Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, 20 years ago, Canada elected a new Conservative government led by former prime minister Stephen Harper. The Harper legacy is one of true progress. It was a government that cut virtually every tax Canadians pay. It negotiated a record number of trade deals that are more critical now than ever. It navigated a global economic meltdown guided by the world-leading Harper-Flaherty economic …
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Mr. Speaker, less than a year ago, the Liberals were elected on a platform that included an already astounding $62-billion deficit and lower food prices for Canadians. That deficit grew to $78 billion in the fall. This week, the Liberals announced $12 billion in new spending to deal with the ongoing food inflation crisis they created. This is a massive bill that will inevitably be passed on to the…
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Mr. Speaker, I did not note an answer to the question there. Earlier this week, CTV's Vassy Kapelos pointed this out to the Liberal House leader: “What you announced yesterday is more than $11 billion of additional government spending, but nobody from your government has said how you will pay for it.” As he does daily in the House, the House leader completely ignored the question, twice. Now that …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, a few days ago, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Stephen Harper Conservative government. After a decade of being in power, the Harper government left with a balanced budget and what The New York Times referred to as the richest middle class in the world. I would ask our hon. leader to reflect on what we did well under the Conservative government that led to those circumstance…
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Madam Speaker, while members of the House may sometimes get confused when they see the two of us standing up, let us be assured we could not be further apart in terms of our views on this issue. This is probably more of a comment than a question, because I do not know where a question would even go. The comment would be that the wish list for my constituents, and probably his, would include the st…
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Madam Speaker, the hon. member talked about the Liberal decision to kill this pipeline back in November 2016. Of course, the biggest beneficiaries of that decision were Iran, Russia, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing countries around the world. How important would this pipeline be in accruing benefit across Canada, instead of in those oil-producing dictatorships?
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, today being a late show, I get a chance to follow up on a couple of questions I asked on November 3. Going back to that time, I asked questions, interestingly, about bonuses being paid to executives. Of course, the responses to those questions had nothing to do with the questions I asked at the time, so we expect we will get a chance to hear some of those answers today in the response…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I do not know the last time the hon. member was actually at committee. Somehow the member talked about taking potshots. I do not know how he defines a potshot. I pointed out that he ran in an election in which his leader promised an already devastating budget deficit of $62 billion. We are talking about record-level budget deficits. Then, a few months later, the Liberal government put…
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Madam Speaker, there is quite a bit of irony in the question, because if anybody who spends any time watching CPAC were to put a face to the words “talk, and talk, and talk”, it would be the member's face. Nobody takes up more time in the House than that particular member, talking, talking and talking. People can trust that, as the government spends billions and billions more, and takes billions a…
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Mr. Speaker, back to the actual topic, the Liberal MP for Victoria defiantly stated that he is “decisively not in support.” The Liberal member of Parliament for Vancouver Granville has said that it must have B.C.'s consent. The Liberal MP for Fleetwood—Port Kells went further, saying that any pipeline must have the consent of the Premier of British Columbia. Without support from that one Canadian,…
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Madam Speaker, I would say that the obstruction from the government is at a level we have not seen before in the House. The member and I have both been members for a long time. There are a lot of things we would not agree on, including some of the most topical issues today. However, the government has tools to move things through the House. It has all the control when it comes to moving things thr…
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Madam Speaker, that is a great question. We would like committees to be doing the work they do. When we do see footage from committees, we see why the Liberal members are trying to shut them down. It is because ministers are having a really hard time at committee explaining what it is they are actually doing. There is another thing: The “just trust us” mentality the Liberals have was sort of the t…
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Mr. Speaker, a decade ago, the Liberal government killed the northern gateway pipeline, which would have shipped 525,000 barrels of Canadian oil per day to Asian markets. The value of that oil would have been billions of dollars coming annually into the Canadian economy. Instead of that economic supercharge, the Liberals enacted crushing policies with no environmental benefit, while doubling Canad…
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to get up on behalf of the hard-working constituents of Leduc—Wetaskiwin to weigh in on debates, particularly debates about fiscal issues. When listening to the debate today, and ultimately after listening to the debate over the last 10 years, it seems that there is an increasing number of Liberals who are standing up to praise their own government, to pat th…
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Mr. Speaker, it is pretty safe to say the hon. member cannot count on my support for this budget. Right now in Canada, the debt is more than the budget, so the amount of debt we owe is more than the entire budget of the federal government. Every dollar spent is a dollar borrowed from Canadians and future Canadians. According to Fitch Ratings, right after the budget was announced, “Canada's...propo…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise to discuss this important motion from the member for York South—Weston—Etobicoke. I will start by commending the member. We get one shot to move a motion or a private member's bill if we are lucky to be drawn early enough to have it debated in the House. It can be tempting to put something forth that is partisan and that makes it difficult for other parties …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, in the spirit of chatting about family, I will say that I was elected almost 20 years ago. My kids were 10 and six years old at the time I was elected. It has been a long time. A couple of weeks ago, my son celebrated his 30th birthday. I have talked about Jaden a lot in this place. My daughter, in a couple of weeks, is getting married. Time flies. There is a little bit of applause fo…
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member led off his comments by quoting a former PBO, somehow in defence of the government, saying, “Our economy is weak”. If the Liberals have a confidence problem, just about the worst advice that I can imagine is to spend their way out of it. They call it investment, but it is really just spending. Here is what happened in February 1994 according to a Reuters summary: The..…
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Mr. Speaker, speaking of experts, according to Fitch Ratings just yesterday, “Canada's...proposed budget, announced in Parliament on Nov. 4, underscores the erosion of the federal government's finances...[and] persistent fiscal expansion and a rising debt burden have weakened its credit profile and could increase rating pressure over the medium term.” This has happened before, with crushing impact…
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Mr. Speaker, ratings are always great until the day they are not. Here is a quick review of the early nineties from Reuters. In February 1994, it said, “The...Liberal government brings down what it considers to be a tough budget.... It nonetheless still has spending rising slightly, and immediate public and market reaction is it did not go nearly far enough.” In January 1995, it said, “A biting ed…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, for decades in Canada, Conservative and Liberal governments alike have been steadfast leaders in the global fight to end polio. Partners include Global Citizen, Results and the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children's Health, but the undisputed leader in this mission is Rotary International, where there is no bigger champion than Canada's own Jennifer Jones, who became its first …
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Mr. Speaker, let us remember that Santa Claus is not spending taxpayer dollars. Every single dollar the Liberal government brags about spending comes from the pockets of hard-working Canadians, in the form of higher taxes and inflation. While Canadians line up at food banks in record numbers, their own money is being used by the Liberal government to hand out hundreds of millions of dollars in exe…
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Mr. Speaker, in 2015, The New York Times reported that Canada had the richest middle class in the world. Just a decade later, our country is in an economic tailspin. What happened in 2015 was that the Liberal government took power, and many of its current ministers, including the finance minister, were elected. Here is where we are today: During an epic housing crisis, 99% of CMHC executives got b…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise to honour one of the most incredible organizations in the history of sport. While others will no doubt pay tribute to our beloved Blue Jays this afternoon, I am here to celebrate the many Special Olympics athletes joining us in Ottawa today. For six decades, the Special Olympics has changed the lives of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities worldwide, inc…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health, or CAMIMH, and to highlight the importance of Mental Illness Awareness Week, which is taking place October 5 to October 11. CAMIMH has spent the last 25 years ensuring mental health and substance use health remain national priorities, advocating for awareness, reducing stigma and demanding life-changi…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to hotels and accommodations paid for by the government for asylum seekers, since January 1, 2022 and broken down by month: (a) what are the names and locations of the hotels and other accommodations which the government has paid to accommodate asylum seekers; and (b) what are the details of each hotel or accommodation in (a), including, for each, (i) the owner, (ii) the monthly amount…
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Mr. Speaker, I will note that the Liberal members seem incapable of using the words “pipeline” or “oil” in the House of Commons. Let me keep this simple: It is a fact that the emissions reporting requirement on Saudi oil being sold in Canada is less stringent than for Canadian oil being sold in Canada. Who in the Liberal government wants to stand now to defend this incomprehensible policy?
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Mr. Speaker, this week, Canada hosted the G7, and one of the people on the Prime Minister's invitation list was the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia currently has a sweetheart deal with Canada, shipping over two billion dollars' worth of Saudi oil a year to our Canadian east coast. Alberta oil, shipped to the same place, would face extremely onerous reporting requirements on upstream and…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, tonight the Liberals have talked a lot about equalization. The minister said, “We are increasing fiscal equalization by nearly $970 million.” I have spent about seven hours this week so far in committee of the whole, and I am wondering whether Liberal ministers or members are allowed to use the word “oil” in these debates.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, that 2.5 billion dollars' worth of oil coming from Nigeria and $2.1 billion coming from Saudi Arabia, $4.6 billion, is not subject to the same rigorous reporting on upstream and downstream emissions as oil coming from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Does the minister think that is fair?
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Mr. Speaker, in August 2017, the National Energy Board issued a decision. It said, “the NEB will consider upstream and downstream greenhouse gas emissions...in determining whether these projects are in the public interest.” That effectively killed energy east or any east-west pipeline. Does the minister agree that upstream and downstream GHG emissions should be considered before oil and gas projec…
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Mr. Speaker, just one last time, I want to hear an answer to this question. Does either minister believe that oil coming from Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador or Colombia should be subject to the same rigorous emission standards as oil coming from Alberta, Saskatchewan or Newfoundland and Labrador? Please answer the question.
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Mr. Speaker, according to the Canadian Energy Regulator, in 2023, Canada imported 19.5 billion dollars' worth of crude oil. This included 2.5 billion dollars' worth of oil imported into Canada from Nigeria. How important would that $2.5 billion of revenue be to the Canadian government's efforts to fund things like health care and education in Canada?
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Mr. Speaker, in addition to the oil coming from Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, we brought in 403 million dollars' worth of oil from Colombia and 202 million dollars' worth of oil from Ecuador. None of that oil was subject to the same rigorous reporting on upstream and downstream emissions as oil coming from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Does the Minister of International Trade s…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the top producing countries for oil in the world are the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Russia. Russia is number three, just ahead of Canada. Do either of the ministers, or anybody in the government, realize that when we refuse to sell Canadian oil and gas to the world, countries are forced to buy that oil from Russia? Therefore, the Canadian government's energy policy is a pro-Russia energy …
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Mr. Speaker, one of the minister's cabinet colleagues has strongly expressed a contrary opinion, saying, “Maybe as much as half of oil reserves, proven reserves, need to stay in the ground if we are going to get where we are.” Does the minister agree with her cabinet colleague?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, recently, a commentator in Alberta had this to say: “If you look out east, I'll take Quebec. They import about 365,000 barrels a day of oil. All of it is coming from abroad. Seventy per cent of that is coming from the U.S., so we have an opportunity to displace there.” He went on to say, “we should be using it all the time ourselves because we are going to use what I call conventional…
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Mr. Speaker, the quote was, “we should be using it all the time ourselves because we are going to use what I call conventional oil and gas for the rest of my life and beyond.” Does the minister agree with those statements?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, when the minister hears such disparate comments, does she realize how hard it is going to be to achieve consensus in this country around pipelines?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, does the minister realize that both of the quotes I just read came from her own Prime Minister? They are from the same person.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said that he would take Quebec, as it imports 365,000 barrels a day, all of it coming from abroad, so we have an opportunity to displace there. Does the minister suggest we should use pipelines or rail to displace that oil going to Quebec, which her own boss says we need to displace?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, my home province will be listening very closely to the conversation that we are having tonight. The National Energy Board, in its decision on Energy East, said that the NEB “will consider...upstream and downstream GHG emissions” in determining whether these projects are “in the public interest.” This is effectively the government policy right now. According to the Canada Energy Regula…
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Mr. Speaker, if the Prime Minister has a plan, we would sure love to hear it here in Parliament. On the eve of the election in which he was trying to get elected, the Prime Minister went on an Oilers radio show in Edmonton and was asked about oil. He said, “There's a massive opportunity...if you look at out east, [particularly in] Quebec, they import about 365,000 barrels a day.... Seventy per cen…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister went on to say, “we've got this resource. At a minimum, we should be using it all the time ourselves, because we're going to use what I call conventional oil and gas for the rest of my life and beyond.” He said that in Edmonton when he was trying to get elected, but he has a history of saying that we should leave oil and gas in the ground. When will the government f…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, 30 years ago this week, ink hardly dry on my University of Alberta business degree, I started selling season tickets for the Edmonton Oilers hockey club. Those were difficult years, post-dynasty in a tough Canadian economy, and our small Edmonton market was in imminent danger of losing our NHL team to a wealthy U.S. buyer, but then something magical happened. Edmontonians stepped up i…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, maybe lost in all the noise emanating from down south during the election campaign was a real movement for change, a change back to a common-sense fiscal conservatism that we had in this country from 2006 to 2015, with two million more Canadians voting in our direction and voting for that type of change. In 2015, we had the strongest middle class in the world and a balanced budget. On…
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Mr. Speaker, I just want to clarify what your ruling is going to be moving forward. Are we to expect now that if somebody says no before a word is spoken on a point of order, you are going to stand up and shut down that member from speaking, regardless of which party it is, from now on? Is that the precedent?
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. In response to our House leader's point of order, I want to point out that before he even had a chance to say a word—
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, we request a recorded vote, please.
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