Parliamentary Speeches

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have heard a clear message from investors. They are ready to invest in Canada. Last week's investment summit generated nearly $500 billion in investment commitments. Now we need to turn those commitments into projects, jobs and economic growth. Could the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources tell the House how the government is working to reduce regulatory duplication, cut red tape and get shovels in the ground?

Mr. Speaker, we are facing a men's mental health crisis. Too many men and boys face mental health challenges, and too many simply will not ask for help. Last week, we once again hosted an annual Father's Day on the Hill event with Movember, where Montreal Canadiens great Guy Carbonneau shared his story and talked about the recent loss of his friend and teammate Claude Lemieux. As we mark Men's Health Month in June, can the Minister of Health provide an update on the much anticipated men and boys' health strategy?

Mr. Speaker, the eMental Health International Collaborative is bringing the world to Canada for the 10th Digital Mental Health Global Congress in Toronto. Under the leadership of Professor Anil Thapliyal, hundreds of experts from dozens of countries will gather to build the future of mental health care. Worldwide, the need for mental health supports outstrips our ability to provide help the traditional way. Through the use of innovative digital tools, we can change just that. Digital tools offer the ability to bring health care to the patient in a timely manner and to cater to the individual needs of patients. Technology offers hope, it offers care and it offers a way to scale up that is not possible any other way. It offers the possibility of providing the same level of care no matter where someone lives. I would like to welcome all the delegates and look forward to being a part of this important work.

Mr. Speaker, a way to get two rounds of applause in this place is a point of order on the other side. Also, congratulations. It is great to see you in the chair. I know you will serve us well and be fair. I wish a happy birthday to your little guy, Bennett Nater, who celebrated his birthday this past weekend. Now that I have good favour with the Chair, I will get to the rest of my speech. This is my first speech in this 45th Parliament, my fourth Parliament. I have spent almost 10 years in this place, and what never ceases to amaze me is the opportunity to stand up here and represent the people of Edmonton Riverbend and share, from time to time, the amount of goodwill the people there have in electing me to this place. It is something that I am incredibly proud of. I want to take the opportunity to thank a few people from the campaign, being that this is my first speech. First of all, I would be remiss if I did not thank my lovely and beautiful wife Elizabeth, who has been with me from the start of this thing. It has been an incredible journey. She has a busy life. She is a colorectal surgeon. At times, she likes to say that she actually saves lives while we pretend we are saving lives in here. I have certainly seen a number of things we have done here together in this place that have translated into some pretty amazing and remarkable things. Also, I want to thank my two daughters. Molly just turned 17 and is off to university next year. She was an instrumental help during the campaign, as she always is. My other daughter, Lily, who is 16, was too. They came with boyfriends this time, so there were an extra couple of hands and volunteers doing signs and logistics. I thank both Molly and Lily for continuing to support me in doing this job, which takes me away from them. Actually, Molly's graduation is this Wednesday, and unfortunately I will miss it to be here. To stand up in this place, thank them and tell them how much I love them is something that I never forget to do. Then, of course, there is the little guy who runs our house, Hugh, who is five. He was a brand new baby who came in the last Parliament. He has sat in the Speaker's chair on a number of occasions now, and he takes over the House when he is here. Thankfully, there have been no members of Parliament here at those times, but I was able to spend time with him. He came out every day of the campaign. He door knocked with me, lit dropped with me and put out signs with me. If members are looking for more volunteers, I guess the message here is to just have kids, and they will bring volunteers with them. Then there is my wonderful sister, Bernadette Jeneroux. She is a teacher back home in Edmonton. She has helped us tremendously through so many opportunities and has looked after our little ones. Then, of course, there is the volunteer team. I would be remiss if I did not mention a lot of their names. At the end of the day, they are the ones who really helped get me here. They are Vera Fedor; Jason Bischoff; Carter Moroz; Norman Lorrain; Ivonne Martinez; Sohail Quadri; Sami Alam; Tania Fatmi and Christine Liu, who both work in my office; David Sparrow; Asia Parmar, the best financial agent there is; Varun Chandrasekar; Karen Stix; Alison Webster, who baked us a bunch of delicious food while we were on the campaign, and her husband John Webster; Brooke Timpson; Rob Bligh; Ash Gupta; Alex Liu; and Ravi and Sonia Dhawan. Of course, I thank my good pal Rishi Dhawan for his support and advice. Because we have a bit of a shortened session this time around, I want to take a moment to highlight an initiative that has been important to me since being in Parliament: our annual Father's Day on the Hill initiative. We have done that for about eight years now. It raises awareness for men's mental health among young men and young fathers. Unfortunately, this time around we will not be able to do the event as we have known it before. We are doing it in partnership with the Hi Dad Foundation, a foundation that I have been a part of since we launched it about three years ago. We continue to raise awareness for men's mental health through that, in partnership with the Mental Health Commission of Canada. I congratulate Michel Rodrigue, who is just about to celebrate his retirement. Then there is Movember and of course the member for Courtenay—Alberni. He has been a big asset in getting this off the ground. We had previous speakers at Father's Day on the Hill. The National Hockey League Players' Association, Bryan Baeumler from HGTV, the Burlington fire department and others have come out to raise awareness for the importance of men's mental health. The statistics say that 50 Canadian men die by suicide each week. This is a problem that needs to stop and is something we need to address in Parliament. This particular Father's Day on the Hill, instead of doing an event where we normally invite every member of Parliament and senator, we are doing a round table on men's health policy. Internationally, there are seven countries in the world that have a men's health policy: Australia, Brazil, Iran, Ireland, Malaysia, Mongolia and South Africa. Ireland blazed the trail in 2008 with its national men's health policy addressing a five-year life expectancy gap and targeting marginalized groups like travellers via the engage training program. Australia's 2010 national health policy updated the 2021-30 strategy and supports diverse groups like indigenous men, aiming for long, healthy lives. Brazil's 2009 national comprehensive health care policy for men expanded men's health units to over 1,000 cities, focusing on primary care and reproductive health. Mongolia's 2014 strategy tackles a 10-year life expectancy disparity, while South Africa's 2020-25 plan addresses HIV, TB and mental health, aligning with UN sustainable development goals. In Europe, the 2018 strategy for the European region links men's health to SDGs, highlighting masculinity norms' impact on mental health help-seeking within the U.K. Lacking a formal strategy, it appointed a men's health ambassador in 2024 to break stigmas around men's mental health. There are calls for a broader policy in this realm, and these are just examples that can help Canada craft legislation that prioritizes men's mental health and men's health, addresses disparity and fosters inclusivity without leaving anyone behind. There is a centre in Edmonton called the Zebra Child & Youth Advocacy Centre, and in April, it moved into a brand new 30,000 square foot building, largely thanks to generous Edmontonian Bill Eaton. The Zebra Centre partners with the Edmonton Police Service's child protection section and child at risk response team, the Alberta RCMP, Children and Family Services, Alberta Health Services and Edmonton's prosecution services to serve children and youth who have experienced abuse, supporting them through the investigative justice and healing process. I hate that this organization exists, but I am happy that it does. Led by Emmy Stuebing, it is an incredible herd. I congratulate it and its wonderful team on its brand new facility. I am looking forward to touring the facility when I get back to Edmonton. Finally, I thank Edmonton. From the banks of the North Saskatchewan to the farms south of the Anthony Henday, our riding has so much promise, and it really is a gem on the Prairies. We are attracting so many incredible individuals from across Canada because of our ability to show an entrepreneurial spirit in Alberta. I have been honoured to represent this city now for 13 years. We have watched it grow and establish more new families and a lot more new communities. I could not be more thankful for them allowing me to be here to represent them back home in our community. It was all just farmland when I started, but the way that Edmonton is growing, it is looking like a brand new city in south Edmonton. The exciting thing happening right now in Edmonton is that our hockey is doing extremely well, so I would like to end my time by saying, “Go, Oilers, go.”

Mr. Speaker, one thing I support about the Prime Minister is his choice of hockey team. Since being here, I have recognized that there are a lot of similarities between Alberta and Quebec. Right now, what we are seeing is a lot of challenges in Alberta. We see in the news the talk of separation, and that is because of a lack of respect from the national government. At the end of the day, that is in the hands of the government to change. It is good to see that there is a lot of focus on Alberta right now in the news when it comes to energy and pipelines, and I think that is something we can both continue to push forward from our respective provinces.

Mr. Speaker, I take any opportunity to address mental health, particularly among young men. I gave out the statistic that there are 50 suicides a week in this country by men. Also, 75% of suicides are by men, and lots of times it is young men, whom we would not think of. There is a stigma out there related to talking about it. Any chance I get, whether it is in reply to a throne speech or at an event, to speak about the importance of men's mental health, I will absolutely take.

Mr. Speaker, the member is correct. Since COVID, we have seen an increase in people talking about mental health. We have seen an increase in people wanting to do something, but at the end of the day, we are not having these conversations here. It is also about funding. The funding needs strings attached to it to make sure that it is going right to mental health, and I hope that is what the government takes seriously.

With regard to the Prime Minister’s announcement that Mark Carney would chair the Prime Minister’s task force on economic growth, has the government: (a) received a list of who are the other members of the task force, and, if so, who are they; (b) been made aware of the dates the task force met, and, if so, on what dates; and (c) been provided with recommendations that the task force made related to economic growth, and, if so, what were the recommendations?

With regard to contracts and agreements that the government has with Brookfield Asset Management, Brookfield Global Integrated Solutions, or any subsidiary of Brookfield, since November 4, 2015, and broken down by department, agency, or Crown corporation: what are the details of all contracts or agreements, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) vendor, (iii) original amount of the contract, (iv) current or final amount of the contract, (v) description of the goods or services provided, (vi) manner in which the contract was awarded (competitive-bid or sole sourced)?

Madam Speaker, I wish I could think of a Seinfeld reference that is equally adequate to that of the esteemed member for Durham there. I hope that, as the night goes on, something will come to mind. Before I get into my speech, I just wanted to highlight something very briefly, if the House will quickly allow. I had the immense privilege to go and visit, last weekend, an organization called Jack.org. It is Canada's only charity training that empowers young leaders to revolutionize mental health. The work they are doing is incredibly moving, and I wish I had more time in the House to share some of the stories. Suicide among youth is still the leading health-related cause of death for young people in Canada. One in seven young people in Canada reports having suicidal thoughts, to say nothing of those who do not report. This year, 150,000 will act on their thoughts by attempting suicide. For hundreds of them, the attempt will be fatal. Things need to change, and Jack.org is doing a lot of that work for us. Now to turn to the matter at hand, which is the privilege motion here before the House. I rise with great disappointment to speak to this question of privilege. This particular question of privilege is related to the failure to produce documents required by an order of the House. On June 10, a majority of members in the House passed a motion that ordered the production of important documents related to Sustainable Development Technology Canada. The key word there is “order”. It was not “ask” or “request”; it was not that, in the opinion of the House, the board “should”. The House of Commons has the authority to order the production of documents. That authority comes right from the Constitution; in fact, it is in section 18 of the British North America Act, also known as the Constitution Act, 1867. It clearly states, “The privileges, immunities, and powers to be held, enjoyed, and exercised by the Senate and by the House of Commons, and by the members thereof respectively, shall be such as are from time to time defined by Act of the Parliament of Canada”. That power includes the time-honoured ability to send for persons, papers and records. As is explained in Bosc and Gagnon at pages 984 to 986: The Standing Orders do not delimit the power to order the production of papers and records. The result is a broad, absolute power that on the surface appears to be without restriction. There is no limit on the types of papers likely to be requested; the only prerequisite is that the papers exist in hard copy or electronic format, and that they are located in Canada. It continues: No statute or practice diminishes the fullness of that power rooted in House privileges unless there is an explicit legal provision to that effect, or unless the House adopts a specific resolution limiting the power. The House has never set a limit on its power to order the production of papers and records. That is our collective right, as the House of Commons, as the grand inquest of the nation. Documents have been ordered by the House; those documents have not been provided. That, unfortunately, is why we are debating the question of privilege today. Sustainable Development Technology Canada, or SDTC for short, is the organization we are focusing this privilege motion on once again today. It has become known here in the House as the green slush fund. Just to back up a bit, and for some historical context, the Office of the Auditor General made several key observations for the audit period of March 2017 to December 2023. I will read a few quotes from the report that was tabled in the House on June 4. First, “10 projects were awarded $59 million” in funding when they should have been deemed “ineligible”. I would suggest that is concerning. Second, SDTC's “conflict-of-interest policies were not followed” in “90 cases”. Again, this is very concerning. Third, “the board approved $58 million for projects without ensuring that they met the terms of the contribution agreements.” I would think that this is something the government would also be very concerned about. Meanwhile, the responses to these issues appear to show the exact opposite. Of the responses I have seen to many Auditor General reports, I cannot recall such out-of-touch responses. In its written responses, SDTC made false and outright preposterous claims. First, SDTC claimed, “Each project proposal goes through rigorous due diligence and evaluation” that is “robust” and “highly credible”. That is simply not true, but if it were true, SDTC would not be facing this $58-million scandal, unless the due diligence it was referring to is actually just its insiders looking at who on the board would be getting money out of each proposal. Second, SDTC claimed that it was subject to an Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada evaluation in 2018. That was six years ago and outside the period of the Auditor General's audit. Essentially, SDTC was clearly ignoring the audit period and ignoring these findings. Third, SDTC claimed it “uses external experts”, but then failed to identify them. For an organization whose problem is conflicts of interest to claim things are going to be better based on the advice provided by some unnamed external experts shows just how out of touch SDTC had really become. Fourth, SDTC claimed that it did not fully agree to the Auditor General's recommendations because SDTC “has delivered strong outcomes against these objectives.” Unless those objectives were to push money into companies that board members had a financial interest in, that is simply not true. The Auditor General found that 82% of the funding transactions approved by the board of directors during the audit period were conflicted. That is unreal. Fifth, SDTC wrote, “written records did not fully capture the robust deliberations that were made” and “SDTC is of the view that these projects met the eligibility criteria set out...but acknowledges that the [Auditor General] reached a different conclusion”, suggesting that the independent Auditor General was basically out to get them. The arrogance is appalling. The operators of the green slush fund were simply saying that the Auditor General got it wrong, there was nothing to see here, we should ignore it and let them get back to business. Then, at the same time, they admitted that their own written records do not support their claim, so they stuck by their story. Sixth, SDTC claimed it “had clear processes for staff and directors to declare real, potential and perceived conflicts”. Again, this claim completely ignores the findings of the Auditor General and, subsequently, the public accounts committee. We know conflicts were not declared, and even when they were declared, they either voted for their own projects or took turns voting for each other's projects. The idea that there were clear processes for conflicts of interest would be laughable if it were not so sad. Seventh, SDTC claimed it “further strengthened its conflict-of-interest policies” in November 2023. This shows exactly that the SDTC only cared about preventing corruption after they got caught with corruption. By November 2023, they knew the Auditor General's report was coming because the audit period was from March 2017 to December 2023. Claiming that policies have been strengthened and implying nothing further needs to be done after corruption has already been uncovered is disingenuous. There is a word that comes to mind: entitlement. This kind of entitlement comes from an organization that is so used to getting vast amounts of money for its own purposes, it disconnects from the realities of honest and hard-working Canadians. There is still a lot that we do not know about the green slush fund, but what we have learned through the industry committee and the public accounts committee is alarming. What we have learned so far has made those of us on the opposition benches determined to get the full story, and for that, we need these documents the House requested back on June 10th. We know that SDTC was created in 2001, and as of an audit in 2017, no problems had arisen. The conflict of interest culture only emerged after board members were appointed under the current Prime Minister by former minister Bains. The most concerning of these appointments was in 2019, when the chair, Annette Verschuren, was appointed despite multiple warnings of conflicts of interest. Those warnings turned out to be warranted as, this past July, the former chair was determined by the Ethics Commissioner to have violated the Conflict of Interest Act by participating in decisions to benefit organizations she had an interest in. One would suggest that they were warned but went ahead anyway. We now know that former assistant deputy minister Noseworthy was responsible for keeping watch over SDTC, but we can only call his job simply a failure. On December 11 of last year, he appeared at the industry committee and said, “To my knowledge, I am not aware of any decisions to allocate funds to projects related to board members where they did not recuse themselves.” However, the Auditor General's report released just two months later informed us that the system was filled with conflicts of interest. Again, the Auditor General is independent. Therefore, the assistant deputy minister either lied at committee or was willfully blind to the corruption that was going on around him. We also know that, if there were any semblance of good governance, the minister of innovation, science and industry would have been notified. However, because accountability is absent, we do not know what the minister knew or when he knew it. Nevertheless, we do know that at least one Liberal MP was informed almost two years ago. When the whistle-blower known to the public accounts committee as Witness 1 appeared at public accounts last month, they informed the committee that they had informed the Liberal member for Calgary Skyview all the way back in May 2022. The whistle-blower further stated that this member “assured me that he took this situation seriously and guaranteed that he would facilitate contact with the appropriate people in the federal government and the Auditor General's office.” However, we now know that the member was not true to his word and subsequently refused to engage. We know that the directors were appointed to the board. A key example of this was long-time Liberal operative Stephen Kukucha. He was appointed to the board in February 2021. This is after he had been a long-time donor, a ministerial staffer in the Chrétien government, original organizer for the Liberal Party and former general secretary for the Liberal Party 2016 Convention. Shortly after the Prime Minister came into office, this insider became a lobbyist; he advocated for energy and transportation businesses. It does not get more inside than this, yet he was appointed to the board of the green slush fund, exactly where companies that had a financial interest could receive contributions directly from the government. Furthermore, in another twist, as my hon. colleague for South Shore—St. Margarets has explained, we now know that the Minister of Environment has had an interest in a venture capital firm called Cycle Capital. Cycle Capital also received funding from the same green slush fund. It just keeps unravelling more and more. Finally, we now know from a member of the new board that, since this scandal broke, none of the money that was wrongfully sent out has been recovered. On behalf of the Canadian taxpayer, I will say that this is unfair, unacceptable and, quite frankly, incredibly frustrating. Simply put, after all this, it seems rather clear and painfully obvious that we need the documents that were called for in the motion passed by a clear majority of members on June 10. This is not only a matter of parliamentary privilege; it is also a matter of the moral obligation we have to Canadians. In order to meet that obligation, we need to access documents when we have ordered them from the executive branch. The public accounts committee is still waiting on documents it has requested to receive. We do not have the contribution and funding agreement showing the requirements and obligations of the recipients. We do not have the conflict of interest declarations of the board members, and we owe it to Canadians to produce this information. When we put all of this together, we do not have transparency, oversight or accountability. I started my speech indicating that I am disappointed to be rising in this debate in Parliament because it is not the first time we have seen this type of parliamentary privilege violated. Earlier this year, there was yet another privilege debate on yet another scandal, the one related to ArriveCAN. The slow erosion of rights and privileges is not a small matter. It is an absolute threat to our democracy. We saw this in the previous Parliament with the Winnipeg lab scandal, and it caused tremendous hardship for the scandal-plagued government. On that occasion, in the 43rd Parliament, the president of the Public Health Agency of Canada was even called to the bar of this House of Commons to be admonished for failing, or, perhaps more accurately, refusing, to provide documents that he had been ordered to provide to the House. One would have hoped the government had learned from that experience, but clearly, it did not, and here we are again. In June 2021, 147 members on that side of the House, shamefully, voted against the motion on the question of privilege, which has proven to be a huge mistake. I should hope, this time around, history does not repeat itself and they do not repeat that mistake. However, now we have this green slush fund scandal. The government continues to refuse to release documents that it has been ordered to produce because, one can only presume, it does not want to help uncover corruption that has occurred under its watch for the past several years, corruption that has benefited its own insiders. It is an issue of vital importance. No matter how hard the government tries to push it away, Parliament must continue to pursue it. When the opposition House leader raised the initial question of privilege, he referenced a memorandum he had obtained from the Privy Council Office at the beginning of this Parliament. That memorandum read, “Public servants do not share in ministers' constitutional accountability to the Houses of Parliament but support ministers in this accountability”; it also stated that “the ultimate accountability for deciding what information to withhold from or release to parliamentarians resides with the responsible minister.” The government may believe the rights and privileges of Parliament no longer matter, but we will soon see if it believes the ministerial responsibility still matters. It is the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry who is ultimately responsible for SDTC and for this violation of an order of the House. It is the minister who must be held accountable. In conclusion, I support the motion as moved by the opposition House leader, and I will reference it here. The motion by the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle on the alleged failure to produce documents pertaining to Sustainable Development Technology Canada reads as follows: “That the government's failure of fully providing documents, as ordered by the House on June 10, 2024, be hereby referred to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.” The amendment reads: provided that it be an instruction to the committee: (a) that the following witnesses be ordered to appear before the committee, separately, for two hours each: (i) the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, (ii) the Clerk of the Privy Council, (iii) the Auditor General of Canada, (iv) the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, (v) the Deputy Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, (vi) the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel of the House of Commons, (vii) the Acting President of Sustainable Development Technology Canada, (viii) a panel consisting of the Board of Sustainable Development Technology Canada; and (b) that it report back to the House no later than Friday, November 22, 2024. The green slush fund has been exposed as a tremendous waste, a scandal where taxpayers' hard-earned money was used to benefit government insiders at SDTC. We need more details. Canadians deserve to know more details and to know who is at fault. There are individuals who need to be held accountable, and the people within the government who should have known and should have prevented this from happening need to be held accountable. I will be voting for this motion, and this time, I hope every member, regardless of party affiliation, does the right thing and votes yes, yes for accountability and yes for respecting orders of the House of Commons.

Madam Speaker, I like the member for Winnipeg North. We tease, but we like each other. It is getting late. The Halloween spirit is in the mood. The question he likes to throw back at us is about the security clearance, and one could argue relevance in this particular debate. In question period earlier today, we saw our leader stand up over and over again offering policy ideas and solutions for Canadians, and everything we heard back from members on the other side, including the member for Winnipeg North and the Prime Minister, was them rambling on about the security clearance. The Leader of the Opposition has been clear about the type of government these guys seem to be running over there. We cannot wait until we form government. Then the names would be released. What we are trying to get to here is these documents. The member says he simply wants to have a debate about foreign interference, which, again, I would say is not something of relevance to this particular debate. I guess we will allow leniency seeing as he is the only member who is asking questions over there. At the end of the day, we are simply asking for these documents. I would encourage the member to encourage his team and his cabinet to produce these documents.

Madam Speaker, I think I should take the member on the road with me. His saying that my speech was the best one that he has heard is great. I think that might go over really well in Alberta to have a member of the Bloc Québécois come and share that. I invite the member to come on out to Alberta. If the impression in the House is that we are the ones coming up with questions of privilege, then I think that is perhaps maybe the mistake here. These are questions of privilege that were granted by the Speaker. We raise these questions of privilege, and whether they are granted or not is determined solely by the Speaker. If there are more questions of privilege coming, that is for the Speaker to decide, and it is also on the government. I guess I can stay tuned, and I will start preparing my speech now, if there is another one. I hope the member will be in the chamber to be part of it.

Madam Speaker, it is great to see my honourable colleague in the House. He and I had a lot of Zoom calls together during COVID. That reminds me of the Winnipeg lab scandal, which we went through and saw together. At the end of the day, a lot of that was about transparency and accountability. It was about making sure that we had somebody who was held accountable for that. Ultimately we did, and we brought someone to the House. In that instance, I think that particular committee did a lot of good work. It seems like almost every day there is something new unfolding in this scandal. The hon. member for South Shore—St. Margarets is constantly finding new information, and there are new board members saying that things have not been repaid. It feels like accountability and transparency are moving targets for this. Until we get to the bottom of it, this is going to be something that hopefully the government takes seriously, as we have been debating this for a while in the House, and finally produces those documents.

Mr. Speaker, on World Mental Health Day, Mental Health Research Canada released its landmark collaborative national report, titled “A Generation at Risk: The State of Youth Mental Health in Canada”. This report brings together research and lived experiences to help us better understand the youth mental health crisis. Three key take-aways are declining mental health, service gaps and access barriers, and collaborative action. While 19% of youth accessed mental health services last year, an additional 9% are still in need of care but not receiving it. The report outlines key recommendations to improve youth mental health, including enhancing prevention, improving the quality of mental health services and expanding access. I give a special thanks to the organizations involved in the report, including Aire Ouverte, Jack.org, Kids Help Phone, the National Association of Friendship Centres, the Strongest Families Institute, the Youth in Mind Foundation, youth wellness hubs and, of course, Bell Let's Talk. I thank them all for their continued support in building a future of better mental health for all.

With regard to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), broken down by year since January 1, 2019: (a) how many cases of (i) gender discrimination, (ii) disability discrimination, were filed against the CPPIB; (b) of the cases in (a), how many were settled without formal litigation; (c) how many non­disclosure agreements were signed by former employees related to the cases in (a); (d) what percentage of the employee disciplinary actions and terminations were handled (i) internally by employee relations, (ii) by external counsel; (e) what is the breakdown of the number of discrimination cases filed against the CPPIB in each of its offices located in (i) Brazil, (ii) Hong Kong, (iii) India, (iv) London, (v) New York, (vi) San Francisco, (vii) Toronto; (f) which law firms were hired to represent the CPPIB and, broken down by city, what was the total amount in legal fees paid to each firm; (g) how much was paid in legal fees for (i) employee terminations, (ii) employee-initiated legal action against the CPPIB for which the CPPIB retained legal counsel; (h) what was the total severance paid out in each of its offices located in (i) Brazil, (ii) Hong Kong, (iii) India, (iv) London, (v) New York, (vi) San Francisco, (vii) Toronto; (i) which laws firms were hired and retained by the CPPIB in the offices located in (i) Brazil, (ii) Hong Kong, (iii) India, (iv) London, (v) New York, (vi) San Francisco, (vii) Toronto; (j) what were the legal fees paid annually for each of the law firms retained by the CPPIB to defend the CPPIB; (k) how many female employees were terminated through restructuring from Senior Associate level to Managing Director level for each of its offices located in (i) Brazil, (ii) Hong Kong, (iii) India, (iv) London, (v) New York, (vi) San Francisco, (vii) Toronto; (I) how many female employees were terminated through voluntary resignations from Senior Associate level to Managing Director level for each of its offices located in (i) Brazil, (ii) Hong Kong, (iii) India, (iv) London, (v) New York, (vi) San Francisco, (vii) Toronto; (m) how many (i) female, (ii) male, employees were promoted above the Senior Associate level; (n) what is the percentage of female departures from the Executive and Senior management pool from the CPPIB in its entirety and for each of its offices located in (i) Brazil, (ii) Hong Kong, (iii) India, (iv) London, (v) New York, (vi) San Francisco, (vii) Toronto; (o) what is the number of disability accommodation cases for (i) long-term, (ii) short-term, (iii) permanent, disability that were sent through Manulife; (p) how many employees who went through a Manulife accommodation remain with the CPPIB; (q) how many of the employees who remain with the CPPIB have been promoted in the last five years; (r) how many formal complaints brought by employees went through (i) a CPPIB Clearview Connects Whistleblower process, (ii) a CPPIB Conduct Review Advisor, (iii) a Legal and Compliance CPPIB, (iv) human resources; and (s) broken down by each part of (r), how many of the complainant employees remain employed by the CPPIB?

With regard to Elections Canada (EC) and Communications Security Establishment Canada's reports on "Cyber threats to Canada's democratic process - 2023 update" and "Cyber security guidance for elections authorities (ITSM.10.020)": (a) what measures has EC taken since the last general election to safeguard the integrity of elections, candidates and campaigns against cyber threats, including (i) deepfakes, (ii) artificial intelligence, (iii) bots, (iv) other attacks on telecommunication infrastructure (such as "distributed denial of service" attacks) that aim to disrupt, interfere with or sway elections as warned against in the reports; (b) for each measure in (a), (i) what was the cost, (ii) when was it implemented, (iii) how and from whom was the measure originally proposed; and (c) are there any threats which EC does not have the capacity to fully guard against, and, if so, what are they, and has EC sought assistance from the government or any other entity to guard against such a threat, and, if so, what are the details?

Mr. Speaker, I rise with a heavy heart to announce the passing of a dear friend, Werner Schmidt. Werner was a distinguished educator, a former member of Parliament, an Alberta politician and, most importantly, a beloved man of faith and family. In his 92 years, Werner was a man with abiding values of integrity and honesty. He was committed to leading by example and inspired many of us around him. A former school principal, Werner became the leader of the Alberta Social Credit Party from 1973 to 1975. A foundational member of the Reform Party of Canada, he was instrumental in its inception in British Columbia. His political career blossomed when he became the member of Parliament for Kelowna—Lake Country, serving from 1993 to 2006. He is lovingly remembered by his remarkable wife Teena, his sons Allan and Dwayne and their spouses Lori and Cheryl, along with his grandsons, Tyler and Wyatt. May Werner rest in peace. Canada, as a country, is better off having had him serve with distinction.

With regard to Privy Council Office (PCO) access to information requests A‑2020‑00583, A‑2021‑00266, A‑2021‑00272, A‑2021‑00490, A‑2021‑00495, A‑2022‑00163, A‑2022‑00176 and A‑2022‑00182: (a) on what date did PCO receive each request; (b) to what date did PCO extend the deadline for responding to each request; (c) has PCO responded to each request, and, if not, (i) why not, (ii) on what date does PCO expect to respond to each request; (d) why did PCO not correctly estimate the amount of time required to respond to each request; (e) what is the Prime Minister's position on PCO's delays in processing access to information requests, including whether the delays are acceptable; and (f) if the Prime Minister does not consider the delays to be acceptable, what specific actions has he directed to be done to ensure that similar delays do not occur in the future?

With regard to government-owned land or buildings being considered for sale for the purpose of housing: what are the details of each building or piece of land, including the (i) address and location, (ii) size of the land, (iii) square footage, (iv) current state of the building or land, including the type of current occupants, if applicable, (v) current state of sale or disposal, (vi) expected date of sale or disposal, (vii) number of housing units projected to be built at the site?

With regard to Department of Employment and Social Development (ESDC) access to information requests A‑2019‑01074 and A‑2020‑01070: (a) on what date did ESDC receive each request; (b) to what date did ESDC extend the deadline for responding to each request; (c) on what date did ESDC receive the Information Commissioner's orders to respond to each request; (d) on what date was ESDC required, by the Information Commissioner's orders, to respond to each request; (e) has ESDC responded to each request, and, if not, (i) why not, (ii) on what date does ESDC expect to respond to each request; (f) what is ESDC's reason for not correctly estimating the amount of time required to respond to each request; (g) why did ESDC not comply with the Information Commissioner's orders; (h) in lieu of compliance with the Information Commissioner's orders, why did ESDC fail to apply to the Federal Court for a review of the orders; (i) what is the position of the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, as ESDC's department head, on (i) the acceptability of these delays in processing access to information requests, (ii) ESDC's disregard of the Information Commissioner's orders, including ESDC's decision not to apply for Federal Court review; (j) if the minister considers the actions in (i) to be unacceptable, what specific actions has he directed to be done to ensure that similar failures do not occur in the future; (k) what is the position of the Attorney General of Canada on ESDC's combined failure to respond to the requests and apply for Federal Court review, including whether it undermines the government's commitment to the rule of law in Canada; and (l) what specific actions has the Attorney General directed to be done to ensure that similar failures do not occur in the future?

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister found over $60 million for his arrive scam app, but he continues to want to increase the carbon tax by 23% on April 1. Now, we have heard the far left NDP Alberta leadership candidate weigh in: “Nobody is on board with what [the Prime Minister] did with the federal carbon tax. He absolutely broke trust and broke confidence”. After eight years of failure, how can he continue to raise the carbon tax on Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, I have more. An Alberta leadership candidate said, “There's no way people can be on board with the federal plan when even the prime minister isn’t on board, when he’s playing games with it” and that the federal carbon levy is “dead”. Another candidate said we must move away from a consumer carbon tax. When he loses the support of the far left Alberta NDP, the minister must know he has a problem. Will he cancel his carbon tax before April 1, once and for all?

With regard to Health Canada's (HC) July 18, 2023, approval of Zonnic flavoured nicotine pouches: (a) did the Minister of Health or anyone in the minister's office sign-off on the product's approval, and, if not, what was the highest level official at HC who signed-off on the product's approval; (b) what are the details of all memorandums or briefing notes sent or received since January 1, 2023, which mention the product or the application, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) sender, (iii) recipient, (iv) type of document, (v) title, (vi) file number; and (c) does the Minister of Health or the minister's office receive lists of products which HC is about to approve, and, if so, on what date were they received?

Mr. Speaker, Alberta and Canada lost a giant recently, a man who was known around these halls, during his time as a member of Parliament for 12 years, and certainly around the Alberta legislature, as a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1986 to 1993 and then chief of staff to former premier Ralph Klein. Although Peter Elzinga has left us in person, many of us are certainly better off for having known him. Remarkably, he left his life in government to donate a kidney to his friend, which characterizes the spirit of Peter and his public life. He was always filled with generosity and kindness, and I will cherish my many conversations with him and his committed guidance to me during my time in public life. He is lovingly remembered by his wife, Patricia; sons Gregory, Roger and Peter-Burl; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. May Peter rest in peace. He served Canada with distinction, and, as a country, it is better off.

With regard to usage of the government's CC-130H Hercules aircraft by the Prime Minister or any other minister since January 1, 2016: what are the details of the legs of each flight, including the (i) date, (ii) point of departure, (iii) destination, (iv) number of passengers, (v) names and titles of the passengers, excluding security or Canadian Armed Forces members, (vi) total catering bill related to the flight, (vii) volume of fuel used, or an estimate, (viii) amount spent on fuel?

With regard to government measures taken in relation to United States President Joe Biden’s visit to Parliament Hill on March 24, 2023: (a) which individuals or entities were provided with lists of individuals who (i) may come into contact with the United States President or the Prime Minister of Canada, (ii) would be allowed into West Block or otherwise in the vicinity of the United States President on that date; and (b) which departments, agencies, or other government entities received any such lists as in (a)(i) and (a)(ii), and, for each one, which individuals or entities within the government received the lists, and from whom?

Mr. Speaker, after eight years, everything just keeps getting more expensive. Take the average rent in this country. Just one year ago, the average rent eclipsed the $2,000 mark, but now, a year later, the average rent in Canada is $2,149 a month. That is an 11% increase and the highest that rent has ever been in this country. Toronto and Vancouver still have the highest average rent, but other cities across the country are starting to feel the pain. The average rent in Calgary is now $2,181 for a two-bedroom unit. That is a 13% increase. Montreal's average one-bedroom rent is now $1,784, which is an increase of more than 14%. The current NDP-Liberal coalition just keeps raising costs on Canadians, and it is clear that the Prime Minister is just not worth the cost.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today in the House of Commons to recognize a tremendous accomplishment by an organization that is dear to my heart. Alberta-based APPLE Schools has once again been recognized as one of the top 100 global education innovations by HundrED, a Helsinki-based organization dedicated to identifying transformative and scalable education innovations worldwide. APPLE Schools was selected from over 3,000 innovations and subjected to a comprehensive evaluation. This achievement not only highlights the profound effect the organization is having on the lives of children in Alberta and across Canada, but it is also internationally recognized for its significant impact and scalability in the education landscape. This underscores the unwavering commitment of APPLE Schools to its vision of fostering healthy children in healthy schools. I congratulate the entire APPLE Schools team.

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to once again rise in this place to speak to the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement. When we talk about the importance of the Canada-Ukraine relationship, we have to talk about the 1.3 million Canadians of Ukrainian origin who live here in Canada. Many of them were integral to the development of western Canada. They are an incredible and important part of the social fabric of Canada, and their contributions to Canada cannot go unnoticed. As a result of that, we have very strong people-to-people ties between Canada and Ukraine. Of course, we are strong supporters of Ukraine during the illegal invasion being prosecuted by Russia. In addition, with respect to this agreement in particular, this modernization of the agreement would build on the 2017 agreement which updated or added 11 new chapters to the free trade agreement. The updated chapters include rules of origin and procedures, government procurement, competition policy, monopoly and state enterprises, electronic commerce, digital trade, labour, the environment, transparency, anti-corruption and responsible business conduct. There is also a significant number of new chapters. There are 11 new chapters, to be frank. These are on investment; cross-border trade in services; temporary entry for business people; development and administration of measures; financial services; services and investment, non-conforming measures; telecommunications; trade and gender; trade and small and medium-sized enterprises; trade and indigenous peoples; and good regulatory practices. This is a substantial change from the original agreement which was signed in 2017. In 2021 alone, Canada processed some $220 million in exports and $227 million in imports with Ukraine. Given Ukraine's GDP has dropped some 30% since Russia's invasion, trade with Canada is welcomed now more than ever. For some context, some of the larger exports from Canada to Ukraine include vehicles and parts, fish, and pharmaceuticals. When it comes to imports to Canada, it is largely cereals, iron and steel to name a few. I want to spend the majority of my speech talking about the people and largely the people in Edmonton. When the Ukrainian president was here in Ottawa, he reminded Canada and the world about Edmonton's close connection to his country. Soon after taking the podium right up there, he brought up my city in talking about our links to the destiny of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Canadian community. He mentioned a statue that has stood outside Edmonton City Hall since 1983. It was a proud moment for many Edmontonians, especially with his call for another monument there on victory day when Ukraine conquers and wins this Russian war against Ukraine. This was stated no more clearly than by the president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Alberta Provincial Council, when she stated, “This is amazing. He's paying attention. He knows who we are.” The Ukrainian Canadian Congress Alberta Provincial Council has done incredible work during this war. It is a non-profit organization that provides leadership, advocacy, coordination and connections. It officially represents the needs of Ukrainian Canadians in Alberta before the people and the Government of Alberta. It aims to promote knowledge, respect for Ukraine's history and sovereignty, and acknowledgement of the great contributions of Ukrainians within Canada. Since the war began, over 12,000 Ukrainians have already come to Edmonton. Some of the work that Ukrainian Canadian Congress Alberta Provincial Council is doing is phenomenal, to say the least. It is providing $200,000 to support Ukrainian organizations with programming and membership for newcomers. It spent $32,000 in grocery gift cards for newcomers. It put up a website with resources and tools for newcomers. Together with the Firefighter Aid Ukraine organization, it filled the first plane to Ukraine with medical and emergency supplies. Other of its activities include assisting with crisis needs, including emergency housing, financing the purchase of medical equipment, organizing a furniture donation warehouse, distributing furniture to thousands of newcomers, organizing free English language classes, organizing job fairs, hosting information and welcome events for newcomers, weekly rallies protesting against Russian aggression, fundraisers to support settlement, government advocacy, distributing SIM cards, distributing pallets of clothing throughout Alberta, providing laptops and computers to Ukrainians in need, coordinating mental health support and resources and, of course, welcoming Ukrainian nationals at the airport. As someone who flies a lot, being able to see those Ukrainians come to the Edmonton airport and connect with someone as they get off the plane is nothing short of heartwarming. I want to talk about a few of the people and initiatives, particularly three Edmonton firefighters. Three Edmonton firefighters went to Ukraine to teach first responders a modified version of the NATO standard tactical combat casualty care course. They were all volunteer firefighters through the Firefighter Aid Ukraine organization. They taught 70 firefighters and police officers, who then trained other firefighters and police officers across Ukraine. The medical course they taught focused on life-saving interventions for injuries associated with military attacks on civilian populations. They focused on critical and acute injuries, and even mental health. The president of the association stated: Individuals who have not performed in an emergency responder role previously, have now taken on that role in Ukraine. As such, they do not have this kind of training and it is imperative for them to have it, given the situations they are dealing with in their roles. In addition to the training, the firefighter group also brought over supplies of PPE, and specialty equipment for treating patients and saving lives. This is not new to this organization. In May 2017, it filled a shipping container with medical supplies, tools and emergency response equipment, which was then sent to Ukraine. Just last September, a group of seven firefighters and one dispatcher also went overseas to Ukraine. Another example is of Edmonton artists who are donating their works to Ukrainian aid. A number of local artists donated to a fund created by the owners of the West End Gallery in Edmonton. The campaign raised almost $29,000. It did not have an auction. This was a call to answer by its customers. It is adamant that the full amount of the sales went directly to those who needed it the most. The group contacted the former Alberta premier, a dear friend of mine, Ed Stelmach, whose grandparents came to the province as Ukrainian immigrants. Stelmach and his wife, Marie Stelmach, founded and have administered The Ed Stelmach Community Foundation since 2007. The foundation fosters a culture of charity and equality for all Albertans, and is overseen by a volunteer board. The support did not stop there. Suddenly, we saw tens of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing their war-torn country, and an Edmonton mother and daughter decided to team up to help the new arrivals, who had arrived with very few belongings. The two projects they co-founded were a free store and a food kitchen. The duo launched the Free Store for Ukrainian Newcomers at a temporary site and then moved downtown to an Edmonton building provided rent-free by MacEwan University. The facility provides clothing, diapers, pillows, toys and household essentials at no charge to newcomers displaced by war. The second project, the Ukraine Kitchen by Free Store, opened its doors in northeast Edmonton after operating temporarily out of the Cook County Saloon. Pre-ordered Ukrainian food is sold, providing wages for a team of about 14 kitchen workers, who proudly dole out plates of cabbage rolls, perogies, borscht and desserts. Lastly, there is a furniture store. For nearly 10 months, Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Alberta Provincial Council, has been operating a furniture depot in a northwest Edmonton warehouse to supply newcomers with essentials to set up their homes. Approximately 35 families utilize the free warehouse weekly, and most need mattresses and other supplies. The whole operation is housed in the Boilermakers Lodge 146 building near the High Park industrial area. This is not new to Edmonton. The Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village Society was founded in 1971, and I am sure my colleague from Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan will not mind me mentioning it. It has a number of exhibit galleries that provide a closer understanding of Ukrainian settlement in east central Alberta, which has been critical to the education of so many Albertans and Canadians. These are just some of the reasons Canadians are watching this debate so closely. The Conservative Party is one hundred per cent behind supporting Ukraine, trade and free trade. Free trade between free nations is something we support one hundred per cent. As a member of the international trade committee, I look forward to going through this agreement and hearing debate on this agreement in the House.

Madam Speaker, the trade agreement that he speaks of is 700 pages long. It likely will come before the international trade committee soon. I look forward to going through it line by line. If the member wants to talk about the future agenda of the House, he is in a position, as the parliamentary secretary to the government House leader, to have those conversations. I encourage him to have those conversations with our House leader and other House leaders as we go on. I do want to refer to when the president, was here, as the member mentioned. He chose one city alone to speak about here in Canada, and that city was my city of Edmonton. That is why I would like to highlight a lot of the work Edmontonians have done to support Ukrainian newcomers.

Madam Speaker, my good friend from the Bloc Québécois highlighted a really important point about what we are going through right now. Again, the bill is 700 pages, in addition to what happened in 2017 when the initial agreement was signed. Depending on what happens here in the House, this will hopefully come before the international trade committee, which I sit on. I am looking forward to going through it line by line because, ultimately, this is important for Canadians and for the country of Ukraine.

Madam Speaker, the hon. member for Courtenay—Alberni could not have brought up an issue closer to my heart as the unfortunate issue facing British pensioners. As the UK-Canada free trade agreement goes forward further, it is certainly something that we have been pushing for to make sure that the U.K. government understands the severe impact it is having on U.K. pensioners living right here in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if members know this, but monthly mortgage payments on a typical family home are now a crushing $3,500 per month. When the leader of the official opposition was the housing minister, homes were attainable and affordable. Now it takes 25 years to save up for a down payment in a city like Toronto. Some families have even had to stretch the terms of their mortgages to a shocking 90 years. Some just cannot make their payments anymore. Let us take Cora Cook, a Barrie, Ontario, woman, who bought a home in January 2022 and was forced to sell when her monthly mortgage payments jumped from $2,800 a year to just over $6,000 a year. After selling belongings and holding garage sales, Cora and her husband could not hang on anymore and were forced to sell. For those clinging on to their homes, time is running out. Our common-sense plan will cut the waste and cap spending so Canadians can once again keep their homes.

Madam Speaker, there was a lot of anticipation with the bill from a many stakeholders in the community. I agree with my colleague from the New Democratic Party that there was a missed opportunity on many fronts. The Chamber of Shipping said that this legislation missed out on addressing the root causes of supply chain congestion and that the additional powers only addressed symptoms of congestion and could aggravate managing cargo efficiently. Could he comment on that?

Mr. Speaker, it is an exciting time in oil country, as our hometown Oilers are second round bound. Round two starts tonight in Las Vegas, but I know that ICE District Plaza and Joey Moss pit will be packed with fans in Edmonton. This is a big deal. The Oilers, rather fittingly, during the week of His Majesty's coronation, have first knocked off the Kings and now are going after all his Knights. We have 97, 29 or 93 reasons, and we can take our pick, to get excited about this round, and I can assure everyone that all of Edmonton is behind what many in our country are now referring to as “Canada's team”. It is time to “leaf” the other teams in our dust as we quest toward the cup. Game one starts tonight, and I know I speak for nearly everyone in the chamber when I say, “Go, Oilers, go.”

Mr. Speaker, Edmonton's violent crime rate has increased 16.5% in just 12 months. 2022 represented the highest number of violent criminal incidents ever reported in a single year. The even scarier part is that this trend has carried into 2023, with violent criminal occurrences increasing by 6% in the first quarter of this year. In fact, we are seeing that 68% of violent offenders who are arrested and released become involved with the police again. These are the highest rates of crime in our city's history. This is why organizations across the country are calling for bail reforms to keep violent offenders behind bars. After eight years of the Liberals' catch-and-release crime policies, Canadians do not feel safe walking down the street or taking transit. In fact, what is even scarier is that these policies are just making it worse.

Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise in this place, the House Commons, and particularly to speak to budget 2023 today. Before I start talking about the budget, I would like to first bring some good news to the House. Some of our very good friends, Carl Brown and Veronica Dubak recently had a little baby boy, Sterling Vesely Dubak Brown, on March 17. I look forward to spending lots of time with him. He is happy and healthy, and we could not be happier for them and their family. I note the applause for Hansard. On a more sombre note, this is the first time I have been able to rise in the House since the tragedy that hit Edmonton more recently, where we have now lost three frontline police officials. First it was Constable Travis Jordan and Constable Brett Ryan, and more recently Constable Harvinder Dhami. I cannot imagine the amount of grief their families are feeling right now, and I wanted to make sure to send my condolences out to them. It certainly has gripped our town of Edmonton very strongly as we come to terms with the loss of three lives in our community, of those who put their lives in the way of fire every single day. I do want to get to the budget. First of all, I want to address three or four items that I found to be of particular interest to me, mental health being the key one. In the lead-up to the budget, we heard a lot of talk about mental health and the supports that may or may not be in the budget. Unfortunately, it was the latter. A number of mental health committees I have spoken to over the last number of weeks talked about how disappointing this budget has been to them. It is unfortunate. We are going through an incredible mental health crisis right now. It is something I know every member of this House ends up supporting. However, it did not seem to make it to that final step and get into the budget. These are not just my thoughts. I will give a quick rundown of what the Canadian Mental Health Association stated. The headline of its press release the day of the budget says it all: “Budget 2023 out of touch with mental health crisis”. The press release goes on to say: The Canadian Mental Health Association...is profoundly concerned that Budget 2023 did not include the promised Canada Mental Health Transfer. Failing to establish the Transfer is an abdication of responsibility on a long-awaited policy and mandate priority.... The promise of federal funding starting in 2021 with an initial investment of $4.5 billion over 5 years never materialized. The press release then quotes the CEO: “The budget is out of touch with the reality of Canadians’ well-being and their ability to afford mental health services. I believe that the government has missed the mark, and that there will be deep human and economic costs to pay.” Mental health is something I know a number of these organizations have spent a lot of time coordinating, and they have been reaching out to the government about trying to get that support. This is an opportunity to highlight some of these serious mental health aspects. There is an awareness event that I do each year with members of this House. With the Liberal member for Richmond Hill and the NDP member for Courtenay—Alberni, we do an event called Father's Day on the Hill every year. It raises awareness of men's mental health, because 75% of suicides in this country are of men. We have even seen some more statistics come out that an average of 50 men are dying by suicide per week and that 81% of the drug overdose deaths are also of men. I am always pleased to raise awareness of this event. We are now in our seventh year of doing this, but the numbers continue to climb and it is something that I know most members of the House are concerned about. To drive this home, in terms of just how important the support for mental health is, not seeing that tied into the budget has been disappointing to see. Before I move on to the next topic, on men's mental health, we have even seen, this year, the Bloc Québécois join us in putting together this event. We started a foundation through it last year, which is going to promote research and programs throughout the year. Ultimately, what I would love to see in this budget, and going forward in future budgets, is not just support for mental health as a broad budget number and a lump sum of money, but for a lot of that to be dedicated to the people and the issues that need it most, whether it be the overdose deaths or the mental health of men struggling with suicide. Those sorts of supports are what Canadians are asking for and what Canadians need right now. I want to move on to the other topic that jumped out at me in the budget, the supply chains. It is something that I take on in this caucus, as our shadow minister of supply chains. There was a lot of reaching out and advocating for supply chain issues in the lead-up to this budget. However, unfortunately, we saw even more movement in the opposite direction. I will just read a quick quote from the Railway Association of Canada, which was not pleased with what happened in this budget: “The Railway Association of Canada...calls the federal government’s move to resurrect the failed policy of extended regulated interswitching misguided and harmful to Canada’s supply chains.” Its CEO goes on to state, “The measures announced today will not improve the efficiency, capacity or reliability of Canada’s supply chains. They will do the exact opposite, as we saw under extended regulated interswitching that was in place from 2014 to 2016.” The supply chain issue is something that I know has gripped many Canadians, particularly in my community. Since the pandemic, I have been hearing a lot about what supply chains have meant to this country, and I think that more and more people are paying attention to the supply chains now too. In downtown Vancouver, if people see a barge out on English Bay, they might be wondering if maybe that is their Amazon package delivery or the IKEA bench they were hoping to purchase over the weekend. I think that more Canadians are looking at what governments are doing when it comes to supply chains. It touches each ministry over there, yet there is not a lot of coordination between the ministries. I think this is partly why it was astute of our leader to put that focus on supply chains. If we can get a coordinated approach where we can bring forward those solutions, whether it is reducing red tape or providing efficiencies, I think we will see a lot more success at the federal, provincial and municipal levels when it comes to supply chain management. There is one last topic I want to briefly touch on. I sit on the parliamentary aerospace caucus, and I co-chair that with a member of each party in the House. I have been on it for five or six years now. What we do is raise awareness for the aerospace industry and the aerospace sector. They were also disappointed in this particular budget. For example, immediately following the budget, they said, “This budget was a missed opportunity for the federal government to support the development of a national aerospace strategy, increase resourcing in Transport Canada's certification capabilities and exclude aircraft from the Select Luxury Items Tax Act to mitigate the significant negative impacts we are currently seeing on Canadian manufacturers and workers.” The reason why that is important is that the aerospace sector has been advocating for a national aerospace strategy since I got here, since 2015. It is too bad to see that it keeps getting pushed down the aisle. These are just three items that I got to talk about, but I do not think I have seen, in my time here, a budget that has been criticized by so many different associations and organizations. I think that should be a wake-up call for the government on the other side to think about when it is looking at future budgets or future legislation in this place.

Madam Speaker, it is important, in this House, that the government reflect all aspects of this country. I am hearing that my Bloc friends are also disappointed in this budget. We are disappointed in this budget. They are disappointed in this budget. If only we could get one more party on side to be disappointed in this budget, we might end up with a confidence vote and we might have an election. We might have somebody else in the chair to put forward a better budget that would be better received across the country.

Madam Speaker, that is a very timely question. I thank my friend from Courtenay—Alberni for raising it. British pensioners are actually here in Ottawa this week. There are over 150,000 members who are not receiving proper British pensions. This is not a partisan issue. My friend from Courtenay—Alberni and members from the Liberal side have been advocating for this for years. I think it even goes back to former prime minister Jean Chrétien and Tony Blair sitting down and discussing this. It is unfair treatment of Canadian citizens. They are here this week to push this issue. They are here this week to raise awareness. They are also here this week to flag the issue with the Minister of International Trade to make sure she is aware of the urgent need to see a change and see this reflected for the many pensioners being treated unfairly in this country.

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the current Prime Minister, Canadian businesses are beginning to sound the alarm. Take Gio, who owns a small coffee shop in Edmonton. He has to bring his beans up from South America, but due to the rising costs of fuel, transportation and utilities, he has had to hike his prices 25%. It is policies like the Liberals' carbon tax that continue to drive up these costs. Conservatives will keep the heat on and take the tax off, so when will the Prime Minister get out of the way so Conservatives can fix what he broke?

Mr. Speaker, the minister wants to tell us about small businesses. I think it is the Ethics Commissioner who just told us what the Liberals do with small business. It has been reported now that more than half of Canadians are spending $200 a month or more to heat their homes. Let us ask Linda, who has a family of four. She is choosing to skip meals to heat her home. Conservatives will keep the heat on and take the tax off, so when will the Prime Minister get out of the way so Conservatives can fix what he broke?