Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, while common-sense Conservatives would axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime, the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the cost, crime or corruption after eight years. Canadians are sick and tired of seeing the NDP leader pretending to be outraged over the arrive scam. Let me remind the House that the Prime Minister needed votes to keep funding his $60-mil…
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Mr. Speaker, the previous member stands for the rights of Canadians and getting to the heart of the $60-million arrive scam. The NDP voted yes at least eight times to give tens of millions of cost overruns and money-for-nothing contracts to shell companies, including a $20-million contract to a two-person basement business that wrote the terms for its own contract. The Prime Minister is worth neit…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister stated that his arrive scam app would cost taxpayers $80,000, but in fact it is 750 times more, over $60 million and climbing. Now, the committee studying this scam has heard evidence of forgery, fraud, obstruction of justice and breach of trust by government officials. The arrive scam is just like the Prime Minister, not worth the cost, not worth the corruption. Wi…
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Mr. Speaker, what a completely insincere answer. It is a fraud on Canadians. Since the Prime Minister took office, over $250 million has been given to GC Strategies, two guys working in their basement, $20 million alone for the arrive scam. Criminality is rampant with evidence the committee has recently heard. The arrive scam is just like the Prime Minister, not worth the cost, not worth the corru…
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Mr. Speaker, that type of response proves that the Prime Minister and the NDP-Liberal government are simply not worth the cost. Let me clarify the record: 76% of ArriveCAN contractors performed no work; $11 million went to a two-person basement company for no work; and now top bureaucrats at the CBSA face accusations of lying to committee and even destruction of evidence. After everything else tha…
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Mr. Speaker, last night, in a shameful display, the NDP-Liberal coalition tried to shut down the committee studying the arrive can scam. This $54-million egregious abuse of taxpayers must be fully studied. Canadians deserve no less. More and more details are being revealed, and the corruption within the CBSA and the government is astonishing. The walls are caving in. The rot is being exposed. What…
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Madam Speaker, I think the time has come to stop putting blame on old Conservative policies or what the Conservatives could or should have done. This government has eight years under its belt, and it has nothing to show for it but heartache, hardship and, now, this national and worldwide reputation: “Come to Canada, where we have a thriving criminal market for you to take advantage of.”
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Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Imagine someone waking up in their home, their castle, where they should feel safe at all times, pouring their morning cup of coffee and looking out the window at their driveway, only to realize that their prize possession, their family vehicle that was parked there the night before, is now gone. After eight …
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Madam Speaker, listening to that very carefully, one would almost think that this Liberal government had been in power for maybe one to two years and that it could reflect on the previous Conservative administration. When are the Liberals going to move beyond blaming all of the ills of this country on former prime minister Harper? Why do they not also go back to the Brian Mulroney years? They have…
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Madam Speaker, that is definitely a real concern, and it really accounts for a lot of the car thefts we are seeing. Criminals are very computer- and technology-savvy. There are ways Canadians can mitigate against these procedures, and I know that my local police service is educating the public on the steps they can take. For instance, people should not leave their vehicle in the driveway. If they …
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With regard to the fact-finding report prepared for Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada by Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton (RCGT) dated September 26, 2023: (a) what are the government expenditures related to the report incurred to date, in total, and broken down by type of expenditure; (b) what are the details of the contract awarded to RCGT in relation to the report, including the (…
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, it is clear that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. He gave us three different versions of his Jamaican vacation. First, he claimed he was paying all the expenses for his family's stay. Second, he claimed he was staying at no cost at a location owned by a family friend. Then he claimed that he and his family stayed with friends. …
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Mr. Speaker, the last time I checked, the member for Kingston and the Islands was not part of my election team, my readiness team. Again, he is—
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Mr. Speaker, we often hear from this member characterizing the entire Conservative team as the team that ran on this. I can say that, personally, I did not. I know that several of my colleagues did not as well—
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Prime Minister, Liberal insiders, officials and members behave like the law does not apply to them. They mislead committee, threaten co-workers and funnel taxpayer money through ghost contractors and even through their own companies. The $54 million on the arrive scam app is only the tip of the iceberg. Now the RCMP is investigating corruption with the NDP-Lib…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, outright incompetence is how senior officials to the Prime Minister describe the scandal around the $1-billion green slush fund, $40 million of which is under investigation for suspicious payments. Leaked audio has been recently released, and members will not believe what a Liberal government official had to say about it. He called this fund “a sponsorship-scandal level kind of giveaw…
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Mr. Speaker, silence and shut down are what the NDP-Liberal cover-up coalition did yesterday when the RCMP commissioner was shamefully denied any opportunity to give evidence in relation to the Prime Minister's criminal investigation. Nowhere in the coalition agreement does it say that the NDP needs to be complicit in the Prime Minister's political scandals. After eight years of the government, th…
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Mr. Speaker, that response is the opposite of the definition of transparency and accountability. In 2019, after being found guilty of breaching the Conflict of Interest Act, the Prime Minister claimed he took full responsibility for his mistakes, yet here we are after five years and the RCMP confirms that the Prime Minister refused to release all the documents as requested. Canadians have question…
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Mr. Speaker, the RCMP ended the SNC investigation due to the Prime Minister's refusal to give access to cabinet documents. It does not stop there. During my recent inquiry of the Auditor General, the NDP-Liberal cover-up coalition adjourned the meeting, leaving crucial questions unanswered. Over the last eight years, the Prime Minister has spent years concealing his role in the SNC scandal. He is …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, this NDP-Liberal government favours insiders and friends rather than transparency. The current international trade minister helped her friend receive government contracts with no oversight. The current public safety minister granted a licence worth $24 million to a company linked to his wife's cousin. The former finance minister and this Prime Minister pushed through an untendered con…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my Bloc friend for the question, but it defeats the purpose by which we agreed to call the emergency meeting. It was agreed upon by all political parties, and although the Bloc did not vote to shut down the committee, the issue is that Canadians deserve to know the truth. Canadians deserve to hear directly from the Auditor General the circumstances behind how she is now goin…
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Madam Speaker, it is really rich to listen to the parliamentary secretary talk about avoiding answering questions. They do that every day in the House. That is the bottom line. Something is rotten here. The Prime Minister is hiding something. Will the member recommend to his leader, the Prime Minister, that he cooperate with the RCMP and waive all cabinet confidentiality?
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Madam Speaker, as a politician, I am profoundly disappointed. As a Canadian and a taxpayer, I am profoundly disappointed. As a former prosecutor, I think it stinks. As said in Shakespeare's play Hamlet, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” There is something rotten in the government.
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Mr. Speaker, no one is above the law, and that includes the Prime Minister. After eight years, he is the only one in Canadian history who has been found guilty of breaking not one, but two, ethics laws and now, with the arrive scam app, the RCMP is investigating criminality in the highest echelons of the government. What was the Prime Minister's response? He shut down debate, and he shut down comm…
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the good citizens and residents of my riding of Brantford—Brant. My colleague from Dufferin—Caledon expressed his disappointment and said that it is a sad day for Canadians. It is a profoundly sad day. In terms of my involvement in this particular study, I was brought on fairly late to the game to participate in the Standing Committee on …
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Madam Speaker, my friends can laugh all they want, but this is the sad reality. These are the facts. There has been scandal after scandal. There have been ethical breaches. The Prime Minister is the only prime minister in Canadian history who has been found guilty of ethical breaches not once but twice. It is not only him but also several ministers and other members of the government. We had the W…
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Madam Speaker, the answer is obvious, and it is because of the Liberals' political gains. Whenever it gets too hot or too close to the real truth, they just shut down committees and debates and prorogue Parliament. They have an arsenal of tools that prevent Canadians from seeing the light with respect to the rot in the government.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the government's ongoing corruption, we have yet another scandal. We have had conflicts of interest, nepotism and abuse of power. Now we have allegations of criminality around the contracting practices in the top offices of the government. The $54-million price tag for the arrive scam app is just the tip of the iceberg. Last week, the NDP-Liberal coalition voted t…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, as we approach Thanksgiving weekend, I would like to share my gratitude with this House and all Canadians watching us. First, I wish to express my profound appreciation to my family. Their support has been the cornerstone of my work as a member of Parliament. I also want to convey my thanks to my constituents. They work hard to raise their families, help their neighbours and make our …
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Mr. Speaker, it is all about the supremacy of Parliament. The language in the dissenting report from the Supreme Court of Canada made it abundantly clear that this was the rationale behind the amendments made by Prime Minister Harper in 2011. To reflect upon that, it took the better part of 12 years before there was a successful charter challenge, which made its way all the up to the Supreme Court…
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Mr. Speaker, it is very simple: It is the notwithstanding clause. If I had a full 20-minute speech and an opportunity to share all the relevant details of the dissenting report, I would encourage my colleague to actually spend some time, because the language is so instructive on that particular question. All sex offenders, particularly against children, pose a heightened risk to reoffend. The conc…
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Mr. Speaker, my friend has hit the nail on the head. Mandatory training applies not only to judges who clearly need it. Clearly we have judges who do. I need only cite a number of cases from across this country where judges, particularly more experienced judges, have often relied upon some rape myths to try to establish the rationale as to why an individual was acquitted. Too many judges follow th…
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Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour and a privilege to rise in the House to speak to a bill on behalf of the fine residents of Brantford—Brant. I know there are many victim advocacy groups that are watching this particular debate, not necessarily me, but certainly the debate itself. I know one such passionate group, My Voice, My Choice, would also be watching this and taking an active interest. Af…
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Madam Speaker, on behalf of dozens of Canadians, I present this petition. The Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. Bissonnette struck down section 745.51 of the Criminal Code, which allowed parole ineligibility periods to be applied consecutively for mass murderers. As a result of that decision, some of Canada's most heinous mass murderers will have their parole period reduced, now being eligible to a…
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Madam Speaker, I have heard for several hours now from the Liberal bench, the NDP and the Bloc how Bill C-48 is going to be an answer to improving community safety from coast to coast. As a former practising Crown attorney who has run thousands of bail hearings dealing with the individuals who we have read about and seen on television committing heinous crimes across this country who are already f…
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Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak on behalf of my constituents of Brantford—Brant. In particular, it is very meaningful to me to have this opportunity to opine and provide some thoughts with respect to Bill C-48. In light of the UC motion that was passed, much of my commentary is now moot. The time I have available provides an opportunity for me to share with this House that Bill C-48 is no…
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Madam Speaker, people in Brantford—Brant and across the province have come together to urge the government to address the cancellation of Via Rail Train 82 and take immediate action to reinstate this vital commuter service. Via Rail plays a crucial role in facilitating transportation for all Canadians. The cancellation of Train 82 has left hundreds of my constituents without a reliable mode of tra…
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Madam Speaker, I will move on with the petition. People deserve reliable transportation, thus the petitioners call on the Government of Canada to stand up for Canadians engaged with VIA Rail's management and reinstate Train 82.
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Madam Speaker, it is always a privilege and honour to speak in the chamber, but, more importantly, to lend a voice to the fine residents of Brantford—Brant. On a topic such as this, with next to no notice, it is even more important that I lend an appropriate voice. I come at debates on criminal justice issues and victim issues from a place of significant experience. I know that several members hav…
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Madam Speaker, how do we work together? It is incumbent upon me to stress that collaboration on these issues ought to never be partisan. If we all come from a goal of protecting this community known as Canada, from coast to coast to coast, we have to put aside our ideological differences. We have to strive to not only talk about issues that are germane to the concerns of victims but actually imple…
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Madam Speaker, I remark upon the minister's commentary. That he had this information available to him for three months and chose not to share those details, not only with the House but with Canadians and, more importantly, with the families of the victims, is completely inexcusable. The government—
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Madam Speaker, that is an excellent question. Judicial resources are at an all-time low. We have a total of almost 80 federal vacancies. We have vacancies provincially. We do not have enough Crown attorneys. We do not have enough detention centres. We do not have enough money going into police services. A multi-faceted approach is needed to deal with this crisis known as the criminal justice issue…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague gave an excellent speech. In relation to the parliamentary secretary to the House leader's last question, this particular parliamentary secretary, in fact the entire Liberal government, love to compare and contrast themselves to former prime minister Stephen Harper. Could my learned colleague share how differently Stephen Harper would have dealt with these obvious conflic…
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Mr. Speaker, here we are. The government has wasted three months deflecting and dodging on this issue. Canadians have not been duped; no public inquiry, no truth and no responsibility has been shown by this government. Now, with David Johnston's resignation, the government has only one option, an open and independent inquiry. Canadians support it, the majority of this House supports it and even th…
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Mr. Speaker, the whole government is about partisanship. From day one, the Prime Minister has had zero interest in letting Canadians learn the truth. He refused to tell us what he knew and why he did nothing about it. He selfishly used David Johnston to delay the process and cool the air around the issue. Now that Mr. Johnston has resigned, it is time for the Prime Minister to do what Canadians ar…
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, David Johnston, the loyal rapporteur of the Prime Minister, his ski buddy, his cottage neighbour, his dinner companion and member of the Trudeau Foundation, was incapable of seeing any conflict of interest. I can understand why our ethically challenged Prime Minister would be oblivious to this, but for a lawyer, law professor and dean of a law school, this is nothing but wi…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, every third Thursday in May, we celebrate Vyshyvanka Day, a day to honour Ukraine's rich culture and heritage. This year, with the unprovoked Russian war, the holiday plays a critical role as Ukrainians defend their independence and identity. For centuries, Moscow has consistently banned the Ukrainian language and made efforts to appropriate Ukraine's history. Generation after generat…
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Mr. Speaker, today, I present a petition signed by the residents of Brantford—Brant in response to the heartbreaking and tragic death of 12-year-old Grace-Lindsay McSweeney, whose life was taken far too soon from a Tylenol overdose. Unfortunately, the situation is not uncommon as acetaminophen, a key ingredient in over-the-counter pain medication, is responsible for approximately 10,000 overdoses …
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Mr. Speaker, we would think the illegal operation of foreign agents in this country would serve as a good enough reason for the Liberals to appropriately intervene. Instead, the public safety minister chooses to mislead Canadians by claiming that the RCMP has shut down all Beijing-backed police stations, when in reality, two Montreal groups under investigation for hosting these stations have not r…
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Mr. Speaker, actions speak louder than words. Canadians deserve no less. The government's apathy concerning the threats of foreign interference continuously fails to protect Chinese Canadians across the country. We have had enough with the smoke and mirrors. Last week, on this very same topic, the minister stressed the importance of communication and transparency in the House. It is time for the m…
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