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Parliamentary Speeches

401 speeches by Mel Arnold — Page 1 of 9

2026-06-18
Spring Economic Update 2026 Implementation Act
0

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for his speech and actually admitting in his words that we are in “a bit of a challenging time for our country.” His terminology for this may be a little bit off when we have seniors having to live in their vehicles because they cannot afford rent. We have record numbers of working people and young families relying on food banks just so that they can surviv…

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2026-06-17
Petitions
0

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present two more petitions. These two are on the Liberals' failing firearms confiscation program. With nearly a $1-billion price tag, barely a third of that program is going to actually compensate firearms owners, while the rest will go into bureaucracy. Therefore, the undersigned citizens and permanent residents of Canada call upon the Government of Canada to end its …

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2026-06-16
Kevin Flynn
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Statements by Members

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the passing of long-time city councillor, regional district director and former chair Kevin Flynn. Kevin's leadership earned him the deep respect of the community he served so passionately, yet for all his dedication to public service, Kevin's greatest joy was his family. He leaves behind his beloved wife Cathy, his proud sons Chris and Curtis, daughters-in-l…

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2026-06-11
Strong and Free Elections Act
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Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that question on political financing. Prior to when I was elected, there was what was known as a per-vote subsidy. If a member got a certain number of votes in the previous election, they got that subsidy from the taxpayer. What has changed now is that there is a maximum amount that individuals, and they must be individuals, not corporations, can contribute to an election…

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2026-06-11
Strong and Free Elections Act
0

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today as the elected representative for Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies. As I have previously stated in this place, all of us have a solemn responsibility to provide representation and voice to those citizens who voted for us and depend on us to be their voice here in Parliament. Canadians need us to be vigilant, and they depend on us to be their voice. We hav…

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2026-06-11
Strong and Free Elections Act
0

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, if the member had been listening, she would have heard me speak about the third party financing loophole. There could be millions of dollars spent by foreign entities to affect the nomination and election of candidates and representatives who are elected to ensure the security and safety of our country. If anything, this has to be the one piece that should have been addressed, and the…

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2026-06-11
Fisheries and Oceans
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Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, again that was an answer that was not even close to the question. All parties acknowledge that the salmon allocation policy must be aligned with the Ahousaht decision. However, while all Canadians have the right to fish, the minister keeps the public's lives and livelihood on hold, waiting for her to decide whether the public's current priority allocation for chinook and coho, before …

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2026-06-11
Strong and Free Elections Act
0

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, after 11 summers in the House, it is interesting to see what happens, typically, every year in June, under this government. The Liberals cannot manage their agenda throughout the entire year, so they fall so far behind. They have put us on late-night hours, where we are sitting until midnight, and even then they have to cut debate short with these time allocation motions because they …

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2026-06-04
Protecting Victims Act
0

Government Orders

Madam Chair, the minister opposite is arguing that debating the bill itself—

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2026-05-29
Affordability
0

Statements by Members

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Prime Minister is the only G7 leader to push his country into a recession. All other G7 countries are facing the same issues with tariffs and global challenges, but no others are in a recession. The real GDP fell in quarter one, making it two consecutive quarters of annualized decline, pushing Canada into a recession. The decline was mostly driven by decline in investments…

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2026-05-28
Indigenous Affairs
0

Adjournment Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member opposite for attempting to change the channel, but he really needs to go back to his drawing board. I was asking about the Cowichan agreement, not the Musqueam agreement that he referred to. His denial response is exactly what I predicted. He was going to try and blame Conservatives for stoking fear. It is real fear that is coming from Canadians, like homeow…

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2026-05-28
Indigenous Affairs
0

Adjournment Proceedings

Perfect, love it.

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2026-05-28
Indigenous Affairs
0

Adjournment Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in the House as the elected representative for Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies. Members of the House are elected to represent Canadians and to advocate on their behalf. Every one of us is sent here to represent the people, to be their voice and advocate and to work on behalf of the people we represent. These are basic and essential principles of represe…

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2026-05-08
Indigenous Affairs
0

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, because the Liberal government directed its lawyers to not argue property rights in the Cowichan case, British Columbians who bought their homes, paid their mortgages and followed the law now do not know the status of their home ownership. The Liberal government directive number 14 is still in place. This means that the legal instruction for federal lawyers to not defend property righ…

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2026-05-07
Taxation
0

Adjournment Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, on April 17, I asked the government a question, and the response provided by the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada was unacceptable, which is why we are here now for this debate this evening. I stated the following: ...after more than a decade of Liberal policies, life is unaffordable. The latest MNP consumer debt i…

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2026-05-07
Taxation
0

Adjournment Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, that was more preprocessed talking points from the minister's office and no real answers for Canadians. The parliamentary secretary said that they are aware of the affordability issue, but are they aware that the government is responsible for it? There are the ever-increasing deficits, and this year's deficit is two times what former prime minister Justin Trudeau would have had. Billi…

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2026-05-07
Business of Supply
0

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, the member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford was referring to the risks of secret agreements and asking whether I could expand on those risks. Well, because those agreements are secret, we have not seen them. We do not know what the risks are in these secret agreements. I have been privy to this through my work, for over 10 years, on the fisheries committee, where agreements are signed wi…

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2026-05-07
Business of Supply
0

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford. It is always an honour to rise as the elected representative of Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies. As I have previously stated in this place, all of us have a solemn responsibility to provide representation and voice to the citizens who depend on us to do their bidding here in Parliament. Canadians need us to be…

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2026-05-07
Business of Supply
0

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I want to again quote what the Prime Minister stated earlier this week in the House: “All federal agreements with first nations, with indigenous peoples and with rights holders protect private property rights and protect indigenous peoples' rights.” I checked those agreements this morning. As I stated, the Musqueam agreement does not mention the term “private property”. None of those …

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2026-05-07
Business of Supply
0

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question from the Bloc member about whether this could be studied at the indigenous affairs committee. With the regime that the current power-brokered Liberal government has now installed at committees with its majority, it is shuttering committees. Any question as to the government's integrity is shut down, turned in camera and voted against by the majority Liberal m…

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2026-05-06
Petitions
0

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition to the Minister of the Environment, Climate Change and Nature. The long-tailed macaque is the most heavily traded primate for experimental use and was uplisted to “endangered” by the IUCN in 2022. Despite the species' endangered status, Canada has allowed the import of over 10,000 macaques from Cambodia between 2023 and 2025. Environment and Climate …

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2026-04-27
Government Business No. 9—Changes to the Standing …
0

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, the member mentioned the adjustment of numbers of members on committees. I would like to ask her to explain fully, not just to the members on this side of the House but to Canadians, why the government chose to move to a 60% makeup on committees instead of the 51% that it has in the House. Is this to shut down the opposition completely at committee, or is there some other diabolical s…

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2026-04-24
Petitions
0

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to present another petition from residents of Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies. I believe this is my sixth petition on this issue. The petition calls on the Government of Canada to reject any amendment to Bill C-9 that removes the religious exemption from Canada's hate speech provisions, to protect Canada's constitutional rights of freedom of religion and…

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2026-04-24
International Trade
0

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's illusions tactic and excuses are no help to Canadians. Instead of getting a trade deal last July, as he promised, he squandered his leverage with concessions made 10 months ago. He does not even show up to do his job, while Mexico makes progress ahead of him. Why did the Liberal Prime Minister make the strategic error of dragging this out instead of using the leve…

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2026-04-24
International Trade
0

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, is the Prime Minister waving the white flag on U.S. tariffs? He sits by and does nothing while U.S. tariffs on steel have doubled, and they have tripled on lumber. He has failed in negotiating the reduction of a single tariff. Sawmills and the B.C. towns that they support are reeling from his failure to negotiate a deal. Speeches, illusions, excuses and failures are not going to cut i…

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2026-04-24
Alvie Burden
0

Statements by Members

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay homage to World War II veteran Alvie Burden. Alvie was a resident of Armstrong, British Columbia, and was not only Armstrong's oldest veteran but also Canada's oldest Black veteran of the Second World War. Born in Tisdale, Saskatchewan, in 1922, Alvie Burden joined the Canadian Forces at the age of 19 and was posted to the Saskatoon Light Infantry regiment. Alvie served …

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2026-04-17
Petitions
0

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, I also present four more petitions today on behalf of residents of Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies. These citizens call on the Government of Canada to reject any amendment to Bill C-9 that removes the religious exemption from Canada's hate speech provisions, to protect Canadians' constitutional rights of freedom of religion and to ensure that legislation does not criminalize good-fai…

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2026-04-17
Taxation
0

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal plan is making life unaffordable. Of respondents to my recent survey to every household across Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, 94% say life has become less affordable over the past year. Rebeca replied that she works full-time at a good job but can barely afford groceries. She does not have any kids, because she cannot afford to. Why will the Liberals not provide some re…

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2026-04-17
Lawful Access Act, 2026
0

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to rise as the elected representative for the new riding of Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies and the associate shadow minister for fisheries for His Majesty's loyal opposition. Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies is a new riding that was created as of the last election, and I believe it is one of the most majestic ridings across this country, if not the most majest…

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2026-04-17
Lawful Access Act, 2026
0

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Oshawa for that really interesting question about the echo chamber. I will mimic my colleague from Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola when he spoke of the echo, echo, echo chamber in here. I think it is telling that today there are no questions and no interventions coming from the Liberal side. We can only surmise why that might be, but understanding how the Liberal gover…

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2026-04-17
Lawful Access Act, 2026
0

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, we will be looking at this legislation very closely, scrutinizing it closely, like we do with every piece of legislation that comes before the House, to make sure that appropriate amendments are proposed, and hopefully passed, at committee.

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2026-04-17
Petitions
0

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present the first petition from residents of Salmon Arm, British Columbia, a community I am very honoured to represent and live in. The petitioners are calling upon the House of Commons to support Bill C-218, to exclude mental illness or disorder from MAID, and to invest resources into mental health services.

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2026-04-17
Taxation
0

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, after more than a decade of Liberal policies, life is unaffordable. The latest MNP consumer debt index report states that 70% of British Columbians say rising food prices and gas prices are straining their finances. The Liberals voted against reducing taxes that increase the cost of gas by 25¢ a litre. They voted against removing taxes on food that drive up the cost of groceries. Why …

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2026-04-17
Lawful Access Act, 2026
0

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, those amendments would be developed during the scrutiny of the bill. We can see where the language in the bill needs to be clarified, whether with respect to the definitions or how the bill is going to be interpreted. I spoke about that in my intervention. We could hear from enforcement authorities and from individuals who have been affected by not having this legislation in place so …

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2026-04-17
Lawful Access Act, 2026
0

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member from the Liberal side for finally being one to stand up. I think he has been the only one in the last while here to present questions. I am not going to take the liberty to talk about what amendments might be put forward at committee. We will carefully scrutinize the bill. We will listen to the witnesses who are called to committee to testify on the bill, to the sta…

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2026-04-16
Fisheries and Oceans
0

Adjournment Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in this House as the elected representative for Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, and as the associate shadow minister for fisheries for His Majesty's official loyal opposition. I am here today to debate the response to the question I posed to the Minister of Fisheries on March 26, 2026, when I asked if she would reaffirm a principle that is foundational…

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2026-04-16
Fisheries and Oceans
0

Adjournment Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the parliamentary secretary for that attempted response, but he still has not clearly answered the question that Canadians are extremely concerned with. It is the public access and the priority access to chinook and coho salmon and the ranking that they currently have. He said that no one will have their rights to access extinguished. Being extinguished is one thing, b…

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2026-03-26
Fisheries and Oceans
0

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, Canada's fisheries resources do belong to the people of Canada. The fisheries minister confirmed this last October when I asked her at the fisheries committee. However, the minister's department has recklessly published a proposal that would eliminate this principle, and Canadians are paying the price for the uncertainty it has caused. Was the minister's statement at committee more Li…

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2026-03-26
Petitions
0

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, the other five petitions I have today are from residents of Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies. They are concerned about Bill C-9, which was passed in this House but is still going through the Senate. They call upon the government to reject any amendments to Bill C-9 that remove the religious exemption from Canada's hate speech provisions, protect Canadians' constitutional rights to fre…

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2026-03-26
Fisheries and Oceans
0

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, it sounds like the minister is tired of hearing from Canadians, but Conservatives will not stop raising their voices on their behalf. We recognize that the salmon allocation policy must be aligned with the Ahousaht decision. No one is disputing that in the policy's review, but why is the minister's department floating the proposal to go far beyond, and proposing to sink over 9,000 job…

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2026-03-26
Petitions
0

Routine Proceedings

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present multiple petitions. The first petition is on behalf of Canadians who are deeply concerned about proposed changes to the salmon allocation policy, which would decimate public fishing opportunities for chinook and coho salmon in British Columbia. Changing the common property resource principle risks turning a shared public resource into an exclusive privilege, re…

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2026-03-23
Combatting Hate Act
0

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, the member for Winnipeg North did point out that there are many pieces of Bill C-9 that are positive. Conservatives offered to split this bill and deal with those components expeditiously, so they could have been passed long ago. It was this ultimate censorship that the government is invoking and then ending the debate on it and not allowing members who represent Canadians across the …

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2026-03-23
Combatting Hate Act
0

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in this House as the elected representative for Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, a part of this country that is known for its significant place and time in Canadian history. Craigellachie in the middle of the Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies is the place where in 1885 the last spike was driven on the Canadian Pacific Railway, uniting this country from c…

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2026-03-23
Combatting Hate Act
0

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, just to clarify for anyone who has tuned in to the recent diatribe back and forth about conduct in the House, I do not believe any of it was directed at me because I had been conducting myself in a manner appropriate to the House. The Speaker's comments, I think, were directed at others. However, it has been so long since the member asked the question, I have forgotten the name of his…

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2026-03-23
Combatting Hate Act
0

Government Orders

Mr. Speaker, the aspect of self-censorship or censorship is really paramount to some of the discussion we are having here. We have seen how the Liberals are shutting down debate or censoring a censorship bill. I do not think there is anything that could be more troubling from a government that has always sought to have ultimate power by censoring the people. That, I believe, is what the government…

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2026-03-13
Employment
0

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, the February “no jobs” report shows the Liberal policies are not working for Canadians. There were 108,000 full-time jobs lost, the largest one-month decline in full-time employment since 2020. Youth unemployment shot up to 14%. We have the only shrinking economy in the G7, and now we have the second-highest unemployment. Canadians are not working because Liberal policies are not work…

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2026-02-27
Corrections and Conditional Release Act
0

Private Members' Business

Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank all members who spoke to the bill today and those who spoke during the first hour of second reading on November 18, 2025. Their contributions and support are sincerely appreciated, not just by me but by all victims of crime and those who have worked on this bill. When Canadians are victimized by crime, they often carry psychological and emotional burdens for life. This…

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2026-02-27
Corrections and Conditional Release Act
0

Private Members' Business

Mr. Speaker, I ask that the bill be passed with the support of all parties.

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2026-02-27
The Economy
0

Oral Questions

Mr. Speaker, Liberal policies have made child poverty worse. The child and family poverty report card shows child poverty rising for a third straight year. Nearly 30,000 more children are falling below the poverty line, and almost one in five children under age six is now living in poverty. The number of children in severely food-insecure households doubled between 2019 and 2023. When will the Lib…

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2026-02-10
Business of Supply
0

Government Orders

Madam Speaker, the member has been part of Liberal governments for 10 years that are responsible for the crime, chaos and corruption on our streets. I was just reading an article from this week saying that 53% of Canadians fear for their safety because of crime, 56% avoid a certain area in their communities and 71% have lost faith and have no confidence in the justice system, which the secretary o…

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