champion for agriculture in the H…
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Mr. Speaker, it is great to be here this morning and to have the opportunity to engage with respect to today's opposition day motion.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to start by reminding both the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Winnipeg North that I have the floor. I will be splitting my time today with the hon. member for Pickering—Brooklin. I want to pick up on the exchange that I just had with the Leader of the Opposition, the member for Battle River—Crowfoot. It was interesting to ask the question on agriculture, because he…
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Mr. Speaker, it is great to see you again. I hope you had a great summer. Today I rise on behalf of petitioners across the country, including petitioners from the riding of Kings—Hants, who are asking members of Parliament and ultimately the Government of Canada to consider revisiting federal assistance on the Atlantic Loop as part of a federal grant for the HVDC transmission line corridor between…
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Mr Speaker, this is a new government, but for the members who have been involved over the last 10 years, and the hon. member will hopefully agree, reconciliation was an absolute cornerstone of former prime minister Justin Trudeau's tenure here in his service to Canada. We have consistently invested in and put in equity for indigenous partners to be involved in major projects. The government has ac…
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Mr. Speaker, there is a member from the NDP heckling me here on today's point. What she does not understand is that this represents an absolutely tremendous opportunity for indigenous people in this country. She wants to, I guess, perhaps, limit the economic opportunities available to indigenous people in this country. We have increased the loan equity in this—
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Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to join today's debate on Bill C-5, the one Canadian economy legislation. Before I get started, I want to recognize that I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Mississauga East—Cooksville this afternoon. We are living in a very uncertain world. As I speak right now, there are missiles being exchanged between Israel and Iran. There is great tension in the …
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Winnipeg Centre can wait for her turn in this place, when she can happily ask the question. My position, and the position of the government, is that we need to be able to move projects of national interest that include indigenous equity in this country. There are indigenous communities that want to move on national projects—
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Mr. Speaker, we know the value of the Canadian seafood industry, particularly in our home region of Atlantic Canada. The Prime Minister has been very clear. He had a very constructive conversation with the premier of China. We are going to be regularizing communication with the Chinese government. However, the member needs to also understand the geopolitics involved because the seafood industry al…
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Mr. Speaker, I chair the Prime Minister's economic growth caucus. We had the opportunity to welcome chief economists from the major national banks who were supportive of the type of legislation that allows big projects to get built. I do not want to speak for the banks in this country, but I would say that this is the type of legislation that is about building economic resilience in the country. I…
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Mr. Speaker, this legislation is crucial. We are in an economic crisis. This legislation would move forward with the ability to move on interprovincial trade and the reduction of barriers and allow major national projects to get built. The government is absolutely committed to advancing indigenous participation in major national projects. Projects would not be listed if there were not adequate con…
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Mr. Speaker, I think the member for Winnipeg North really got to the essence of what I was talking about. The issue around procurement and improving processes is an important one, but the opposition day motion today blurs the lines in terms of the way the Conservatives have litigated this argument, which does not show any level of nuance. It does not recognize that the government has taken steps. …
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Mr. Speaker, I see it as absolutely on topic, because we are talking about the way the Conservative Party today is litigating its argument on the opposition day, and it is suggesting things that the government should do that do not follow judicial process. I make the natural step to say I have seen over the last two or three years a slipping of that foundational principle by Conservative members o…
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member picked up on a few things. Yes, the government agrees that this was an absolute abuse of the procurement process and that the federal civil servants who were responsible for this did not do their due diligence on behalf of the country. When this became abundantly clear to this government, per the Auditor General's reports, we worked on every single recommendation. We h…
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Mr. Speaker, this is not my first rodeo, so to speak, in this place, so it is great to have this slot with all the members here. I know my Conservative colleagues in particular enjoy when I get up for debate. They will be champing at the bit to ask questions afterward. I am not our hon. colleague from Winnipeg North, so they have a fresh opportunity to engage with this side, although we do love ou…
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This is the problem, Mr. Speaker. They do not like the truth. The truth hurts with regard to what happened three years ago in relation to not following law and order. There are some members on that side, by the way, who come from the public sector prosecution office; they come from law enforcement. That party should absolutely be about those principles. but the Conservatives are falling into this …
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Mr. Speaker, while I respect my colleague from Edmonton West and I am glad he enjoyed the remarks today, I wish he did not feel as though they were all fiction. Again, that plays into a narrative that I do not think is particularly helpful on that side of the way. What is very clear is that the government has a legal process to recover the money that the Conservatives are saying needs to be recove…
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Mr. Speaker, I understand I have about 16 minutes left in my remarks, which is a great opportunity to be able to litigate the opposition day motion that has been put before this House. A lot of Conservative members have stayed around, and I look forward to engaging with them in my round of questions. It is always fun to barb back and forth and to engage in this House. I think this is important. Ev…
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Mr. Speaker, of course they are going to heckle from the other side, but they are playing into a dangerous game. They should say that they take notice and are upset about the way the procurement process happened and that they want the government to take more action, but to suggest in any way that the elected officials of this government were involved in this is an absolute problem.
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Mr. Speaker, is the hon. member suggesting that the Prime Minister of this country should not be engaging with the President of the United States? Obviously we take issue with the illegal and unjustified tariffs that have been put on Canadian industry. The Canadian people just elected the Prime Minister. It was a referendum on which party and which leader is best to handle the nuance and the diffi…
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Mr. Speaker, the chief government whip is correct to highlight that fact. As I said throughout my entire remarks, this was a serious issue, a breach of the way in which the federal public service handled procurement. This was a problematic issue. However, the problem is that when we hear the Conservatives speak, they make it sound as though the elected officials who were in these ministerial portf…
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Mr. Speaker, the 8% increase in government spending is due to the measures proposed in the motion that we studied and that the hon. member voted in favour of. This motion includes a tax cut, a GST rebate for first-time homebuyers and spending related to the removal of the carbon tax. We will be tabling a budget in the fall, and it will show the effectiveness of government spending.
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Mr. Speaker, the member listened to my speech. He heard very clearly that there is a judicial process and that the government is moving on legal action to recover the taxpayer dollars we agree need to be recovered. The member suggests there are Liberal insiders. The member for Winnipeg North made the distinction that the elected members of the Privy Council, when they became aware of this, address…
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Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate for the people who are sitting in the public gallery or who may be watching at home, because the opposition clearly has not delineated the facts on a few things, and one is that there is a process. The motion before us talks about 100 days. My question to the hon. member is this: Does he suggest that there should not be a court process, that if GC Strategies or its a…
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Mr. Speaker, this was a final payment from the Government of Canada for Canadian families living in a province that had a federal backstop. It was therefore a final payment for those families. It did not apply to Quebec or British Columbia.
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a privilege to rise here in the House of Commons. I particularly enjoy participating in opposition day debates. I am pleased to have the opportunity to interact with all my colleagues here, particularly the members of the Bloc Québécois, but also the many Conservative members who speak French. Today's opposition motion was moved by my hon. Bloc Québécois colleague from Sa…
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Mr. Speaker, this is the first time I have delivered a speech entirely in French in the House. It is a very proud moment for me. The Minister of Finance was very clear in the House of Commons. The federal budget will be presented in the fall. I think it is better to do so in the fall because we currently have many challenges ahead of us, including the relationship between Canada and the United Sta…
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Mr. Speaker, because of the U.S. government's position, there is great deal of uncertainty all over the planet regarding free trade. However, as my colleague mentioned, there are other opportunities for us, particularly with Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Many G7 countries are looking into how we can reduce greenhouse gases. It is important to address economic challenges while maintaini…
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Mr. Speaker, eight out of 10 people in Canada paid the carbon tax in provinces where a federal backstop applied, such as Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Families who paid the carbon tax received a payment from the federal government. When the Government of Canada decided to end carbon pricing, it sent them a final payment. Quebec…
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Mr. Speaker, our colleagues have been talking about a budget. We have estimates before the House here. I had the opportunity to review some of them. I think the member for Whitby actually talked about the fact that MPs have the ability to look through the expenditures of government that are being proposed. He talked about housing. I think that is really important. We are proposing to not only remo…
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Mr. Speaker, as I was listening, I could not help but be inspired by the member's personal story of growing up in the United Kingdom. She mentioned her interaction with the Sovereign. I, too, was fortunate to have a brief interaction. I appreciate her comments, her connection and the way that Canada's constitution runs through the United Kingdom, but also that we have diversity across this country…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I will keep it brief. You are more than capable of keeping time. I am here to listen to what the minister has to say, and I think the Chair can keep time. We do not need hon. members screaming “time” when the minister is trying to actually respond to the question.
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Mr. Speaker, let me start by again offering my congratulations to the hon. minister. We are very proud of her in Nova Scotia, and the Nova Scotia members of Parliament who sit in the Nova Scotia caucus. I know we have not shared our time, but I wonder if she could provide a bit of reflection on her Lebanese heritage, her story and what it means to be the Minister of Immigration.
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a privilege to be able to stand here in this place, particularly on opposition days. I know the member for Winnipeg North enjoys it, and so do I. It is a good opportunity for us on this side of the House to critique and also perhaps to find fallacy in some of the arguments that are being put forward by opposition members. I have had the opportunity to look into the opposi…
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Mr. Speaker, my humble question back to my hon. colleague, who I know does a lot of good, important work on housing policy in this place, is about why the Conservative Party would propose to get rid of the supply-side funding that was supporting homebuilding, and has been supporting homebuilding in this country, to fund the GST tax cut. Those two things do not add up, and I know the hon. member kn…
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Mr. Speaker, one of the differences between the way we have handled the public policy issue versus the way the Conservatives have is that this government and this Prime Minister recognized that the policy of carbon pricing at the consumer level had become divisive and that there had to be a change. Instead of just cutting the consumer carbon price, we recognized there were rebates tied to the cons…
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Mr. Speaker, the member talked about the government living within its means, and of course, this government has committed to an operational balanced budget within three years, recognizing that there have to be major capital expenditures, particularly for our Canadian Armed Forces, which the Prime Minister highlighted today. Does the member not recognize the irony that her Conservative Party platfo…
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