Parliamentary Speeches

Mr. Speaker, of all the countries in the G20, Canada is the only one in a recession, and it is no mystery why. The Liberals' inflationary spending, red tape and antidevelopment policies created this recession and cost of living crisis. It is not global forces; it is Liberal choices. Why can the Prime Minister not understand that Canadians cannot afford to make ends meet, that his costly policies are driving the G20's only recession and that his policies are failing Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, as usual, the Liberal member from Saskatchewan does not know what he is talking about. I have been here for a lot less than 10 years, and before I was elected, a Liberal MP represented my riding. During that time, the Liberals gave us the carbon tax, the “no more pipelines” bill and the west coast tanker ban, which led to thousands of job losses in the Saskatchewan oil patch. On the rare occasion when this member does attend a cabinet meeting, will he tell the Prime Minister to reverse his costly policies so that Canadians can afford to live again?

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity today to present petition e-7326 in the House of Commons. This petition has been signed by over 1,800 Canadians who are concerned about human rights abroad, particularly the case of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan. For more than three years, Imran Khan has been left to languish in prison in what the United Nations working committee on human rights has described as an arbitrary detention and a violation of the universal declaration of human rights. Petitioners are asking for the Government of Canada to publicly call for the immediate release of Imran Khan, as well as all political prisoners in Pakistan. They also want Imran Khan to have access to medical treatment and his family, as well as Canada's high commissioner to Pakistan, in order to confirm his condition. I am pleased to have the opportunity to present this petition here today in the House of Commons.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity this afternoon to speak in favour of Bill S‑210, which would designate the month of September as Ukrainian heritage month. This bill is particularly relevant to Saskatchewan and the Prairies as a whole because of the long and rich history of Ukrainians and Ukrainian communities that has contributed to the development of that region of the country. The settlement of western Canada was one of the most transformational events in Canadian history. In the late 1800s, the land that would eventually become Saskatchewan had a population of approximately 10,000 people. That number would increase nearly a hundredfold by the 1920s. Homesteaders from all across Europe, including some of my great-grandparents, moved to Saskatchewan because of the promise of free farmland and a better life. Many of these settlers came from Ukraine. In addition to their farming practices, they brought with them their language, their culture and their traditions, many of which can still be seen today across the Prairies. The town of Hafford, Saskatchewan, proudly displays Ukrainian-language street signs as a tribute to the Ukrainians who first homesteaded and settled in that area. What would become the Ukrainian Museum of Canada was established in Saskatoon in 1941 by the Ukrainian Women's Association of Canada before it expanded into a national network of museums. The town of Vegreville, Alberta, is home to the world's largest pysanka, or Ukrainian Easter egg, outside of Ukraine. This Ukrainian Easter egg is one of the most popular tourist stops along the Yellowhead Highway, visited by thousands of tourists every year, including my fiancé and me just last summer. Of course, many Ukrainian Canadians, as well as Canadians without Ukrainian heritage, celebrate Vyshyvanka Day every year on the third Thursday in May. The vyshyvanka is the traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt. I know I enjoyed wearing my vyshyvanka and spending time with members of the Regina chapter of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress when we celebrated this occasion in Regina just last month. With the possible exception of the grain elevators, I would argue that few buildings have defined the prairie landscape more than Ukrainian churches, both Catholic and Orthodox. There are two of these churches in particular that I would like to mention. The first is St. Michael's Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Regina, which will be celebrating its 100th anniversary next year. I know that I and many members of the community are looking forward to the centennial celebrations. The second is St. Onuphrius Ukrainian Catholic Church. This church was originally built in Smoky Lake County, northeast of Edmonton, between 1915 and 1928. In the 1990s, the building was meticulously disassembled and relocated to the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, where it was reassembled in the Canadian history hall, where it stands today for all to see. While the history of Ukrainians in Canada has been mostly positive for over a century, we recently entered some very sad and dark times in February 2022, with Russia's illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. We all remember the images on TV of Russian tanks rolling across the border into Ukraine. I remember having many conversations with members of Regina's Ukrainian community. I would ask them, “Do you have any friends or family members who are close to the fighting?” The answer was invariably yes. Practically everyone had received an email or text message, or had had a phone call, from a friend or family member not far from the fighting, and practically all of them had fled with nothing more than the shirts on their backs. It is certainly a tragedy that they will remember for the rest of their lives, but as Mr. Rogers famously said, whenever there is a catastrophe, always “look for the helpers”, because if we look for the helpers, we will know that there is hope. When the people of Ukraine needed help, the people of Saskatchewan provided that hope. All of a sudden, a century of Ukrainian heritage in Saskatchewan kicked into action. Cousins, aunts and uncles started texting each other to arrange for spare bedrooms and clothing and to make all of the necessary arrangements to welcome their Ukrainian friends and family members who were coming to Saskatchewan to flee the war zone. People who had taken Ukrainian language classes in Saskatchewan schools had a newfound use for their language skills, as newcomers from Ukraine were given work placements on farms, oil rigs and local businesses. Masses and services at Ukrainian Catholic and Orthodox churches were, all of a sudden, standing room only on Sunday morning. Overall, on a per capita basis, Saskatchewan welcomed more Ukrainians than any other province in the months following Russia's invasion. I have to say that designating Ukrainian heritage month is a fine idea, particularly for the people of Saskatchewan. Therefore, I certainly support Bill S-210. However, it is important to keep in mind that Bill S-210 is only a symbolic gesture. That is not to say that symbols are not important, because in a way, they are, but I wish the Liberal government would take some more tangible, concrete steps to support our friends and allies in Ukraine through their current struggles against the Russian invasion. In particular, the single most beneficial action that Canada could take to help Ukraine would be to sell more Canadian oil and gas to western Europe so those countries could stop buying from Russia. In fact, I said as much in a speech in the House four years ago. When then finance minister Chrystia Freeland made her 2022 budget speech in the House, she received one standing ovation from all members of all parties. It was when she said that the Russian army invading Ukraine needed to be vanquished. I agreed then and I agree now that nothing would be better for the Ukrainian people than to get the Russian army off of Ukrainian soil. The best way to do this would be to displace Russian oil and gas sales to western Europe with Canadian oil and gas exports, thus making it financially impossible for Russia to continue the war. As I said in my speech four years ago, exporting oil and gas to Europe requires pipelines. We need to build pipelines in this country by repealing the Liberals' anti-energy laws, including Bill C-69, the no more pipelines law, and Bill C-48, the west coast tanker ban, so that we could export Canadian energy and be a force for good in the world instead of enriching dictators such as Vladimir Putin and enabling them to wage war against Ukraine. In the following four years since Chrystia Freeland's speech in the House of Commons, the inaction from the Liberal government has been disappointing to say the least. The Chancellor of Germany, the Prime Minister of Greece, the President of Poland and the President of the European Union have all asked the Liberal government for more Canadian energy exports to Europe, only to be told, quite famously by Justin Trudeau, that there was no strong business case for LNG exports from Canada to Europe. As a result, Russian troops continue to occupy Ukrainian soil, Russian rockets continue to rain down on Ukrainian cities and Ukrainians continue to suffer. In conclusion, I support Bill S-210 to officially recognize Ukrainian heritage month, and I encourage all members to vote in favour of the bill. I also hope that it serves as a reminder to the Liberal government that there are some very tangible measures that it could be taking to help our friends and allies in Ukraine that would ensure that their culture and heritage remain strong for generations to come. Slava Ukraini.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition on behalf of concerned workers and business owners at the Regina International Airport. The signatories of the petition are concerned about the Liberals' proposed official languages administrative monetary penalties regulations and their application to businesses operating at airports. Smaller regional airports, such as Regina, do not have easy access to a fluently bilingual labour force, and as a result, it is not practical to expect every restaurant, souvenir shop and car rental business on the airport's property to offer services in French. They fear that penalties as high as $25,000 per infraction could drive them out of business. Their solution is to simply exclude from the regulations any airport with fewer than four million passengers annually. I am pleased to have the opportunity to present this petition today in the House of Commons.

Mr. Speaker, rising jet fuel prices are making international travel too expensive for many Canadians, but fortunately, next week, people in Regina and southern Saskatchewan can travel the world without ever leaving the queen city. The 55th annual Mosaic Festival of Cultures will be celebrated all across the queen city on June 4, 5 and 6. Pavilions throughout Regina will feature food, drinks and cultural performances from Austria, Bangladesh, Central and South America, China, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Persia, Poland, Romania, Scotland, the Philippines and Ukraine, as well as first nations and Métis communities. It is all made possible by the Regina Multicultural Council and its many dedicated volunteers. I thank everyone involved for sharing their culture with the rest of Regina and southern Saskatchewan. I wish everybody a great Mosaic.

Mr. Speaker, in a recent video, the Prime Minister called Canada's closeness to the United States a weakness. This anti-American attitude, combined with the Liberals' decades-long opposition to pipelines, has caused the Americans to look elsewhere to meet their energy needs. Last month, the Americans suspended sanctions on oil imports from Russia. That is right, even Vladimir Putin is better at selling natural resources to the United States than the Prime Minister is. What a shame it is that the Keystone XL pipeline has not been built yet. Western Canadian oil should be flowing through that pipeline right now at $100 per barrel, and the wealth generated should be increasing the standard of living right here in Canada. Instead, the money is going to Russia to pay for its illegal war against Ukraine. Canadians and the world expect better from the Prime Minister. When will he unlock our resources so Canadians can afford to live?

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the defence minister was covering for cancelling the Snowbirds by telling Canadians the planes were unsafe, but according to CBC reporting, his own defence department says the Snowbirds can continue flying the jets until at least 2030. Who are Canadians to believe, the minister or his own department? Does the minister not have confidence in his own department, or did he mislead this House yesterday?

Mr. Speaker, every third Thursday in May, we celebrate Vyshyvanka Day. This year marks 20 years of this tradition in Ukraine and 10 years here in Canada. What began as a student initiative at Chernivtsi University has grown into a global celebration of Ukrainian heritage, identity and resilience. This Vyshyvanka Day, more than four years into Russia's illegal invasion, we are reminded that this symbol has endured centuries of attempts to erase the Ukrainian people, both physically and as a nation. Like every stitch in a vyshyvanka, every act of support matters. Canada must continue to step up by providing the military support Ukraine needs and by dramatically increasing our energy exports to displace the Russian resources that are financing this war. On behalf of Canada's Conservatives, I reaffirm our unwavering commitment to stand with Ukraine until victory. Happy Vyshyvanka Day and slava Ukraini.

Madam Speaker, after 11 years of the Liberals, they continue to spend like drunken sailors, with a deficit of $65 billion, debt servicing at $59 billion and the total debt a staggering $1.7 trillion. The costly credit card budget means more debt, more costs, more spending, more taxes and more of the same. Why have the Liberals doubled Justin Trudeau's deficit and doubled down on costly credit card budgeting, forcing Canadians to pay more for gas, groceries and housing?

Madam Speaker, it is depressing to have to line up at a food bank when 10 years ago someone used to be able to afford groceries, but Canadians are starting to see that the Liberal promises are just an illusion. To quote an editorial in The Globe and Mail, “In the upside-down land of the Liberals, a spending spree is a spending cut, blowing a windfall of billions of dollars is prudent and failing to prepare for a fiscal storm is, well, just good management.” When will the Prime Minister end his costly credit card budgeting so Canadians can afford to live?

Mr. Speaker, I would like to start this morning by thanking my grade 2 social studies teacher, Mrs. Rose Klein. It was many election cycles ago when I was in her class, which is where I first learned about elections. I could not have imagined that one day I would be standing here on the floor of the House of Commons debating a bill to make changes to the Canada Elections Act. That certainly speaks to the importance of having positive role models in one's life. Bill C-25 is an act to make certain amendments to the Canada Elections Act. I think we can all agree that the integrity of the electoral process is fundamental to our democracy. While many Canadians may watch politics on TV and may talk politics over coffee, I think it is fair to say that for the vast majority of Canadians, their most important and meaningful contribution to the democratic process is to actually go down to the polling station on election day and mark an X by the name of the candidate of their choice. Therefore, it is important that we as lawmakers get this right. Of particular concern in recent years are the disruptive activities of a group calling itself the longest ballot committee. Quite simply, it is a group of troublemakers who seek to disrupt the electoral process by recruiting large numbers of frivolous candidates who then flood Elections Canada offices with paperwork. As a result, ridings targeted by the longest ballot committee have, as the name implies, unmanageably long ballots, up to a metre in length in some cases. In last year's general election in the riding of Carleton, and in several by-elections in previous years, nearly 100 candidates appeared on the ballot. This has led to excessively long paper ballots and a great deal of frustration among voters and Elections Canada workers. In fact, Elections Canada actually had to change the format of the ballot to be write-in ballots for a by-election last year and another by-election last week, because of the disruptive activities of the longest ballot committee. Last fall, the procedure and House affairs committee studied this matter in depth, and I was pleased to see the broad consensus among MPs from all parties to fix this problem. In fact, one of the recommendations of the committee's final report was for the government to introduce legislation to close some of the loopholes in the Canada Elections Act that were being exploited by the longest ballot committee. That legislation has come to the House of Commons in the form of Bill C-25, which we are debating here today. I would like to go through a few of the report's recommendations in detail and share my thoughts about the potential effectiveness of curtailing the disruptive activities of the longest ballot committee. The first recommendation relates to collecting signatures for a candidate's nomination papers. Right now, in order to run for a seat in the House of Commons, a candidate's paperwork must include the signatures of 100 eligible voters in the candidate's riding. However, there is presently no rule against a person signing the nomination papers of more than one candidate. There is also no rule against people signing the papers before the candidate's name has been filled in at the top. What the longest ballot committee was doing was getting people to sign the papers of many different candidates while the candidate's name was still left blank. This made it easier for it to recruit frivolous candidates whose only intention was to disrupt the electoral process. Bill C-25 closes this loophole by allowing people to sign the nomination papers of one candidate only. While I do not believe this will solve the problem completely, it will constrain the ability of the longest ballot committee to get frivolous candidates on the ballot. Another matter that received considerable attention at the procedure and House affairs committee was the official agents for candidates. The Canada Elections Act requires that each candidate have an official agent, but there is nothing stopping one person from serving as the official agent for multiple candidates in the same riding. I know that everyone enjoys a good sports analogy, so I will relay to the House that some of the witnesses at committee said that allowing one person to serve as the official agent for multiple candidates in the same riding was like the coach being allowed to coach multiple teams in the same league. That is certainly a violation of the spirit of the law, given that elections are inherently competitive processes. I am glad to see that particular recommendation has made its way into Bill C-25 as well. However, I would again caution members from believing that this would completely solve the problem. Indeed, in last week's by-election in Terrebonne, which was one of the ridings targeted by the longest ballot committee, the longest ballot committee did have unique official agents for almost all of the candidates. If I could make a prediction about the effectiveness of unique official agents in future elections, it would seem that instead of the longest ballot committee recruiting, say, 100 frivolous candidates, they would have to settle for recruiting 50 frivolous candidates and 50 frivolous official agents, which is no doubt a significant improvement, but probably not enough to dissuade the longest ballot committee from interfering with future elections. In summary, I think that the official recommendations in the committee's report and their inclusion in Bill C-25 is a positive step to curtail the activities of the longest ballot committee. I would be surprised if it solved the problem completely. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight one of the other ideas that witnesses discussed at committee but was not included in the official recommendations in the final report, namely the reinstatement of mandatory monetary deposits by the candidates. For context, it used to be that a $1,000 deposit was required when a candidate registered to run in an election in this country. In 2017, this requirement was ruled unconstitutional after a court challenge by the same people behind the longest ballot committee. It was this court case that opened the door for the longest ballot committee and their current practice of running large numbers of frivolous candidates, all at no cost to themselves. I would also like to mention that while the judge's ruling indicated that a $1,000 deposit was an unreasonable infringement of section 3 of the charter, the ruling left open the possibility of a deposit of a smaller, less burdensome amount. It is also worth noting that in last week's by-election in Terrebonne and in last year's by-election in Battle River—Crowfoot, many of the longest ballot committee candidates did not receive a single vote. They could not convince a single person to vote for them, nor could they be bothered to show up to vote for themselves. Therefore, my personal view and my personal suggestion is that if the measures included in Bill C-25 are not sufficient to curtail the activities of the longest ballot committee, then the next step should be to revisit the idea of a very nominal deposit and the requirement of receiving a very nominal number of votes on election day. Doing so would cause frivolous candidates to think twice before reaching into their wallets, while at the same time respecting the charter rights of non-frivolous candidates. Hopefully it does not come to that. I am hopeful that the measures introduced in Bill C-25 will be sufficient. I look forward to supporting this bill going to committee and having it studied in further detail. In summary, I will be pleased to vote for this bill at second reading. I look forward to any questions.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the hon. member on becoming a grandfather for the fourth time, earlier this month. I wish him well with the new bundle of joy. I am hopeful that the measures in Bill C-25 are sufficient to curtail the activities of the longest ballot committee. However, I think it is very telling that its members were the ones behind the 2017 court case, which struck down the requirement of the $1,000 deposit. It is also very telling that, after that court case, they opened the door to their current disruptive activities. We will have to take a wait-and-see approach, and we will have to wait and see.

Mr. Speaker, certainly undue influence and undue foreign influence is a concern in our elections. It is good to have a large number of grassroots Canadians participating in the democratic process, which is certainly preferable to a small number of well-to-do insiders. However, I would caution against the idea of public funds for parties or a per-vote subsidy for parties. If individuals want to get people to vote for them, they have to go out, knock on doors and do some fundraising at the same time. I think that having a nominal amount of fundraising for candidates and for parties is a good thing.

Mr. Speaker, today the Liberals want people to believe that they are in favour of pipelines, but it is all an illusion. Not so long ago, they declared that there was no business case for LNG development. The Liberal Prime Minister still has not gotten rid of the Liberals' antidevelopment laws. In my home province of Saskatchewan, natural resource development is not an abstract. It makes up 10% to 15% of the provincial government's budget. It pays for hospitals, schools, roads and social services. As a landlocked province, Saskatchewan cannot prosper from these resources without pipelines. For over a decade, the Liberal government has been all talk and no action on resource development. In the face of global trade threats, when will the Liberal government get serious about resource development? Instead of more recycled speeches and photo ops, we need to get shovels in the ground quickly for oil and gas infrastructure, to build strength at home and unbreakable leverage abroad.

Mr. Speaker, last fall the media reported that Regina's new federally subsidized electric buses could run for only three hours per day in the winter, but in response to a written question, the Liberals said that they have “not been made aware of any instances where battery electric buses were unable to operate due to cold weather.” That is anywhere in the country. How is it possible for the Liberals to be so unaware of billions of dollars of waste, and why do they continue to throw money at buses that will not work in Canadian winters?

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Natural Resources promised that Canada would “do its part” to help release oil reserves in order to stabilize the market, but Canada does not have a strategic oil reserve, in part because of Liberal energy policies that have kept Canadian oil and gas in the ground. Conservatives have proposed a strategic oil stockpile that would allow us to fuel our friends abroad, power paycheques at home and diversify our trade. Will the Liberals adopt our plan so we can be stronger at home while building unbreakable leverage abroad?

Mr. Speaker, we should be extracting those reserves out of the ground and exporting them to the rest of the world. Unfortunately, the Liberals have killed the northern gateway pipeline, the Keystone XL pipeline, the energy east pipeline, all of which could be exporting Canadian oil at $100 a barrel to the rest of the world. How much higher does the price have to go before the Liberals flip-flop again and admit that there is a business case for exporting Canadian oil and gas to the world?

Mr. Speaker, obviously, if those programs were working, we would not have so many children living in poverty. Mahatma Gandhi once said that the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable, so it is unfortunate that child poverty in Canada has risen for the third year in a row. More than 800,000 children in this country are currently living in poverty, and that number has more than doubled since 2020. When will the Liberal government reverse the trend of child poverty getting worse under its watch and create an economy where Canadians can afford to live?

Mr. Speaker, last month during the Prime Minister's visit to Beijing, he announced that he finally had a deal to roll back that country's tariffs on Canadian canola. He even had a grandiose signing ceremony with Xi Jinping in front of Canadian and Chinese flags. Yesterday, however, the Chinese announced that they were postponing their decision until March 9. Is Beijing backing out of the deal, or was the Prime Minister misleading Canadian canola farmers in the first place?

Madam Speaker, last week the Prime Minister visited a grocery store to announce his Canada groceries and essentials benefit. While this program would do absolutely nothing for the vast majority of Canadians, it is even receiving lukewarm reviews from Regina's anti-poverty advocates. John Bailey, CEO of the Regina Food Bank, said that this rebate is not a magic bullet and that “it's not the only step that we're going to need to make sure we're really combating food insecurity.” Denis Simard, executive director of Regina's Al Ritchie Community Association, said that he expects food insecurity to increase despite the rebate because of rising food inflation. Peter Gilmer of the Regina Anti-Poverty Ministry said, “It's certainly not enough.” Those Canadians struggling to make ends meet should know this: Conservatives see them. Conservatives will fight for them. Together we can build a better Canada for all Canadians.

Madam Speaker, the finance minister promised three years ago to stabilize food prices, but today Canada has the highest food inflation rate in the G7, and more and more Canadians are struggling to afford groceries. Clearly, this problem requires a team Canada approach. Will the Liberals work with Conservatives to cancel the industrial carbon tax, the fuel standard tax and the plastic packaging tax, and to fast-track results for Canadians?

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to present a petition today in the House of Commons on behalf of concerned residents of Regina and southern Saskatchewan. Signers of the petition are concerned about recent Liberal-Bloc amendments to Bill C-9 that could be used to criminalize passages from the Bible, the Quran, the Torah and other religious texts. They feel that government censorship of these religious texts, especially in churches, temples and other places of worship, represents an unreasonable infringement of the charter rights to freedom of religion and freedom of expression, and that the bill in its current form should never become law in this country.

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have said many times now that the Canada groceries and essentials benefit would help 12 million Canadians, but what about the other 28 million Canadians who are struggling with rising grocery prices? Why not adopt policies that will bring down the cost of groceries for all Canadians, such as cancelling the industrial carbon tax, the federal fuel standard or unnecessary food packaging regulations, all of which drive up the price of groceries for all 40 million Canadians?

Mr. Speaker, Statistics Canada has confirmed what Canadians already know: Food inflation is up 6.2%, and it is getting harder and harder for people to fill their shopping carts with groceries. The Liberal fuel standard adds 7¢ to every litre of gas. That is going up to 17¢ by 2030, and this drives up higher prices at the grocery store. Conservatives would be more than happy to work with the Liberals to repeal this costly policy today. Will they do it?

Mr. Speaker, last year I met with Holly Laird, executive director of the Regina Farmers' Market, whose organization had developed a program that was both inspiring and depressing. The Regina Farmers' Market had partnered with the YWCA to hand out food coupons so that families could afford to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. While it is inspiring to see neighbours helping neighbours, it is depressing that we now live in a country where food banks and food coupons are increasingly becoming the norm. Last year, the Prime Minister said that Canadians should judge him based on the prices at the grocery store. The best way to bring down grocery prices is to cancel the industrial carbon tax, the federal fuel standard and the burdensome labelling and packaging requirements that are driving up food costs in the first place. This would be much better than the Liberals' makeshift solution of temporary tax credits, which only serve to make people even more dependent on another government program.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to present a petition today on behalf of members of the Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association. Approximately 2,200 people suffer a new acquired brain injury every year in Saskatchewan, with about 150 of those requiring significant long-term support. The most common causes of acquired brain injuries include strokes, falls and motor vehicle accidents. In order to support people living with brain injuries, the Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association is encouraging all members of Parliament to support Bill C-206, an act to establish a national strategy on brain injuries.

Mr. Speaker, in last month's budget, the finance minister said he made tough decisions to find savings, so I was surprised and disappointed to learn that the CEO of Farm Credit Canada racked up $300,000 in travel expenses this year and last year. Furthermore, almost all of those expenses were within Canada, to talk with FCC employees at their offices. Why can the FCC not spend $20 on a Zoom subscription, instead of $300,000 on the CEO's travel expenses?

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to present a petition here today on behalf of concerned residents of Regina and southern Saskatchewan. The petitioners are concerned about the Liberal government's plan to ban the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035. They say the plan is unrealistic due to the lack of capacity in this country's electricity grid, and the result will be the price of both new and used vehicles being driven up. I am pleased to have the opportunity to present this petition here today in the House of Commons.

Mr. Speaker, during the election campaign, the Prime Minister said he would be elbows up when dealing with the existential crisis of Trump's tariffs. Now months after failing to negotiate a win, he is saying, “Who cares?” Well, I will tell members who cares. Conservatives care, and so do the 1,200 steelworkers at Interpro Pipe and Steel in Regina, whose jobs are under threat because of this trade war. How can the Prime Minister look the 1,200 steelworkers at Interpro Pipe and Steel in the eyes and tell them “Who cares?”

Mr. Speaker, I agree with a lot of what the member had to say about the need to diversify our export markets and increase non-U.S. exports. For many years, Conservatives have been saying that the northern gateway pipeline project would be a welcomed way to increase our non-U.S. exports. In order for that project to move forward, the Liberals would have to repeal Bill C-48, the west coast tanker ban. Can the hon. member share her thoughts and views with the House on repealing Bill C-48 so that the northern gateway pipeline project can move forward?

Mr. Speaker, from 1932 to 1933, millions of Ukrainians perished in the Holodomor, a man-made famine deliberately engineered by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. For many years, Saskatchewan's Holodomor memorial stood in Regina's Wascana Park, with the reproduction of the iconic Bitter Memories of Childhood statue as its centrepiece. Unfortunately, over time, the Saskatchewan winters took their toll and the memorial fell into disrepair. Recently, the Provincial Capital Commission, in consultation with the Ukrainian-Canadian Congress's Holodomor construction committee, completed a restoration project of the memorial so that it remains a dignified public reminder of the resilience of the Ukrainian people in Ukraine, Saskatchewan and around the world. I thank everyone who contributed to the restoration of Saskatchewan's Holodomor memorial. Slava Ukraini.

Mr. Speaker, the Northern Gateway pipeline was going to diversify Canada's export markets by selling Canadian oil and gas to the world, but the Liberals killed that project with Bill C-48, the west coast tanker ban, which keeps Canadian oil and gas landlocked. Worse still, the Liberals' tanker ban applies to Canadian ships only, not American ones. If American ships can export American oil through Canadian waters, then why can Canadian ships not do the same with Canadian oil?

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to present a petition today on behalf of members of Regina's Jamaican community who are concerned about the devastating effects of hurricane Melissa, which recently struck that island. Of particular concern is the major damage the hurricane caused to hospitals in Jamaica. The petitioners have come up with a very innovative suggestion, which is to send ships from the Royal Canadian Navy to the region so that the medical facilities aboard the ships can be used to save lives until the hospitals on the island are back up and running. I am please to have the opportunity to present the petition today in the House of Commons.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour and a privilege to rise today, but before I get too far into the details of the budget implementation act, I would be remiss if I did not provide the House with at least a bit of an update on the Saskatchewan Roughriders Grey Cup celebrations, which have been going on all week in Regina and right across Saskatchewan. Fans of the green and white poured into the streets on Sunday evening to celebrate the 25-17 Grey Cup victory over the Montreal Alouettes. I am sure that, from now until Christmas, Grey Cup champion merchandise will be flying off the shelves at the Rider team store. As exciting as Grey Cup Sunday is, it is important to remember that a Grey Cup championship does not just happen by luck on one day of the year. It is the result of hard work and tough decisions that began weeks or months, and sometimes years, in advance. Every time a football team starts with a good field position, makes a consistent drive down the field and then finishes the drive with a touchdown, that success was the result of strong leadership, which includes recruiting the right players and coaches and coming up with the right playbook. On the other hand, when a team has poor leadership for many years, eventually that poor leadership manifests itself on the field in the form of costly penalties and giving up quarterback sacks. That is exactly what the budget feels like to me. There are too many penalties, a bad field position and a lot of talk about future touchdowns that never seem to happen on the field. Let us take a closer look at what is in the budget. It shows a deficit of $78 billion this year, a record outside the pandemic. The total accumulated debt is $1.3 trillion, which is also a record, and interest payments on the debt have skyrocketed to $56 billion a year. That is also a record, and $56 billion per year in interest payments is such a huge number that it is difficult for people to visualize just how much money that is. Let us take a look at how much money that is on a per household basis. When we divide $56 billion by the number of households in Canada, we get about $3,400 per household per year. That is the amount of money that leaves Canadian households, not because of anything they did wrong and not because of anything they purchased but because the federal government spends more money than it has. What could a Canadian family do with that $3,400 per year? That is where the reality of this burden becomes clear. For some families, $3,400 is a month's mortgage payment. For others, it is groceries for two months. For others, it is a used vehicle for their teenage son or daughter who needs to get to work. For a family with kids, it could be an entire year of RESP contributions. In football terms, this is like starting every offensive drive with a quarterback sack. Before the quarterback even has a chance to call a play, and before a Canadian family can plan their household budget, they are getting team tackled by the record-high cost of the government's debt servicing. As football fans in the rest of Canada watched the Roughriders win the Grey Cup last Sunday, many of them probably said to themselves that there is always next year, that maybe their team will have better luck next season. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for interest payments on the federal debt. That is because, according to the government's own numbers, interest payments next year are expected to be higher than they were this year. Interest payments the following year are expected to be higher still. In fact, interest payments on the debt are projected to break a new record every year for the rest of the decade, according to the budget. In football terms, if a quarterback was tackled by a 300-pound defensive lineman this season, they can expect to be tackled by a 400-pound defensive lineman next season. The following season, they will have a 500-pound defensive lineman tackling them. That is what these interest payments on the debt are doing to Canadians. Canadian families are doing their part. They are budgeting, they are cutting back and they are sacrificing. Many of them are turning to food banks. However, the Liberal government, with the team's coaching staff and general manager, keeps calling plays that make life harder. For 10 years now, under two Liberal prime ministers and four Liberal finance ministers, we have seen the same pattern: more spending, more borrowing, more debt and more interest payments. While the Prime Minister likes to say that the Liberals are “spending less to invest more”, the reality is they are spending more, lots more. According to the budget's own numbers, the government is projected to spend more money every year for the rest of the decade. Sadly, in many cases, when the Liberal government chooses to spend, it is often not for valid fiscal reasons, but for ideological ones. For example, the budget highlights the importance of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council because of its “important role in advancing the government's growth agenda by advancing research and attracting top international research talent”, but the budget document provides very little detail about what types of projects the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council is going to fund. Let us take a look at some of the projects it has funded recently. It spent $20,000 to study the gender politics of Peruvian rock music. I do not know why we needed to spend $20,000 on that, but the Liberals seemed to think we did. The Liberals funded another study about online selfies, including fat fashion photography on Instagram, social justice selfies and selfies that violate social norms. That one cost us $94,000. They also felt the need to come up with a gender-inclusive and intersectional piano curriculum. That was to the tune of $17,000. Pardon the pun. There was one study that focused on grocery carts, but sadly, it did not have anything to do with the rising cost of groceries that people put into carts, only people's feelings about the grocery carts themselves. In any case, that study has cost Canadian taxpayers over $100,000 to date. Canadians deserve better from their government. There were some very practical solutions to the rising cost of living that Conservatives suggested be put into the budget, such as cancelling the industrial carbon tax, the federal fuel standard and regulations on plastic food packaging, all of which drive up the cost of groceries and the cost of living. Unfortunately, the Liberals refused. I have no doubt that the Liberals will say that I am being negative, but I am not. I am just being honest. There is no message more positive and hopeful than this: Canada can do better than what we have seen from the Liberals over the last 10 years. Canadians should be able to move out of their parents' basements and put roofs over their heads. They should be able to feed their families without resorting to food banks, and they should be able to have a comfortable future without drowning in more and more debt every year. If the government wants to learn from the Grey Cup champions, here is a quick film review: end inflationary deficits, restore fiscal discipline and deliver immediate relief on the things Canadians buy every week. That is the way to turn a cellar-dweller into a champion.

Mr. Speaker, what I have found so troubling about the Liberals over the years is they constantly want to play a shell game when it comes to the budget. It used to be that they were going to balance the budget come hell or high water, when Paul Martin was prime minister, and then they changed their tune to say that it was not going to be balanced but was going to be a portion of the debt-to-GDP ratio. Now they are saying they are going to balance the operating budget but will keep spending and spending on interest payments on the debt and on infrastructure investments. It is important to understand that money is money and spending is spending, and Canadians will have to pay it back with interest, which is something the Liberals either do not understand or do not seem to care about.

Mr. Speaker, the benefits to society from our natural resource sector far outweigh the costs. I would like to point out that the Government of Saskatchewan's annual budget gets 10% to 15% of its revenues every year from natural resource royalties. If my hon. colleague is suggesting the federal Liberal government should have less to do with oil and gas companies and should get out of the way, I would be 100% in agreement with that. I would love to see the Liberals repeal Bill C-69, the “no more pipelines” bill. I would love to see them repeal Bill C-48, the west coast tanker ban. That way we could extract all of the resources that are literally underneath our feet and export them around the world. It is unfortunate that the Liberals always seem to get in the way.

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, we are seeing more of the same from the Liberals on this budget, which is the continuation of 10 years of poor leadership. This is, of course, going to lead to higher costs at the grocery store and higher costs for Canadians who are struggling to make ends meet. I would like to quote our former prime minister, Justin Trudeau, if I may, from just five years ago. He said, “Interest rates are at historic lows, Glen.... And as we move forward, because of historically low interest rates, the debt servicing costs will be low.” We can see now that leadership from the Liberals was totally misguided. Canadians are paying more and more on debt servicing charges from the deficit.

Madam Speaker, an agreement was finally reached last night at the APEC summit in South Korea. Unfortunately the agreement was between the United States and China, but not Canada, to reduce tariffs. The Prime Minister flew to Asia, met with the Chinese President and had a nice photo op, but there is still no deal. In this international game of Deal or No Deal, why is it always no deal for Canada from the Prime Minister?

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to present a petition today on behalf of many Pakistani Canadians who are concerned about the arbitrary detention of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan and the fate of his supporters. Signers of the petition believe that free and fair elections in Pakistan remain a distant hope after widespread reports of the massive rigging of last year's general election in that country. They are also concerned about the lack of independence of the Supreme Court of Pakistan following a recent constitutional amendment supported by that country's military. Therefore, this petition is asking the Government of Canada to call on Pakistan for the immediate release of Imran Khan from prison, for there to be free and fair elections in Pakistan under international supervision, and for the restoration of democracy in that country.

Mr. Speaker, Remembrance Day is all about thanking Canada's war veterans and remembering those who never came home. Sadly, Canada's Second World War veterans are getting fewer and fewer in number. Recently, Regina lost its last remaining World War II veteran. “Ossie” Lakness enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy in 1943, shortly after his 20th birthday. He went on to serve as a quartermaster on the HMCS St. Stephen, guarding supply convoys as they crossed the hazardous U-boat-infested North Atlantic waters. After the war was over, Ossie went on to live a fulfilling life, farming near Govan, Saskatchewan, starting a family with his wife Reta and enjoying curling in his spare time. His funeral will be held tomorrow at St. Mary's Parish Hall in Regina. As the number of World War II veterans becomes fewer and fewer, I encourage all Canadians to take the time to thank a veteran of the Second World War while they are still with us.

Mr. Speaker, before the election, the Prime Minister said he could solve Canada's economic woes because he has a plan. This week, he finally revealed that plan to a roomful of young people. It turns out that the plan is that young people have to make sacrifices by giving on the dream of home ownership, paying higher prices at the grocery store and spending all summer unemployed. If this was the Prime Minister's plan all along, why was he not honest with young people about the sacrifices he had in store for them?

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to present a petition today on behalf of concerned residents of Regina and southern Saskatchewan. The signatories of the petition are concerned about a recent finance committee recommendation to revoke the charitable status of religious organizations. They feel that faith-based charities do good work in our communities, as secular charities do, and oppose the revocation of charitable status in the Liberal government's upcoming budget or at any other time in the future. I am pleased to have the opportunity to present this petition here today in the House of Commons.

Mr. Speaker, during the election campaign, the Prime Minister promised to “Build, baby, build.” He promised to fast-track nation-building projects and that these projects would be built at a speed not seen in generations. He said he was committed to “building the strongest economy in the G7”. Unfortunately, most of us thought he was talking about the Canadian economy, not the United States'. When the Prime Minister was in Washington this week, he promised to invest $1 trillion in the American economy. That is on top of the $500 billion in investment that fled Canada in the last five years and the $50 billion that left just this year. Canadians deserve a government that keeps its promises and stands up for Canadian jobs and Canadian investment in the Canadian economy.

Mr. Speaker, there is nothing more frustrating than world leaders from Germany, Greece, Poland and other countries saying they would like to buy Canadian oil and gas so they can stop buying from Russia and dictators in the Middle East, and the response from the Liberals being that there is no business case for oil and gas exports to Europe or other allies around the world. There is nothing more frustrating than having all these economic opportunities literally sitting underneath our feet while the Liberals keep making up excuses about why we should not be developing our resources and why we should not be making life better for Canadians. It would be wonderful to get these opportunities and projects off the ground to make life better not only for Canadians but also for our allies around the world.

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting how the Liberals keep moving the goalposts. I remember when Paul Martin was prime minister. The goalposts were to balance the budget “come hell or high water”. A few years later, the Liberals said they were not going to balance the budget, but it would be a function of GDP. They would keep it under a certain percentage of GDP. Now they are talking about separating the deficits between operational deficits and fixed assets, or whatever the term is. It is so frustrating that, as we are sailing straight toward an iceberg and straight toward a $62-billion deficit, the Liberals are trying to play a bait-and-switch game and move the goalposts. It is time for the Liberals to take some responsibility for the fiscal mess we are in and turn this ship around.