Routine Proceedings
With regard to the application of the federal price on carbon to fuels used for military purposes between December 1, 2022 and December 1, 2023: (a) what classes of fuel used by military vehicles were exempt from the price on carbon; (b) what classes of fuel used by military vehicles were subject to the price on carbon; (c) of the classes of fuel in (b), what percentage of the cost of fuel consume…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the condition of structures, facilities, and housing units on Canadian Armed Forces bases throughout Canada as of December 1, 2023, for each base: (a) how many buildings had warnings regarding health and safety hazards, including, but not limited to, asbestos or chipping lead paint, posted on the premises, in total and broken down by type of hazard; (b) how many buildings included b…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to recruitment and retention in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) for each year between December 1, 2015 and December 1, 2023: (a) how many personnel were recruited to the CAF, including all branches; (b) of the recruits in (a), what was the (i) median, (ii) longest, (iii) shortest, time for processing the applications; (c) how many applicants withdrew their candidacies after (i) three, …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is likely this will be the last time I rise this year, so I wish you a Merry Christmas, as well as all other members of this place and those who support the work we do here, including the parliamentary pages, the desk officers, the Sergeant-at-Arms, the Parliamentary Protective Service and everyone else who helps us do our work on behalf of Canadians. All the best to everyone. We…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, in response to the question from the member for Winnipeg North, I do not even know what to say. His government killed the bill not once but twice in the previous Parliament. We are three and a half years late getting the bill done because of the government's failure to approve it in the past. We do, indeed, from time to time introduce concurrence motions in the House so we may debat…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is not often that the member gives me an opportunity to agree with him and to affirm, as I am sure he does, based on the question, that Canada does have an important responsibility to be a leader in the world in the suppression of weapons of mass destruction. He is right; Russia is a threat to world security in its ongoing use of chemical weapons as a tool of assassination. We do…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I will be giving some remarks shortly on this; not to pre-empt them, but we support the bill. I listened to the member's speech, and he saw fit to blame the opposition for this bill not having passed sooner. It should have been passed in the 43rd Parliament, not brought up on the last day before Christmas. Could he maybe take this opportunity to explain to Canadians why Liberals pro…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, on a point of order, the member's comments are neither on the member's speech nor on the bill. I question the relevance.
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, a few weeks ago, I asked the government when it would rein in its inflationary spending and balance the budget to bring down inflation and give Canadian homeowners interest rate relief. The parliamentary secretary took a cheap shot at the Conservative Party leader, but the main meat of his response needs some unpacking. He referred to his government supposedly working with the City …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise. I am not going to speak at length about the report. I move: That the motion be amended by deleting all the words after the word “That” and substituting the following: “the first report of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, presented on Wednesday, February 2, 2022, be not now concurred in, but that it be recommitted to the Standing Committe…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the parliamentary secretary still has not answered my question. When are the Liberals going to rein in the spending, rein in their deficits and get inflation under control so that interest rates can come down and Canadians can get on with living their lives and not have to deal with the catastrophic effects of the inflationary and high-interest-rate environment that they have create…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, the parliamentary secretary on this seemed to doubt that there was any kind of a problem with the billion-dollar green slush fund, wherein members have actually admitted at committee to have voted to give themselves money. I wonder if the member, in whatever time he has left, could ensure the parliamentary secretary does have his facts straight.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Yes, Madam Speaker. You could guess it was going to be about relevance, because the member has not made any relevant comments in his entire speech. He has been given tremendous latitude, and your generosity is a credit to you, but bring this man to order.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I believe I heard you instruct the member for Timmins—James Bay to withdraw his comment. Did he? He has withdrawn it.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, there has been a lot of talk about the agenda today. The bill that was to be debated is one that all parties, or at least the Conservatives and the Liberals, already voted in favour of at second reading. It is also time allocated, so this concurrence debate is not slowing down the passage of that bill. However, this concurrence debate does give members, including the member for Edmo…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, it is customary, in the House, to give members an opportunity to withdraw their remarks and correct the record when they say something false. He falsely said that I did not address the motion in my remarks. I asked him if he was aware, and I was correcting the points he had made—
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, we are well into the speech and have not heard anything about the report. We have heard about procedure and about some matters that are entirely unrelated. He is talking about a question that has nothing to do with this report—
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. It appears that we are about 12 minutes into this speech, and we have not heard one word from the member that is relevant. This report that we are debating is about the criminal—
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, there was a lot in that rambling bit of incoherent, non-relevant debate. It was not relevant to the motion and the report. There are some things that bear correction. I wonder if the member can verify and confirm that he is aware that the bill we are not debating is time allocated and that this debate on concurrence is not slowing down or interfering with the government's agenda. Is…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, Canadians have lost confidence in the government, and so have I. I call for a recorded division, and I am anxious to see if the NDP will side with Canadians or continue to prop up the government.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to Canada’s immigration system, labour shortages, and housing shortages: (a) for each year, since January 1, 2016, how many successful applicants for permanent residency were skilled tradespeople; (b) how many of the immigrants in (a) were qualified to work in residential construction in the province in which they settled; (c) what proportion of the immigrants in (a) did immigrants in …
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, the conduct had neither the appearance of impartiality nor good judgment.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, that is a bit of an unusual twist by the member, but I do not see any problem with the way the opposition House leader has conducted himself in this matter. When he was Speaker, it was before my time, but I understand he did an admirable job and certainly did not appear in Speaker's robes at conventions or did any other conduct that triggered a crisis like the current crisis. He has…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Of course I do, Madam Speaker. The member may heckle me if he wishes, but perhaps he could have listened more carefully to my speech, wherein I addressed the motion and the desirability of sending it to PROC where the process can unfold. If he had listened carefully to my speech, he would have known that I made no reference to remedy. We are debating the motion right now, but, indeed, calls for th…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, Canadians know the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. He spent the weekend making desperate and panic-stricken phone calls to senators, pleading with them kill Bill C-234, and yesterday that is exactly what they did when they voted to gut the bill and keep food prices high for struggling Canadians. When will the Prime Minister listen…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, I usually take great pleasure in speaking in this place, this hallowed chamber where Canadians send people they elect to speak and vote on matters of national policy, but this debate certainly gives me no pleasure at all. It is a very unfortunate situation that brings us to this point. We are in the midst of the second crisis of confidence in the Speaker in this fall session alone. …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I want to refocus the discussion back on the matter at hand, which is splitting Bill C-27. I would like the member to comment on the inadequacy of the bill, the weakness that he has found in it and why it is so important that we get it split into proper components such we can debate them and have them voted on separately.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I listened very carefully to the member's speech. Perhaps he could explain further the extent to which the government has failed to take Canada's national security seriously and necessitated this. The review is long overdue and the threat environment has changed, but this bill, if passed, would in some ways force the government to do things that it ought to have had enough sense to do…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the member raised an excellent point that the balloon incursions occurred while we were in the midst of the study. They revealed quite clearly the limitations of domain awareness and the importance of domain awareness and being able to detect objects in our airspace, but there is also coastal defence and awareness. We heard at committee about rangers who do incredible work in the Arct…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the report did talk about the changing environment in the Arctic and the pace of, for example, the navigability of portions of the Northwest Passage. There is a lot in the report about domain awareness. I am not going to get into the specifics of the technology available as part of the report debate, but the report does talk, in great detail, about how the changing environment in the …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am glad the member brought up the rangers and her constituent who gave excellent testimony to the committee that was very informative for the recommendations we made. I did not have time in my speech to get through all the recommendations, so I am glad I can now. I do not know how many I will hit, but let me start with recommendation 21: “That the Government of Canada immediately in…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his service to Canada, both when he served in the CAF and now as the member for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound. The recommendation is an important one. There was a decision made in 2005. The debate seemed settled for quite some time. However, the threat environment has changed. It is incredibly important. We cannot remain stuck in an old threat environment as new ones em…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I move that the third report of the Standing Committee on National Defence, presented on Monday, April 24, be concurred in. It gives me pleasure to have the opportunity to debate concurrence on this important report tabled in the House of Commons. The Standing Committee on National Defence undertook a lengthy and comprehensive study of Arctic security. Arctic security is Canadian nati…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, last Thursday, the Prime Minister announced a temporary pause on the carbon tax on home heating for some Canadians but not all. It is cold in Calgary in the winter, and after eight years, Calgarians are struggling to afford to heat their homes. They know that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. On Monday, will the MP for Calgary Skyview be permitted to vote for our common-sens…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, the government and the parliamentary secretary are simply dividing Canadians. The government continues to divide Canadians. It gets even colder in Edmonton, and it is obvious the minister from Edmonton Centre has absolutely no pull with the government, because for years, he has failed to deliver and to represent Alberta in cabinet. Monday is his big chance. Will the minister from Ed…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, since the member chose to impugn my motives in doing my job as a parliamentarian and bringing an important committee report to the floor where it can be voted on by members, I will point out a couple of things. Canada's support for Ukraine, the Conservatives' support for Ukraine and the support of all Canadians for Ukraine depends on our ability to improve the capabilities of our mili…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am not responsible for managing the government's calendar, but I do have an ability to bring forward a concurrence debate at Routine Proceedings, which is the correct time to introduce it. We had debate on that bill earlier today. I am sure we will have another opportunity for debate on that bill as soon as the government calls it next.
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, a desperate, flailing Prime Minister admitted that his carbon tax was punishing Canadians and making life unaffordable when he decided to remove the carbon tax from some but not all Canadians. This weekend, the minister from Long Range Mountains, Newfoundland and Labrador, admitted that this exemption was not granted to all Canadians across the country because they do not all vote Lib…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the desperation of the NDP-Liberal government proves the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. Liberals admitted that the carbon tax exemption was not granted to western Canadians because they do not vote Liberal. The minister from Edmonton Centre and the member for Calgary Skyview are either so ineffective that the Prime Minister just ignores them or they actually …
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, under the NDP-Liberal government, a generation of young Canadians are giving up on home ownership. It used to be that if someone had a full-time job and saved their money, they could buy a home, start a family and eventually pay their house off. How can a young Canadian save for a down payment when they are paying $2,500 a month for rent? How can they qualify for a mortgage when the p…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, after eight years, Canadians are increasingly convinced that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. The government's insatiable appetite for spending has triggered an inflation crisis and interest rate hikes. Millions of Canadians with mortgages are left wondering what they are going to do when their payments go up by over $1,000 a month on their next renewal. When will the NDP-Lib…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise tonight on adjournment business and talk about a question I put to the government last June. I asked the government about interest rates, and I pointed out the devastating effect that interest rates are having on Canadian homebuyers and homeowners. I asked when the Prime Minister would take the advice of other Liberals, including former finance minister, John …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I could not imagine anything riskier than another four years, or any number of years, with the current government. The greatest risk to Canadians is if the government should last much longer. It has the coalition, of course, that is propping it up now, but we need a common-sense government that can get serious about these issues facing Canadians. After this scattered four-minute mess …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is always an honour and a pleasure to speak in this place and to add my voice to debate. Today we are talking about Bill C-56, which if passed would amend the Excise Tax Act and implement a temporary 100% rebate on the GST portion for new purpose-built rental housing and amend the Competition Act to get rid of the efficiencies defence, which has been a handy loophole that has bee…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the member is exactly right. That is the Conservative approach. There is national government level funding for municipal infrastructure, and that must be tied to national policy objectives like increasing the housing supply. However, it would be up to local governments, responsible to the local voters who elect them, to decide how to meet those objectives, and they would lose their …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am not going to debate Queen's Park politics here. I am not even sure if that part of the question is in order. As to the member's point about freeing up public lands for development, he raises an important point. It has to be done right. However, it was actually promised by the government in 2015, another broken, ignored promise from eight years ago, that it would examine ways th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am aware of a few things, including that the government has been in office for eight years and is only now being spurred on, kicking and screaming, by the opposition's plan, which has been tabled in this place, to implement something it promised to do in 2015. I know that in 2008, it did not cost $2,200 a month to rent a portion of a house in my riding. I know that in 2008, the mo…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, after the next election, when we are on the other side, if the member is re-elected, he will have an opportunity to ask questions of a future Conservative government, but tonight is when opposition members ask questions of the government. If I am to take the point the member made in his response, which was that we are not fighting climate change and that the carbon tax is a successf…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I rise tonight in Adjournment Proceedings to have another go at a question I asked on May 30. I talked about the fact that, when fully implemented, the carbon tax is going to be 41¢ a litre, and the Liberals have a new carbon tax in the guise of fuel regulation that will add another 17¢. GST, of course, is going to be added to both of those, bringing us up to 61¢. I pointed out that…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, it is an honour, as always, to rise and contribute to the debate on Private Members' Business. Tonight we are debating Bill C-295, moved by the member for Vancouver Centre, whose bill proposes an amendment to the Criminal Code to create a new offence for long-term care facilities, their owners and their managers who fail to provide the necessaries of life to the residents of their f…
Read full speech →